Educational History

Educational History Lord Carson

Edward Henry Carson was born on the 9th of February in the year 1854 to a wealthy middle class protestant family living in Dublin. He went to the school at Portarlington before going on to study Law at the Trinity College in Dublin. He was called to the bar in Ireland in 1877 and became incredibly successful. He had gained a reputation for fierce advocacy and was recognized for his awesome legal abilities. He was involved in the Irish land agitation which ran from 1888 until 1891 where he acted as Crown Prosecutor. This led to him being made a Queen's Counsel in 1889. He was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland on the 20th of June 1892. It was in that year that he entered politics and his colorful political career began. He was elected the MP for Trinity College in the 1892 general election for the Conservative party, although the party lost the election.

He was admitted to the English Bar the following year in 1893 and mainly practiced in London after this. On the political front he attacked the Second Home Rule Bill for Ireland that same year and it was defeated. In fact his speech in parliament was widely acclaimed. His legal career was also gaining recognition. He was to be involved in some very high profile and famous cases. The most famous perhaps coming in 1895 when the Marquess of Queensberry engaged Carson to lead his defence against Oscar Wilde's libel action. This meant that Carson was in effect prosecuting Wilde, who had been his friend and rival at Trinity College. Wilde famously remarked before the trial "No doubt he will pursue this case with the added bitterness of an old friend." Carson's cross examination of Wilde is considered a classic example of an intellectual battle of wits. Carson won the case.

He was appointed Solicitor-General for England on the 7th of May 1900, a position he was to hold until 1905 when the Conservative government resigned in December of that year. In 1908, he was involved in the notorious Winslow Boy case. George Archer-Shee, a 13-year-old cadet at the Isle of Wight's Osbourne Naval College, was accused of stealing a five shilling postal order from the locker of a fellow cadet, forging the cadet's signature, and cashing it. Despite the boy's protestations of innocence, he was expelled. His father, Martin Archer-Shee (a Liverpool bank manager) fought mightily to obtain satisfaction. Carson won the case for him. The name Archer-Shee was changed to Winslow when the story was later made into a play. It has since been made into a film as well.

Carson was now regarded as one of the finest litigator's of his day and also one of the most prominent politicians. He never hid his principles and made it very clear that he wanted the whole of Ireland to remain British. In February 1910, he agreed to become the leader of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party. He famously stated that Munster and Leinster were British but fate had another plan for him. In fact it was to be the Northern province of Ulster that Carson's name would forever be attached. In June of 1911, he accepted Sir James Craig's invitation to become the leader of the Ulster Unionists. His high profile status brought prestige but most importantly credibility to the Unionist's cause. Carson maintained his argument from his 1893 parliament speech that the union between Britain and Ireland must be maintained. Lord Carson however was to take drastic action when a third Home Rule Bill was introduced in 1912.

The Home Rule Crisis

After the Liberals victory at the General Election of 1910, they were obliged to introduce a third bill for Home Rule in Ireland after supporters of Home Rule virtually guaranteed the Liberal's success. The introduction of the Parliament Act in 1911 had removerd the House of Lord's Veto and with it a major stumbling block to Home Rule. This meant that when a third bill for Home Rule in Ireland was introduced it would be passed, which meant it would be law as early as 1914. The Unionists recognised the dangers right away as it now looked as if Home Rule was inevitable. A crisis is defined as a situation that has reached an extremely dangerous point that may lead to dire consequenecs. This is exactly how the Ulster Unionists viewed the situation. Both Carson and Craig publicly spoke about their fears at the time and were adamant that Ireland wouldn't have home rule. The Bill was introduced to the House of Commons on the 11th of April 1912. Unionist defiance was promoted at a series of rallies and marches with the result that their was now a groundswell of opinion in Ulster against home rule. Support was however spreading all over Ireland for the Unionist's stance. The concern was that this would be the first step towards independence. In an attempt to reduce these fears concessions were offered. The Bill would allow Ireland only limited powers which would not include important strategic aspects such as defence. 4 or maybe 6 of the counties of Ulster which had a protestant majority would be exempt from the Bill and remain under the control of Westminster. There was also a further proposal to allow individual counties to opt out of home rule for a period of 6 weeks These were promptly rejected by Carson who stated “Ulster wants the question settled now and for ever. We do not want sentence of death with a stay of execution for six years.”

Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant

Support for the Unionist cause was spreading across parties and many high profile political figures were now openly aligning themselves with Carson's campaign against home rule in Ulster. The Conservative party in both Scotland and England supported the cause. In Ulster however, James Craig championed a more determined show of solidarity amongst Unionists and organised a petition that would be recognised as both a rallying call and a public decleration of contempt for home Rule. He organised the signing of Ulster's solemn league and covenant.

On 28September 1912 protestant people gathered all over Ulster, pledging themselves :-

"to stand by one another in defending for ourselves and our children our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom and in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule parliament in Dublin."

On what was known as Ulster Day, factories and businesses closed to allow workers and managers time off to sign. What was a surprise to Westminster was the way unionists from across the class divide were more than happy to sign. Common factory workers rubbed shoulders with landed gentry as they waited to make their mark for the Unionist cause. In Belfast City Hall Carson was the first to sign Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant. In total 471,414 men and women who could prove Ulster birth signed. Many from all over Ireland and the mainland made the effort to sign. 2000 alone came from Dublin.

The Ulster Volunteer Force

The Ulster Unionists however knew that even this show of strength and support would have little effect on the MPs in Westminster. Despite recognition that the Covenant demonstrated a strong resistance to Home Rule in Ulster, it was completely ignored and would have little effect on the Bill passing. The Unionists decided they would set up their own parliament and a five man committee, including Carson, would govern Ulster and maintain the link with the Union if a seperatist parliament was forced on Ulster. It was Lord Carson himself who was to provide the method under which this parliament of the union would be provided. In what is now regarded as an historic meeting, the council meeting of the Ulster Unionists in December 1912 decided that they would take all means necessary to oppose Home Rule. Carson himself stated this would be lethal force if required and he orchestrated the formation of a protestant militia that would be used to defend Ulster at all costs from any attempt to force it out of the Union. Carson said this army of the people would be called the Ulster Volunteer Force and that they would take their motto from the wording of the covenant and the phrase 'For God and Ulster'was adopted and the UVF was formerly instituted. The call to arms was made to all men of military age that hadsigned the covenant and they signed up en masse. They began drilling and marching and by the end of 1913 Carson's Volunteers numbered 90,000 men.

The Young Citizens Volunteers of Ireland

Carson's UVF were not the only armed group to exist in the North at the time of the Home Rule Crisis. Ulster had for centuries been raising groups of armed men in paramilitary style organisations to defend the province. It was an accepted part of the culture of the Ulster protestant. This can be highlighted by the loose group of legal militias that were called the Volunteers. This group had been set up initially to defend the whole of Ireland and protect the Island from invasion by Louis XIV of France and were entirely protestant. In Ulster, the volunteers achieved several famous victories but most significantly when they fought the ribbonmen at the battle of the Diamond. Later being replaced by the Orange militias and various other groups. Most of these groups were disbanded during Haldane's army reforms of 1907 which were designed to make the British military system both in Ireland and on the mainland more economical and efficient. By the time Lord Carson mobilised his Ulster Volunteer Force most of these smaller organisations had folded or were actively stood down.

There was however an organisation that did initially thrive during that period, the Belfast based Young Citizens Volunteers (YCV). Unlike the other organisations, the YCV was aimed at a younger generation with membership being open to young men aged between 18 and 35 years old. The thinking was that the interest generated by groups like the Boy Scouts or the Boys Brigade could be extended to a more military orientated organisation including effective use of arms. But not everyone could join. Using the class system that was prevelant in British society of the day, the expense of joining and maintaining membership, meant that only young professionals or those from well families could afford to join. The organisation was considered an elite grouping in the Belfast society at that time. Members had to be over five feet in height and present credentials of good character.

The YCV had its first meeting just prior to the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant (Ulster), in Belfast City Hall on the 10th of September, 1912. On the committee was Major Fred Crawford and the president was Robert James McMordie the then LOrd Mayor of Belfast. Each member was to pay 2s.6d on joining the YCVs and a further 6d each month; he was to attend weekly drills to learn ‘modified military and police drill, single stick, rifle and baton exercises, signalling, knot-tying and other such exercises. If possible he was also to gain some knowledge of ‘life-saving and ambulance work’. The objectives of the YCV were stated to be :-

".... to develop the spirit of responsible citizenship and municipal patriotism by means of lectures and discussions on civic matters.... to cultivate, by means of modified military and police drill, a manly physique, with habits of self control, self-respect and chivalry....to assist as an organisation, when called upon, the civil power in the maintenance of peace."

