Sent to France in August 1914, the North Irish Horse (NIH) was the first British reservist regiment to see action Ð at Le Cateau Ð before fighting as rearguard on the long retreat to the outskirts of Paris. Over the next four years they fought with distinction, playing a role in many of the major battles, including Ypres, Somme, Passchendaele and Cambrai, and were heavily involved in the final Advance to Victory.?How fitting that this, the first history of this famous cavalry Regiment's superb record in The Great War, should be published to coincide with the centenary of the conflict. It not only describes the Regiment's actions by squadron but concentrates on the officers and men; their backgrounds, motivation and courageous deeds and sacrifices. The author places the Regiment's achievement in the context of the overall war and reflects on the effect that unfolding political events in Ireland had on the Regiment and its members.?The North Irish Horse in the Great War draws on a wealth of primary source material, much unpublished including war diaries, personal accounts, letters and memoirs. In addition to compiling this long overdue account of the NIH, the author succeeds in painting a valuable picture of The Great War at the fighting end.

The North Irish Horse was created after the Boer War and first saw action in the early days of the Great War, fulfilling divisional or corps cavalry duties, although one of its officers earned the VC with the newly-created Tank Corps. During the Second World War, the Horse was a tank regiment that gained distinction in Tunisia and Italy. Post-war it was reformed as an armoured car TA regiment that survives to this day. Its story is one of courage and dedication in the face of danger and difficulties.

The North Irish Horse (NIH) was formed in 1900 for the Boer War and in 1908 it was allocated to the Special Reserve as there were no Territorial units for Irish regiments. It served on the Western front in the Great War, was disbanded in July 1922 and reformed in September 1939 in the Supplementary Reserve. In January 1943 the regiment sailed for N Africa to join the First Army which had landed in Algiers in the previous November, and in February the regiment reported to 25th Tank Brigade. At the end of that month it fought its first major action playing its part in repulsing a German attack on Beja and Djebel Abiod. The regiment came through the N Africa campaign with flying colours, having done exceptionally well in the capture of Longstop and supporting 4th Indian Division in the final break through to Tunis. The NIH remained in N Africa for a further year till April 1944 when it embarked for Italy where it saw plenty of action, breaking through the Hitler Line in support of the Canadians, taking part in the advance to Florence and in the Gothic Line battles. At this point (August-September 1944) the narrative includes a complete nominal roll of the regiment, by squadrons, and again at the capture of Forli in November 1944. The roll is given again when the regiment was on the Winter Line, December December 1944, and was transferred to 21st Tank Brigade. The nominal roll of those present for duty is given for the fourth time at the final phase in April 1945 when the war in Italy ended. The Roll of Honour lists twenty of all ranks killed in N Africa and fifty-three in Italy. There is a list of Honours and Awards, including mention in despatches, but there is no index, which would have been useful.

Blacker's Boys tells the First World War history of the 9th (Service) Battalion, Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers) (County Armagh). One of the finest infantry battalions of 36th (Ulster) Division, it fought at the Battles of the Somme, Third Ypres and Cambrai, in the German offensive in 1918 and in the Advance to Victory.

During the First World War approximately 200,000 Irish men and 5,000 Irish women served in the British armed forces. All were volunteers and a very high proportion were from Catholic and Nationalist communities. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of Irish recruitment between 1914 and 1918 for the island of Ireland as a whole. It makes extensive use of previously neglected internal British army recruiting returns held at The National Archives, Kew, along with other valuable archival and newspaper sources. There has been a tendency to discount the importance of political factors in Irish recruitment, but this book demonstrates that recruitment campaigns organised under the auspices of the Irish National Volunteers and Ulster Volunteer Force were the earliest and some of the most effective campaigns run throughout the war. The British government conspicuously failed to create an effective recruiting organisation or to mobilise civic society in Ireland. While the military mobilisation which occurred between 1914 and 1918 was the largest in Irish history, British officials persistently characterised it as inadequate, threatening to introduce conscription in 1918. This book also reflects on the disparity of sacrifice between North-East Ulster and the rest of Ireland, urban and rural Ireland, and Ireland and Great Britain.