An Cosantóir July/August 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie
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A
t 5.05hrs on the morning of the 11th November,
the armistice between the Allies and Germany was
signed. At 06.50 hours a message was relayed from
Field Marshal haig's headquarters that read:
'Hostilities
will cease
at 11.00hrs
today, No-
vember 11th.
Troops will
stand fast
on the line
reached at
that time
which will
be reported
to Corps
Headquar-
ters. Strictest
precautions
will be main-
tained. There
will be no
intercourse
with the
enemy.'
At 11.00hrs
on the 11th
November
1918, the
guns finally
fell silent on
the Western Front and the war to end all wars finally came
to an end. Each power that had fought now began demo-
bilizing its forces. Millions of young men would have to be
reintegrated back into society and into the workplace, a
task easier said than done. One of the popular slogans of
the time was 'A Home fit for heroes' but many on arriving
back home found a very different scenario. Almost every
industry had been geared to meet the requirements of the
war and not only would many factories have to convert to
peace-time manufacturing, but large numbers of compa-
nies would no longer
have any business at
all. Thousands of re-
turning soldiers would
face unemployment
and hardship as they
sought to reintegrate
back into society.
An estimated
49,000 Irishmen lost
their lives during the
war and the thou-
sands that survived
returned to a very
different country. The
re-emergence of Irish
Nationalism in the
aftermath of the 1916
Rising, industrial strife
and recession caused
hardship throughout
the population.
Under the Irish Land
Act 1919, The Irish
Sailors and Soldiers
Land Trust began a
project to house many
ex-soldiers and their
families. Between 1918
and 1922, some 247
houses were built in
Killester, Dublin, for ex-
servicemen and their
families on what was
called the garden sub-
urb model with each
house incorporating a
large back garden to
help families be self-
sufficient. A Legion
Hall was constructed
as a community facil-
By PAuL O'BRIEN
a War on tWo frontS
