- 2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers during the Great War -
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About
2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers
2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers were in Gravesend, as part of 10th Brigade, 4th Division when war broke out in August 1914. 4th Division was held back from the original British Expeditionary Force by a last minute decision to defend England against a possible German landing. The fate of the BEF in France and the lack of any move by the Enemy to cross the channel, reversed this decision and they moved to Harrow to prepare to join them. The 2nd Dublin Fusiliers proceeded to France landing at Boulogne on the 22nd of August 1914 arriving in time to provide infantry reinforcements at the Battle of Le Cateau, the Artillery, Engineers, Field Ambulances and mounted troops being still en-route at this time. They were in action at the The Battle of the Marne, The Battle of the Aisne and at The Battle of Messines in 1914. In 1915 they fought in The Second Battle of Ypres and in 1916 moved south to The Somme taking part in the Battles which began on the 1st of July. On the 15th of November 1916 the Battalion transferred to 48th Brigade, 16th (Irish) Division. In 1917 they fought at the The Battle of Messines and The Battle of Langemark, during the Third Battles of Ypres. On the 10th of February 1918 as the army was reorganised, the 2nd Battalion absorbed 200 men from disbanded 8/9th Battalion. In 1918 they were in action on the Somme 1918 suffering very heavy casualties and on the 14th of April 1918 the 2nd Battalion amalgamated with 1st. On the 1st of June 1918 the remaining cadre of the 2nd Battalion transferred to 94th Brigade, 31st Division. The Battalion was reconstituted on the 6th of June, absorbing troops from the 7th Battalion and on the 16th of June they transferred as Army Troops to Lines of Communication, until the 15th of July when they transferred to 149th Brigade in the reforming 50th (Northumbrian) Division. They went back into action in October in the Battles of the Hindenburg Line, The pursuit to the Selle and the Final Advance in Picardy. At the Armistice the 50th Division was resting at Solre le Chateau, demobilisation began December.
29th Jul 1914 Troops deployed
18th Aug 1914 Concentration
19th Aug 1914 Concentration
26th Aug 1914 Shellfire
27th Aug 1914 Enemy Advance
27th August 1914 On the Move
30th Aug 1914 Rear Guard
30th Aug 1914 Under Fire
30th of August 1914 A Hot March
30th Aug 1914 On the March
31st Aug 1914 Rear Guard
31st August 1914 Continued withdrawals
31st Aug 1914 On the March
1st Sep 1914 Rear Guard
1st Sep 1914 On the March
2nd Sep 1914 Rear Guard
2nd Sep 1914 On the March
3rd Sep 1914 Rear Guard
3rd of September 1914 Across the Marne
3rd Sep 1914 On the March
4th Sep 1914 Rear Guard
5th Sep 1914 Rear Guard
6th Sep 1914 Advance Guard
6th Sep 1914 On the March
7th Sep 1914 Advance Guard
8th Sep 1914 Advance Guard
9th Sep 1914 Bridging
10th of September 1914 Marching
17th Oct 1914 2nd Dublin Fusiliers in action 2nd Btn Dublin Fusiliers are in action at Houplines, France on the 17 October 1914. William McCann is documented as being the hero of Houplines engaging in a fierce fight in the café St Josephs.
30th Oct 1914 Under Shellfire
5th December 1914 Quiet
9th December 1914 Uniforms
12th Apr 1915 Into the Trenches
21st of May 1915 Awards
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
26th Apr 1916 Trench Work
1st July 1916 Bombardment
23rd Oct 1916 Attack Made
7th of August 1917 Heavy Shelling
22nd Oct 1917 Divisional Reliefs
20th Nov 1917 Attack Made
30th Nov 1917 Reliefs
17th Dec 1917 Relief Complete
1st March 1918 Extracts from the Diary of Brevet-Colonel G.S.col1ison, D.S.O. Pt.5.
11th of July 1918
15th of July 1918
15th of July 1918
8th of October 1918
12th of October 1918 Orders
19th of October 1918
8th of November 1918
12th of November 1918 Casualties
12th of November 1918 Casualties
12th of November 1918 Report
19th of November 1918If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
Want to know more about 2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers?
