M, #19316, b. 1860, d. DECEASED
- Birth: John Dowling was born in 1860 in St Johns, Kilkenny, Ireland.1
- Death: He died DECEASED.
- Reference Number: John Dowling had reference number 19316.
- Military: Attestation.1
- Military: Home; 109 days.1
- Residence: He resided in Kilkenny, Kilkenny, Ireland, before 15 June 1878 St Johns Parish, near Kilkenny town.1
- Military: Kilkenny Fusilier Militia.1
- Occupation: He was an Engine Driver in St Johns, Kilkenny, Ireland, before 15 June 1878.1
- Education: He was educated in St Johns, Kilkenny, Ireland, on 15 June 1878 Signed 'X' on attestation.1
- Military: Age: 18; Enlisted in British Army to 69th Brigade of the 1st Royal Irish Regiment.2,1
- Military: 214 days.1
- Military: Transferred Private.1
- Military: 322 days; including 1880 Afgansitan Campaign.1
- Military: 3 years 181 days.1
- Military: Continued Private.1
- Military: Nile Expedition.1
- Military: Extended service to 10 years with Colours.1
- Military: Continued Private.1
- Military: 358 days; Received medal and "The Nile" clasp.1
- Military: Home; 269 days.1
- Military: Home; 4 years 7 days.1
- Military: Transferred Private.1
- Education: He was educated on 11 June 1890 4th Class Certificate.1
- Military: Enlisted for Section D 1st ch A Reserves.1
- Military: Next of Kin: Brother Edmond Yorkshire.1
The Royal Irish Regiment
The Regiment was first formed in 1684 by Arthur Forbes the 1st Earl of Granard as the Irish Regiment of Foot, from a number of independent Irish garrison companies. Unfortunately within a year of its formation King Charles II was dead and succeeded by his unpopular Catholic brother James II and the new King set about replacing Protestant officers with ones of Catholic faith. In protest the Earl of Granard resigned his commission as Colonel of the Regiment in favour of his son Arthur Lord Forbes.
In 1688 Prince William of Orange was invited to take the throne by the English Lords and upon his arrival in England James II abdicated. However James II remained popular in Catholic Ireland which continued to recognize him as their true King, with the exception of the English Protestant towns of Enniskillen and Derry. In 1689 James II landed in Kinsale supported by King Louis XIV and a French Army, in an attempt to reclaim his lost throne. The Regiment were part of King William’s force which expelled James II and secured the throne for King William III fighting at Battle of the Boyne and then at the failed siege of Limerick, the siege of Ballymore and the assault on Athlone, the Battle of Aughrim and the successful sieges of Galway and Limerick.
The Regiment went on to serve King William III, during the Nine Years War fighting at the Siege of Namur (1695). The King singled out the Regiment for special reward following the successful siege, bestowing on it the Royal title to become The Royal Regiment of Ireland. The Regiment spent several years on garrison duties in Gibraltar until 1767 when it was ordered to America. The main body of the Regiment remained in Philadelphia however; a small detachment was present at the Battles of Lexington Concord and Bunker Hill.
The Royal Irish returned to Gibraltar in 1783, where they remained until the Siege of Toulon in 1793. From 1863 the Regiment went on to serve during the New Zealand Wars fighting during the Waikato and Taranaki campaigns it was the last Imperial Army unit to leave New Zealand in February 1870.
Second Anglo-Afghan War 1787 to 1880(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Location: Emirate of Afghanistan - Result:British victory, British withdrawal from Afghanistan after achieving the desired political goals through the Treaty of Gandamak, Annexation of Afghanistan's frontier tribal areas into British India, Afghanistan becomes a British Protectorate Belligerents: Afghanistan, British Empire, United Kingdom, India.
Commanders and leaders: Sher Ali Khan, Ayub Khan, Samuel Browne, Frederick Roberts, Donald Stewart. Casualties and losses: 5,000+ killed in major battles, Total unknown: 1,850 killed in action or died of wounds
8,000 died of diseases
The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Pashto: د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended after the British emerged victorious against the Afghan rebels and the Afghans agreed to let the British attain all of their geopolitical objectives from the Treaty of Gandamak. Most of the British and Indian soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan. The Afghan tribes were permitted to maintain internal rule and local customs but they had to cede control of the area's foreign relations to the British, who, in turn, guaranteed the area's freedom from foreign military domination. This was aimed to thwart expansion by the Russian Empire into India.
