Great Britain. Army; World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories
it was to the Irish Division, under their splendid Irish commander,
General Sir Bryan Mahon, that the place of honour for this desperate
enterprise was given. Coming straight from their hard service in the
Peninsula, they performed in the Serbian mountain passes above Lake
Doiran what General Sarrail, the eminent French Commander, the
vanquisher of the Crown Prince's Army at Verdun, has pronounced to be
one of the most striking feats of arms of the whole war. Acting as a
rearguard against an army ten times their number, they did what was
neither expected nor counted upon. But their instinctive military
genius, as well as their courage and determination, came into play,
and they held up the overwhelming enemy for so long and with such
skill that the entire French and British forces were able to withdraw
safely to their defensive positions without the loss of a single gun
or a single transport wagon.
One seems to be verging on exaggeration in these accounts, but the
thing is bare truth, and I am striving to bring out what has been done
for Ireland by the character of these troops. I have indicated their
martial quality. But they have brought another quality into the field
which is equally characteristic and therefore should at least be
mentioned here, and which, perhaps, in the circumstances of the time,
deserves a special reference. That is, their religious spirit.
Everybody has remarked it. The Irish soldier, with his limpid faith
and his unaffected piety, his rosary recited on the hillside, his Mass
in the ruined barn under shell-fire, his "act of contrition" in the
trench before facing the hail of the assault, his attitude to women,
has been mostly a singular impression. And his chaplain! The Irish
battalion must have its chaplain as well as its colonel, and both must
be of the best. The chaplains of every denomination and of every corps
have made a noble name for themselves in this war; but I am speaking
here only of the Irish chaplains--of the men like Father Finn, killed
at "V" beach, refusing to stay behind on the ship because, as he
answered, "The place of the chaplain is with the dying soldier"; and
like Father Gwynn, of the Irish Guards, killed at the French front, of
whom his battalion commander, a Protestant Irishman, writes these
words: "No words of mine could express or even give a faint idea of
the amount of good he has done us all out here, or how bravely he has
faced all dangers, and how cheerful and comforting he has always been.
It is certainly no exaggeration to say that he was loved by every
officer, N.C.O. and man in the battalion. The Irish Guards owe him a
deep and lasting debt of gratitude, and as long as any of us are left
who saw him out here, we shall never forget his wonderful life, and
shall strive to lead a better life by following his example." This
quality of our soldiers appears to have impressed observers, as well
as their fighting quality. It is referred to again and again, and the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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