Explore Listing
When Admiral Lord Nelson defeated the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile on 1 and 2 August 1798, the remnants of the French fleet sailed into Malta's Grand Harbour of Valletta. Malta had been occupied since the arrival of Napoleon's French Army of the Orient in June 1798, when the Knights of Malta had offered little resistance and capitulated.
When the 89th Regiment moved to Bombay in 1857, for service during what was then described as the Sepoy or Indian Mutiny (1857-59), it remained in India for eight years serving at Ahmedabad, Deesa, Neemuch, Goonah, Seronge, Jhansi, Umballa and Mooltan. In 1865, the 89th was ordered home at short notice. The majority of the Regiment embarked on the Walmer Castle at Karachi on 8 April, with the remainder following one month later.
Following the cessation of hostilities at the end of the French Revolutionary Wars, the 89th Regiment departed Egypt and joined an expedition sailing against Corfu. The expedition was countermanded and the Regiment returned to Ireland via Malta and Gibraltar, landing at the Cove of Cork on 28 January 1802.
With the introduction of 'Police Primacy', the 9th and 11th Battalion The Ulster Defence Regiment were the first battalions of the UDR to assume responsibility for their own 'Tactical Area of Responsibility' (TAOR). These two battalions also formed the first Permanent Cadre companies to undertake the new operational commitments they had been allocated in County Antrim (9 UDR) and County Armagh (11 UDR).
The 9th (County Antrim) Battalion of The Ulster Defence Regiment is formed with Battalion HQ in Antrim.
Fred was born at Athlone in 1889 and following on from a prized 1st Class Certificate of Education, he was permitted to request to be sent to Sandhurst.
In April 1909 Fred was an Unpaid Lance Corporal. A Paid L/Cpl post would soon follow, along with his first Good Conduct Stripe.
Moving sideways, Fred later became an Unpaid Lance Sergeant, with the 3rd Royal Irish Fusiliers (Special Reserve) Battalion, aka the Armagh Militia.
The Allied 'Hundred Days Offensive' on the Western Front had begun with the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918 and would eventually lead to the end of the First World War. As part of that great offensive, two battalions of the Royal Irish Fusiliers were fighting in the battle to recapture Bailleul. It had been seized by the Germans during the Spring Offensive 1918, or Kaiserschlacht.
The 9th Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers was ordered to seize a bridgehead across the River Lys near Courtrai on 16 October 1918. The Royal Engineers managed to build a pontoon bridge, but this was severely damaged almost immediately by heavy enemy fire. Before the bridge was destroyed a group of about thirty men from D Company had crossed, but were then cut off. Far from being discouraged, the small band waited until nightfall when, having captured six prisoners and two enemy machine guns, returned by boat.
Faugh a Ballagh, a corruption of the Irish (Gaeilge), 'Fág an Bealach' meaning 'Clear the Road', or 'Clear the Way' is first recorded as being shouted by the men of the 2nd Battalion of the 87th Regiment, later The Royal Irish Fusiliers, as they charged the French at the Battle of Barrosa on 5 March 1811.
Whistles have been used in the British Army since the 19th century to communicate with soldiers in the heat of battle. This whistle was used in the First World War. Its blast was often the last sound heard by the soldiers in their trenches as it commanded them over the top into no man's land to attack the enemy.
