1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in World War I

[1] The Ottoman Empire had not yet entered the war so the battalion was sent to England in September, where it prepared for a deployment to France, attached to the 25th Infantry Brigade, 8th Division.

After an initial artillery bombardment, the battalion advanced to the previously captured German front lines and helped to secure the village of Neuve-Chapelle.

A German raid inflicted casualties in April 1916, but worse was to come in the Battle of the Somme in July, when the battalion was ordered to attack the German-held village of Ovillers-la-Boisselle.

[5] The battalion left the Somme for Loos after the first phase of the battle but returned in October 1916 to fight on the ridges of Le Transloy in appallingly muddy conditions.

After a rest, it was posted to Bouchavesnes-Bergen at the end of December and advanced to take a swathe of German-held territory during the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917.

[4] In June 1917, the battalion was transferred to positions immediately east of Ypres, where it supported the British offensive that opened the Battle of Passchendaele on 31 July.