There are:5289 items tagged 2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
Those known to have served with
2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers
during the Great War 1914-1918.
- Adams Richard. Pte. (d.16th Jan 1915)
- Anderson John Charles. Pte. (d.23rd Oct 1916)
- Ashe Patrick. Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Aspell Patrick. Pte. (d.26th Apr 1915)
- Bagley MC. Arthur Bracton. Capt. (d.29th October 1918)
- Baker C.. Cpl. (d.6th Feb 1919)
- Barker William. Pte. (d.20th Nov 1917)
- Barnes Jeremiah. Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Barron James. Pte. (d.12th Oct 1916)
- Batwell George. Sgt. (d.21st Mar 1918)
- Baxter James. Pte. (d.4th May 1915)
- Behan John. Pte. (d.25th May 1915)
- Behan Michael. Pte. (d.3rd Dec 1916)
- Behan Patrick. Pte. (d.12th Oct 1916)
- Behan Thomas. Pte. (d.21st Mar 1918)
- Bell John. Cpl. (d.5th Sept 1918)
- Bennett Thomas. 2Lt.
- Benson Thomas. Pte. (d.3rd Oct 1918)
- Bermingham Patrick. Pte. (d.14th Dec 1914)
- Betts Frederick. Sgt. (d.27th Aug 1914)
- Bishop Peter. Pte. (d.20th May 1915)
- Bloomfield Robert. L/Cpl. (d.15th Mar 1917)
- Boland Christopher. Pte. (d.9th May 1915)
- Boland John. L/Cpl. (d.27th Aug 1914)
- Boland Peter. Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Bolger Patrick. Pte. (d.18th May 1915)
- Bolger Patrick. Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Booth Daniel. Pte. (d.5th May 1915)
- Bowes Christopher. Pte. (d.30th July 1917)
- Bowman Archibald. L/Cpl.
- Boyce John. Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Brady James. Pte. (d.23rd Oct 1916)
- Brady Michael. Pte. (d.13th Dec 1914)
- Brady William. L/Cpl. (d.21st Nov 1917)
- Breen William. Pte. (d.26th Mar 1915)
- Brennan James. Pte. (d.16th Aug 1917)
- Brett Peter. Pte. (d.7th Oct 1914)
- Brien John. Pte. (d.26th Oct 1917)
- Brien William. Cpl. (d.6th Jun 1915)
- Brogan James. Pte. (d.27th Aug 1914)
- Brown Alexander Patrick. Pte. (d.10th May 1915)
- Brown James. Pte. (d.1st Aug 1917)
- Brown John. A/Sgt. (d.21st Mar 1918)
- Carroll James. Pte. (d.24th February 1916)
- Collins James . Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Corcoran T.. Pte.
- Cravern John Henry. L/Cpl. (d.2nd June 1917)
- Dignam Patrick. Pte. (d.10th May 1915)
- Evans Emrys Joshua.
- Fagan Thomas. Pte. (d.29th Mar 1915)
- Fagan Thomas. Pte. (d.29th March 1915)
- Falkiner George Stride. 2nd Lt. (d.16th Aug 1917)
- Flynn Richard. Pte.
- Frazer George. Pte (d.27th August 1914)
- Frazer George. Pte (d.27th August 1914)
- French Charles Stockley. Lt. (d.25th April 1915)
- Glasgow Robert. Pte. (d.4th November 1916)
- Graham Robert. Pte. (d.21st Nov 1917)
- Greene Patrick. Pte. (d.1st Jul 1916)
- Griffin William. Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Griffin William. Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Harvey Percy .
- Hayes James. Pte. (d.23rd Oct 1916)
- Hoar William. Pte.
- House Robert Henry. L/Cpl.
- Housham Thomas Henry. Cpl.
- Hynes Richard. Pte.
- Kelly John. Pte. (d.22nd Aug 1918)
- Kenny James. Pte.
- Kenny John. Pte.
- Killingley Hastings G.. Lt. (d.23rd Oct 1916)
- Mahon John Joseph. Pte.
- May Henry. Pte.
