Interesting particulars of the part played by the 1st Battalion Royal
Irish Rifles in the attack on Neuve Chapelle are given by
Sergeant-Major Miller, who is now in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital,
Dublin, with a severe wound in the eye received on that occasion. The
Rifles formed part of the Fourth Army Corps, which, with the Indian
Corps, as reported by Field-Marshal French, carried out the assault on
the German lines. Prior to the action General Sir Henry Rawlinson
inspired his troops with an address, in which he said:--
"The attack which we are about to undertake is of the first
importance to the Allied cause. The army and the nation are
watching the result, and Sir John French is confident that
every individual in the Fourth Army Corps will do his duty and
inflict a crushing defeat on the German Seventh Corps, which is
arrayed against us."
This, says the sergeant-major, was the only intimation of the enemy's
strength. Had it been otherwise, the result would have been the same.
On the first day of the attack their Commanding Officer, Colonel
Laurie, seemed to have a charmed life. He deliberately walked up and
down, giving orders and cheering the men on amid a flood of fire. He
seemed unconscious of the fact that a great bombardment was taking
place. It was a wonderful sight to see him there, his big military
figure standing out boldly in presence of his soldiers. Colonel Laurie
and his adjutant were killed the next day, in spite of the charm which
seemed to surround his life on the previous day. The sergeant-major is
unable to state how many men the Rifles lost. He is getting on
favourably, and comrades from the 3rd Battalion at Wellington Barracks
are permitted to visit him.
Sergeant Murphy, of the 3rd Battalion of the Rifles, has received a
letter from his brother (who was wounded with the Rifles at Neuve
Chapelle, and is now in hospital at Brighton), in which he says:--"I
think I am a lucky man to get away at all. Our Commanding Officer,
Colonel Laurie, was killed, and all our officers have been nearly
washed out. There was an awful bombardment between the two armies, and
it was only a very odd man that got away without being wounded. The
Germans lost heavily; so did we. I was in a ward with the Germans, and
they told me they were glad they got wounded, for they would have to
be killed anyway."
Rifleman Sharkey, who was wounded, and is in hospital at Netley,
writes:--"We got a bad cutting-up, and lost our beloved Colonel and
adjutant and the two officers of our company."
("_Morning Post_," _September 20th, 1916._)