259902 Pte. Robert James Craig British Army 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles from:Lurgan Robert Craig enrolled at Island Bridge Barracks, Dublin, on 8th August 1914, so joining the regular Army, not the Kitchener Army.
He joined the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles. He was
transferred to the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles (which had suffered losses at La Bassee, and 1st Ypres). He arrived in France on 13th of December 1914 and reinforced the battalion at Hooge, in the Ypres salient. He was wounded by shrapnel and returned to the UK. the oral history of the family is that he was present in Dublin at the time of the Easter Rising. This makes sense, as the 3rd Royal Irish Rifles were then the reserve battalion, stationed at Portobello Barracks, and who fought their way to the castle.
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