36th (Ulster) Division

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The Irish 36th (Ulster) Division ( German  36th ( Ulster ) Division ) was one of the so-called Kitchener-divisions in the First World War . It suffered particularly heavy losses on the Somme.

history

Ulster Tower in Northern France
Mural painting in Belfast shows the Ulster Tower, a memorial to the 36th (Ulster) Division

Lineup

In contrast to the armies in France and Germany, the British army was not a mass army at the beginning of the First World War, and there was no conscription either . On the day after he was appointed Minister of War (August 5, 1914) Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum therefore issued the order to enlarge the army. By army order 324 of August 21, 1914, six new divisions were initially set up from the volunteers thus recruited . In total, more than 40 divisions were set up for use in France by 1915.

The Ulster Volunteer Force, a Protestant organization under Sir Edward Carson in Northern Ireland, began setting up Irish units for the British Army as soon as the war began in 1914. As early as September 1914, the Ulster Division was set up as the 36th Division for the British Kitchener's Army , the first in command was Major General CH Powell. After the initial military training, the division was carefully watched in Sussex for a long time because of the political unrest in Ireland before it was transferred to France on the Western Front between October 3 and 6, 1915 .

107th Brigade

  • 8th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
  • 10th and 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
  • 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
  • 107th Machine Gun Company
  • 107th Trench Mortar Battery
  • 1st and 2nd Battalion of Royal Irish Fusiliers

108th Brigade

  • 11th and 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
  • 9th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers
  • 108th Machine Gun Company
  • 108th Trench Mortar Battery
  • 2nd and 7th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
  • 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers

109th Brigade

  • 9th, 10th at 11th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
  • 14th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
  • 109th Machine Gun Company
  • 109th Trench Mortar Battery
  • 1st and 2nd Bn, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

On the western front

The division was trained in Flesselles, about ten miles north of Arras by the regular 4th division for trench warfare, and remained on standby north of the Ancre . On October 21, 1915, the division was made available as a reserve in the Abbeville area and went to winter quarters here.

1916

Section of the 36th Division on July 1, 1916 at Thiepval opposite the German 26th Reserve Division

The 36th Division under Major General Nugent was made available as part of the X Corps (Lieutenant General Thomas Morland ) for the major attack on the Somme . On July 1, 1916, the day with the most losses in British military history, the division lost over half of its soldiers during the attacks on Thiepval and the storm against the "Schwabenfest". The division had to be relieved on July 2, after it had already lost 5,104 men dead and wounded. Northern Irish Protestants therefore regard the first day of the Somme battle as a sacrifice for Great Britain.

1917

The 36th Division was in the Battle of Messines (June 7-14 , 1917), as part of the IX. Corps under General Hamilton-Gordon , the attack in the direction of Wytschaete was carried out together with the 16th Division. From November 20, 1917, the division took part in the IV Corps (General Woolcombe) at the Battle of Cambrai . The direct attack on Cambrai was led through the Bourlon Forest and supported on the right by the 51st (Highland) Division (General Harper ).

1918

During the German Michael Offensive in March 1918, the 36th Division was part of the XVIII. Corps under Ivor Maxse in the area southwest of St. Quentin and was pushed back to Rosieres (March 26-27). Parts of the division fought in April near Bailleul in the Battle of the Lys . In September 1918 the division was in the area east of Ypres and was advancing towards Kortrijk . The end of the war on November 11, 1918 saw the division in the Mouscron area , northeast of Tourcoing .

guide

  • Major-General Oliver Stewart Nugent (September 1915 to May 5, 1918)
  • Major-General Clifford Coffin (May 6, 1918 until the end of the war)

Web links