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The Irish Guards is a regiment of the British Army. In WWII, the regiment lost over 700 men killed, over 1500 wounded and won 252 medals, including two VCs.
Upon the outbreak of WWII in September 1939, both battalions of the Irish Guards were based in the UK. In 1940 the 1st Irish Guards deployed to Norway as part of 24th (Guards) Brigade in early April. In May the Polish liner, now troopship 'Chobry' which was transporting the Brigade HQ and the 1st Irish Guards from another area of Norway to the northern town of Bodø, was hit by Heinkel He 111 bombers which killed many men, including the CO and Second-in-Command of the 1st Irish Guards, as-well as losing all their heavy equipment. Fire began to engulf the ship and, considering the amount of ammunition onboard, a deadly and immense explosion seemed imminent. The men were rescued by escorting vessels.
Later that month the battalion did fight on land in Norway, seeing action Pothus , holding out against tough German opposition for two days until they were finally forced to withdraw due to being outflanked by the advancing Germans. The Brigade HQ and battalion were withdrawn by boat, though they left many behind. The men left behind managed to break out, reaching Allied lines later that day. The regiment was finally evacuated back to the UK with the rest of the expeditionary force in June.
In May 1940, the 2nd Irish Guards deployed to the Hook of Holland to cover the evacuation of the Dutch Royal Family. The battalion evacuated the day after the Government and Dutch Royal Family had been evacuated. They had only a short respite upon their returned to the UK for just a few days later they returned, along with the Welsh Guards, to the continent, to Boulogne, a port in northern France, reaching the town on 22nd May. Their orders were to defend part of Boulogne during the epic evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from the overwhelming and inexorable advance of the Germans. The Guards stoutly defended their area of responsibility from better equipped German forces, repulsing a number of German attacks on the 22nd, but on the morning of the 23rd, superior Germany forces attacked the battalion and the Guards suffered very heavily in the attack. Later that day the battalion was evacuated from Boulogne, they were the last to leave, and fought valiantly while waiting to be evacuated.
In 1941 the 2nd Irish Guards re-roled as an armoured regiment, joining the newly formed Guards Armoured Division. That year, the Holding Battalion, later that year the 3rd Irish Guards, was raised. In 1943, the 3rd Irish Guards joined the Guards Armoured Division as an infantry battalion.
In 1944Events World War II January January 4 The Battle of Monte Cassino begins. January 5 Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munck January 17 British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River. January 20 The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin; the 2nd and 3rd Irish Guards took part in the Normandy Campaign . The Irish Guards, as part of the Guards Armoured Division, took part in Operation GoodwoodOperation Goodwood was an Allied military operation of World War II from July 18 to 20, 1944. After the early successes of the Battle of Normandy the Allied advance had come to a halt. The key town of Caen was not taken on the first day as planned and ove which began on the 18th July. The Division's objective was CagnyThere are communes beginning with Cagny in France: Cagny, in the Calvados departement Cagny, in the Somme departement''. and VimontVimont is a commune and a canton of the departement of Calvados, in the Basse-Normandie region, in France. Its postal code is 140. The INSEE code is 147. Administrative Population: 486 Area: 896 ha Elevation: 35 m Canton: Troarn. and surrounding area. During that day, near Cagny, Lieutenant John Gorman of the 2nd Irish Guards, was in his Sherman tank was confronted by the behemoth, and far superior 68 ton IIThe Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B or Tiger II or Konigstiger ( King Tiger ) was a German heavy tank, of World War II, which was derived from the Pzkw VI Tiger I. This armored fighting vehicle weighed 68 tons, was protected by 185mm of frontal armor, and was or 'King Tiger'. Lt. Gorman's tank fired one shot at the Tiger II but to no avail, the shot simply bouncing off the thick armour as if it was an acorn, and upon the order to fire again, the gun jammed. Lt. Gorman then gave the order to ram the Tiger II just as it was beginning to turn its massive 88mm gun on the Sherman. The Sherman tank smashed into the Tiger II, which disabled both of the tanks. The German crew bailed out, as did the Sherman's. Lt. Gorman, once he had seen his crew to safety, returned to the scene in a commandeered a Sherman Firefly and destroyed the King Tiger. He won the Military CrossThe Military Cross (MC) is awarded by the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada for distinquished and meritorious services in battle. It was originally awarded to commissioned officers of the substantive rank of Captain or below or Warrant Officers. The MC for his heroics. His driver Lance-Corporal James Brown from his own crew won the Military Medal .
