Brigade Commander inspects 7th Inniskillings
Brigadier R D Longe, commanding 49 Brigade of the 16th (Irish) Division, held his first inspection of the 7th (Service) Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Tipperary Barracks on 27 November 1914.
The Battalion had been formed on 2 October 1914 and in in November was concentrating on its drill. It was not unusual to see squads in motley dress including civilian clothing, mixed dress of issue uniform with civilian clothing, khaki dress, and the distinctive 'Kitchener's Blue' uniforms, the latter worn by the majority of soldiers. A typical sight was Sergeant Taylor drilling a 'scarified' squad of recruits, bawling at them in the loudest of voices while wearing his bowler hat, civilian coat, uniform breeches, and puttees.
The Brigadier's 'examination' was rated by the Battalion as a success as all the officers passed the test of taking their squads through elementary foot drill to his satisfaction. However, the Battalion account of the Brigadier's examination of the Company Drills described his performance as 'a little rusty in this respect'.
The 7th Inniskillings would be remembered for their actions at Hulluch, Leuze Wood, Ginchy and Telegraph Hill, Inniskilling Wood (Messines-Wytschaete Ridge), Cambrai and actions during the German Spring Offensive in March 1918, by which date they were amalgamated with the 8th Inniskillings.
