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Since the Army's earliest days in India, sutlers and their wallahs have provided all messes and ranks with loyal and faithful service in many parts of the world. When the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers arrived in Egypt in February 1925, they received business propositions from sutlers. One such sutler, or charwallah* sent the following endearing letter to the President of the Mess Committee of the Officers Mess:
**_To, The Irish President.
Sir,
I, the undersigned, Ibrahim Totfellah, a cook on the English style, have the honour to inform you of the following:-
A Company and elements of Support Company, 1 R IRISH, deployed to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
In the British army the cross belt was originally worn to carry a sword.
With the introduction of specialised Rifle regiments the cross belt was adapted to carry an ammunition pouch and the whistle which was the main means of communication between officers and soldiers in the noise and heat of battle. The Royal irish Rifles cross belt (right) carries the Regiment's Battle Honours in the absence of Queen's and Regimental Colours, as was the tradition of Rifle regiments
This badge or plate was worn on the front of the leather belt that carried the weight of the drum. The belt was worn across the chest of the drummers of the 83rd Foot and dates from the earliest days of the Regiment in 1793.
Prior to the issue of steel helmets to the British Army in March 1916, the British soldier wore khaki cloth caps. These provided absolutely no protection from bullets or other missiles and made the soldiers very vulnerable to steel darts like this which were dropped in their hundreds from German planes over the British front line trenches.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was a watershed moment in the development of Britain's constitutional monarchy. It was the culmination of decades of conflict between monarchical absolutism and the power of Parliament, reaching its bloody nadir during The Wars of The Three Kingdoms.
Captain Charles Cockburn D’Arcy Irvine, of Castle Irvine, Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh, was born on 17 July 1863, son of Captain William D’Arcy Irvine and Louisa (nee Cockburn). On 3 May 1881 he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and joined the 3rd Battalion (Militia) Inniskilling Fusiliers. He left the regiment on 28 December 1895, having reached the rank of captain. He joined the North of Ireland Imperial Yeomanry as a captain on its formation in 1903, and the North Irish Horse in July 1908. On 14 November 1908 he was made Honorary Major. He left the regiment in January 1912.
A War Poem by Major Sir William Orpen*
A memory of the Somme
_A Fair spring morning = not a living soul is near
Far Far away I hear the faint grumble of the guns
The Battle has passed long since
all is Peace.
sometimes there is the faint Humm of aeroplanes
as they pass overhead, Amber specks-High up in the
Blue
Occasionally there is the movement of a rat in the old
Battered trench on which I sit = still in the confusion
in which it was left.
The sun is Baking Hot.
strange odours come from the door of a dug-out with
its endless steps running down into blackness
These are the ribbons of the twenty-two different medals awarded to Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson who served for a number of years in The Royal Irish Rifles. He served throughout the First World War and was assassinated in London by the Irish Republican Army on 22 June 1922.
Medals to recognise an act of bravery or campaign service were first issued by Queen Victoria in 1858. Prior to this regiments in the British army had their own medals made such as this silver medal which was presented on 20 May 1801 to Quarter Master James Carr of the 86th Foot.
