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The 1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers completed the move from Geneifa to Tel el Kebir by 23 February 1952. There the Battalion was under canvas in its own encampment inside the Base Depot. This depot held all the British stores in Egypt and was protected by wire and mines. As some of the dumps contained very attractive items, many locals were inclined to attempt breaching the defences to improve their lot. The Drums and Pipes were formed into a specialist ambush platoon to assist with defence and deterrence.
The 1st Battalion The London Irish Rifles (1LIR) embarked on the troopship HMT Orduna* on 27 August 1942 and sailed from Liverpool, via Cape Town, South Africa where, after some shore rest they embarked on the HMT California , eventually arriving in Bombay on 17 October. From there they sailed aboard a Dutch vessel for the Persian Gulf and Iraq where they disembarked near Basra at Ma'qil. From there the Battalion moved by road transport to Al Zubair where it conducted training before, on 15 November, moving by train via Baghdad to the oil-field city of Kirkuk.
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.
While the 1st Battalion The London Irish Rifles was resting in the Anzio beachhead after several days of fighting, General The Honourable Sir Harold Alexander, Commander Allied Central Mediterranean Force, visited the Battalion on 15 February 1944. He congratulated them on their recent fight with the Germans in the area of the Factory and his encouraging words plus five days of rest greatly cheered the Battalion and helped prepare it for the next phase of the battle, which would begin on the 16 February.
The 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers deployed as the UNFICYP Battalion to Cyprus from April to October 1977. The handover change of command was on 18 October and the last personnel left the UN line on 20 October 1977.
The 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment (1 R IRISH) Battle Group, commanded by Lt Col T T C Collins, crossed the Iraq/Kuwait border as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. Operation TELIC was the UK national operational name for the British involvement in the Coalition of Forces led by the United States on Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
As part of the Army's restructuring '2020', the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment began conversion to a Light Protected Mobility Battalion, taking delivery of five new types of light-armoured vehicles at Ternhill Barracks, Shropshire. It would move affiliation from 16 Air Assault Brigade, following some 10 years of service, at the end of 2014 to join 160 Brigade. The fleet of 24 new vehicles arrived at the barracks in Ternhill and a nine month period of intense training began.
Although the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment (R IRISH) had been due to deploy to Northern Ireland on Operation BANNER in December 1995, due to the IRA ceasefire the Battalion remained in England as the Rural Reinforcement Battalion. However, on the 9 February the IRA Docklands bombing ended the ceasefire and within five days 1 R IRISH was deployed to various locations in Northern Ireland to reinforce the Armagh Roulement Battalion, the East Tyrone Battalion and the Fermanagh Roulement Battalion.
The Companies were situated at the following locations:
The 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment (1 R IRISH) deployed to Northern Ireland on Operation BANNER as the East Tyrone Battalion.
The 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment deployed on Operation TELIC on 15 February 2003 and occupied Fort Blair Mayne in the Kuwaiti desert.
