16th (Irish) Division

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 16th (Irish) Division


caption=
dates= World War I
September 1914 - 1919
country= United Kingdom
allegiance=
branch= New Army
type= Infantry
role=
size=
command_structure=
current_commander=
garrison=
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
march=
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battles=Battle of Hulluch
Battle of the Somme (1916)
Battle of Guillemont
Battle of Ginchy
Battle of Messines
Third Battle of Ypres
anniversaries=

The 16th (Irish) Division was a division of the New Army, raised in Ireland from the Irish National Volunteers in September 1914 as part of the K2 Army Group. In December 1915, the division moved to France, joining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under the command of Irish Major General William Hickie, and spent the duration of the First World War in action on the Western Front. The division required a substantial refit in England between June and August 1918, which involved the introduction of many non-Irish battalions.

The Division began forming towards the end of 1914 after Irish recruits in the early days of the war from England and Belfast first filled the ranks of the 10th (Irish) Division before being assigned to the 16th Division, formed around a core of the Irish National Volunteers. Initial training began in Ireland at Fermoy and Buttevant, when it was moved to Aldershot Barracks in England for more intensive training in September 1915. After thirteen weeks, the unit was deployed to Etaples, France, where they left on December 18 for the front at the earlier Battle of Loos salient.

At Loos they got their introduction to trench warfare in January and February 1916, and suffered greatly in the Battle of Hulluch, April 27-April 29, 1916. They raided German trenches all through May and June, and in late July they were moved to the Somme Valley where they were intensively engaged in the Battle of the Somme.

The 16th Division was critical in capturing the towns of Guillemont and Ginchy, though they suffered massive casualties.

In early 1917, the division took a major part in the Battle of Messines alongside the 36th (Ulster) Division, due to both their recognition and reputation. Their major actions ended in the summer of 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele after moving under General Hubert Gough's Fifth Army command. He had little regard for the Irish and in July 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres, although both divisions were totally exhausted after 13 days of moving heavy equipment under heavy shelling he ordered their battalions advance to the east of Ypres through deep mud towards well fortified German positions left untouched by totally inadequate artillery preparation. By mid August the 16th (Irish) had suffered over 4,200 casualties and the 36th (Ulster) had suffered almost 3,600 casualties, or more than 50% of their numbers, which General Haig was very critical of him for "playing the Irish card" (Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson: "Passchendaele, the untold truth" (1997) pp 102-105).

In early 1918, the division held an exposed position at Ronssoy during the German Spring Offensive. They suffered heavy losses here and during the retreat which followed, also under Gough's command, for which he was dismissed. They helped finally halt the German attack at the Battle of Hamel. The 16th were returned to England on 14th June 1918 for "reconstitution". The "16th Division" which returned to France on 27th July contained 5 English Battalions, 2 Scottish Battalions and 1 Welsh Division. The only original Battalion left was the 5th Royal Irish Fusiliers. The 16th (IRISH) Division was no more!

Formation

; 47th Brigade :

*8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers (New Army) ("disbanded November 1916")
*6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment ("disbanded 1922")
*7th (Service) Battalion, Leinster Regiment; ("disbanded February 1918")
*6th (Service) Battalion, Connaught Rangers ("until June 1918")
*1st (Service) Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers ("from November 1916 until April 1918")
*18th (Service) Battalion Welsh Regiment (2nd Glamorgan), ("from May 1918")
*14th (Service) Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment ("from June 1918")
*9th (Service) Battalion, Black Watch ("from July 1918")
*2nd (Service) Battalion, Leinster Regiment ("from February 1918 until April 1918")

; 48th Brigade :

*9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers (New Army) ("disbanded May 1916")
*7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles ("until August 1917")
*8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers ("merged with 9th Battalion October 1917")
*9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers ("merged with 8th Battalion October 1917")
*1st (Service) Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers ("from May 1916 until November 1916")
*1st (Service) Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers ("from October 1917 until April 1918")
*2nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers ("from February 1918 until May 1918")
*22nd (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers ("from June 1918")
*18th (Service) Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) ("from July 1918")
*11th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers ("from June 1918 until August 1918")
*5th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers ("from August 1918")
*10th (Service) Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers ("from June 1917, disbanded February 1918")

The 8th and 9th Battalions of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers combined to form the 8/9th Battalion in October 1917 which was subsequently disbanded in February 1918.

