Galipoli fallen remembered in Limerick

THE 95th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign was marked at a recent commemoration in Limerick organised by the Royal Munster Fusiliers Association (RMFA).

April 25, 1915 was most certainly a red-letter day for the 1st Battalion of old disbanded local regiment that landed from the SS River Clyde with the Dublin Fusiliers and others on V Beach in Cape Helles in Gallipoli. The events of that morning were prophetic of the US landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day and marked a very bloody beginning to an ill-fated nine-month campaign, which ultimately claimed the lives of 4,000 Irish soldiers including over 660 men of the Munster’s – many of whom were from Clare and Limerick.
The simple and dignified ceremony at the War Memorial in Pery Square was led by the RMFA honorary secretary, Dr Tadhg Maloney, who spoke on the campaign and the events of that day to an assembly of about 25 people, many of whom proudly wore their grandfathers’ medals. Wreaths of remembrance were then laid at the War Memorial, first by Gordon Spillane, chairman of the RMFA on behalf of the association, followed by Major Brian Duffy, vice-president of Limerick branch of the Royal British Legion (Republic of Ireland). After the ceremony, spectators mingled with association members, keen to share stories of their own family links with the Munster Fusiliers or Gallipoli generally. It was moving to witness this clear evidence of a quiet but enduring legacy of the Royal Munster Fusiliers in the region. Several enquiries were made about obtaining more information of relatives who served with the Colours. If you have any similar links or interests, the Royal British Legion (Limerick Branch) (www.rbl-limerick.webs.com/) or the Royal Munster Fusiliers Association (www.rmfa92.org/) will be pleased to offer advice.
This commemoration was notable in being one of the first ceremonies of remembrance in Limerick with a primarily local regimental emphasis and may well be the only commemoration of the Irish Gallipoli dead outside of Dublin’s Grangegorman Military Cemetery where the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association join with the Australian and New Zealand High Commissions, who commemorate it as ANZAC Day. Mr Spillane hopes to make this an annual event in Limerick for the RMFA and for the people of the Mid-West.