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9th (West Belfast) Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
The 9th (West Belfast) Battalion was raised in Belfast September 1914 from the Belfast Volunteers. They joined the 107th Brigade 36th (Ulster) Division at Ballykinler. The Ulster Division was formed from the Ulster Volunteer Force in August and September 1914, a process complicated by the tension surrounding the issue of Home rule. In July 1915 they moved to Seaford, Sussex in England. They proceeded to France in the first week of October, landing at Boulogne. The 36th (Ulster) Division concentrated near Flesselles, north of Arras. With training and familiarisation, including periods in the trenches with 4th Division in the front line north of the River Ancre near Albert. On the 21st of October they moved to the area around Abbeville. From the 5th November 1915 to 3rd Feb 1916 the 9th Battalion served with with 107th Bde, 4th Division for winter training. On the 29th August 1917 the 8th amalgamated with 9th Btn to form 8th/9th Battalion The 36th Ulster Division took over the front line in Spring. In 1916 they Division suffered heavily on the first day of the Battle of the Somme where they attacked at Thiepval. In 1917 They were in action at The Battle of Messines, capturing Wytschaete and in the The Battle of Langemarck during the Third Battles of Ypres and the The Cambrai Operations where the Division captured Bourlon Wood. In early 1918 the army was reorganised and the 9th battalion was disbanded in France on the 7th of February 1918.
The Ulster Tower, at Thiepval is a memorial to the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division, built as a copy of Helen's Tower at Clandeboye, County Down, where men of the 36th Division trained. There is a small visitor centre with a cafe behind the tower which is staffed by members of the Somme Association. Inside the tower is a small chapel with a number of paintings and plaques from Northern Ireland.
Today Thiepval Wood is owned by The Somme Association and guided tours are available of a section of recently excavated trenches.
Please note that Thiepval Wood is not open the public, it is used by French huntsmen who use live ammunition and who will shoot, you are putting yourself at risk by entering without permission. Please go to the visitor centre at the Ulster Tower to arrange a guided tour.
A DVD is now available, released for the official opening of the wood for guided tours on the 1st of July 2006, follows the Community Archaeology Project, undertaken by The Somme Association and No Man's Land, The European Group for Great War Archaeology. You can order a copy on-line by clicking the image below:
23rd of November 1914 Reorganisation
8th of October 1915 Inspection
13th of October 1915 First Casualties
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
18th of October 1915 Instruction
25th of October 1915 Royal Inspection
1st of November 1915 Marching Orders
4th of November 1915 More Moves
7th of November 1915 Present Stations
25th of November 1915 Orders
29th of November 1915 Moves Completed
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
2nd of February 1916 Moving to the Trenches 
7th of February 1916 New Sector
8th of February 1916 Shelling
9th of February 1916 Villages Shelled
9th February 1916 Call Ups
10th of February 1916 Shelling and Bombs
12th of February 1916 A Line Rearrangement
14th of February 1916 Mine Blown
15th of February 1916 Digging and Mending
16th of February 1916 Collapsing Trenches
18th of February 1916 Lots of MG Fire
19th of February 1916 Under Heavy Fire
20th of February 1916 System for Reliefs
21st of February 1916 Active German Patrols
23rd of February 1916 Weather Turns
25th of February 1916 Heavy Snow and a German Patrol
26th of February 1916 A Store Burns
28th of February 1916 Changes to the Front
29th of February 1916 Active Aeroplanes
1st of March 1916 Reorganisation
2nd of March 1916 Very Strong Enemy Wire
3rd of March 1916 Divisional Artillery Relieved
25th of March 1916 Hostile Aeroplanes
28th of March 1916 Booby Traps Found
29th Mar 1916 Into the Line At 6.15pm 18th DLI proceeded to front line trenches to relieve 9th Royal Irish Rifles.The National Archives 18th DLI War Diary WO95/2361/1
20th of April 1916 Unit Moves
5th of May 1916 Bombs and Reliefs
1st of June 1916 Lively Shelling
24th of June 1916 Our Artillery Cuts Wire
27th of June 1916 Intense Bombardment
29th of June 1916 Assault Positions
1st Jul 1916 Over the Top
1st of July 1916 In Thiepval Wood
1st July 1916 Terrible Losses
2nd of July 1916 A Gallant Plan
10th of July 1916 Entraining Plans
31st of July 1916 Back to Kortepyp Billets
12th of October 1916 Several Raids
13th Oct 1916 Responsible Work
30th Oct 1916 Medal Ribbons
1st of June 1917 Instructions for the Offensive
2nd of June 1917 Moved Out
7th of June 1917 Attack a Complete Success
2nd Aug 1917 Heavy Shelling
7th of August 1917 Under Fire
12th of August 1917 Reliefs
12th of August 1917 A Bavarian Deserter
17th of August 1917 On the Move
30th of September 1917 Battle Narrative
1st of February 1918 An Inspection
6th of February 1918 New Battalion Arrives
12th of April 1918 Enemy Advances
13th of April 1918 Under Heavy Attack
11th of August 1918 King Attends March Past
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with9th (West Belfast) Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles during the Great War 1914-1918. - Aggas George Robert. Rfm. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Arbuthnot William Henry. Rifleman (d.8 January 1916)
- Baker W. J.. Rfm. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Bell William. Cpl. (d.8th March 1916)
- Bingham Alfred. Rflmn. (d.5th Feb 1916)
- Bird Alfred Thomas. Rfm. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Blackadder Thomas. Rflmn. (d.24th March 1917)
- Bloomfield Arthur Henry. Rfm. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Bothwell Thomas Henry. Rfmn. (d.4th Jun 1916)
- Briggs William. Pte.