; 49th Brigade :

*7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers ("merged with 8th Battalion October 1916, disbanded February 1918")
*8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers ("merged with 7th Battalion October 1916, disbanded February 1918")
*7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers ("merged with 8th Battalion August 1917")
*8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers ("merged with 7th Battalion August 1917")
*2nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment ("from October 1916 until April 1918")
*7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles ("from August 1917 until October 1917")
*7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (South Irish Horse) Battalion,("from October 1917 until July 1918")
*34th (Service) Battalion, The London Regiment (County of London) Battalion ("from June 1918")
*6th (Service) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry ("from July 1918")
*18th (Service) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment ("from July 1918")

The 7th and 8th Battalions of the Royal Irish Fusiliers combined to form the 7/8th Battalion in October 1916 which was subsequently disbanded in February 1918. The 7th and 8th Battalions of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers combined to form the 7/8th Battalion in August 1917 which was subsequently disbanded in February 1918.

Battles

*Battle of Hulluch
*Battle of the Somme (1916)
*Battle of Guillemont
*Battle of Ginchy
*Battle of Messines
*Third Battle of Ypres

ee also

* 10th (Irish) Division
* 36th (Ulster) Division
* List of British divisions in WWI

Great War Memorials

* Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Dublin.
* Island of Ireland Peace Park Messines, Belgium.
* Ulster Tower Memorial Thiepval, France.
* Menin Gate Memorial Ypres, Belgium.

External links

* [http://www.royaldublinfusiliers.com/ A website with information relating to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who had battalions which were a part of the 16th (Irish) Division.]

* [http://www.1914-1918.net/16div.htm The British Army in the Great War: The 16th (Irish) Division]

* [http://www.webmatters.net/belgium/ww1_mesen_2.htm The Battle for Messines Ridge - Homepage of the Island of Ireland Peace Park Memorial ]

* [http://www.irishwarmemorials.ie/ The Irish War Memorials Project - listing of monuments throughout Ireland]

* [http://www.irishsoldiers.com/ The Military Heritage of Ireland Trust]

* [http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/index.asp?docID=2517 Department of the Taoiseach - Irish Soldiers in the First World War]

Further reading

* Thomas P. Dooley: "Irishmen or English Soldiers? : the Times of a Southern Catholic Irish Man (1876-1916)", Liverpool Press (1995), ISBN 0-85323-600-3.
* Myles Dungan: "They Shall not Grow Old: Irish Soldiers in the Great War", Four Courts Press (1997), ISBN 1-85182-347-6.
* Keith Jeffery: "Ireland and the Great War", Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge (2000), ISBN 0-521-77323-7.
* Bryan Cooper (1918): "The 10th (Irish) Division in Gallipoli", Irish Academic Press (1993), (2003). ISBN 0-7165-2517-8.
* Terence Denman: "Ireland's unknown Soldiers: the 16th (Irish) Division in the Great War", Irish Academic Press (1992), (2003) ISBN 0-7165-2495-3.
* Desmond & Jean Bowen: "Heroic Option: The Irish in the British Army", Pen & Sword Books (2005), ISBN 1-84415-152-2.
* Steven Moore: "The Irish on the Somme" (2005), ISBN 0-9549715-1-5.
* Thomas Bartlett & Keith Jeffery: "A Military History of Ireland", Cambridge University Press (1996) (2006), ISBN 0-521-62989-6
* David Murphy: "Irish Regiments in the World Wars", OSprey Publishing (2007), ISBN 978-1-84603-015-4
* David Murphy: "The Irish Brigades, 1685-2006, A gazatteer of Irish Military Service past and present", Four Courts Press (2007)
The Military Heritage of Ireland Trust. ISBN 978-1-84682-080-9
* Stephen Walker: "Forgotten Soldiers; The Irishmen shot at dawn" Gill & Nacmillan (2007), ISBN 978-07171-4182-1