An Cosantóir the official magazine of the Irish Defence Forces and Reserve Defence Forces.
Issue link: https://digital.jmpublishing.ie/i/96678
history | 29 against Boer commandos who were conducting a guerrilla war following the defeat of the main Boer armies. Heavy losses were incurred during the regiment's last campaigns, which took place during the First World War. At Loos in 1915 they suffered severely at the hands of a well placed German machine-gun team. During the disastrous Dardanelles campaign of 19151916 the regiment took part in the operations in the Suvla Bay area of the Gallipoli peninsula with the 10th Irish Division, where they were praised by the Australians for an heroic charge at Kabak Kuyal near a position known as Hill 60. Following the evacuation of Gallipoli the regiment was shipped to Macedonia to fight the Bulgarians. They also served in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), then part of the Turkish Empire, as well as in the Palestine campaign under General Allenby. Back on the Western Front the Rangers saw action during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and during the final offensive which ended in the defeat of Germany in November 1918. In 1920 the regiment mutinied for the only time in their history while stationed in Jullander in India. Reacting to news of Black-and-Tan atrocities in Ireland, several soldiers refused to obey orders and hoisted the Irish tricolour. In all 69 men took part in the mutiny, of whom 14 were subsequently sentenced to death, although only one, Private James Daly, was executed. There was much controversy back in Britain and Ireland over the harshness meted out to the men, many of whom had served with distinction in the First World War. In 1922 'The Devils's Own' was one of several Irish regiments disbanded. As the newly formed Irish Free State army did not adopt the practice of naming their units after provinces or cities, the Connaught regiment disappeared from the Irish military scene. King House, in Boyle, County Roscommon, (one of the few military museums in Ireland open to the public) has a section dealing with 'The Fighting Men of Connaught', with exhibits from the Roscommon Militia alongside a large number of exhibits relating to the Connaught Rangers. Recommended reading: The Connaught Rangers (Menat-Arms) by Alan Shepperd and illustrated by Michael Youens. Publisher: Osprey Publishing (June 15, 1972) Paperback ISBN: 978-0850450835. www.military.ie the defence forces magazine