Posts Tagged ‘Tunisia’
Swift success in Sicily was built on the lessons of the Tunisian campaign
At 1445 local time on 13 May 1943, 18 Army Group Commander General Harold Alexander sent the following signal to UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London: “Sir, it is my duty to report that the Tunisian campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are masters of the North African shores.” One week later, American,…
Read MoreThe London Irish officer killed in Tunisia who lost two brothers in the Great War
On 20 January 1943, Captain Sydney Montrose Ekin was walking in the footsteps of two brothers who had fought and died in the First World War when he crossed the attack Start Line on the Bou Arada to Goubellat road, 50 miles south west of Tunis, A Cambridge University law graduate who had been commissioned…
Read MoreLondon Irishman Charles Ward remembers the events of 1939
On 18 October 1939, three 20-year old men reported to Liverpool Street train station to respond to call up papers for them to join the British Army. They were met on the station concourse that morning by Captain Colin Gibbs, then Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles (2 LIR), who duly witnessed the attestation…
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 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…
Read MoreCaptain William Hanna hero of Centuripe
We have been recently contacted by Michael Thompson, the great nephew of Captain William Hanna who served with the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers (1 RIrF) in North Africa and Sicily. Captain Hanna was killed at Centuripe on 2nd August 1943 when leading ‘D’ Company during the Irish Brigade’s epic assault on the hill-top town, which was…
Read MoreCaptain Charles Reidy- London Irishman wounded in Tunisia who changed athletics
We have been contacted by the daughter of Captain Charles Reidy, who served with the 2nd Battalion London Irish Rifles, and who was seriously wounded during the battalion’s action on Stuka Ridge near to Bou Arada on 26th February 1943. Gemma Utting, who currently lives in New Zealand said in her note to us: “My…
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