Well I thought that it was a pretty interesting read, and down right informative as well. I always thought that the Irish Brigade was from Northern Ireland. Maybe I ought to post this in the "what have you learned about WW2 lately?" thread.
Thanks for the link..... I met Tim Newark in London a few years ago and shared my father's (Edmund O'Sullivan) story with him, so I'm glad he continues to remind us of the valour of men, who served with the 38th (Irish) Brigade. Although being a pedant as I am, it's strange that a number of the photos show men/troops that didn't actually serve with the Irish Brigade (eg Monty Stopford served with 1 LIR in 56th Div)...and also not quite sure I would have sub titled the article thus: "Churchill’s Irish Brigade fought in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy to prove their loyalty to king and country.". My Dad, from County Brixton (born in County Camberwell), was conscripted in October 1939 to join other men, both pre war regulars and territorials and other conscripted men, who came from all parts of Ireland (all volunteers, of course) as well as England, Wales and Scotland, Canada, South Africa and even the US and Australia. My father and his mates had nothing to prove...they were doing a job that was asked of them, a job they did very well indeed, and, of course, more than a thousand men of the Irish Brigade didn't return home to their families. You can read a lot more about the Irish Brigade here: About the Irish Brigade website | Irish Brigade Faugh a Ballagh ! (the photo below is of my Dad and some mates in Italy during Dec 1943 - a combined total of 1 DCM, 2 MCs, 2 MMs, an American Silver Star and innumerable MiD citations were awarded to the men in the picture).
Thank you for sharing that. I was unaware of the images weren't of men that served with the Irish Brigade. Could it be, those were the image they had in stock? Shame if it was. Mark
No doubt... The Irish Guards were, of course, fully engaged in various places across North Africa, Italy and France and the picture of the Faughs was from the Dunkirk campaign before the Irish Brigade was formed in early 1942. The two pictures of men of 2 LIR and one of the Irish Brigade's parade at the Vatican are "valid" ones. best wishes
This was the constituent mix of men that would form the putative Irish Brigade as of the start of 1942.. by May 1945 quite a different formation.