- Brown John. Lance Sjt. (d.7th Jun 1917)
- Burns William. Rfmn. (d.8th Aug 1917)
- Collins Walter.
- Crozier James. Pte. (d.27th Feb 1916)
- Foster Henry. Sgt. (d.1st Jul 1916)
- Graham George. Pte.
- Hamilton John Irvine. Rflmn. (d.1st July 1916)
- Hayes Robert. Pte.
- Hone Nathaniel Frederick.
- Kelly MM. David Fergus Ferguson. Rfm.
- Lyons John. Rflmn.
- Mailey John Henry. L/Cpl. (d.1st July 1916)
- McCracken William John. Rflmn. (d.7th June 1917)
- McCullough Joseph Craig . Rfmn. (d.1st Jul 1916)
- McCullough William. Rflmn. (d.1st Jul 1916)
- Mulholland David. L/Cpl. (d.16th January 1916)
- Peake MM. Walter. Cpl.
- Robinson John Charles. Cpl.
- Stewart Henry John. Rflmn. (d.6th April 1917)
- Watson George Douglas. Pte.
- Wright A.. Sgt.
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 9th (West Belfast) Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles from other sources.
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Pte. George Douglas Watson 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles  I just found the military service history of my late granddad, George Watson. At age 18, he joined the British Army and served with the 9th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, and the 17th London Regiment, with which he fought in the Great War. He returned to civilian life in 1920, but on 22 May 1928, at age 31, he died of shell shock from his terrible experiences in that war. He is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery, Wandsworth, London. I feel I need to add to Granddad George's tragic life story.
He was the love of my late nan’s life, and all that I knew of him was what she told me. She said he was a real cheeky, funny lad when they were courting, but at the age of 18 he felt he had to join the army to fight in the Great War. When he returned in 1920, he was a shadow of himself and suffering from shell shock. She told me he used to wake up screaming at night with cold sweats because of the horrors he witnessed at the front, and that in the end it became so unbearable with all the pain and sorrow, it eventually made him take his own young life, 7 years later, by drinking arsenic down in the coal cellar. She said that he screamed in agony for well over 3 hours until the poison finally killed him. My nan was pregnant at the time with my father. How horrific that must had been for her, no one could ever imagine.
In those days, men with psychiatric problems from the war were told to man up, but we now know they were suffering from PTSD and so many took their own lives when they returned from the front. A lot of them felt guilty because they survived and their closest friends were killed in battle. So, on this Remembrance Sunday and on the 11th, I shall be thinking not only of my great-uncle James but my granddad George as well (my nan's brother and the husband she lost to the war) for the sacrifices that they made for this country in the First World War. God bless their souls. Anthony Christopher Watson
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Rflmn. William McCullough 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (d.1st Jul 1916) On my mom's side I knew of my great-uncle William McCullough, or "Uncle Billy", because my mom, Shirley spoke of him often and said that he was killed in WWI. While visiting Belfast, Ireland in early September 2019, I walked the area of the Shankill Road, which was the neighborhood where my mom's dad, her uncle, and her grandfather lived. I walked into a memorial garden on Shankill Road and found this plaque. I'm still researching, but I believe this to be my late great-uncle William.
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Rflmn. John Lyons 9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles John Lyons was born on 27th April 1898 at the family home in
Jersey Street, Belfast. Whilst he has a battalion prefix and regimental number consistent with an enlistment early in the war, he was not deployed to the Western Front with 9th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles in October 1915. He was deployed to 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles at an unrecorded date after 31st of December 1915 and there is no evidence that he was involved in the Battle of Albert on 1st and 2nd July 1916. He later served with 14th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles and the Northern Whig edition of 18th of April 1918 reported that he had been wounded, probably in the Battle of St Quentin in March 1918.
