Royal Munster Fusiliers (New Army)

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The Royal Munster Fusiliers (RMF) was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army, one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland. Its home depot was in Tralee, County Kerry.

When World War I began in 1914, Britain widened its army with the New Army under Lord Kitchener. The RMF formed several Service battalions. The 6th and 7th Service RMF joined the 10th (Irish) Division, and the 8th and 9th Service RMF formed part of the 16th (Irish) Division. These battalions trained in Ireland and England before going to the front.

In Gallipoli, the 6th and 7th Service RMF fought with the 10th Division at Sari Bair Ridge. The fighting was fierce and the attack failed to break the Turkish lines, and the division withdrew with heavy losses.

After Gallipoli, the 10th Division went to Salonika (Macedonia) to help against Bulgaria. The campaign there was hard: cold winters, malaria, and tough fighting. By late 1916, the 7th RMF was merged into the 6th RMF to cope with losses. The 8th RMF was disbanded in November 1916, and the 9th RMF was disbanded in May 1918, with its men transferred to other RMF battalions.

In 1917–18, the RMF battalions served in the Palestine Campaign. They helped push the Turks back, and Jerusalem was captured in December 1917. After heavy fighting in 1918, some RMF units were moved to France to support the main Allied effort.

In June 1918, the 6th RMF sailed to France to join the 2nd Regular RMF. They trained and then fought in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive, helping bring the war to a close in November 1918.

There was also a brief, unusual attempt in 1918 to form a special Irish battalion led by Captain Arthur Lynch. It was not fully part of the RMF and was disbanded in March 1919.

The RMF’s wartime history thus took them from Gallipoli to Salonika, then to Palestine, and finally to the Western Front, where they played a role in the final Allied victory.