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7th/8th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
The 7/8th Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was formed on the 23rd of August 1917 when the 7th Battalion amalgamated with 8th.
They were in action in the Third Battles of Ypres. In 1918 they were in action on the Somme 1918 suffering very heavy casualties and on the 22nd April 1918 the battalion was reduced to cadre strength. On the 17th of June they transferred to 102nd Brigade, 34th Division then on the 26th to GHQ Troops. The battalion was re-established with men joining from 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade and on the 3rd of July 1918 they joined 89th Brigade, 30th Division. They were in action during the Advance in Flanders and by the Armistice had crossed the River Scheldt with advanced units reaching the line between Ghoy and la Livarde, north west of Lessines. In January 1919 30th Division took up duty at the Base Ports of Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne and Etaples and demobilisation began.
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
9th February 1916 Call Ups
29th Oct 1917 Trench Raid 
12th Dec 1917 Relief Complete
29th Dec 1917 Reliefs
16th Jan 1918 Poor Conditions
16th Jan 1918 Thaw
22nd Jan 1918 Reliefs
22nd Jan 1918 Reliefs
28th Jan 1918 Reliefs
28th Jan 1918 Reliefs
12th Mar 1918 Holding the Line
12th Mar 1918 Reliefs
22nd Mar 1918 Fighting Retreat
23rd Mar 1918 Fighting Retreat
24th Mar 1918 In Defence
25th Mar 1918 In Defence
26th Mar 1918 In Defence
27th Mar 1918 Fighting Withdrawal
28th Mar 1918 Holding the Line
29th Mar 1918 Holding the Line
30th Mar 1918 Holding the Line
31st Mar 1918 Holding the Line
1st Apr 1918 Holding the Line
2nd Apr 1918 Holding the Line
3rd Apr 1918 Holding the Line
4th Apr 1918 Reliefs
5th Apr 1918 On the March
8th Apr 1918 Reorganisation
9th Apr 1918 On the March
10th Apr 1918 On the Move
11th Apr 1918 On the March
12th Apr 1918 On the March
15th Apr 1918 100 men receive suspended court-martial One hundred men of the 7/8 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers received a suspended court-martial on the same day. The battalion was being disbanded and they went on strike to prevent it. The high number of non Irish soldiers striking shows the camaraderie and respect these merged replacements had for a regiment they previously had no attachment to. The unusual event was remarkable in that the sentence normally punishable by death was suspended. They all went back to fight the following day.
1st of September 1918 Operations Begin
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Pte. Thomas McBrine 7th/8th Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (d.31st Marc 1918) Thomas McBrine was killed in action on the 31st of March 1918, aged 26 and is buried in the Fouquescourt British Cemetery in France.
He was the son of Thomas and Mary McBrine, of Stralongford, Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh.
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Cpl. John James McKenna 1st Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers  John McKenna served with the 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers from 1900 to 1908 and saw action in the Second Boer War 1900-1903
He was awarded the Queens South Africa Medal with 5 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, and South Africa 1901 and 1902
He then transferred to the 2nd Battalion R.I.F. and served until 1912 when he re-enlisted to complete 12 years service. He was posted to Home Duty, Omagh, and Devonport, England
and received an Honorable Discharge.
In The Great War he served with the British Expeditionary Force, III Corps, 4th Division, 12th Brigade
as a Private in the 2nd Battalion R.I.F. and saw action in the
First Battle of the Aisne,
First Battle of Messines, Battle of Armentieres, First Battle of Ypres Battle of Neuve Chapel, Battle of Aubers Ridge and the Battle of Festubert
On 15th of February 1915 he joined 7th Battalion R.I.F. and saw action in the Battle of Hulluch, Battle of the Somme, Battle of Guillemont, Battle of Guinchy and the Battle of Messines.
The battlion then became the 7th/8th Battalion R.I.F. and John was in action at the Battle of Saint Quentin where he was severely wounded on the 30th of March 1918.
He was transferred to the 3rd Reserve Battalion for hospitalization and recuperation then received an Honorable Discharge
He was awarded the 1914 Medal (Mons Star), Victory Medal and British War Medal
This the Service Record I have extrapolated by comparing Pension Medical Records, available British Army Service Records, and Official
British Military Operations Records
My Grandfather, John James McKenna was born in Emyvale, Co Monaghan, Ireland in 1883.
His Father was a shoemaker.
In 1900 He enlisted to fight in the Second Boer War. His steady income from soldiering enabled his father to purchase the farm they had been leasing for many years, and to put on a new slate roof.
In 1912 he married and returned to civilian life in Belfast where he was a tram driver.
Swept back into service in 1914, he survived the conflict and went on to serve in the Irish Republican Army, and Irish National Army from 1920 to 1923.
Unable to reclaim his job in Belfast, they departed Ireland.
In October 1923, he and family of six arrived in the United States aboard the USS Samaria. They settled in Lockport, Illinois, where he worked mostly as pipe fitter with the railroad.
He passed in December 1950 in Sacramento California.
Though he was only 5 feet 4 inches and 115 pounds when he enlisted, he proved to be a formidable warrior, and ultimate survivor.
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Sgt. John J Slator 7th/8th Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Jack Slator served with the 7th/8th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He was a Prisoner of War, POW no. 21920
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CSM. H. Barlow 7/8 Btn., B Coy. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers I own CSM Barlow's binoculars. The details above are inscribed on the bottom of the case. If anyone knows about him I'd appreciate more information.
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Pte. Joseph Skillen 7th/8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Joseph Skillen is listed as receiving the Victory Medal, British War Medal, the Star was only issued to men who arrived in a Theatre of War in either 1914 or 1915, so I assume that he arrived in Theatre of War in 1916 or later.
Red Cross records confirm he was taken prisoner outside St Quentin in Ronssoy on the 21st of March 1918 during German Operation Michael, Western Front Offensive 1918. He was held prisoner in Cassel.
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Pte. Ernest Harold Froom 7/8th Btn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Private Ernest Harold Froom was my grandad from Somerset. He was in the 7/8 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. On the 15th April 1918 he was one of a hundred people to receive a suspended court-martial on the same day. The regiment was being disbanded and they went on strike to prevent it. The high number of non Irish soldiers striking shows the camaraderie and respect these merged replacements had for a regiment they previously had no attachment to. They were formed into the unit to replace lost soldiers and to form a unit from their own disbanded units. The unusual event was remarkable in that the sentence normally punishable by death was suspended. They all went back to fight the following day. He later fought in the Inninnskillin black and tans in Ireland after the end of the war in Europe so he must not have had too bad a punishment in 1918.
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Pte. William Birney 7/8th Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (d.20th Jan 1918) William Birney was born in Dublin and enlisted in Clydebank, Dumbartonshire, Scotland. He died of wounds in France and is buried in Tincourt New British Cemetery.
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