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Page updated on 07 February, 2013
THE ROYAL IRISH RIFLES
This page deals with the second part of the Military Service
of Grandfather Josiah Alexander Chancellor Kennedy in the Great
War. Details as to how he enlisted in Canada and served first with
the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) is provided in his Service
Record with details on the page for the Princess
Patricia Canadian Light Infantry.
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THE MOVE TO THE ROYAL IRISH
RIFLES
In the case of both my paternal and maternal grandfather, they initially
enlisted in the CEF and then transferred to the BEF. This has become a
topic of some discussion with a number of researchers. I have posted an
interesting response from Chris Wight on another page that provides for an interesting analysis of the
events of the time. Transfer
of Soldiers from the CEF to Officers in the BEF
We tracked the movement of Grandfather Kennedy in stages, as very
little information was available when we initiated this project. These
phases are "as they were written" at that time in the
research, so it changes as more information was uncovered. In October
2006, we were able to establish a family link in the Kennedy-Stephenson
line (see genealogy page), with family
members not only being good friends (through tennis and church) but also
in the ties to the 14th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles. I
suspect, this was what brought Grandfather Kennedy back to the R.I.R
when he accepted a commission in the Imperial Army. Phase
One
Family records, coupled with information from the U.K. National Archives
(see
link on this site) suggests that Grandfather Kennedy signed up with the
Royal Irish Rifles after recovering from surgery in England for his testicular
problems. Initially we thought the change was made after
recovering from wounds suffered while
serving with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on May 10, 1915 at
Bellewaerde Lake. Further research showed that Josiah came back to
the PPCLI after the Bellewaerde wounds, but stayed in England to do
Officer's Training, as a result of the more extensive treatment for his
testicular condition. The Medal
Index Card retrieved from the U.K. National Archives shows that Josiah
obtained his commission with the R.I.R. on October 24, 1916 (family records
report October 20, 1916). The family
records state he was appointed Acting Captain on August 4, 1917, a position
he held until captured on March 21, 1918. I am yet unclear as to his
service from the period of release on November 28, 1918 until his discharge on
July 1, 1919.
Phase Two
On July 1, 2005 Ian
Bowbrick reported on the Lost
Generation 1418 forum that he had been to the PRO and was able to find the
following information for A/Capt J A C Kennedy: (copies of which have now
been posted and are linked)
Information posted on the Wikipedia
on-line
for the 8th Service Battalion show that it was in the
107th Brigade. The "Order of Battle" is provided by Chris Baker
under "The 36th (Ulster)
Division".
Ian reported the following additional information on July 2, 2005:
"As to other information, the war diary for the 8th Royal Irish
Rifles is very sparse on personnel information; the only recognition is given
to gallantry award winners. Captain Kennedy's service record also
appears not to have to survived."
Phase Three
In April 2006 we received our full report on Josiah Chancellor
Kennedy from Chris Baker. We have provided details of that report
and the attachments in the section of this web site that details his
"Service
Record". We encourage you to review the details noted
there, as they provide great detail on his time with the Royal Irish
Rifles, including the War Diary for the time immediately prior to and
during his capture:
The records from the UK National Archives agree with the records from
Canada that show that Josiah left the Canadian Expeditionary Force
(PPCLI) to join the Imperial Army on October 24, 1916. He is noted
in the records of the Royal Irish Rifles as reaching the status of A/Captain J. C. Kennedy, for which he was entitled to both the British War
Medal and the Victory Medal. These records also show his
entitlement to the Star from his service in the CEF Princess Patricia's
Canadian Light Infantry. As we
know, medals are often issued for "being there", they are not
the same as decorations, such as would be issued for gallantry.
There are four (4) primary mentions of J.
Kennedy in the Royal Irish Rifle records, as contained in the attachments noted above:
 | December 1916 - 2nd Lieutenant J. A.
C. Kennedy, 1st/2nd Battalions (Regular)
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| February 1917 - 2nd Lieutenant J. A.
C. Kennedy, 1st/2nd Battalions (Regular)
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| February 1918 - 2nd Lieutenant J. A.
C. Kennedy, 8th Service Battalion (East Belfast)
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| June 1920 - Captain J. A. C. Kennedy,
7th, 10th Service Battalions (South Belfast) |
We do not have a lot of information at
this time, concerning activities for the period from October 1916 to the
point that he was taken as a Prisoner of War in March of 1918. We do
have the "List of British Officers Taken Prisoner of War,
Theatres of War August 1914 - November 1918" (as contained in
the Chris Baker Attachments), that show he was a POW from March 21, 1918
until he was repatriated on December 6, 1918. His life as a POW is
further elaborated on the page for this "Prisoner
of War".
The UK National Archives search revealed
the War Diary of the Royal Irish Rifles, for which we have been provided
with the specific pages from March 1, 1918 to March 30, 1918. Some
of the events leading up to the date of Grandfather Kennedy's capture
are summarized as follows:
| The 1st RIR was moved up to the front
line on March 1, 1918 to relieve the 12th RIR. They moved to
Essigny Station in Brigade support on March 7th.
(Note: we have found another reference to the RIR and RIF
at this battle on the web site for Major John George Brew, which
will add additional information: http://brew.clients.ch/StQuentin.htm)
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| It would appear that the RIR Battalion
moved to the front line again on March 16th in what appears to read
as in relief of the 9th Battalion of the Royal Irish
Fusiliers.. The following day the RIR laid down an artillery
barrage on likely places the enemy might assemble. This "harassment"
barrage continued on the 18th and 19th.
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| The war diary reports that the enemy
was very quiet during the night and day of the 20th, with the
artillery continuing to carry out concentrations of fire where the
enemy might assemble for attack. The available information
suggest the enemy was planning a large scale offensive for March 21,
1918.
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| The diary continues on the 21st of
March that all was quiet from midnight until 4:33 am, at which time
an extremely heavy bombardment with all calibers of artillery and
trench mortars, including gas shells, was put down on the RIR front
trenches. On this extremely misty morning, the RIR artillery and
roads also suffered from the intense artillery attack.
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| At 5 am on the morning of March 21, 1918 communication with the rear was cut off and the last message
sent was that the battalion was still holding out in the front line,
although communication was impossible in the heavy mist and with the
heavy artillery.
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| At 12 noon (the next entry) the war
diary reports that the 14th Division on the right of the battalion
fell back and it is believed that the battalion were surrounded,
the right flank being in the area. There were 22 officers,
566 others in the line and all were reported missing since this
date. |
From this point on, until the end of the
war, the story of Grandfather Kennedy takes place in the Prisoner of War
camp(s). Off we go to the Prisoner
of War page.
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