[Gotthard Heinrici]

Well done on those Posts Adam and DB, and indeed that poster is indicative of the political situation in Ireland at the time. There was a huge push in WW1 to get the Irish to enlist indeed Irish Politicians were of the opinion that a favourable turnout for the British Army could precipitate the onset of "Home Rule", which of course was frowned upon by both Unionists under Edward Carson. And of course the Nationalist leaders such as Padraig Pearse viewed Home Rule as not good enough and that only full independence would suffice.

My point is that a lot of southern Irishmen went into the British Army against a backdrop of conflicting emotions and indeed a lot of them were unfairly pilloried upon their return because they took the King's shilling. The travesty of this was that the very people who waved them off at the start to defend "Little Belgium" were the very ones who insulted them upon their return at the end. The rising of 1916 ensured that this would happen. Not a very proud moment in Irish History (the treatment of the Irish Veterans).