- McCann William. Pte. (d.17th Oct 1914)
- McGrath John. Sgt. (d.9th Apr 1918)
- McGuirk Edward. Pte. (d.21st Apr 1915)
- Messitt John. Pte (d.18th October 1918)
- Moore Bartholomew. Pte.
- Moore James. Pte. (d.2nd March 1915)
- Moore Michael. Pte. (d.21st March 1918)
- Moreland Patrick. Pte
- Murphy Thomas. Pte. (d.1st Jul 1916)
- O'Donnell James. Cpl.
- O'Hara Michael. Pte. (d.11th May 1915)
- Prizeman Frederick Joseph. Pte. (d.21st March 1918)
- Scully Michael. Pte. (d.24th May 1915)
- Shaw Jacob Spedding. Pte. (d.16th Aug 1917)
- Thompson Thomas. Pte. (d.1st February 1915)
- Thompson Thomas. Pte. (d.1st Feb 1915)
- Tierney Peter.
- Trew Albert William. Pte. (d.21st April 1918)
- Twohig Michael. Pte.
- West Nicholas. Pte.
- White Michael. Cpl.
- Wixted Michael. Pte.
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List
Records of 2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers from other sources.
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Pte. John Joseph Mahon 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin FusiliersMy Granddad John Joseph Mahon enlisted in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on the 15 August 1913 and landed with the British Expedition Force in France on the 22/26 August 1914. He was shot and wounded at the Battle of Le Cateau on the 27th August 1914, taken prisoner and was a POW till the 2nd November 1918 after which he was demobbed on the 5th February 1919.Thomas Murphy
Pte. Michael Wixted 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin FusilliersMichael Wixted was born in January 1889. He joined the British Army in mid 1915 and was allotted to the 7th Royal Irish Rifles. There is evidence of a Leinster Regiment being formed around this time and it is probable that along with thousands of other young Dubliner's, he enlisted. From his Medal Roll Card, we know he arrived in France with a Draft in early 1916 He had been transferred to the 8th Royal Dublin Fusiliers by late 1917, having left his original Regiment for reasons and a date unknown but likely to be due to a wound or sicknessHe was posted to the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers in February 1918 when the 8th Battalion was disbanded. In total 400 men were absorbed into both the 1st and 2nd Royal Dublin Fusilier Battalions on the 10th of February 1918. 200 men being absorbed into each Battalion.
Michael was captured by German forces on the 21st of March 1918 in the town of St. Quentin in France. This was during a very heavy offensive of 500,000 German Troops against some 200,000 Allied Troops. Sometime after his capture, Michael had been transferred to Soltau Prisoner of War Camp, Germany. He was repatriated to England in January 1919.
Brian Connolly
Cpl. Thomas Henry Housham 1st Btn. Royal Dublin FusiliersAt the age of 17, Thomas Housham enlisted into the regular Army with the Wiltshire Regiment at Devises on 8th of September 1914. He was transferred to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 17th of September 1914, joining the 6th (Service) Battalion at Naas, Southern Ireland. On 11th of July 1915, the Battalion sailed to Mitillini on the island of Levos, Greece off the west coast of Turkey. He was wounded in action and was posted on 23rd of August 1915 to Depot in Cork, Southern Ireland.On 23ed of March 1916, Thomas was posted to the 1st Battalion, which was placed within the 86th Brigade, 29th Division and deployed to the Picardie, Flanders, and Normandy regions of France. On 28th of August, he was promoted to unpaid Lance Corporal during the battle of the Somme (he always stated this was because of his tea-making excellence). He was promoted to Corporal on 6th of March 1917. Wounded on the Somme, he was sent to 3rd (Reserve) Battalion to convalesce in Cork, Southern Ireland. Afterwards, in July 1917, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion in France and then to the 9th (Service) Battalion, which later become 8/9th Battalion. He also served with the 2nd Battalion.
In April 1918, he was assigned back to the 1st Battalion due to the 2nd Battalion being reduced to cadre. On 5th of October 1918, he was posted to Depot, which by all accounts was in the Grimsby area of England. On 5th of December 1918, he was posted to Command Depot in Tipperary, Southern Ireland. On 10 January 1919, he was sent to the dispersal area in Purfleet, Essex. One month later, on 9th Feb 1919, Thomas was demobbed at the age of 21.
