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The monthly links take you to the story of what the battalion was doing that month. From August 1916 onwards, this includes their War Diary transcripts. Their first Major battle was the Battle of the Ancre on 13 November 1916, when half the battalion were casualties (dead, wounded or missing)
Feb 1916 The 10th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers is formed in Dublin on 11 Feb 1916
Mar 1916 Gathering recruits
Apr 1916 Training in Dublin Royal Barracks when the Easter Rising breaks out. Involved in the relief of Dublin Castle
May 1916 Training in Ireland
Jun 1916 Training in Ireland
Jul 1916 Training in Ireland
Aug 1916 Battalion leaves Dublin for Pirbright Camp on 5th August, and moves on to France, arriving at Havre on 19th August
Sep 1916 Training in the trenches and experience of the front line.
Oct 1916 6 days in the front line and a lot of days on "fatigues" shifting supplies and ammunition
Nov 1916 Battle of the Ancre - 50% casualties. . Of the 493 officers and men starting out on the Ancre attack, 242 were recorded as killed, wounded or missing.
Dec 1916 After the heavy casualties of the Ancre the battalion regrouped and trained new arrivals well away from the line at Noyelles sur Mer
Jan 1917 They left their training camp at Noyelles sur Mer on 13 January and marched back to the line, entering Beaucourt Support Line on 27th Jan 1917
Feb 1917 They had two periods in the line, one of 9 days when they suffered the "normal" casualties of front line life from snipers and artillery, 24 killed and 57 wounded. Then a further stint of 6 days during which the Germans withdrew from Miraumont, and the Battalion advanced against a fighting withdrawal by the Germans
Mar 1917 The month was spent training out of the line. Two long spells of training, one at Cabstand Huts for 17 days then a 7 day march to get to La Perriere for the last 5 days of the month.
Apr 1917 They continued training at La Perriere until 8th April, before marching back to the line, entering the trenches on 14 April at Balleul Gavrelle Sector. The rest of the month was in the trenches,mainly the support trenches, though there was an attack on the village of Gavrelle without any artillery preparation. Owing to the very heavy Bosche artillery and machine gun fire, the attempt was unsuccessful.
May 1917 Roughly one third of month was spent training at Ecurie, one third training at Ecoivres and one third in the line at Oppy-Gavrelle Sector with 16 killed and 23 wounded
Jun 1917 The first three weeks of the month were spent in camps around St Catherine, just back from the line. They were involved both in training and in digging a new communications trench that had to be urgently finished to enable a big attack to take place. New then came through that the battalion was to leave the 63rd Naval Division and on 22 June left for Nooropeene and the 16th Division, where they formed part of the 48th Infantry Brigade
Feb 1918 The battalion remained with 48 Infantry Brigade, 16th (Irish) Division until 13 February 1918. It disbanded two days later, with about half the men going to form the 19th Entrenching Battalion, one quarter to 1st Battalion RDF and one quarter to 2nd battalion RDF. The Entrenching Battalion was involved in constructing light railways to supply the trenches.
Mar 1918 When the German attack, Operation Michael, started on 21 March 1918, they moved up to the front to man the line, and were involved in the fighting through the retreat to Amiens over the next two weeks.
Apr 1918 The 10th Battalion struggles through April as 19th Entrenching battalion. Its last engagement with the enemy was on 4 April
May 1918 The last vestige of the 10th Battalion finally disappears when the 19th Entrenching Battalion is disbanded on 5 May 1918
The transcriptions of the 10th Battalion War Diaries
| Casualties | Prisoners of War | Courts Martial | Easter Rising | 10th Officers | 10th ORs |