While catholics did initially join, the membership became overwhelmingly protestant. The YCVs had planned to extend their membership further afield than Belfast, but growth was limited as a result of the membership fee and costly uniform which meant that most of the young men who made up the YCV came from fairly comfortable backgrounds. An application was made for financial assistance in return for the placing of the YCV at the governments disposal, but the YCVs were not recognised as a ‘territorial’ unit the application was refused. So by May 1914 with the gathering momentum of the Home Rule crisis and with many Young Citizens feeling betrayed by the government the majority of members stated they had a desire to join the UVF who by now were well armed and had a good reputation as a body of fighting men. The YCV organisation formally applied for membership of the UVF and became integrated as a brigade of the Belfast regiment.

On Saturday 6 june the Young Citizens marched to the Bamoral showgrounds with their new comrades, to be reviewed by Sir Edward Carson. A stream of people who had been thronging the Lisburn Road poured into the grounds when the gates opened at four o’clock and at 4.45 when the YCVs marched past a roar went up from the 25,000 strong crowd.

The Gunrunners.

Lord Carson took personal offence at some of the remarks that were now being levelled at the UVF but particularly by those in the House. After the mutiny by British Army officers at the Curragh nobody doubted the support that existed at all levels of British society for the Ulster Unionists and their stand against Home Rule. Indeed it was now well known to many that Carson intended to take direct action against any attempt to force Home Rule on Ulster and it's people. He intended to establish a governing parliament with a direct link to Westminster and he intended to use the UVF, if force was needed. There were many in the opposing parties who doubted the effectiveness of the UVF. It was known that they were un-armed and this led to ridicule and abuse. Much of it was caused by pictures of the Volunteers drilling with old mop and brush handles instead of rifles. The Belfast Volunteers even had wooden rifles and this just added to the derision that was levelled at the Ulster Unionists. Once again however, they were being grossly underestimated. The UVF had by 1914, been drilling for a considerable time and had a very well organised command structure. Despite the distinct lack of ams, the volunteers had been trained to very high level. The ex servicemen in the higher ranks ensured that the raw recruits were turned into highly skilled soldiers. These skills were to be put to the test when the Ulster Unionists put a plan into operation that would deliver 20,000 rifles and 2 million round of ammunition to Ulster and it would require the mobilisation of the entire UVF organisation. It worked spectacularly well and those early derogatory opinions of the UVF would be changed forever.

Arming the volunteers

It would, however, be foolish to imagine that the UVF had been reliant on wooden rifles until the spring of 1914.In many of the rural areas, the periodic threat of Home Rule over the past decades had led to the presence of guns in cupboards or under beds, in houses of Ulster loyalists. In the Waringstown area, farmers had regularly fattened extra pigs to get money for guns. Especially popular was a Webley pistol which had been issued to British officers in the Boer War. The first semblance of training in the use of guns, around Lurgan and Portadown was provided under the guise of sporting gun clubs when, of a Sunday afternoon, townspeople who were unused to guns could obtain training at the hand of farmers who were in the Volunteer movement and were well acquainted with the use of firearms. Some of the models which turned up in the early UVF were mid-nineteenth-century muzzle rifles with gunpowder and ball and a high degree of inaccuracy. Other antique shotguns would prove equally inaccurate and when modern rifles did begin to arrive a whole new, more accurate, standard of musketry had to be achieved. The smuggling of guns had been taking place on a haphazard basis before 1914. Guns came in on fishing boats to ports such as Kilkeel, and were hidden in boxes of herring. Colliers also landed guns, to be entrusted to someone specially delegated for the task on the quayside. Volunteers in the village of Waringstown, County Down, received rifles smuggled to the province in these ways, then sent by train to Lurgan; a carriage would be diverted down by Brownlow Terrace from where there was easy access for a local lorry driver who would then deliver the precious cargo around country areas.

Major Frederick Crawford

However, the numbers of guns getting through were inadequate to meet the needs of the UVF, especially now that a watch was being kept on key British ports, following the discovery that the gun-running had become a standard practice. An intensive campaign by the Customs authorities had seen many weapons and munitions captured, so the go-ahead was given to an enterprising and influential figure in the Belfast Volunteer hierarchy, Major Frederick Crawford, to endeavour to buy a very large consignment of rifles on the continent and ship them en masse direct to Ulster. Crawford, a former artillery officer in the British Army, had been involved in the Volunteer movement since 1911 and had built up contacts with a German, Bruno Spiro, which were to prove invaluable. The so-called business committee of the UVF approved Crawford’s plan to buy 20,000 rifles and two million rounds of ammunition from Spiro in Hamburg, acquire a suitable steamer in a foreign port and bring the weapons back to Ulster, perhaps with a secret mid-voyage transfer to some other vessel. It began on the 30th March 1914 when Danish Customs officials seized the papers of the SS Fanny, but the vessel had sailed on into international waters during a storm. On the night of the19th/20th April its cargo of 216 tons of rifles and ammunition was transferred to the SS Clyde Valley off Tuskar Rock in Wexford. What happened next would ensure the name Clyde Valley would be remembered by loyalists for centuries to come.