Ian Housham
Pte. William Griffin 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.24th May 1915)William Griffin was born on the eleventh of October 1895 in Francis Street, Dublin. He died in the Battle of Saint Julien on the morning 24th of May 1915 by an enemy gas attack at 2.45 am.Tom Reid
Pte. James Kenny 2nd Batallion Royal Dublin FusiliersJames Kenny was said to have been taken as a prisoner at the Somme in 1916 and taken to Germany. Little else known, he survived the war and had a pension for life.Tony Hennessy
Pte. William Griffin 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.24th May 1915)>William Griffin served with the 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers in WW1. He left for France on 23rd of August 1914 aboard the ship SS Caledonia. After their training in India, near St Julian, they fired the first shot from all the Irish Regiments on the 24th of May 1915. The 2nd Battalion's trench was only 60 metres from the German lines. They heard the valves being released on the gas machines in Shell Shock Farm. It was the first time gas was used on the Western Front. William perished with almost the whole battalion on the morning of 24th of May 1915. He was 20 years old. He has no known grave but is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium.William came from Carmens Hall, Francis St., Dublin. He was my Irish great uncle. My English side had 9 other family members fight, two in WW1 and seven in WW2. We have another unknown grave in Mesopotamia.
Tom
Pte. Robert Glasgow 2nd Btn. (d.4th November 1916)My great grandfather, Robert Glasgow, had been in France for almost a year before being wounded at the Battle of the Somme when he was taken to a field hospital and later transferred to a military hospital in Rouen where he succumbed to his wounds on Saturday 4th of November 1916, age 33 leaving a young widow and 3 children. He is buried in St. Server Cemetery Extension, Rouen in France.Mark Glasgow
Pte George Frazer 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.27th August 1914)George Frazer was killed on the 27th of August 1914. George's niece, Elizabeth Killeen her husband visited his grave in Honnechy Cemetery, about six miles from town of Le Cateau in France on 15th April 2011. Elizabeth's brother-in-law, Maurice McGrath, also attended.Christopher Killeen
Pte. Patrick Bolger 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.24th May 1915)Patrick Bolger was the son of James and Mary Dowling Bolger of Inch, Ballymurphy, Borris, Co. Carlow.
2Lt. Thomas Bennett 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin FusiliersThomas Bennett was transferred to the 6th Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles and was discharged on the 20th July 1915 after having a fall and damaging his palatopharyngeus tendon.Tanya Bennett
Pte. Albert William Trew 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.21st April 1918)Albert Trew was my great uncle, third of 3 brothers and 2 sisters. All brothers died either during the WW1 or after as a result of WW1. I know he was involved in the battle of Cambrai in March 1918, wounded & taken prisoner. He was taken to a hospital in Wittenberg, Germany where he died of his wounds on 21st April 1918. I believe he is buried in a Cemetery in Germany, somewhere near Berlin.Deborah Smart
Capt. Arthur Bracton Bagley MC. 8th Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.29th October 1918)Arthur Bagley was born 6th of March 1891 in Rangoon, Burma. The 1901 census shows he was a boarder at Stoneygates School in Leicester. On 26th October 1910 he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant (on probation) with the 3rd Battalion The Royal Dublin Fusiliers from the Cambridge University contingent Officers Training Corps. The 1911 census shows him based at Tournay Barracks, Marlborough at Aldershot.On 2 October 1914 he was awarded an aviator's certificate by the Royal Aero Club following a flight in a Maurice Farman biplane at the Central School of Flying at Upavon Airfield. In 1915 he married Kathleen Georgina Nelson Fernslade-Speed.
On 17 April 1917, having been promoted to Captain he was awarded the Military Cross, the citation reads, His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to award the Military Cross in recognition of conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field. He forced his way through uncut wire into the trench and killed two of the enemy. Later, finding his company could not get through the wire, he returned and organised bomb-throwing parties while the wire was being cut.
He was serving with the 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers attached to the 8th Battalion when he died of his wounds on 29 October 1918 aged 27 years. He is buried in Mont Huon Military Cemetery, Le Treport, France and is remembered on the War Memorial, St Mary's Church, Acton, London.
