| Connaught Rangers (88th Foot & 94th Foot) | |
|---|---|
 Connaught Rangers Cap Badge | |
| Active | 1881–1922 |
| Country |  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Line infantry |
| Role | Infantry |
| Size | 2 Regular Battalions 2–4Militia andSpecial Reserve Battalions |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ –Renmore Barracks,Galway |
| Nickname | The Devil's Own |
| Motto | Quis Separabit (Who will separate us) (Latin) |
| March | Quick:Brian Boru March |
| Engagements | Egypt 1801; India; South America; The Peninsula; The Crimea; Indian Mutiny; South Africa 1877–1882; Egypt 1884–86; South Africa 1899–1902; The Great War – France & Flanders; Mesopotamia; Macedonia;Gallipoli; Bulgaria |
TheConnaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was anIrishline infantryregiment of theBritish Army formed by the amalgamation of the88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the1st Battalion) and the94th Regiment of Foot (which formed the2nd Battalion) in July 1881. Between the time of its formation andIrish independence, it was one of eightIrish regiments raised largely inIreland. Its home depot was inGalway.[1] It was disbanded following the establishment of the independentIrish Free State in 1922, along with the other five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state.[2]
The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of the88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the1st Battalion) and the94th Regiment of Foot (which formed the2nd Battalion) in July 1881. The amalgamation of the two regiments into one with the titleThe Connaught Rangers, was part of theUnited Kingdom government's reorganisation of theBritish Army under theChilders Reforms, a continuation of theCardwell Reforms implemented in 1879.[3]
It was one of eightIrish regiments raised largely inIreland, with its home depot atRenmore Barracks inGalway.[1] The regiment recruited mainly in theprovince ofConnacht. Militarily, the whole of Ireland was administered as a separate command within theUnited Kingdom with Command Headquarters at Parkgate (Phoenix Park) inDublin, directly under theWar Office in London.[4]
The 88th were based inBengal,British India, when they were amalgamated into the new regiment.[5] The 94th were based in South Africa at the time of amalgamation; as the 2nd Battalion, it returned to Ireland the following year and sent a small detachment on theNile Expedition in 1884 as Camel Mounted Infantry.[5] The 2nd Battalion deployed to theSudan in 1896 for theDongola Expeditionary Force under the command ofLord Kitchener as part of thereconquest of the Sudan before moving toIndia in 1897.[5]
The 1st Battalion deployed to South Africa as part of 5th (Irish) Brigade, commanded by Major-General Fitzroy Hart, and saw action at theBattle of Colenso in December 1899, part of the attempt to relieve the town ofLadysmith, besieged byBoer forces. The brigade suffered heavily during their participation in the battle, the Boers inflicting heavy casualties: the regiment had 24 men killed and 105 officers and men wounded.[6] The Rangers fought atSpion Kop in January 1900 and theTugela Heights in February 1900 during further attempts by GeneralSir Redvers Buller to relieve the besieged town of Ladysmith. In late February the siege of Ladysmith finally came to an end after it was relieved by British forces.[7] The battalion stayed in South Africa after the end of the war (June 1902), leaving Cape Town for Southampton on the SSStaffordshire in January 1903.[8] After a brief stay inMullingar, they returned to India later in 1903.[5]
In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming theTerritorial Force and the latter theSpecial Reserve;[9] the regiment now had two Reserve but no Territorial battalions.[10][11]
The 1st Battalion, which was commanded by Lieutenant-ColonelHurdis Ravenshaw and had been stationed inFerozepore, India, landed as part of the 7th (Ferozepore) Brigade in the3rd (Lahore) Division atMarseille in September 1914 for service on theWestern Front.[12]
The 2nd Battalion landed atBoulogne-sur-Mer as part of the5th Brigade in the2nd Division with theBritish Expeditionary Force in August 1914 for service on the Western Front.[12] Its marching songIt's a Long Way to Tipperary became famous.[5] By October, the battalion was involved in the fighting aroundYpres. On one occasion Private Grogan rushed seven Germans who had occupied a section of trench. He killed all of them. It cost him a cut forehead and four teeth.[13]
Following severe losses in the battles of 1914, the 2nd Battalion was disbanded, with survivors transferring into the 1st Battalion. In turn, the 1st Battalion was redeployed to the Middle East in 1916, where it fought primarily in modern-day Iraq as part of the BritishTigris Corps.[14]
