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John finally gets to leave Tipperary for somewhere closer to home – Newtownards.
We also have Part 1 of an interview with Blacker’s Boys author, Nick Metcalfe.
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Only one letter this month – complaining about the wet in Newtownards.
We also have Part 2 of our interview with Blacker’s Boys author, Nick Metcalfe.
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John is still in Ireland, but is about to go back to France.
We also discuss some new evidence about the aftermath of the Somme in Ireland, following a comment by one of our listeners.
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No letters from John this month, so just a short history section on the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers.
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John returns to the Western Front in May 1917.
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A look at the Battle of Messines in June 1917, where the 36th Ulster and 16th Irish Divisions fought side by side. John Adams and the 9th Irish Fusiliers were in Reserves.
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July was a busy month of training near Ypres. And a letter with some gaps.
In August 1917 the worst place on earth to be a human being was the Ypres Salient. Due to two weeks of rain and many weeks of shelling, the low lying ground east of Ypres had become a morass of porridge-like mud, the with no shelter or protection.
And yet men of the 36th Ulster, 16th Irish and many other units were tasked to advance across this ground and take territory from the defending German army.
One of those men was Sgt John Adams of the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers. John Adams was our grandfather.
He was a Lewis gunner, in a team of 5 men supporting a light machine gun, providing much needed mobile firepower. His was an assault role, intended to provide covering fire in support of the advance against concrete strongpoints around Gallipoli Farm.
The attack failed miserably. It started at 0445 and by mid-morning the attackers were back where they started. Nick Metcalfe describes the situation in more detail.
The 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers suffered terrible casualties, 20 out of 23 officers were killed or wounded. 60% (421 out of 640) of the men were casualties, with 151 (24%) killed. The battalion only remained because of a merger with the North Irish Horse.
From 100 years distance, it is almost impossible to appreciate the horror of Passchendaele. In wearing a Passchendaele 100 poppy today, I am reflecting on the experiences of my Granda and how it shaped the rest of his life.
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No letters this month, just field postcards. This is unsurprising given the context: the beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele (Third Ypres) on 31 July, and John’s involvement in the Battle of Langemarck around 16 August. Sobering history.
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This month we look at history of the North Irish Horse, which amalgamated with the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers in 1917, and saw fighting at Cambrai.
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