BlueDotMusic's video: WW1Poetry: What Are We Fighting For by GA Studdert Kennedy read by Christopher Farries WW1

Thumbnail image: A ration party of the Royal Irish Rifles in a communication trench during the Battle of the Somme. The date is believed to be 1 July 1916, the first day on the Somme, and the unit is possibly the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles (25th Brigade, 8th Division). At the outbreak of the war, most Irish people, regardless of political affiliation, supported the war in much the same way as their British counterparts, and both nationalist and unionist leaders initially backed the British war effort. Their followers, both Catholic and Protestant, served extensively in the British forces, many in three specially raised divisions with others in the Imperial and United States armies, John T. Prout being an example of an Irishman serving in the latter. Over 200,000 Irishmen fought in the war, in several theatres and either 30,000, or, if one includes those who died serving in armies other than Britain's, 49,647 died. The Irish who were part of the British Expeditionary Force, as the field army sent to France was known, at the outbreak of war were involved in a number of notable actions. The Royal Irish Regiment at Mons was involved in a notable rearguard action, as were the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers at Etreux, in northern France, where the battalion was almost wiped out by a German force six times their number on August 27th, 1914. By the end of 1914 the Irish regiments had lost more than 2,000 men, but 1915 was even worse. The Royal Munster Fusiliers and Royal Dublin Fusiliers suffered hundreds of dead on April 25th, 1915, during the invasion of Gallipoli. Another battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers sustained heavy losses during a gas attack at Ypres in May 1915. The 10th (Irish) Division was the first of the raised Irish divisions to see action. It landed at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli in August 1915 and suffered terribly both there and throughout the campaign, which ended in its evacuation. It spent the rest of the war in the forgotten campaign of Thessaloníki and, later, in the Middle East. The 16th (Irish) Division and 36th (Ulster) Division both spent the war on the Western Front, sustaining horrendous casualties. The 16th Irish Division was subject to a terrible gas attack in Easter Week 1916 that killed 550 mostly Irish soldiers at Hulluch, in northern France. The 36th (Ulster) Division is best remembered for its casualties on the first day of the Somme offensive, the worst day in the history of the British army. The division sustained about 5,500 casualties on that day, July 1st, 1916. The 16th Irish Division and 36th Ulster Division were involved in the successful Battle of Messines, at Ypres, in May 1917; their actions are marked by the Island of Ireland Peace Park, at Messines, which was opened by President Mary McAleese and Queen Elizabeth in 1998. Both divisions suffered terrible casualties at Passchendaele in August 1917 and during the German spring offensive in 1918. A total of 206,000 Irishmen served in the British forces during the war of these, 58,000 were already enlisted in the British Regular Army or Navy before the war broke out - 21,000 serving regular soldiers, 18,000 reservists, 12,000 in the Special Reserve, 5,000 Naval ratings and 2,000 officers. Another 130,000 men were volunteers recruited from Ireland for the duration of the war. Of these 24,000 originated from the Redmondite National Volunteers. 26,000 joined from the Ulster Volunteers. 80,000 of the new recruits had no experience in either of the paramilitary formations. Of the wartime recruits, 137,000 went to the British Army, 6,000 to the Royal Navy and 4,000 to the Royal Air Force. The voluntary recruitment figures were: 44,000 Irishmen enlisted in 1914, 45,000 followed in 1915, but this dropped to 19,000 in 1916 and 14,000 in 1917. The 1918 figure has been given as between 11,000 and 15,655, Between August and November 1918 alone 9,845 were recruited. The recruitment rate in Ulster matched that of Britain itself, Leinster and Munster were about two thirds of the British rate of recruitment, while Connacht lagged behind them. Northern Catholics had enlisted during the War just as often as Protestants. The Great War Poets' Download here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-great-war-poems/id268167309?i=268169767 WW1 Commemoration Poetry Playlist; https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqIk601MRX0gGX46Z7eZNnvUxuGzc_8ZF Join the Blue Dot Music Experience. http://www.youtube.com/BlueDotMusic http://www.facebook.com/BlueDotMusic ©2015 blue dot music All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Video created for blue dot music by Robert Nichol/Allcast http://www.allcast.co.uk