The 3rd (Reserve) Battalion was based inGalway upon the declaration of war and would remain in Ireland until November 1917 when it moved to England.[12] The 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion had been based inBoyle in August and would remain there until November 1917 when it relocated toScotland: it was absorbed into the 3rd Battalion in May 1918.[12]
The 5th (Service) Battalion, which was formed inDublin in August 1914, landed atAnzac Cove inGallipoli in August 1915 as part of the29th Brigade in the10th (Irish) Division but moved toSalonika in September 1915 for service on theMacedonian front and then transferred toEgypt for service inPalestine in September 1917 before landing at Marseilles in June 1918 for service on the Western Front.[12]
The 6th (Service) Battalion, which was formed inCounty Cork in September 1914 though largely recruited in westBelfast,[15][16] landed atLe Havre as part of the47th Brigade in the16th (Irish) Division in December 1915 for service on the Western Front.[12] In just over a week's fighting in theBattle of the Somme in September 1916, the 6th Battalion lost 23 officers and 407 other ranks.[17] On 21 March 1918, the same Battalion was "practically annihilated" during theGerman spring offensive breakthrough. In one week the battalion lost "22 officers and 618 other ranks".[18] As a result of these heavy losses, the survivors were transferred into the 2nd Battalion, theLeinster Regiment.[12]
In April 1916, during World War 1, in what became known as theEaster Rising,Irish Republican forces in Ireland launched an armed insurrection against the authority of the government of theUnited Kingdom, with thedeclared aim of establishing anIrish Republic wholly independent in its sovereign governance from the United Kingdom. In response, the Connaught Rangers and other British Army units were deployed to fight against the paramilitary forces of the "Irish Volunteers". None of the Connaught Rangers were killed in action but one was wounded.[19]
A 584-man strong column from the 3rd Battalion Connaught Rangers, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A J Digan DSO, marched onEnniscorthy to fight the rebels who had taken over the town, however on arrival decided not to attack the insurrectionists' positions within the town to avoid turning Enniscorthy into a battlefield.[20] In the days after the insurrection began the Connaughts patrolled the countryside seeking contact with any of those war parties that cared to show themselves, in the process capturing hundreds of prisoners of war and seizing their weapons stocks.[21] A 250 strong force of the Connaughts, under the command of Major H.M. Hutchinson, marched toFerns on 4 May 1916, and then on toGorey the next day.[22] A party of 31 Connaught Rangers led by Lieutenant L.C. Badham searched houses inKinsale on 4 May 1916, and the next day captured a large number of rebels and their weapons.[23] The Connaught Rangers' Column searched houses inNew Ross on 9 May 1916 and then atWaterford the next day.[23] The Connaught Rangers Column reachedClonmel on 16 May 1916, searching further residences in the town and capturing another large number of rebels and their weapon-stocks.[22]
Another Column of Connaught Rangers, 422 men strong, led by Major O.F. Lloyd, searched houses inBandon from 6 to 11 May 1916, capturing further numbers of rebels and weapons. The Column proceeded on toClonakilty on 11 May and searched the district there also, capturing more rebels and their equipment. This Column marched toSkibbereen on 16 May, and entering the town and fanning out through the surrounding area, succeeded in rounding up yet more rebels with their arms. A number of Connaught Rangers who were in Dublin at the time of the Easter Rising had volunteered for temporary secondment to other units of the British Army such as theRoyal Irish Fusiliers andRoyal Dublin Fusiliers specifically to take part in the capital city's defence against the rising.[21] Sergeant John Joseph Barror of the Connaught Rangers killed two rebels in the fighting in Dublin.[21]
Following demobilization the Connaught Rangers was reduced to its peacetime establishment of two regular battalions. With the outbreak of theIrish War of Independence in 1919 both were stationed outside Ireland (the 2nd Battalion in Dover and the 1st in India).[24] This was part of a general policy aimed at minimizing the pressures of divided loyalties, by relocating serving Irish regiments during "the troubles".[25]
On 28 June 1920, four men from C Company of the 1st Battalion, based at Wellington Barracks,Jalandhar in thePunjab, protested againstmartial law in Ireland by refusing to obey orders. One of them, Joe Hawes, had been on leave in Clare in October 1919 and had seen ahurling match prevented from happening by British forces with bayonets drawn.[26] Poor accommodation conditions in the Wellington Barracks may have provided an additional cause of the dispute.[27]