Operation Lion - 24th - 25th April 1914

The gun-running was planned secretly and scrupulously and the operation was code-named Lion. On the night of 24 April 1914 there was to be a training exercise in the form of a test mobilisation of the UVF under cover of which the County Antrim Brigade was to take over the port of Larne, whilst the Clyde Valley docked there and unloaded. Both the Army and the Royal Irish Constabulary were informed and chose to take no action against the UVF believing it to be just that a training exercise. They happily stepped aside as the UVF advanced on Larne. Many lorries and cars assembled in the town and waited with engines turning, to collect their parcels of guns and deliver them to secret locations in their home areas. There was however one problem the UVF still had to resolve. The Customs officials would not be so easily stopped. A cunning plan was hatched to fool them which worked very effectively. In Belfast, Volunteers were to endeavour to draw attention away from the Larne operation: they were to march a contingent to the docks where the SS Balmerino would arrive in what would be a decoy run, a great effort was to be made to frustrate the Customs authorities in their attempt to search the vessel, adding to the suspicion that she contained arms for the waiting Belfast Volunteers.

On the night all went according to plan. The UVF took control of Larne under cover of darkness, and column after column of vehicles approached the port, past checkpoint after checkpoint. Men from the local UVF battalions had been placed at key points along the highways to guide drivers unfamiliar with the roads. At certain points there were reserve supplies of petrol and tools for possible breakdowns. It was a cold wet night at Larne and many of the men involved had already done a day’s work but by the time the Clyde Valley had pulled into the harbour, the headlights of 500 motor vehicles were flaring in the Antrim town. Lorry drivers were soon on their way with their clandestine cargo. At Larne two local ships were loaded with guns for Belfast and Donaghadee, and soon the Clyde Valley was heading for Bangor on the Down coast where a further, smaller consignment of guns and ammunition was unloaded. By 7.30, as Bangor came awake the last cars were leaving the pier with their cargo, and at Donaghadee and Belfast the guns had also been quietly slipped ashore. The Clyde Valley operation had been an unqualified success. It was the first time the entire Ulster Volunteer Force had been mobilised and it worked like clockwork.

The Guns are distributed

The weapons were soon being secreted in stockpiles across Ulster. Stewart-Moore and his Volunteers had spent a disappointingly dull night guarding Stranocum village. They were to prevent police from entering the village, but there was no sight of the RIC through the night. At 4.30am tired and sleepy, they were ordered home. The next afternoon, Stewart Moore drove to Stranocum House and found his uncle James, revolver in hand, organising a group of men who were loading a car with bundles of rifles, done up in canvas. They had originally been delivered at 7 a.m. but a disturbing report had come through that there were five policemen fishing on the river nearby, with only one fishing rod. It was decided swiftly that the rifles had better be distributed around the country for safekeeping. Moore put a bundle of guns under a rug on the floor of his cart, stopped briefly at a neighbour’s for afternoon tea, then returned home, where with stifled excitement, he and his sister hid the rifles after nightfall in an unused loft above the scullery. Shortly afterwards the guns would be handed out to his Volunteers for the first time. Outside Crossgar, Co. Down, Hugh James Adams and John Martin lay in a ditch along the main road, awaiting the guns from Bangor. When the weapons finally arrived, early in the morning, they were taken to Tobar Mhuire for swift distribution to a variety of locations. Bundles were placed in carts and taken quietly to houses in and around the village, where they were hidden under floorboards until further orders arrived.

In Lisburn Hugh Stewart, who had originally been forbidden by his father from joining the UVF, found his nights duties hard going, and as he lay out on Moss Road, on guard, he fell asleep. However, the guns were safely brought in and stored in buildings around the town. Stewart recalled how he had got his old dummy rifle for 1s.6d. and had been proud of it too, but was keen now for one of the real guns and a shinning bayonet. At Springhill,Co. Londonderry. the Lenox-Conynghams were instrumental in getting the guns to their area. On the Friday of Operation Lion orders came by despatch rider for the Lenox-Conynghams to mobilise their men that night. In the dawn of the next day the squadron of cars pulled into the motor-yard with their newly landed rifles. The women of the house had been up all night preparing food and now a hot meal was ready for drivers and their helpers who had motored the fifty miles from Larne.

