'YOUNG CITIZEN OLD SOLDIER". FROM BOYHOOD IN ANTRIM TO HELL ON THE SOMME: The Journal of Rifleman James McRoberts, 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, January 1915-April 1917

224 Pages·2012·0.3 MB·English

by  David Truesdale

Helion & Company Limited
26 Willow Road
Solihull
West Midlands
B91 1UE
England
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
email: [email protected]
website: www.helion.co.uk
Published by Helion & Company 2012
Designed and typeset by Farr out Publications, Wokingham, Berkshire
Cover designed by Farr out Publications, Wokingham, Berkshire
Printed by Gutenberg Press Limited, Tarxien, Malta
Text © Sylvia McRoberts 2012
Images © as shown. The editor and publishers would like to apologise for the poor
quality of many of the images in this book. However, it was felt better to include images
of great historical interest, and accept their quality (frequently reflecting the print quality
of contemporary newspapers), than to exclude them.
Front cover: No 1 Platoon, D Company, 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, at Seaford.
James McRoberts can be seen seventh from the left in the third row. (Somme Museum,
Newtownards)
ISBN 978 1 908916 48 8
EPUB ISBN: 9781909384682
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, manipulated
in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written consent
of Helion & Company Limited.
For details of other military history titles published by Helion & Company Limited
contact the above address, or visit our website: http://www.helion.co.uk.
We always welcome receiving book proposals from prospective authors.
To the memory of
Jack L Armstrong and Brian Boyd who, although they survived
1 July 1916 and were both awarded the Military Medal, were
killed in the following year.
The better the soldier, the more limited is his outlook
Siegfried Sassoon
As I sit thinking, the past returns,
Unbidden; with awful clarity
The lid comes off the memory jar.1
1 Patricia Fawcett
Contents
List of Maps and Illustrations
Maps
Preface
Publisher’s Note
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Historical background to the 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (YCV)
The Diary: Training in Ulster
The Diary: Training in Seaford, Sussex
The Diary: France and Belgium, the trenches
The Diary: England, hospital
The Diary: Home and remembrance
The 14th Rifles and the remainder of the War
Post-war – County Surveyor
Appendix: Casualty list ‘D’ Company, 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (YCV), 6 May
1916
Bibliography
List of Maps and Illustrations
Maps
Map 1: The area to be attacked by the 36th (Ulster) Division on 1 July 1916, the
advance of the Division was split by the River Ancre.
Map 2: German positions plotted on the same map. The dotted lines show the left and
right flanks of the Division. On the left was the 29th Division, on the right the 32nd
Division.
Map 3: A trench map showing Cooker Farm where Private James McRoberts was
wounded on the evening of 1 November 1916.
14th Battalion at Randalstown Camp, 1915. (Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
Recruiting poster as it appeared in the Belfast Newsletter of 1914 . (Mark Ramsey)
Clandeboye Camp, County Down. (North Down Museum)
The Battalion on parade. (Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
James’ father and mother. (McRoberts family)
No 1 Platoon, D Company, at Randalstown, 1915. (Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
Harp & Crown. (Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
Regimental call. (Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
James in uniform just after joining the Division. (McRoberts family)
At the family home in Larne, 1904 – Jane McMinn McRoberts, her son James and her
husband Mathew. On her knee daughter Annie and sons Mathew and John. Annie
was born in 1902 or early 1903. She never married and died in 1933 from eating
apples which were thought to have been sprayed with a toxic chemical. (McRoberts
family)
No 12 Platoon, C Company at Randalstown. (Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
Many members of the YCV served in the Second World War. This is Thomas Woods,
who opted for the Royal Navy! (Mark Ramsey)
YCV Finner Camp, County Donegal. (Mark Ramsey)
YCV in uniform. (Mark Ramsey)
YCV in uniform. (Mark Ramsey)
Finner Camp, County Donegal. (McRoberts family)
An unnamed young soldier at Finner Camp, County Donegal. (Royal Ulster Rifles
Museum)
Great Northern Hotel and strand, Bundoran, County Donegal. (McRoberts family)
An unnamed Army padre with members of the McRoberts family, sadly also unnamed.
The two boys are wearing blazers of Methodist College, Belfast. (McRoberts
family)
The Percy French memorial at Newcastle County Down. (Author’s photograph)
Private James Walker was a former member of the YCV and pre-war had played for
Linfield Football Club. He came from Dunadry, County Antrim and was one of
those who died on 6 May 1916. (Mark Ramsey)
Great Northern Hotel, Bundoran, County Donegal, one of the hotels used by the
Battalion in the winter of 1914. (McRoberts family)
No 15 Platoon, C Company, at Randalstown. In this photograph only some of the men
are identified – Corporal Woodside, G.H.M., Hawthorne, Smith, Russell (in shorts),
