Sir,—I noticed a few assertions in Timothy Bowman’s article, The Irish at the Somme (HI 4.4, Winter 1996), which I believe are incorrect. Firstly, Mr Bowman mentions that there were twenty-three ‘Irish’ battalions at the Somme; there were several more that I am aware of, namely: 1st and 2nd battalions/18th London Regiment (London Irish Rifles), 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, and the 6th Battalion 42nd Royal Highland Regiment (Black Watch), the last two of which both recruited heavily from Ulster, the former having a recruiting office in Belfast. This would give a total of twenty-seven battalions, not counting the unit of at least one Canadian Rifle Regiment (possibly Winnipeg) which had an entire company of men formerly from Belfast.
With regard to the on-going ‘handkerchief debate’, I firmly believe that Major George Gaffikin did rally the 9th Royal Irish Rifles by waving an orange handkerchief or piece of orange-coloured cloth, whilst advancing on the 1st July. The battalion’s patch colour was orange and related directly to, and was easily identified by, the unit in question. As the 9th RIR were part of the ‘senior’ 107 Brigade, they wore triangular patches just below their shoulder titles, in orange, to distinguish them from other units. The 14th RIR (YCV) for example, wore a small blue rectangle to denote its position in the ‘junior’ 109 Brigade. Whether or not the choice of the 9th Battalion’s colour was a result of party allegiances seems highly misleading, and certainly Gaffikin’s alleged reference to the Battle of the Boyne would appear to be allegorical. However, Colonel Percy Crozier does directly mention Major Gaffikin in respect to possessing an orange handkerchief whilst advancing on 1 July: ‘George Gaffikin comes next waving an orange handkerchief. “Goodbye, sir, good luck,” he shouts to me, enpassant…’ (A Brass Hat in No Man’s Land [1940], pp.108-9). Perhapsmore importantly, Gaffikin was believed by the men themselves to havecommitted this act of bravery and in later battles, notably before thedisastrous Langemarck, members of the battalion were exhorted to followhis example.—Yours etc.,
GAVIN HUGHES
Banbridge
County Down