Armed and ready

The guns that were landed were mainly German Mauser and Austrian Mannlicher rifles with the majority being sent to Belfast, Antrim and Down, with some further afield to Derry and Tyrone. There were also several thousand Vetterli rifles of Italian make which were distributed in Armagh, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Londonderry. This was a major military operation that involved all currently active units of the UVF. A very impressive operation indeed. Never again would anyone criticise the UVF who were now regarded as one of the most well trained military organisations of the day. The Ulster Volunteers could now be seen openly drilling with their new rifles and represented a considerable body of fighting men. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith was now forced to abandon his plans to disarm the UVF. Carson and the Ulster Unionists were now more determined than ever to see their plan of opposition to Home Rule carried out especially when the ranks of the UVF were swelled when the YCV had been incorporated as an integral part of the Ulster Volunteer Force.

The 36th(Ulster)Division

As the war raged on in Europe, Kitchener had foreseen that the British Army and their territorial support units, did not have the manpower to mount and maintain a sustained campaign. He was given permission to form a 'New Army' made up of entirely untrained civilian volunteers. By the end of 1914 around 1,200,000 had answered the call to arms and enlisted as 'Kitchener's Men'. It is a sad and tragic fact worth remembering that while these volunteers were loyal and dedicated, because of the short time involved, these men of the New Army were insufficiently trained in the soldiers' skills of warfare. Consequently, the battle tactics which they were ordered to follow by their commanders were more strict and regimented than those which would normally have been issued to men of the Regular Army. This was to have a serious effect upon the outcome of the Battle of the Somme. It was these Volunteers who formed a very extensive part of the army which fought at the Somme. Large numbers had saw no fighting before the battle and many died within minutes of it starting.

In Ulster, the unsettled political climat, meant that the build up to war was far more complicated than on the mainland. The Ulster Unionists were now doubting many of the recent statements regarding Home Rule but the British Government had also become very unsettled by the actions of the Ulstermen. Consider the following statement by nationalist M.P. Tim Healy given in December 1913 :-

"The dedication, efficiency and smartness of the Ulster Volunteer Force, their complete devotion to, and trust in Carson, and their unshakeable determination at length began to cause a distinct chill of uneasiness in the corridors of Westminster."

The UVF had indeed become a formidable armed fighting force. They were sworn to defend Ulster and showed unswerving loyalty to Lord Carson who had previously gave the following commitment to the people of Ulster :-

"I promise you as long as you stand firm, I and those associated with me will most certainly stand firm and we will never have Home Rule."

The UVF's commitment went further than just standing firm of course. Consider the following statement from Captain Crozier, the officer commanding the special service section of the UVF :-

"The headquarters of the Ulster Volunteer Force had been transferred from the Belfast Old Town Hall to James Crag's residence in Craigavon. Units of my Special Service Section, the West Belfast Volunteers, were mobilIsed and put on 'stand by' along with the Motor Cycle Corps. and met Carson at the Belfast Docks the next morning. My orders were clear and definite - 'If Carson is arrested, I and my men were to 'nuetralise' the police and rescue Carson and deliver him to Craigavon."

The call to arms

With Kitchener's call to arms, the Ulster Unionists were in absolutely no doubt what they would do to answer it. With the addition of the YCVs, the UVF now numbered over 90,000 men who had been training and drilling together for some time. Carson new this would be a much needed contribution to the war effort but his resolve over Ulster had not weakened. Consider his famous speech to the massed ranks of the UVF at Glencairn on the 6th of June 1914. It contained these immortal words :-

"I rely on every man to fight for his arms and allow no man to take them from him."

The UVF and the Ulster Unionists were determined to serve Britain in her time of need. Carson himself assured that :-

"..a large body of Ulster Volunteers will be willing to give their services for Home Defence and many will be willing and ready to serve anywhere they are required."

The situation is best summed up by this extract from the book 'Kitchener's Army written by Ray Westlake :-

".....it was clear that the UVF was in a position to make an important contribution to the recruitment of the New Armies. Lord Kitchener met with Sir Edward Carson in London who, although eager to help was concerned at how the situation in Ireland might turn while his force was away at war. The Government were not able to give any guarantees that might put Sir Edward’s mind at rest. However, he later agreed to raise a Division, without any conditions....."

