Posts Tagged ‘Sicily’
How the Irish Brigade crossed the Salso in 1943
Following the capture of Centuripe, the Irish Brigade pressed forward but were hampered by craters in the road down to the Salso river. Due to these delays, plans were made to attack across the river on the afternoon of 4th August and, despite some opposition, a bridgehead was secured by 430pm. The view northwards from…
Read MoreSicilian campaign overview
Looking towards Etna from Centuripe Brigadier Nelson Russell provided a succinct overview account of the Sicilian Campaign and how the Irish Brigade affected its outcome: “The British 8th Army was to land on the beaches on the east coast of the island, south of Syracuse, capture Syracuse, and so have a port; then drive the…
Read MoreSicily pilgrimage for Irish Brigade website
On the 71st anniversary of their father’s journey through Sicily, the Irish Brigade web site co founders, Edmund and Richard O’Sullivan recent visited the island to trace his war time route from Cassibile to Patti. They were absolutely delighted to have been joined on their trip by Duncan McNally and David Hamilton, whose own fathers, Major…
Read MorePiedimonte Etneo
One of the highlights of the Irish Brigade web site co founders, Richard and Edmund O’Sullivan recent visit to Sicily, was their attendance at a commemorative ceremony and conference in Piedimonte Etneo on the north eastern slopes of Mount Etna. For 33 days, from 8th September to 11th October 1943, the people of Piedimonte Etneo…
Read MoreScarifice and honour celebrated at Sicily’s CWGC Cemeteries
111 men from the Irish Brigade were killed during the Sicilian campaign during August 1943, with the vast majority of these men, 101, buried at Catania, three are at Syracuse and two in Tripoli where they had been evacuated. There are five other men commemorated at Cassino and named there on the Memorial Panels. During…
Read MoreRemembering Rifleman James Murtagh MM
Catania CWGC Cemetery In July/August 1943, two battalions of the London Irish Rifles were in action in Sicily, their 1st Battalion (1 LIR) with the 50th (Northumbria) Division fighting along the east coast of the island and the 2nd Battalion (2 LIR) with the Irish Brigade on the west side of Mount Etna. During the…
Read MoreCenturipe 1943 – an eyewitness account
Salvatore Biondi (second from right) with Duncan McNally (second left), David Hamilton (left)and Edmund O’Sullivan in Centuripe in 2014 The celebrated attacks by 78th Infantry Division, which included the Irish Brigade, on the Sicilian mountain top town of Centuripe on 2nd August 1943, was recently remembered by Salvatore Biondi, an eight year old at the…
Read MoreLondon Irish Piper Jeff Jeffrey remembers
We have been in recent contact with Jeff Jeffrey, who served with the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles (2 LIR) in Italy and Austria from 1943 to 1946. Jeff, who now lives in Australia, joined the LIR Cadet Company at the age of 16 in 1941 when he was first given the opportunity to play…
Read MoreRobert Hogan’s war in Tunisia and Sicily with the LIR and the Faughs
The Irish Brigade web site is delighted to have been contacted by the son of Lieutenant Robert Hogan MM, who served with the London Irish Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers in North Africa and Italy from 1942 to 1945. Robert had received a field commission at the end of the Tunisian campaign before joining…
Read MoreThe life and legacy of Major John E McNally MC
Duncan McNally has kindly sent us further details about his father, Major JE McNally MC. We would like to thank Duncan, his mother Elisabeth, and his two sisters for their kind permission to add this story to the Irish Brigade website. “Like many in the Irish Brigade, Dad was not born an Irishman, and was…
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