Probate records shows that at the time of his death his widow Kathleen was living at The Paveys, Langton Green, Kent and his address was given as 7 Upper Mount Street Dublin. It is not sure why he is commemorated on the Acton War Memorial but the 1911 census shows an Ann Bagley, aged 54 and unmarried, living at 56 Maldon Road from her age she may have been his aunt.
Caroline Hunt
Pte. Henry May 2nd Btn., A Coy. Royal Dublin FusiliersHenry May was my grandfather. He was taken prisoner on 27th August 1914 at Ligney-En-Cambresis at the retreat from Mons. He received a gunshot wound to his left knee and a shrapnel wound to his left elbow and remained a POW for the duration of the war.He had enlisted in 1900 at Naas, Co Kildare aged 17 but stated that he was 19. He served in S Africa, Malta, Eqypt and France. Henry was demobilized on 28th March 1919. He passed away in 1942 in Dublin.
Harry May
Pte. William Hoar 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin FusiliersPrivate Hoar was the Son of E. Hore, of Kilree St., Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow.He was 32 when he died on 4th November 1920 and is buried In the South-West part of the Sleaty Old Burial Ground, Sleaty, Co. Leix, Ireland.
s flynn
Pte. T. Corcoran 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin FusiliersPrivate Corcoran was the son of Mr T. Corcoran of Kill, Tullow.He died on 14th March 1919 and is buried South-West of entrance to the Mullawn (St. Bridget's) Cemetery, Tullow, Co. Carlow, Ireland.
S Flynn
Pte. James Carroll 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.24th February 1916)Private Carroll is buried North-East of the ruin in the Monasteroris Old Graveyard, Monasteroris, Co. Offaly, Ireland.s flynn
Pte. James Baxter 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.4th May 1915)Private Baxter was the son of James Baxter of School St., Kilcock.He was 35 when he died and is buried in Grave 649 in the Kilcock (St. Joseph's) Cemetery, Kilcock, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
S Flynn
Pte. Michael O'Hara 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.11th May 1915)Michael O'Hara was the son of Mrs. Marcella O'Hara of Harristown, Brannoxtown, Co. Kildare. He was aged 22 when he died and is buried in the north-west section of the Ballymore Eustace (St. John) Churchyard, Co. Kildare, Ireland.s flynn
Cpl. Michael White 2nd Battalion, A Coy. Royal Dublin FusiliersMichael White was born in Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland on March 16th 1882. In April 1900 he enlisted as a private in the 2nd Battalion of the RDF at the battalions depot in Naas. His Service record for the RDF shows that at some stage previously he had joined the Royal Irish Regiment but had been dismissed for being under age. Michael served with the RDF during the second Boer war in South Africa and was awarded both the Queen's and King's South Africa medals with clasps. After the Boer war he also served in peacetime at Malta, Crete and Egypt with his regiment. In April 1908, when his 8 year's service was up, he transferred to the army reserve.With the outbreak of WW1, as a reserve soldier, he was called up to the RDF and mobilised on 6th of August 1914. With the rest of the second battalion he sailed from Southampton for Boulogne and then travelled by train to Le Cateau. His regiment, along with the rest of the British Expeditionary Force, was hurredly thrown into action in an attempt to stop the German advance through Belgium into France.
The battalion first engaged the advancing German forces during the retreat from Mons on August 26th, suffering many casualties and loosing many men as prisoners of war. Michael White was wounded twice during the chaotic fighting and retreats during the battle of Le Cateau. He was sent home to Naas to recover and during his recoevry there he was interviewed by the local Kildare Observer newspaper. The article is below: Extract from Kildare Observer Sept 1914:
Wounded at Cambrai - Naas Soldier Back From the Front 19th September 1914.
