Sir, —As a subscriber and regular reader of History Ireland I was veryperturbed by the article ‘Brotherhood among Irishmen? The Battle ofWijtschate-Messines Ridge, June 1917’ by Tom Burke, MBE, chairman ofthe Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association, which appeared in theSeptember/October issue of History Ireland, and particularly by theloose editorial standards applied to the printing of it. … Read more
Richard S. Grayson (Continuum Books, £25) ISBN 9781847250087 Richard Grayson’s Belfast Boys is the latest addition to a small but growing number of popular and academic books on the Irish experience of the Great War, a subject that just ten years ago was ignored by all but a handful of pioneers. In essence, the … Read more
On the morning of 22 September 1920, four volunteers from the IRA’s West Clare brigade gathered at a level crossing at Caherfeenick, near Doonbeg. Presently, they heard an approaching Ford two-seater—the object of their attentions. The driver was local resident magistrate Captain Alan Cane Lendrum MC, a native of County Tyrone, a former rubber-planter in … Read more
In 1892 France signed a military convention with Russia: in the event of war, the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary, would have to fight on two fronts. As for the United Kingdom, it worried about Kaiser Wilhelm II’s decision to massively develop the German navy. When in 1901 Anglo-German talks eventually failed to reach a … Read more
Forgotten soldiers: the Irishmen shot at dawn Stephen Walker (Gill and Macmillan, e24.99) ISBN 9780717141821 Shortly after the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914, James Crozier, a young shipyard apprentice from the Shankill district of Belfast, presented himself at his local recruiting office to volunteer for overseas service with the Irish Rifles. Crozier … Read more