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Rflmn. Henry John Stewart 9th (West Belfast) Btn. C Coy. Royal Irish Rifles (d.6th April 1917) Rifleman Henry Stewart is buried at Pond Farm Military Cemeterym Wulvergem Belgium. His grave is regularly visited.
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Cpl. John Charles Robinson 9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles John Robinson was born in Drogheda in 1877. His father, Robert Robinson, was from Ligoniel and was a mill engineer. The family moved back to Belfast and John married Elizabeth Moody in 1905. The couple had 8 children and at the outbreak of WW1 were living at 171 Conway Street, Belfast. John fought in and survived the fighting on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He later became a Military Policeman. He returned to Belfast and lived at 333 Cupar Street. He belonged to Albert Street Presbyterian Church. He died aged 75 in 1952.
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Cpl. William Bell 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (d.8th March 1916) My great uncle William Bell served with the 9th Btn Royal Irish Rifles (West Belfast Volunteers), 36th Ulster Division. He died from his wounds on Tuesday 8th of March 1916. William Bell is buried in Bertrancourt Military Cemetery in France. He was brother to my Grandmother.
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Pte. William Briggs 9th (West Belfast) Battalion Royal Irish Rifles William Briggs, was the brother of my Grandfather John (Stoker RN,) both resided at 13 Elizabeth Street, Grosvenor Road, Belfast.
William joined the 9th Royal Irish Rifles on the 21st of October 1914 at the age of 21.5 yrs. He remained at home training at various locations both in Ireland and England until the 1st of October 1915 before deploying to France.
His war time service was up until the 7th of March 1916 when he was returned home to convalesce at the Bangour War Hospital, Edinburgh after losing his index finger and thumb on his right hand as a result of a detonator. He returned to Ireland on light duties until his honorable discharge as unfit for war service on the 25th of July 1916.
He later married and lived off the Donegal Road, Belfast, but both a son and wife died early. William lived until 1968 passing at the age of 75yrs.
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Nathaniel Frederick Hone 3rd Bn. attd. 9th Bn Royal Irish Rifles Nathaniel Hone was killed in the Battle of the Somme age 18 years.
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Pte. Robert Hayes 9th Btn Royal Irish Rifles Robert Hayes was my Grandfather who I never met. He enlisted when he was 16yrs old, fought at Schwaben Redoubt, Somme. He was wounded at Messines in 1917 and was honourably discharged in 1918.
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Sgt. Henry Foster 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (d.1st Jul 1916) The story goes on the day Henry Foster enlisted, he was refused due to his age, he left the recruiting office only to return minutes later but years younger.
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Rflmn. Alfred Bingham 9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (d.5th Feb 1916) Alfie Bingham served with the 9th Royal Irish Rifles.
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Cpl. Walter Peake MM. 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles I think Walter Peake was my grandfather Robert's brother.
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Pte. James Crozier 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (d.27th Feb 1916) James Crozier was executed for desertion 27/02/1916, he was the son of Mrs. Elizabeth Crozier, of 80, Battenberg Street, Belfast.
James Crozier from Belfast was shot at dawn for desertion – he was just sixteen. Before his execution, Crozier was given so much rum that he passed out. He had to be carried, semi-conscious, to the place of execution. Officers at the execution later claimed that there was a very real fear that the men in the firing squad would disobey the order to shoot.
One of the most poignant and, best documented judicial slayings of being ‘Shot at Dawn’ was that of 18 year old James Crozier from Belfast. In 1916 his commanding officer was a namesake, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Crozier. James was a 16 years old apprentice in Belfast shipyard when he enlisted in September 1914. He was under age and his mother came as far as the recruiting officer to persuade him not to join up. She threatened her son that she would tell the recruiting officer his real age. James said, ‘You cannot do that, mother, if you do you will be a coward and none of your family were ever cowards’. At this point the then Major Crozier said to the mother, ‘Do not worry, I will look after him and see that no harm comes to him’. Events would show that the officer was not as good as his word.
