{"id":7745,"date":"2021-10-23T20:16:57","date_gmt":"2021-10-23T20:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/?p=7745"},"modified":"2025-09-08T17:52:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:52:24","slug":"the-london-irish-rifles-training-in-wales-in-1940","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/23\/the-london-irish-rifles-training-in-wales-in-1940\/","title":{"rendered":"The London Irish Rifles training in Wales in 1940"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(H 5139) Men of the 2nd London Irish Rifles advancing with fixed bayonets after climbing up the cliffs during training at Little Haven near Haverfordwest. IWM.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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As the ‘London Irish at War’ noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Following Dunkirk, invasion became even more likely and work on the defences of Britain was intensified. The 2nd Battalion spent several weeks on local-defence duties in Knutsford, Cheshire, and subsequently underwent hard training at Haverfordwest. At the same time they had to be prepared to join in coast defence.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CQMS Edmund O’Sullivan recalled that period in Wales:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCompany training followed. We were bussed to Newgale Sands for a fortnight\u2019s intensive battle preparation. This <\/em>involved forced marches and long runs that culminated in nude bathing in the cold sea, watched appreciatively from a distance by local ladies. Route marches with full packs, stalking and crawling and field-firing using live ammunition were among the pleasures we endured under Captain Geoffrey Phillips, our temporary Company Commander. On the final Friday evening, he treated the whole company in the local hostelry as a mark of his appreciation for our efforts.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were occasional moments of ill-discipline. Rifleman Waddy Weir, worse for drink, attempted on three occasions to swim home to his wife in Ireland. After pulling him out of the shallow sea twice, I said on his third attempt: \u2018Drown then.\u2019 He did not, as the next day he was once more asking to borrow \u2018fippence\u2019 for a drink. We returned to Haverfordwest feeling more like soldiers, tough and prepared for anything.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(H 5137)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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(H 5140) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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(H 5146)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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(H 5147)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-world-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7745"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13991,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745\/revisions\/13991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonirishrifles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}