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Exercise MOON LADY was a 24 Brigade amphibious exercise which began with a ground move from Doniford Camp, Watchet to RAF Brize Norton. The 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers then trooped (flew) to RAF Machrihanish some 3 miles west of Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland, where the Battalion boarded and loaded 'waterproofed' vehicles onto HMS Fearless and RFA Sir Geraint.
The 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles now took part in the advance to the River Aisne and with the 1st Wiltshires were allotted a crossing place beside a destroyed railway bridge near Vailly. The crossing was a single plank pontoon bridge constructed by the Royal Engineers. German artillery had registered the bridge and the crossing was made under heavy enemy shellfire.
On the afternoon of 13 August 1914, the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel W D Bird, entrained near Tidworth, travelled to Southampton on two trains, and then embarked on the Ennisfallen and Sarnia for France.
The 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles, having absorbed what was left of the disbanded 7th (Service) Battalion, was transferred from the 25th Division to the 36th (Ulster) Division near Ypres in preparation for the Battle of Cambrai.
Having checked the enemy's advance near Mons on 23 August 1914, the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles was ordered to withdraw at 0200 hours on 24 August. The march was along roads congested by transport and fleeing refugees. The Commanding Officer (CO), Lieutenant Colonel Bird, eventually ordered marching packs to be discarded as the Riflemen struggled with fatigue.
The 2nd Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel ‘Tommy’ Harris, was at Hacqueville, east of the River Seine near Rouen, when the Battalion was moved by Motor Transport on 16 September 1944, some 292 miles forward to participate in an assault crossing of the Meuse-Escaut Canal by 3rd Infantry Division to broaden a bridgehead established by the 50th (Northumbrian) Division.
On the 17 April 1945, the 2nd Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles moved to a concentration area just north of Barrien, as it was no longer required to undertake the planned attack on Delmenhorst. The 2nd Lincolns opened 9 Brigade’s attack on the approaches to Bremen by clearing the village of Stuhr, fighting from first light on 17 Apr to first light on 18 April. That evening, 2 RUR was ordered to move up behind the Lincolns for the night.
Following the 2nd Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles (2 RUR) D-Day landing on 6 June, the Battalion was ordered to capture the thickly wooded village of Cambes on 7 June. Believing that the enemy was not holding the village in any great strength, the Commanding Officer (CO), Lieutenant Colonel I C Harris, advanced to Cambes via Le Mesnil.
On 23 April, the GOC 3rd British Infantry Division briefed all the officers assembled in Barrien on the higher plan for the capture of Bremen.
- On the right, the 52nd Lowland Division was to attack Bremen north of the Weser
- In the centre the 3rd Infantry Division was to attack on the south side
In July 1938, the 2nd Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles handed over its duties at Nathanya and moved to the Syrian frontier where it patrolled from two company bases. One base was at Al Malikiya in the east and the other at Igrit.
