The Liverpool Irish is a unit of the British Army's Territorial Army, raised in 1860 as a volunteer corps of infantry. Conversion to an anti-aircraft regiment occurred in 1947, but the regimental status of the Liverpool Irish ceased in 1955 upon reduction to a battery. Since 1967, the lineage of the Liverpool Irish has been perpetuated by "A" Troop, in 208 (3rd West Lancashire) Battery, 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment. The 103rd has provided individual reinforcements to regular artillery regiments equipped with the AS-90 and L118.103 Regiment Mission Statement, army.mod.uk. Accessed 10 October 2006
Liverpool's large Irish community formed the 64th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps on 25 April 1860, one of many volunteer corps raised in Lancashire in response to heightened tension with France.Beckett, passim.Frederick, p. 128.Mileham (2000), p54Westlake, p. 145. The Liverpool Irish became a volunteer (later Territorial Force) battalion of the King's (Liverpool Regiment) in July 1881. As such, it fought in the Second Boer War and First World War, sustaining thousands of casualties in numerous battles that prominently included Givenchy, Guillemont, Third Ypres, and the Hundred Days Offensive. Disbanded after the Great War in 1922, the Liverpool Irish reformed in 1939 before the Second World War and constituted the nucleus of the 7th Beach Group that landed at Juno Beach on 6 June 1944, D-Day.
Irish heritage was asserted in the traditions and uniform of the Liverpool Irish. Once adopting a uniform similar in appearance to the Royal Irish Rifles, the Liverpool Irish eventually wore the caubeen headdress with red and blue hackle; the attire of pipers the battalion maintained on its strength included the saffron kilt and shawl.Harris (1989), pp265-267 While the battalion derived pride from its Irish identity, some, including the 17th Earl of Derby, associated Irish status with indiscipline and disobedience, which the Liverpool Irish gained a reputation for.McCartney, Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World War, pP184-185Bowman (2004), Irish Regiments in the Great War: Discipline and Morale, pp20-21
History 1860–1914
Poverty and famine drove many Irish to Liverpool during the 19th Century, whether as settlers or transmigrants.Leonard, Marion, Irish cultural expression in Liverpool, bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2008. By 1851, it was estimated that 22.3 per cent (83,813) of the town's populace was Irish-born.Swift (2002), Irish Migrants in Britain, 1815-1914: A Documentary History, p28 In the late 1850s, heightened tension between Crimean War allies France and Britain inspired the development of a military volunteer movement, mostly amongst the middle classes. The populace of Lancashire, including the port of Liverpool, organised corps of varying sizes, the most senior being the 1st Lancashire (Liverpool) Rifle Volunteer Corps, formed by Captain Nathaniel Bousfield in June 1859.Beckett, pp. 14–6, 19, 275.Westlake, p. 139. On 5 December 1859, an advertisement published in the Liverpool Daily Post appealed to interested parties within Liverpool's Irish community to assemble at the London, Clayton Square. Those who attended the meeting determined an Irish corps would be viable.Harris (1989), p263 By January, the corps had quickly developed into a coherent body and arranged its first drill at the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson Street. Shortly after its official constitution on 25 April, the 64th Corps, for a brief period, became incorporated into the 2nd Administrative Battalion, formed to organise other volunteer units in the county. The corps had six companies by September 1863, and the "Liverpool Irish" designation was formally granted in 1864.
James Gunning Plunkett, a young lieutenant in the 5th Regiment of Royal Lancashire Militia, became the corps first commanding officer when appointed Captain-Commandant in 1860. He resigned in 1861 and was succeeded by Captain Peter Silvester Bidwill (or Bidwell), who attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1863 and held command for almost 23 years. A Catholic importer of corn and Liberal, Bidwill and the corps were subject to accusations of Irish Republican sympathy and even the provision of military training to nationalists.Beckett (1982), p. 273.Belchem (2000), Merseypride: Essays in Liverpool Exceptionalism, p145 Conversely, Bidwill was an avowed opponent of home rule in Ireland and refuted the accusations expressed during his tenure of command. Some members were indeed aligned with the movement and associated with the Irish Republican BrotherhoodLowe, W.J. (1989), The Irish in mid-Victorian Lancashire, p193 In his autobiography The Life Story of an Old Rebel, nationalist John Denvir claimed volunteers from Ireland had insisted they joined the 64th with the intent of "learning and perfecting themselves in the use of arms". Nevertheless, nationalist organisations based in Liverpool endeavoured to discourage prospective volunteers and condemned those who joined the corps.Denvir (1910/1972), The Life Story of an Old Rebel, p. 92
When the Rifle Volunteer Corps were consolidated, the Liverpool Irish was renumbered 18th Lancashire RVC on 3 September 1880. Under the localisation scheme implemented by the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the Army, the Liverpool Irish became a Volunteer Battalion of the King's (Liverpool Regiment) on 1 July 1881 and was redesignated the 5th (Irish) Volunteer Battalion of the regiment on 1 March 1888.Mileham (2000), p. 58 The Volunteer Force was not mobilised during the Second Boer War, but the battalion provided 224 volunteers for service in South Africa, with some sent as drafts for the Imperial Yeomanry and 1st King's.Harris (1989), pp. 264-5 More than one hundred of the volunteers formed a service company for attachment to the 1st Royal Irish Regiment. The company served for ten months and returned to Britain in November 1900, having fought at Belfast, Bethlehem, Klip Flat Drift, Lydenburg, Sand River Draft, and Slabbert's Nek. On returning to Liverpool, the company marched to St George's Hall, to be greeted by the Lord Mayor and relatives.The Returning Troops, The Times, 28 November 1900, p. 6 The contribution of the Liverpool Irish was recognised with the awarding of a battle honour, "South Africa 1900-02".