The Irish Guards were involved in further action that day. Cagny, devastated by heavy bombing, was finally liberated on the 19th July. The Irish Guards also saw action in the Mont Pincon area. On the 29th August the 3rd Irish Guards crossed the SeineThis article is about the river in France; it should not be confused with the Senne, a much smaller river that flows through Brussels. For other rivers named Seine see Seine River (disambiguation). A seine is also a kind of fishing net. The Seine (pronoun and began the advance into Belgium with the rest of the Guard's Division on their journey to Brussels.
The Irish Guards were part of the ground force of Operation Market Garden, Market being the airborne assault, Garden the ground assault. The Irish Guards Group were led by Lieutenant-Colonel Joe Vandeleur , immortalised in the movie " A Bridge Too Far" and played by Michael Caine. The Irish Guards led XXX Corps in their advance towards Arnhem, which was the objective of the British 1st Airborne Division, the furthest from XXX Corps.
The Corps crossed the Belgian-Dutch border, advancing from Neerpelt on the 17th September but meet very heavy resistance from German forces prepared with anti-tank weapons. The Corps then camped at Valkenswaard. Early the following day recce units of the Guards Division made contact with the 101st Airborne who had liberated Eindhoven, the rest of the Corps reached the city later that day. The Corps were now camped outside Son while the Royal Engineers built a Bailey bridge so that the Corps could cross the Wilhelmina Canal and advance to Nijmegen. The bridge was completed the following day.
Later that day the Guards Division, led by the Irish Guards, reached Nijmegen where the 82nd Airborne Division was located. Their advance had to be halted, for the bridge the 82nd had meant to of taken, had not been. The bridge was finally captured in the evening of the 20th. On the 21st, the brave British Paras at Arnhem, heavily outnumbered and outgunned, had to surrender on the 21st, after many days fighting that saw true heroism and courage, XXX Corps had been just an hour from the bridge at Arnhem but had to wait for the arrival of the 43rd Infantry Division . Further fighting took place until the 25th, it was, at times, a truly tragic campaign.
The Irish Guards saw further action in Holland until they were finally part of the advance towards, and into, Germany, seeing much bitter action as they progressed into Germany. The Guards saw action during the Rhineland Campaign. On the 21st April, at a village known as Wistedt in Northern Germany, Guardsman Charlton of the 2nd Irish Guards, was a co-driver of a tank during the capture of the village by a small number of the Irish Guards. The Germans soon attempted to re-take the village with numerically superior forces, which consisted of a battalion of the 15th Panzer Grenadiers as-well as a number of self-propelled guns. All the tanks of the small Irish Guards force were badly hit. Guardsman Charlton, on his own authority, as the Irish Guards became increasingly in danger of being over-run by the Germans, took the 0.50 Browning machine gun mounted on his tank and advanced in full view of the attacking Germans, firing the weapon from his hip as he did so and inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans, halting the lead company and allowing the rest of the Guards brief respite to reorganise. He continued his bold attack, even when he was wounded in his left arm, the Guardsman managed to find the strength to place the machine-gun on a fence where he launched a further attack before his left arm was completely shattered by further enemy fire. The Guardsman, now with just one arm, carried on his astonishing attack until a further wound and loss of blood resulted in the Guardsman collapsing. His courageous and selfless disregard for his own safety helped save the precarious situation that the Irish Guards faced. He later died of the wounds he had received. He was awarded the posthumous VC, it was the last Victoria cross of the European theatre, and the last, so far, of the Irish Guards.