Rifleman James Crozier spent the dreadful winter of 1915/16 in the trenches of the Somme. In February of that miserable cold, dreary wet winter James Crozier went missing from his sentry post. He had walked a considerable distance when he was admitted to an Army Medical Post. At his court martial he said that he had not known what he was doing when he made off, being in a daze and suffering from pains throughout his body. However the doctor who examined him pronounced him fit for active service and he was returned to his unit to face the consequences of his desertion. Lt. Col. Percy Crozier in evidence stated that this was not a case of a confused and disorientated young man who left his post to check into a field hospital. Rather he was a cunning deserter. He also said that James Crozier, fed-up, cold, wet to the skin and despondent, had sneaked off from the line under cover of darkness, throwing away his rifle, ammunition and equipment. (A legal ground for a second charge also punishable by death)
Percy Crozier’s distortion of the facts makes it easier for him to explain away his subsequent actions. The young rifleman was court- martialed and found guilty of desertion. Despite his promise to the boy’s mother the officer had no hesitation in recommending to higher authority that the sentence be carried out. The carrying out of the sentence itself often verged on black farce. According to Lt. Col. Crozier, he plied his young namesake with drink in order ‘to ease his living misery’ before his execution. He may also have had a desire to ensure that the young man went to his death in a state of sufficient oblivion to avoid any embarrassing scenes. The officer was conscious that feelings against the execution were running high in the battalion. The military police and the assistant provost marshal were convinced that the firing party would deliberately miss. They even feared a mutiny by the troops.
Just before dawn on the morning of 27th February 1916 the battalion was paraded, the execution was to take place in a walled garden so Crozier’s comrades could hear, but would not see, what happened. Not unexpectedly, the firing squad failed to find their target, and the officer in charge was obliged to step forward and put a bullet through young Crozier’s head. Because of his promise to the young boy’s mother; Percy Crozier attempted to have his name added to a list of field casualties. He failed in this and Mrs. Crozier was duly notified that her only son had been shot for desertion, and she was denied the normal allowances payable on the death of next-of-kin. Percy Crozier commanding officer of the 9th Royal Irish Rifles, despite his promise to the boy’s mother had no hesitation in recommending to higher authority that the dearth sentence be carried out. He tried to justify his stand by saying that, ‘When it fell my lot to recommend the carrying out or remitting of the death sentence, I invariably recommended the carrying out of the extreme penalty – because I expected to be shot myself if I ran away’, Crozier was conscious that feelings against the execution were running high in the battalion.
Outside the winter snow lined the ground. James Crozier's guards wanted him to walk the short distance to a small garden where the firing party was waiting. The young rifleman was too drunk to move, and he had to be carried out into the open space. By now he was practically unconscious. Bound with ropes, he was attached to the execution post. His battalion formed up on the open road close to the garden. Screened by a wall, they wouldn't see the execution but would hear the shots.
Crozier's namesake Frank Percy Crozier, the man who recruited him and promised his mother he'd watch out for her son, was now preparing to watch him die. Crozier later recalled how he was secured to a stake 10 yards from the firing squad. "There are hooks on the post; we always do things thoroughly in the Rifles. He is hooked on like dead meat in a butcher's shop. His eyes are bandaged - not that it really matters, for he is already blind."
Then James Crozier was shot "A volley rings out - a nervous volley it is true, yet a volley. Before the fatal shots are fired I had called the battalion to attention. There is a pause, I wait. I see the medical officer examining the victim. He makes a sign, the subaltern strides forward, a single shot rings out. Life is now extinct." The firing squad, made up of men from his own regiment, shot wide, so James Crozier was killed by a bullet fired by a junior officer. After the shooting, as Frank Crozier recalled, life resumed as normal. " We march back to breakfast while the men of a certain company pay the last tribute at the graveside of an unfortunate comrade. This is war."
Frank Crozier didn't want James' family to discover how he had died. He tried but failed to pass off his death as 'killed in action'. Details of the manner of Crozier's death leaked out - though the facts weren't made public at the time. Weeks later one of Frank Crozier's officers was tackled about the shooting while on leave. He was asked by a civilian about the Crozier execution, and it was suggested that it had brought shame on the battalion and on the city of Belfast.
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Rfmn. Joseph Craig McCullough 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (d.1st Jul 1916) Joseph Craig McCullough, Rifleman 15241, served with the 9th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles and was killed in action on the 1st July 1916.
Fought to the death with the other brave men from West Belfast
Lest We Forget.....
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Rfmn. William Burns 9th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles (d.8th Aug 1917) William Burns was my grandfather's brother who was killed by a shell on the 8th of August 1917 at Ypres. I am told he was beside his brother who also served when the shell hit. The brother survived but nothing was found of William. He is remembered on Menin Gate.
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Pte. George Graham 9th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles My Grandfather, George Graham served as a stretecherbearer at the Somme, he was from the Shankill area of Belfast. He never spoke much about his experiences, so we have very little knowledge of what he went through.
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Rfm. David Fergus Ferguson "Dan" Kelly MM. 9th then 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles I am proud to have known my Godfather, David Fegus Ferguson Kelly who served in the 36th (Ulster) Division throughout the 1st World War and was gassed in 1917. A brave man amongst many.
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