1 LIR departs Iraq for Palestine

Event

Thu, 04/01/1943

The 1st Battalion The London Irish Rifles departed Kirkuk on 1 April 1943 and moved by road through Jordan and Palestine, arriving at the Suez Canal nine days later. There the Battalion undertook training at the Combined Training Centre Middle East (HMS Saunders), Kabrit in the Bitter Lakes area. This was followed by land training at Gaza and then a period of local leave.

Below: Army assault troops landing from invasion craft at HMS Saunders, Kabrit on the Bitter Lakes.

THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR© IWM (A 17724)

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'I turned over one poor chap on a rocky, bloody crag on Tanngoucha. He was facing the right way, the last round of a clip in the breech and three dead Germans in front of him. His name was Duff. After all is over - and the remainder of the Empire is understandably irritated with Ireland - I hope these countless Duffs, from both the North and the South, and in all three services, will be remembered.
(Brigadier Nelson Russell, Commander 38 (Irish) Brigade, 1942-44)

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1 LIR departs Iraq for Palestine

Welcome to the Virtual Military Gallery

Museums

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