The Irish Guards is a regiment of the British Army It was formed on April 1 1900 by the order of Queen Victoria in response to the many courageous actions performed by Irish regiments in the Second Boer War. The regiment's first Colonel was Field Marshal Lord Roberts, known to many troops as 'Bobs'. Because of this, the regiment gained the nickname 'Bob's Own' though they are now known affectionately as 'The Micks'. This is not seen as offensive or derogatory by the regiment. As of 2005, it is one of only two purely Irish regiments in the British Army.
One way to distinguish between the regiments of Foot Guards is the spacing of buttons on the tunic. The Irish Guards have buttons arranged in groups of four. They also have a prominent blue plume on the left side of their bear skin hats.
1945-Present day
In 1946 the 3rd Irish Guards was disbanded as was the 2nd Irish Guards the following year. In 1947 the 1st Irish Guards deployed abroad for the first time since 1944, heading for troubled Palestine to perform internal security (IS) duties there. They moved to Tripoli, Libya when the British mandate for Palestine was relinquished in May 1948, before returning to the UK in 1949. They were stationed in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in 1951, where they would remain until 1953. They then deployed to Egypt, after ceremonial duties for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, where they stayed until 1956 when they once again returned to the UK.
In 1958, during the troubles in Cyprus, when there was much tension, indeed violence, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and against the British forces, the regiment perfomed vital internal security duties. They returned in the closing months of that year. In 1961 the regiment returned to West Germany as part of BAOR. In 1966 the regiment deployed to Aden during the troubles in that region. The regiment returned to the UK the following year.
In 1970 the regiment deployed to Hong Kong where they would remain for two years until returning to the UK. In 1974, the battalion re-roled as a mechanised battalion, subsequently being deployed to the BAOR. They returned to the UK in 1977. In 1981, at Chelsea Barracks in London, a bus carrying men of the regiment was subject to an horrific terrorist attack by the IRA which resulted in twenty-three men of the Irish Guards being wounded and the deaths of two passers-by.
The following year after that tragic incident the regiment deployed to the BAOR again. In 1986 the regiment returned to the UK and in 1988 they received their new colours from HM The Queen. That same year they deployed to the Central American country of Belize which, at that time, still felt threatened by its neighbour Guatemala who had failed to recognise Belize upon that country's independence in 1981 due to its belief that Belize belongs to Guatemala. They deployed to West Berlin in 1989, their first and only deployment to Berlin, where they saw the end of the Berlin Wall that year. They left the newly united Berlin in 1992.
In late 1992 the regiment finally made its first tour-of-duty in Northern Ireland being based in County Fermanagh. Thankfully the violence in NI had mostly subsided. They left the following year. In 1995 their second tour of NI began, being based in County Tyrone. In 1998 the regiment headed for Germany as part of British Forces Germany the successor to the old BAOR.
In 1999 a company of the Irish Guards deployed to Macedonia during the troubles there, with the rest deploying to Kosovo, forming the Irish Guards Battle Group. The Battle Group were the first to enter the Kosovan capital city of Pristina on the 12th June and were greeted by the celebrating local population, who treated the guards like heroes. After the town had been secured the battle group began to consolidate its position moving across the surrounding countryside to secure it. The Battle Group performed professionally, attempting to keep the Albanian and Serb Kosovans from fighting each other and to rebuild the country. They left in September that year, returning to Germany.
In 2000, the 100th year of the creation of the Irish Guards, Liverpool granted them the freedom of the city. The following year the regiment took part in training exercises in Poland, BATUS in Canada and the large exercise Saif Sarrea II in Oman.
In 2003 the regiment deployed to Kuwait during the build-up to the 2003 Iraq War as part of 7th Armoured Brigade , successor of the famous 7th Armoured Division, 'The Desert Rats', where they trained for war against Saddam. The battalion was split up, with companies, platoons and sections being attached to various units of the Desert Rats. Upon crossing the Iraq border, the Desert Rats began the journey towards the area around Basra, gradually taking control of much of the area that surrounded Iraq's second largest city.
Troops of the Irish Guards led the British advance on Basra from late March, helping in securing objectives on the outskirts of the city. Sadly during early April the Irish Guards lost two soldiers in the Battle for Basra , they were Lance Corporal Malone and Piper Muzvuru. The Irish Guards claim they liberated Basra first, saying they did so a number of hours before the Parachute Regiment. The Irish Guards reverted from a war-role to helping the people of Basra get back to normality, performing many duties that would be familar to any British soldier that has served in Northern Ireland. They performed these duties until early May when they left Iraq.
Other information
Battle Honours
- World War One: Mons, Retreat from Mons , Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Ypres 1914 1917, Langemarck 1914 , Battle of Gheluvelt , Nonne Bosschen , Festubert 1915 , Loos, Somme 1916 1918, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Pilckem , Poelcapelle , Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 1918, St. Quentin, Lys , Hazebrouck , Albert 1918, Bapaume 1918 , Arras 1918, Scarpe 1918 , Drocourt-Quéant , Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord , Selle , Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18
- Second World War:
- North-West Europe: Pothus , Norway 1940, Boulogne 1940, Cagny, Mont Pincon , Neerpelt, Nijmegen, Aam , Rhineland, Hochwald , Rhine, Bentheim, North-West Europe 1940 1944-45,
- North Africa: Medjez Plain , Djebel bou Aoukaz , North Africa 1943,
- Italy: Anzio, Aprilia, Carroceto , Italy 1943-44
Victoria Cross winners (external links)
- Guardsman Edward Colquhoun Charlton, 2nd Battalion, The Irish Guards
- Lance-Corporal John Patrick Kenneally, 1st Battalion, The Irish Guards
- Acting Lieutenant-Colonel James Marshall, Irish Guards but attached to the 16th Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers
- Lance-Sergeant John Moyney, 2nd Battalion, The Irish Guards
- Lance-Corporal Michael O'Leary, 1st Battalion, The Irish Guards
- Private Thomas Woodcock, 2nd Battalion, The Irish Guards