In what is a legendary part of loyalist history, the UVF became part of the 36th (Ulster) Division when that Division was raised in August 1914 along with two other divisions from Ireland. Carson issued the following instruction to the Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council :-

"All officers, non-commissioned officers and men who are enrolled in the Ulster Volunteer Force, and who are liable to be called out by His Majesty for service in the present crisis are re quested to answer immediately. His Majesty's call as our first duty, as loyal subjects to the King."

The members of the UVF accepted this with total agreement but they did have very justifid concerns. A telegram which Carson received from a UVF officer in Belfast highlighted the dilemma :-

"Can we assure men before giving names for United Kingdom or foreign service no danger of Home Rule passing while they are away?"

To answer this question the UVF were to adopt an elaborate 'back up' plan that would provide a mechanism with which Ulster's defence would be assured. This is an extract from the orders issued by Colonel G. Hacket Pain from UVF headquarters on the 7th of August 1914 and sent to 'all divisional, regimental and battalion commanders' of the UVF:-

"...it is to be understood that it would be extremely unlikely that the full number who volunteer would be required, but in any case it is certain that arrangements would be made to leave sufficient men in each district and locality to keep order and guard property. The proposals are that the men should be formed into marching battalions, where possible. The plan for the organisation of these battalions is already in existance. The advantages of these arrangements are that, while helping forward the cause of the United Kingdom against a foreign enemy, Ulster is no wise weakens herself, as arms etc. now in possession will be retained, and a large number of men will be left to use them. This circular is on no account to be communicated to the press."

The honour of providing the first detachment of recruits was claimed by the South Belfast Regiment of the UVF. The special service battalion of that regiment paraded at Dunmore early on 4 September and was addressed by Carson. They then marched with Carson and Craig at their head to the Old Town Hall, which had become a recruiting depot. The first man to pass the medical examination and become the first recruit was William Hanna of 43 Brussels Street, a veteran of the Boer War. On the opening day 600 men went before the doctors and only 40 were rejected. The following day, men from the East, South and West Belfast battalions and the Young Citizens Volunteers began enlisting. Outside Belfast, anticipating the formation of the Ulster Division, Ambrose Ricardo had raised two companies from the Tyrone UVF, which were to become the nucleus of the 9th Battalion of the Royal Irish Inniskilling Fusiliers.

The Units and organisation of the 36th (Ulster) Division

The UVF provided thirteen battalions for the three Irish regiments based in Ulster; the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the Royal Irish Rifles. These regiments were then formed into infantry brigades numbered 1, 2 & 3 which were classed as the 36th (Ulster) Division who adopted the following titles (the original UVF regiment title is given in brackets) :-

No.1 - 107th Infantry Brigade

8th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (East Belfast Volunteers)

9th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (West Belfast Volunteers)

10th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (South Belfast Volunteers)

15th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (North Belfast Volunteers)

No.2 - 108th Infantry Brigade

11th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (South Antrim Volunteers)

12th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (Central Antrim Volunteers)

13th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (1st County Down Volunteers)

9th Bn Royal Irish Fusiliers (Armagh, Monaghan and Cavan Volunteers)

No.3 - 109th Infantry Brigade

9th Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tyrone Volunteers)

10th Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Derry Volunteers)

11th Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Donegal & Fermanagh Volunteers)

14th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (Young Citizen Volunteers)

The remaining units of the 36th (Ulster) Division were as follows :-

Pioneer Battalion

16th Bn Royal Irish Rifles (2nd County Down Volunteers)

Artillery

153rd Brigade Royal Field Artillery

154th Brigade Royal Field Artillery

172nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery

173rd Brigade Royal Field Artillery

Divisional Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery

Royal Engineers

121st Field Company

122nd Field Company

150th Field Company

Service Squadron Royal Inniskilling Dragoons

36th Divisional Signal Company: Royal Engineers

Divisional Cyclist Company

Royal Army Medical Corps

108th Field Ambulance

109th Field Ambulance

110th Field Ambulance

76th Sanitary Section, R.A.M.C

Divisional Train, R.A.S.C

48th Mobile Veterinary Section

The Division was under the direct command of Major-General C.H. Powell, who outranked Sir George Richardson the Officer commanding the U.V.F. It was agreed Major-General O.S.W Nugent D.S.O who had commanded a brigade in France, had been appointed to succeed Powell. Gen. Nugent was to remain with the division for over two and a half years. Today General Nugent’s name is universally associated with the Ulster Division.