{"id":15527,"date":"2025-11-17T08:21:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T08:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/?page_id=15527"},"modified":"2026-06-19T07:51:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T07:51:46","slug":"personal-accounts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/second-world-war\/38-irish-brigade-1942-1947\/personal-accounts\/","title":{"rendered":"38 (Irish) Brigade – Eyewitness Accounts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Lt Col Bala Bredin<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Lt Col Jeffreys<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lieut-Col H.E.N. \u2018Bala\u2019 Bredin<\/strong> <\/a>was the Commanding Officer of the 6th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers during the fighting advance of the Irish Brigade at the Gustav Line near Cassino in May 1944.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bala Bredin had previously been Second in Command of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers before becoming Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles in August 1944. He would be awarded two DSOs for his leadership of both the Skins and the London Irish in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Lieut-Col Jeffreys<\/strong> was Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles (2 LIR) from July 1942 to March 1943 <\/a>during the Irish Brigade\u2019s preparations for the North African campaign and the first few months of bitter fighting in Tunisia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Major Mervyn Davies<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Captain Nicholas Mosley<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Major Desmond Woods<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Major Mervyn Davies <\/strong>was Officer Commanding of E Company 2 LIR during 1944 and 1945<\/a>, and led them during the attack at Casa Sinagoga on 16th May 1944.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major Davies was later awarded the Military Cross for his actions at Monte Spaduro in October 1944, where he was wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Nicholas Mosley <\/strong>was a Platoon Commander with E Company 2 LIR from December 1943 to July 1945<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lieutenant Mosley was wounded near Cassino on 16th May 1944 and, after his return to the battalion, he was awarded the Military Cross for his actions near Monte Spaduro in October 1944.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Desmond Woods <\/strong>was Officer Commanding, H Company 2 LIR from October 1943 until June 1944 <\/a>during the Irish Brigade\u2019s advances from Termoli to the Moro River, and from Cassino to Lake Trasimene, where he was wounded and left the brigade.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Major Woods was awarded a bar to the Military Cross for his actions in leading his battalion at Casa Sinagoga on 16th May 1944.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Captain Percy Hamilton<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Major Lawrence Franklyn-Vaile<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Captain David Schayek<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sgt. Robbie Robertson<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Percy Hamilton<\/strong> served as an officer with 6 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Tunisia and Italy<\/a>, and was awarded a Military Cross for his actions at Pucciarelli Ridge on the evening of 21st\/22nd June 1944.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Lawrence (Lawrie) Franklyn-Vaile <\/strong>was serving as a Company Commander with 1st Bn. Royal Irish Fusiliers<\/a>, when he was killed in action on 17th May 1944 in the Liri Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

David Schayek<\/strong> served with 6 Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers during the latter part of the Tunisian campaign and then in Sicily<\/a> and the first part of the advance along the Adriatic coast where, in early November 1943, he was severely wounded near San Salvo. For his actions there, Captain Schayek was awarded the Military Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sergeant Robbie Robinson<\/strong> was a platoon commander with the Faughs from November 1942 to October 1944<\/a> serving in the campaigns in Tunisia, Sicily and peninsular Italy. He was severely wounded twice and would be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Sgt. Charles Ward<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Capt. Strome Galloway<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Lt. Colin Gunner<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
CQMS Edmund O’Sullivan<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
CQMS Jackie Duffy<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sgt. Raymond Phillips<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Charles Ward<\/strong> joined the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles (2 LIR) on 18th October 1939 <\/a>along with Edmund O\u2019Sullivan with whom he served in G Company during their period of training across England, Scotland and Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a platoon sergeant, Charles travelled with 2 LIR to Tunisia in November 1942 and was with the battalion during the Irish Brigade\u2019s campaign period north of Bou Arada from December 1942 to March 1943.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the capitulation of all Axis forces in North Africa, Charles injured his knee and after being medically downgraded in the middle of 1943, he transferred to the cipher section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) with whom he served for the rest of the war in Algeria and Italy. It was while he was with SOE that Charles met his future wife, Margaret, who was in the signals section of SOE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Strome Galloway<\/strong>, a Canadian officer, joined the Irish Brigade in Tunisia during February 1943<\/a> and spent the next two months as second in command of F Company, 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles (2 LIR).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During this period, he maintained a diary of his experiences, including a detailed account of the German attack on 2 LIR\u2019s positions on Stuka Ridge to the north of Bou Arada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

In early 1943, Colin Gunner<\/strong> was posted to North Africa with 1st Bn, Kensington Regiment<\/a>, who were the MG support to the 78th Division during their campaigns in Tunisia and Italy. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After over a year in close support to the Irish Brigade, Lieutenant Gunner was transferred to the 1st Bttn, Royal Irish Fusiliers with whom he served during the rest of the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Edmund O\u2019Sullivan<\/strong> served as CQMS with E Company of the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles from November 1942 to May 1945<\/a> and travelled the whole route of the Irish Brigade from Algiers to Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
78th Infantry Division at Argenta<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Operation Buckland – 9 to 25 April 1945<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Accounts of units of the 78th Division, including the Irish Brigade during Operation Buckland that led to the final comprehensive defeat of German forces in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lieut-Col H.E.N. \u2018Bala\u2019 Bredin was the Commanding Officer of the 6th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers during the fighting advance of the Irish Brigade at the Gustav Line near Cassino in May 1944. Bala Bredin had previously been Second in Command of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers before becoming Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, London […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":15215,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15527","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15527"}],"version-history":[{"count":130,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25614,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15527\/revisions\/25614"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}