Battle Honour YPRES 1914,'15,'17,'18

The Battle Honour YPRES 1914,'15,'17,'18 is emblazoned on the Queen's Colours of The Royal Irish Regiment. The following concerns the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917, commonly referred to as Passchendaele.

Following the Battle of Messines, which had reduced the southern half of the Ypres Salient, the British began the major offensive in Flanders, which would be known as the Third Battle of Ypres, to reduce the northern half of the Ypres Salient. The battle began on 31 July.

Both the 16th (Irish) and the 36th (Ulster) Division were held in reserve when they first joined XIX Corps in Passchendaele. The first day of Passchendaele included the Battle of Pilckem Ridge where the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles was in action; 2 RIR was in the 25th Division of II Corps and on 10 August, at Westhoek Ridge, rushed the enemy seizing positions and strong points before the enemy realized they were being attacked. The main battle during the Passchendaele campaign for our former regiments in the 16th (Irish) and the 36th (Ulster) Division was the Battle of Langemarck followed by the Battle of Cambrai later in November. There were many other actions such as the Royal Irish Fusiliers raid on the Hindenburg Line in early November, just before the Passchendaele campaign ended on 10 November 1917.

For their actions during the Third Battle of Ypres the Battle Honour was awarded to The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, The Royal Irish Rifles, The Royal Irish Fusiliers and The London Irish Rifles, and was carried forward in 1968 by The Royal Irish Rangers when the former three regiments were reformed into battalions of the Rangers.

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