London Irish Rifles bagpipers Gerald Griffin (left) and Gary O’Connor in the courtyard of the Abbey of Monte Cassino on 13 May

London Irish Rifles pipers played inside the Abbey of Monte Cassino on 13 May to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the battles of Cassino in 1944 in which 38 (Irish) Brigade played a prominent role.

You can can see a three-minute film of the event here:

The event was organised with the approval of the abbot of the abbey and may have been the first time Irish bagpipers have played inside the abbey. The pipers were Gerald Griffin and Gary O’Connor, both London residents.

On 13 May 1944, the battalions of the Irish Brigade were travelling to the front in the Liri valley to continue the attack through the Gustav Line which began on 11 May. 6 Royal Inniskillings Fusiliers led the advance in the early hours of  15 May. On 16 May, 2 London Irish Rifles continued the attack. The following day, 1 Royal Irish Fusiliers attacked to the north while the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers captured Piumerola and completed the assault.

On the morning of 18 May, II Polish Corps captured the abbey, by then almost totally ruined by Allied bombing.

The London Irish Rifles mission was organised by Richard O’Sullivan. It visited Castelforte, scene of a London Irish attack in January 1944; Minturno War Cemetery; the Gari River; the Monte Cassino Abbey; the Cassino War Cemetery and Sinagoga, the hamlet captured by the Irish Brigade on 16 May 1944.

You read a fuller account of the Irish Brigade role in the fourth battle of Cassino here.