The Haldane Reforms of 1908 replaced the Volunteer Force with the Territorial Force, which was organised into 14 infantry divisions.Westlake, Ray & Chappell, Mike (1991), British Territorial Units 1914-18, p. 3 The battalion, renumbered the 8th, became subordinated to the Liverpool Brigade, West Lancashire Division. Territorial infantry battalions inherited the composition of their volunteer predecessors: eight companies, each commanded by a captain or major. This structure was superseded by a four-company system first adopted by the Regular Army in 1913 and extended to the Territorial Force during the First World War.McGilchrist (1930/2005), Liverpool Scottish 1900-1919, pp. 19-21 Before its restructuring, the 8th (Irish) maintained a company of bicycle infantry – a variant of mounted infantry that had acquired popularity amongst contemporary armies. All eight companies concentrated at Shaw Street, where the battalion housed its headquarters. A strength of 942 officers and other ranks was recorded in 1910, at which time the battalion's commanding officer was Colonel J.A. Cooney.Richards (1910), His Majesty's Territorial Army, p137
First World War
1914–1916
At the onset of war, in August 1914, the Liverpool Irish mobilised and moved to Canterbury, in Kent. Two duplicate battalions of the Liverpool Irish were raised in October 1914 and May 1915, designated as the 2/8th and 3/8th respectively. Soldiers unable to volunteer for overseas service formed the nucleus of the 2/8th, which trained recruits and supplied deployed units with drafts.Middlebrook (2000), Your Country Needs You!: Expansion of the British Army Infantry Divisions 1914-1918, p. 115Wyrall (2002), p72 The 2/8th was itself sent to the Western Front in February 1917, with the 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division's 171st (2/1st Liverpool) Brigade. The third-line remained in England and was responsible for the training of recruits. It was absorbed by the 7th (Reserve) Battalion, West Lancashire Reserve Brigade in September 1916.Mileham (2000), p. 240
The 1/8th transferred to the North Lancashire Brigade in February 1915 and landed at Boulogne in May, one-month after the brigade was assigned to the 51st (Highland) Division. Heavy casualties were sustained in the battalion's first engagement of the war, in the Second Action of Givenchy (15–16 June). The attack by IV Corps was designed to support a renewed French offensive in Artois and secure the elevated ground near Violaines.Baker, Chris, Second Action of Givenchy, 15-16 June 1915, 1914-1918.net. Accessed 6 December 2007. Initially in reserve at Le Touret, the Liverpool Irish was committed after it received orders to deploy to fire trenches in support of the battle. As the only battalion remaining in the brigade able to undertake offensive action, the other three having incurred heavy losses on the first-day, the 1/8th was ordered to renew the attack in the afternoon of the 16th.Mileham (2000), p96 Companies were to advance sequentially, beginning with "C", then "A", "B", and "D". After a preliminary bombardment of 45-minutes, the Liverpool Irish, commanded by Major J.A.C. Johnson, departed its trenches at 4:45pm.Wyrall (2002), pp154-155 A maelstrom of fire confronted the men of "C" Company; nearly all fell in no man's land without reaching the German frontline. The three companies that followed encountered similarly intense opposition. Some did penetrate the German first-line, but their numbers were insufficient to retain possession of the captured territory. Retirement to British lines was completed by midnight and the battalion subsequently returned to Le Touret. In the three days engaged in the Givenchy sector, the 1/8th had suffered 232 casualties.
Orders were received in early January that the Liverpool Irish and its brigade were to transfer to the 55th (West Lancashire) Division. Dismantled in the early stages of the war when its constituent battalions were deployed to overseas theatres, the 55th reformed at Hallencourt under command of Major-General Hugh Jeudwine. Specially-trained volunteers from the Liverpool Irish were selected to conduct the division's first major raid on German trenches, at Ransart on the night of 17 April. Split into two parties of wirecutters and raiders, the Liverpool Irish entered the trench system and proceeded to grenade three dug-outs and destroy a munitions storeCoop (1919/2001), p26 The raiders' sole fatality, Second-Lieutenant Edward Felix Baxter, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.