Corporal Marcus George Beattie 2 LIR
On the occasion of Father’s Day, we are pleased to have received a note from Les Beattie, the son of Corporal Marcus Beattie who served with the 2nd Battalion in the UK, North Africa, Italy and Austria. “My father was born on 19th March 1921 in Belfast, N. Ireland. He served in the Army from […]
Photos from the Boer War
Portrait photograph of Captain C G Henty, London Irish Rifles, 1900-1901 (courtesy of the National Army Museum).
The Battle of Bou Arada – Hills 279/286
The Battle of Bou Arada was a bloody affair in which the 2nd Battalion, London Irish distinguished themselves, but with grievous losses. The night of 19 January 1943 had been spent just outside El Aroussa, and the next night the battalion moved into the plains to the west of Bou Arada. Another move was ordered, […]
2/18th Battalion at Kherbet Adasseh
In the course of five weeks, the battalion had passed from the great heat and water scarcity of the desert to days and nights of continuous rain and it had now become bitterly cold. The area north of Jerusalem was a nightmare of rocky hills and no frontline was obvious. Some of the high points […]
The London Irish Rifles training in Wales in 1940
Some excellent photographs have been discovered at the Imperial War Museum (IWM) showing the intensive training manoeuvres undertaken by the 2nd Battalion London Irish Rifles on the cliffs near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire during October 1940. As the ‘London Irish at War’ noted: “Following Dunkirk, invasion became even more likely and work on the defences of […]
Lt Terry Flynn, 2 LIR in Italy
On Loos Sunday, we were delighted to meet with Sean Flynn, the son of Lieutenant Terry Flynn, who served with the 2nd Battalion London Irish Rifles during the Second World War. Although the details of Lt Flynn’s service period is not exactly clear, it is certain that he was serving with 2 LIR during its […]
Rifleman Henry Norton Stephens
We are extremely delighted to have been sent a set of photographs and other interesting paper artefacts belonging to Rifleman Henry Stephens, who served with the London Irish Rifles during the First World War. These fantastic documents have been donated to us by Henry’s granddaughter, Katy de Rooy, and she said in a note to […]
Lance Corporal David Moore
David Moore has written to us about his father, Lance Corporal David Moore, who served with the London Irish Rifles during the Second World War: “My father was born on 18th February 1917 in Airdrie. His Army number was 3249725 and he served in the Cameronians before joining the LIR and then joined the RASC when […]
RJ Prentice 2 LIR
We received a note and some photos from Colin Prentice, the son of Robert John Prentice who served with the 2nd Bn London Irish Rifles during the Second World War – he is seen below (directly behind Lt Searles) on guard duty with H Company for General Montgomery at Vasto in December 1943 as he […]