Great War Britain Liverpool by Pamela Russell

Author:Pamela Russell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press

The Liverpool Irish enter Lille, 18 October 1918.

The battalion’s original strength – those who qualified for the 1914 Star – became known as the Maidaners, a reference to SS Maidan, the vessel on which they sailed to war. The 1914 Star, sometimes called the Mons Star, was a campaign medal awarded to those who served in Belgium or France between 5 August and 22 November 1914.

Trench warfare in a severe winter soon depleted the strength of the Liverpool Scottish. The battalion had reduced in numbers from 26 officers and 829 men recorded in November to only 370 able-bodied men by January 1915. Within weeks of the battalion’s arrival, Major Blair, Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholl’s successor, was replaced by J.R. Davidson due to ill-health. Davidson commanded the battalion, despite being wounded during the Somme offensive, until 1917, when he returned to Liverpool to become the city’s chief engineer.

In the final months of the war leading up to the armistice of 11 November 1918, the Liverpool Scottish helped to secure numerous villages without opposition and crossed the River Scheldt on 9 November. On the day of the armistice, the Liverpool Scottish was situated at Villers-Notre-Dame.

The Liverpool Irish is one of the units of the British Army’s Territorial Army; it was raised in 1860 as a volunteer corps of infantry and became a battalion of the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment in July 1881. During the Great War, it suffered thousands of casualties in numerous battles including Givenchy, Guillemont, the Third Battle of Ypres, and the Hundred Days Offensive. The Liverpool Irish were disbanded after the Great War in 1922, but reformed in 1939.

The regiment asserted their Irish heritage in their traditions and uniform. They originally adopted a uniform which was similar in appearance to the Royal Irish Rifles, but later they wore the caubeen headdress with red and blue hackle, while the attire of the battalion pipers included the saffron kilt and shawl. While the battalion derived pride from its Irish identity, some people, including the Earl of Derby, associated Irish identity with a lack of discipline and insubordination, for which the Liverpool Irish gained a reputation. Notwithstanding, the Liverpool Irish made a gallant and valuable contribution to the war effort.

In August 1914, at the outbreak of the Great War, the Liverpool Irish mobilised and moved to Canterbury, in Kent. Two further battalions of the regiment were raised in October 1914 and May 1915. It was during an action in 1916 that the raid’s only fatality, Edward Felix Baxter, displayed such courage that he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

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