Royal Irish Rifles/Regiment

[madpinkflamingo]

Hello!

Horribly new to Medal Cards having just found my first.

Looking at a card that states Royal Irish Rifles L/Cpl 7284 2/GB (whats 2/GB mean please)

then says underneath that Royal Irish Reg L/Cpl 2G/180 (ditto 2G/180)

further down the card it says Transferred - any clues? Thres also a date, 6/11/14, Im assuming thats when he joined up? Some family members say he was a soldier for 20 years, but he died in 1925.......

Also, I was given to understand this chap was raised in Devon, but returned at some point to London. Would the Royal Irish recruit from London, or would he have more likely been in Ireland at the time? He did marry a Dublin girl, but that was after the war had ended.

Is there anyway I can find out which bit of the Irish Rifles he would have been in? Ive looked at the Royal Irish websites, but they seemed to have so many different battalions I cant make that much sense out of it.

Apols if I sound ignorant, youd never guess my son was serving with the Irish Guards would you!

many thanks

Andrae

[MelPack]

Hello Andrae

It sounds as if your man was in the 1st Battalion of the R I Rifles and landed in France on 6/11/14 as part of the 8th Division.

He would be entitled to the 1914 Star and possibly bar, the British War Medal and Victory Medals.

The refernces that you are scratching your head over are for the Medal rolls.

At some point he transferred to the RI Regiment (completely distinct from RI Rifles - although both can be referred to as RIR and create a source of much confusion.

congratulations about picking an Old contemptible that seems to have come through it all.

Regards

mel

[madpinkflamingo]

Hello Andrae

It sounds as if your man was in the 1st Battalion of the R I Rifles and landed in France on 6/11/14 as part of the 8th Division.

He would be entitled to the 1914 Star and possibly bar, the British War Medal and Victory Medals.

The refernces that you are scratching your head over are for the Medal rolls.

At some point he transferred to the RI Regiment (completely distinct from RI Rifles - although both can be referred to as RIR and create a source of much confusion.

congratulations about picking an Old contemptible that seems to have come through it all.

Regards

mel

thank you so very much for your prompt and interesting reply.

Andrae

[MelPack]

Andrae

It is certain that he was a pre-war regular. The date of entry does suggest the 1st Battalion of the Rifles which was based in Aden at the outbreak of the war.

A basic history of the engagements of the Battalion as part of the 8th Division can be found here:

http://www.1914-1918.net/8div.htm

Your real problem is identifying the date of tansfer to the RI Regiment. It could have been after recovery of wounds or as part of a bloc transfer to replenish a mauled Battalion of the RI Regiment.

I would suggest that you make a posting in the soldiers section of the forum and provide the fullest details in your opening post - details of MIC etc (and name and service numbers!!!!) and see what the RIRS experts come up with.

regards

Mel

[madpinkflamingo]

Andrae

It is certain that he was a pre-war regular. The date of entry does suggest the 1st Battalion of the Rifles which was based in Aden at the outbreak of the war.

A basic history of the engagements of the Battalion as part of the 8th Division can be found here:

http://www.1914-1918.net/8div.htm

Your real problem is identifying the date of tansfer to the RI Regiment. It could have been after recovery of wounds or as part of a bloc transfer to replenish a mauled Battalion of the RI Regiment.

I would suggest that you make a posting in the soldiers section of the forum and provide the fullest details in your opening post - details of MIC etc (and name and service numbers!!!!) and see what the RIRS experts come up with.

regards

Mel

Thanks again. I did follow the link, but got a bit mixed up with the divisions and what they were made up of. I have found the dates of their postings starting with Aden on another site and it does indeed show their landing in Le Havre on 6/11/14. Ive since read today (at the back of Cyril Falls tome on the RIRS),that my chap is listed as receiving the DCM on 1/14/15, and it duly states he was with the 1st battalion. I shall post in the soldiers section of the forum to see how they can help regarding the transfer.

kind regards

Andrae