The 10th (Irish) Division, was one of the first of Kitchener's New Army K1 Army Group divisions (formed from Kitchener's 'first hundred thousand' new volunteers), authorized on 21 August 1914, after the outbreak of the Great War.[1] It included battalions from the various provinces of Ireland.[2] It was led by Irish General Bryan Mahon and fought at Gallipoli, Salonika and Palestine. It was the first of the Irish Divisions to take to the field and was the most travelled of the Irish formations.[3] The division served as a formation of the United Kingdom's British Army during World War I.
Formed in Ireland on 21 August 1914,[2] the 10th Division was sent to Gallipoli where, as part of General Sir Frederick Stopford's IX Corps, at Suvla Bay on 7 August it participated in the Landing at Suvla Bay and the August offensive. Some battalions of the division were landed at Anzac and fought at Chunuk Bair.
In September 1915, when the Suvla front became a stalemate, the division was moved to Salonika where it remained for two years and fought the Battle of Kosturino.
The division moved to Egypt in September 1917 where it joined General Chetwode'sXX Corps. It fought in the Third Battle of Gaza which succeeded in breaking the resistance of the Turkish defenders in southern Palestine.
Heavy losses on the Western Front following Operation Michael, the great German spring offensive in 1918, resulted in the transfer of ten of the division's battalions from Palestine to France, their place being taken by Indian Army units. This left only one British battalion per brigade.[4] The remainder of the division remained in Palestine until the end of the war with Turkey on 31 October 1918.
On 12 November 1918 the Division concentrated at Sarafand, ready for moving back to Egypt. By 1 December it had returned to Cairo.
Order of battle
A church service at the 10th (Irish) Division's Basingstoke camp, 1915
LVII (Howitzer) Brigade, R.F.A. (left 28 August 1917)
10th Divisional Ammunition Column R.F.A. (the original column did not go overseas with the Division. The 29th Divisional Ammunition Column joined in Egypt in October 1915. Suffered losses when transport “Marquette” torpedoed off Salonika on 23 October. Numbers were made up by men, horses and equipment from 42nd Division Ammunition Column. Formally renumbered 10th DAC on 4 March 1916)
LXVII Brigade, R.F.A. (joined October 1915)
LXVIII Brigade, R.F.A. (joined October 1915)
10th Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery (R.G.A.) (joined March 1915, left by 10 August 1915)
15th Heavy Battery R.G.A. (joined 10 August 1915, left by 19 December 1915)
^Murphy, 2007, Irish Regiments in the World Wars, The Irish Divisions, 1914–18, The 10th (Irish) Division: p.10, Osprey Publishing (2007) ISBN978-1-84603-015-4
Thomas Bartlett & Keith Jeffery: A Military History of Ireland, Cambridge University Press (1996) (2006), ISBN0-521-62989-6
David Murphy: Irish Regiments in the World Wars, Osprey (2007), ISBN978-1-84603-015-4
David Murphy: The Irish Brigades, 1685–2006, A gazetteer of Irish Military Service past and present, Four Courts Press (2007) The Military Heritage of Ireland Trust. ISBN978-1-84682-080-9
Stephen Walker: Forgotten Soldiers; The Irishmen shot at dawn Gill & Macmillan (2007), ISBN978-0-7171-4182-1
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