The protestors were soon joined by other Rangers, including several English soldiers, such as John Miranda fromLiverpool and Sergeant Woods.[28][29] By the following morning, when a rebel muster took place, over 300 soldiers were involved in the mutiny.[30]
On 30 June 1920, two mutineers from the Jalandhar barracks (Frank Geraghty and Patrick Kelly) travelled to Solon barracks where C Company were stationed and, despite arrest, helped spark a mutiny there, led byPrivate James Daly, whose brother William also took part in the protest.[31][32]
Initially, the protests were peaceful with the men involved donning green, white and orange rosettes and singing Irish nationalist songs. At Solon, however, on the evening of 1 July a party of about thirty men led by James Daly, carrying bayonets, attempted to seize their company's rifles,[33] stored in thearmoury. The troops guarding the magazine opened fire and two men were killed: Pte. Smythe who was with Daly's party, and Pte. Peter Sears (who had not been involved in the attack on the magazine but was returning to his billet when hit by a stray bullet).[34] Within days, both garrisons were occupied by other British troops. Daly and his followers surrendered and were arrested. Eighty-eight mutineers werecourt-martialed: seventy-seven were sentenced to imprisonment and ten were acquitted.[5] James Daly was shot by afiring squad atDagshai Prison on 2 November 1920. He was the last member of the British Armed Forces to be executed for mutiny.[5] The bodies of Ptes. Sears and Smythe were buried at Solan, while Daly and Miranda (who later died in prison) were buried at a cemetery in Dagshai. Among those who received a sentence of life in prison was Martin Conlon (a half brother to the eight brothers from Sligo town who fought in the First World War, in which four were killed in action).[35]
In 1923, following Irish Independence, the imprisoned mutineers were released and returned to Ireland.[33] In 1936, the Free State'sFianna Fáil government awarded pensions to those whose British Army pensions were forfeited by conviction for their part in the mutiny.[36] The bodies of Ptes. Sears, Smythe, and Daly were repatriated from India to Ireland for reburial in 1970.[37]
Due to substantial defence cuts and the establishment of theIrish Free State in 1922, it was decided that the six formerSouthern Ireland regiments would be disbanded,[2][38] including the Connaught Rangers. On 12 June, five regimentalcolours were laid up in a ceremony at St George's Hall,Windsor Castle in the presence ofHM King George V.[39] The six regiments were then all disbanded on 31 July 1922.[11] With the simultaneous outbreak of theIrish Civil War conflict some thousands of their ex-servicemen and officers contributed to expanding the Free State government's newly formedNational Army. They brought considerable combat experience with them contributing significantly to the success of the Free State’s cause, and by May 1923 comprised 50 per cent of its 53,000 soldiers and 20 per cent of its officers.[40]
In 1966 a stained glass memorial window to the Connaught Rangers was included in the newGalway Cathedral, which renders honour to a regiment so long associated with that part of Ireland.[41]
There are various memorials to the regiment and its soldiers inSt. Nicholas' Collegiate Church in Galway.[42]
The regiment was awarded the followingbattle honours:[11]
Colonels of the regiment were:[11]
From 1881 to 1914 the Connaught Rangers wore the standard scarlet and blue full dress of British infantry (see illustration above) with greenfacings. The green collars and cuffs were intended to be a national distinction for infantry regiments recruited in Ireland but the Connaught Rangers was the only one of these not to have a "Royal" title and accordingly the distinction of dark blue facings.[44]
The regimental buttons had a harp and crown surrounded by a shamrock wreath. The harp and crown reappeared on cap and home service helmet badges, in silver on a green background.[45]
In the mid-19th century a tradition grew up that the 88th had been given the nickname 'Devil's Own' by Major GeneralThomas Picton during thePeninsular War, "as a compliment to their dauntless bravery in presence of the enemy, and their uniform irregularity in camp and quarters",[46] a tradition that was inherited by the Connaught Rangers when the 88th and 94th were joined to form the new regiment in 1881. However, there is no contemporary record of the 88th receiving this sobriquet, and subsequent regimental histories and memoirs make no reference either to the nickname or its origins.[47]
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