3rd Battalion IRISH GUARDS

Hi.Have followed this thread with great interest,as my late father served in 3bn Irish Guards.Wounded, he was the only survivour from his bren gun carrier,he said the last thing he remembered was a bright light,a floating sensation and then darkness.When he came to,canadian medics were cutting off his kit,whom he lashed out at,because he thought they were trying to rob him!.After the war he burned his uniform,but kept the insignia which in the last few years I have gradually restored back onto a complete uniform.I still have his squad photo,the squad leader at the time was CPL.E.Townson.



Super stuff thanks for adding that John.

So was your Dad in the Carrier Platoon? If so, did he ever mention L/Cpl Patrick Brennan who was wounded in Aug 44 and who was awarded the MM, or Sean (Albert) Greenhill KIA during Op MG or Sidney Booth (mentioned in this thread) who was also killed near the end of the war?
When did your Dad join up? Was he injured late on in the campaign, ie '45?

 

Have you already applied to Wellington Barracks for a copy of your Dad's service records?

 

From JOE V's book, of his family:









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He speaks of wanting to visit Waterloo ...

 

Thanks again Wills, much appreciated.

 

1st Colonel of the Regiment - Field Marshal The Rt Hon. The Earl Roberts VC KG KP GCB OM GCSI GCIE PC

Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He became the honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards in 1900, an appointment he kept for the remainder of his life, which gained the regiment the nickname 'Our Bobs'.












The Funeral of Lord Roberts of Kandahar 1914

CWGC :: Casualty Details
Field Marshal Sir FREDERICK SLEIGH ROBERTS V C, K G, K P, G C B, O M, G C S I, G C I E, General Staff and Col.-Commandant, Royal Artillery, Col. Irish Guards who died age 82 on 14 November 1914
1st Earl of Kandahar, Pretoria and Waterford. Born at Cawnpore, India. Privy Counsellor. Son of the late Gen. Sir Abraham Roberts, G.C.B., and the late Lady Roberts; husband of the late Countess Roberts, C.I., R.R.C., of Englemere, Ascot, Berks. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and Addiscombe. Commissioned to the Bengal Artillery (Dec., 1851); served throughout the Indian Mutiny 1857 (V.C.); and the Abyssinian (1867-68) and Lushai (1871-72) Expeditions. Also served in the Afghanistan Campaign (1878-80) and Commanded the Kabul-Kandahar Field Force Aug.-Sept., 1880. Commanded the Forces in Ireland (1895-99); Commander-in-Chief in the South African War (1899-1900). Commander-in-Chief in India (1885-93) and at Home (1901-04). Master Gunner of St. James' Park and Colonel-in-Chief of Overseas and Indian Forces in the United Kingdom during the Great War.
Remembered with honour ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

His grandson Freddy Lewin was killed on board The Chrobry/Chobry while serving with 1st Battalion Irish Guards in Norway.
Lieutenant FREDERICK ROBERTS ALEXANDER LEWIN 67054, 1st Bn., Irish Guards who died age 25 on 15 May 1940
Son of Brigadier-General Henry Frederick Elliott Lewin, C.B., C.M.G., D.L., J.P., and of Ada Edwina Stewart Lewin, Countess Roberts, O.B.E., of Ascot, Berkshire.
Remembered with honour BROOKWOOD MEMORIAL
CWGC :: Casualty Details

 

History of the Irish Guards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The current regiment was formed on 1 April 1900 by order of Queen Victoria to commemorate the Irish people who fought in the Second Boer War for the British Empire. This followed an initial suggestion from the Irish-born British Army officer Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley to allow soldiers in Irish Regiments to wear the shamrock in their headdress on St. Patrick's Day. This developed into a suggestion that an Irish Guards regiment be created.








Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Sadly, there aren't even copies of the original designs in the archives ...

 

Three Belfast Micks (l to r): Jimmy Doggart, Dad & Bill Allister, corporal instructors at Lingfield. All three survived the war, the other 2 stayed in the Regiment, Jimmy made it to CQMS, Bill to RSM.

QS






The National Archives | DocumentsOnline | Image Details
Name Allister, William John
Rank: Warrant Officer Class 2
Service No: 23495062
Regiment: Irish Guards
Theatre of Combat or Operation: New Year Honours
Award: Member of the British Empire
Date of Announcement in London Gazette: 01 January 1973
Date 1973
Catalogue reference WO 373/174



WO373/174-ir1083-pg63&64

 

Hi Barbara
Yes these are lists for fatalities in WW2.

It's hard to compare regts' fatality rates because we are not really comparing like for like, as regards total numbers/percentage rate, theatre/time in action, etc etc. Comparison on a battalion level would be more reliable, but even then there are difficulties.

GG for example had 6 bns, whereas the Irish Guards only ever had 3.
The 1st Bn IG fought in Norway, Tunisia and Italy
The 2nd fought small actions at Boulogne and the Hook of Holland before being converted to an Armoured Bn and going through years of re-training.
The 3rd were initially the Regiment's Training Bn and their fate remained in the balance until the decision was made to disband the 1st after their catastrophic casualty rate (Killed, wounded, missing, POW) in Italy.
To elaborate, the 1st never fought as a unit in NWE (but did as transferred reinforcements to 3IG), the 2nd fought as infantry in 1940 and then as armoured crews thereafter, the 3rd fought ONLY as infantry, both the latter were in NWE from June 44.

I remember a while back I tried to compare the rates of 3IG with other guards infantry bns in the Guards Armoured Division. It had been put to me that 3IG rates were higher than other GAD inf bns and this, if I recall correctly, that seemed to be borne out somewhat by the statistics. Again it's hard to state with any certainty because although they were in the same actions for the most part, each bn would have its turn in reserve, or could be moved to other formations or had particular reinforcement difficulties. 3IG 'borrowed' a company of men from SG and subsequently passed this company on to 1WG, so these stats would be harder still to pin down. Also 3IG suffered badly from 2 one-day actions with casualty rate of 100+ each, so these would also skew the figures somewhat.

Not all CWGC records contain the unit - battalion number - so this does not help much when trying to analyse statistics on a battalion level.

All in all, I would not say that these figures were atypical for a regiment, some may have had more, simply because they were in action for longer periods throughout the war, had more battalions, because of their role, or had better reinforcement rates and so were available for active role more often.

Sorry for the ramble. There are always too many on the Rolls.

All the best
~D