Patterson, McIlroy, Running, McFarland, Sergeant Powell, Lewis, Ellis, Culbert,
Dowdy, Johnston (with dog), P.P., Brown, Lance Corporal McKnight. (Royal Ulster
Rifles Museum)
YCV Camp Finner, Donegal, (Somme Museum, Newtownards)
Newspaper advertisement for the YCV/14th Battalion. These appeared on frequent
occasions in order to attempt to bring the various battalions up to full strength,
which was not as easy as many today imagine. (Mark Ramsey)
Movement order received by all members of the Battalion for the move to Randalstown.
(Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
The Young Citizens did indeed come from privileged backgrounds - R.N. Kennedy and
Graham Allen, both prominent members of Balmoral Golf Club. (Nigel Henderson)
Battalion pets at Randalstown, Back row, Company Quartermaster Sergeant White,
Private Joe Wright, Private William McBurney, Sergeant A. Patton (killed on 27
June 1917), Company Sergeant Major White. Seated, Sergeant Smyth, Sergeant
Cole, Cook H. Bingham with Sammy the drake, Company Sergeant Major
Griffiths, Sergeant R.J. Elliott with Mick the fox terrier and Sergeant Diamond.
(Nigel Henderson)
Unknown member of the YCV/14th Rifles. (Mark Ramsey)
Unknown member of the YCV/14th Rifles. (Mark Ramsey)
Captain Willis in his YCV uniform. (Nigel Henderson)
LOL 862, the Official Orange Lodge of the Battalion. (Nigel Henderson)
No 5 Platoon of B Company at Seaford, 1915. This photograph is taken from an album
that featured the entire Battalion. A copy could be purchased by the men and then
posted to their homes. (Somme Museum, Newtownards)
Battalion Drum, Pipe and Bugle Band at Seaford. (Somme Museum, Newtownards)
Battalion officers at Seaford, October 1915, just prior to embarking for France. (Somme
Museum, Newtownards)
A cartoon that well reflects James and the women he met before and during the War.
(Somme Museum, Newtownards)
The band on the march at Seaford, still having some difficulty in keeping step. (Royal
Ulster Rifles Museum)
No 1 Platoon at Seaford. James McRoberts can be seen seventh from the left in the third
row. (Somme Museum, Newtownards)
The entire Battalion on parade. (Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
Cartoon that reflects a certain viewpoint of Army training. (Somme Museum,
Newtownards)
No 2 Platoon at Seaford in England. (Somme Museum, Newtownards)
The ‘Merry Mauves Melodies’ who put on such a great show at Dranoutre. Sergeant
Tom A. Burrows, Corporal A. Sharp, Lance Corporals P.A. Branson and J. Tully,
Privates J. Finlay, J. Turkington, W. Pierpoint, D. Wainwright, W. Pendlebury and
F. Blair. Centre photograph is Sergeant Robert Chamberlain, (Nigel Henderson)
Football Team, with two members wearing YCV uniform in the background. (Nigel
Henderson)
Sergeant Waring with his pet jackdaw. Pets seem to have been an important inclusion
within the Battalion. (Nigel Henderson)
Lieutenant R.V. Gracey from Helen’s Bay, County Down. (Nigel Henderson)
Café society, typical of how many men spent their off duty time when out of the lines.
(Somme Museum, Newtownards)
Captain Samuel Willis in Army uniform. He served in D Company and did not collect
cigarette cards! He was killed on 1 July 1916. (Mark Ramsey)
Second Lieutenant Brian Boyd MM, killed in action on 7 June 1917, at Messines. (Alan
Curragh)
Corporal William Frederick Forbes, who served as a Scout in the Permanent patrol. He
was killed on 1 November 1916. His brother Alec served in the Divisional
Transport and survived the War.
Dranoutre, ‘Isn’t Larne’. James made his point by writing on the photograph!
(McRoberts family)
Madeleine, who eventually married Andre Hotte. (Ulysse Perodeau/Annick Baron)
Marius Carpentier, Madeleine’s father, who served in a Cyclist Company of the French
Army during the Great War. (Ulysse Perodeau/Annick Baron)
Madeleine at twelve years old. (Ulysse Perodeau/Annick Baron)
Madeleine, the 12 year old who grew up to be a very attractive woman. (Ulysse
Perodeau/Annick Baron)
Battalion Permanent Patrol Roll of Honour. In the centre is Lieutenant Lack, the
Battalion Intelligence Officer; wounded on 2 July, he died seventeen days later. The
men are, 1, Lance Corporal J. Dunn, 2 Lance Corporal A.N. Brown, 3 Private J.
McDowell, 4 Private C. Trotter, 5, Private T.H.D. Cullen, 6, Lance Corporal W.
Cameron, 7, Lance Corporal W.F. Forbes, killed 1 November 1916, 8 Lance
Corporal S.J. Johnston, 9 Private A. Marshall, 10 Corporal Brian Boyd MM, killed
7 June 1917, 11 Sergeant J.L. Armstrong MM killed 16 August 1917, 12 Private
V.N. Donaldson, 13 Lance Corporal P.G. Pollock, missing believed killed 1 July
1916, 14 Private S. McCall, 15 Private R. Sturgeon, 16 Lance Corporal T. Crothers,
17 Private H. Ferguson, 18 Lance Corporal W. Oliver, 19 Corporal R. Jervis, 20
Private J. McRoberts. (Royal Ulster Rifles Museum)
Café ‘Au Rendezvous des Chasseurs’ is a private dwelling today.
The actual Café has moved one building to the right.
French lessons! A booklet that would not have been required by James McRoberts, but
would possibly be helpful to Second Lieutenant Corscadden. (Somme Museum,
Newtownards)
An illustration from the Incinerator magazine, published by the Battalion while in
France. (Somme Museum, Newtownards)