Private Michael White, "A" Company, Royal Dublin Fusilier, was in the firing line at Cambrai in the retreat from Mons on August 26th and was in the fighting line three days before he was rendered Hors-De-Combat by two Germans bullets. His wounds have now healed and he has been granted 14 days' Furlough. He is at present in his home at Rathasker Road, Naas, none the worse for his wounds. "I was one of four platoons of the 'Dublins'," He told me, "sent to hold the hills at Cambrai at all costs, but ten times our number could not have performed the task, as we soon found out when we saw the numbers against us. I was in the fourth platoon under Lieut. Mackey, who was afterward captured by the Germans and is now a prisoner, I believe. I tasted the lead of the German twice. The first wound I believe was here" - holding up his right hand, the third finger of which bore a recently healed scar. - "I paid no heed to that. It was nothing, and I got back into the ranks and fired away after I had got a bandage tied around it to keep the blood from bothering me. We were retiring all this time, and I asked Captain Clarke where I could get me hand bound up when the blood was troubling me. He told me to go back to the village - Cambrai - and I would find No.2 Red Cross Hospital there.
"I had got my finger bandaged when a German aeroplane buzzed right over the Church, which had been turned into a temporary hospital. The people in the aeroplane dropped a black disc suspended by a cord over the church for the purpose, I suppose, of giving the range to the artillery. A few minutes' later the steeple of the church came tumbling down and some French doctors and nuns were killed amongst other. This is not hearsay, as I saw it with my own eyes. We - some wounded - were told to clear out, as the place was about to be shelled and we lost no time in going, those of us who could look after ourselves.
"As I have told you, I re-joined my comrades, who were at this time retreating and some four or five hours' later, while we were fighting on our retreat some miles from Cambrai I got another bullet - this time in the groin that knocked me over, and I was sent to the field hospital at Rouen.
That night we had to clear off from there and got on board a ship which came through the Seine. We disembarked at Southampton, and a lot of us were sent to Plymouth Hospital, which was in charge of civilians and territorials. They fed you well and looked after you but did not bother to enquire further about you. That was the reason why, although I was wounded on August 26th, my name did not appear in the casualty list until a couple of days ago. It's the same with hundreds of others. They do not bother about reporting you as being wounded or in the hospital until you are fit to leave, and then they inform the authorities and you are sent to Naas or wherever you regiment may happen to have come from. I was discharged the day before yesterday - on Tuesday - and was the only one of the wounded sent to Naas.
"Yes" he said replying to a question I asked him as to whether he had seen any of the German brutality we hear so much about. "I saw two of our bands men - Private Flannery and Ives Flannery was from Tipperary and we called him "Tipp", and Ives is an Englishmen) go out with the stretcher from them and turned them back. I met them on the road and Flannery's hand was bleeding. He told me the Uhlans had broken his fingers with a slash of a sword. The Germans are all right now to our fellows when they are being forced to retreat themselves, but when they were marching on us they murdered all before them. I believe they are told if they meet a British soldier to shoot him or he will shoot them. "Yes, I'm feeling quite fit again now", said the private. "When my fortnight is up I'll go back to my regiment, and hope to be sent to the front again. I want to get some of my own back off those fellows".
Michael returned to France in January 1915. On 21st of March 1918, the German Army made its final major push in an effort to end the war. The RDF was heavily engaged during the German spring offensive and suffered significant casualties. At some point, Michael's company (A Company) was isolated and Michael was taken prisoner. He spent the rest of the war a POW. Michael was finally repatriated after the war had ended in December 1918. He was demobilised in February 1919.
John Power
Cpl. C. Baker 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers (d.6th Feb 1919)Corporal C. Baker is buried in the Arklow Cemetery, Co. Wicklow.s flynn
Recomended Reading.
Available at discounted prices.
CROWN AND COMPANY 1911-1922. 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin FusiliersCol. H. C. Wylly
This volume is concerned principally with the battalion’s service in the Great War during which it fought on the Western Front in 10th Brigade, 4th Division till the end of 1916 when it was transferred to 48th Brigade of 16th(Irish) Division. The last part gives a very full and often moving description of the disbandment of the battalion. 269 officers and 4508 WOs, NCOs and men of the Regiment died during the war and an appendix lists the names of the officers showing which battalion they were serving in. There is a full list of Honours and Awards including Mentions in Despatches and foreign awards for the whole regiment. Another appendix lists the officers of the 1st and 2nd battalions serving at the time of disbandment and shows which regiments they transferred to or whether they retired.More information on:CROWN AND COMPANY 1911-1922. 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers
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