Anglo-Egyptian War (1882) - Part of the Urabi Revolt
Date: July-September 1882; Location: Egypt. Result: British victory; ‘Urabi sentenced to death (later commuted to exile), Territorial changes, British occupation of Egypt. Belligerents; British Empire, United Kingdom, British India, Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Khedive Tewfik Pasha. Co-belligerent(s); France, Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi.
Commanders and leaders; Garnet Wolseley, Beauchamp Seymour, Tewfik Pasha, Ahmed ‘Urabi, Mahmoud Fehmy, Mahmoud Sami El Baroudi. Strength: 40,560 regulars, Unconfirmed number of regulars.
The Anglo-Egyptian War (Arabic: الاحتلال البريطاني لمصر al-āḥalāl al-Brīṭānnī al-Miṣr) occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha and vastly expanded British influence over the country, at the expense of the French. In 1878, an Egyptian army officer, Ahmed ‘Urabi (then known in English as Arabi Pasha), mutinied and initiated a coup against Tewfik Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, because of grievances over disparities in pay between Egyptians and Europeans, as well as other concerns. In January 1882 the British and French governments sent a "Joint Note" to the Egyptian government, declaring their recognition of the Khedive's authority. On 20 May 1882, British and French warships arrived off the coast of Alexandria. On 11 June 1882, an anti-Christian riot occurred in Alexandria that killed 50 Europeans. Colonel ‘Urabi ordered his forces to put down the riot, but Europeans fled the city and ‘Urabi's army began fortifying the town. The French flotilla demurred from direct hostilities but, an ultimatum to cease the arming of the town having been refused, the British warships began a 10½-hour bombardment of Alexandria on 11 July 1882.
The Egypt Medal (1882-1889) was awarded for the military actions involving the British Army and Royal Navy during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War and in the Sudan between 1884 and 1889.
Resentment at increasing British and other European involvement in Egypt since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 triggered an Egyptian army mutiny that threatened the authority of the British-backed Khedive of Egypt, Tewfik Pasha. The British military intervention was in response, to protect British interests. Once in Egypt, the British became involved in the conflicts in the Sudan, which Egypt had occupied since the 1820's.
All recipients of the Egypt Medal were also eligible for one of the four versions of the Khedive's Star.
Clasp: The Nile1884-85 For service south of Assouan on or before 7 March 1885
The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884-85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan after Britain decided to abandon the country in the face of a rebellion led by self-proclaimed Mahdi, Mahommed Ahmed. A contingent of Canadians was recruited to help the British navigate their small boats up the Nile River. The Nile Expedition was the first overseas expedition by Canadians in a British imperial conflict, although the Nile Voyageurs were civilians employees and did not wear uniforms.
In 1881 Childers Reforms restructured the British army infantry Regiments into a network of multi-battalion Regiments of two regular and two militia battalions. The Regiment managed to avoid amalgamation and was renamed as the Royal Irish Regiment. The Regiment went on to served during the Boer War and the First World War.
The Regiment was disbanded in 1922 once the Irish Free State was established following the Irish War of Independence (1919-1922) along with all five British Regiments recruiting from the Irish Free States.
Royal Irish Regiment during WW1
Since 1815 the balance of power in Europe had been maintained by a series of treaties. In 1888 Wilhelm II was crowned ‘German Emperor and King of Prussia’and moved from a policy of maintaining the status quo to a more aggressive position. He did not renew a treaty with Russia, aligned Germany with the declining Austro-Hungarian Empire and started to build a Navy to rival that of Britain. These actions greatly concerned Germany’s neighbours, who quickly forged new treaties and alliances in the event of war. On 28th June 1914 Franz Ferdinand the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated by the Bosnian-Serb nationalist group Young Bosnia who wanted pan-Serbian independence. Franz Joseph the Austro-Hungarian Emperor (with the backing of Germany) responded aggressively, presenting Serbia with an intentionally unacceptable ultimatum, to provoke Serbia into war. Serbia agreed to 8 of the 10 terms and on the 28th July 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, producing a cascade effect across Europe. Russia bound by treaty to Serbia declared war with Austro-Hungary, Germany declared war with Russia and France declared war with Germany. Germany’s army crossed into neutral Belgium in order to reach Paris, forcing Britain to declare war with Germany (due to the Treaty of London (1839) whereby Britain agreed to defend Belgium in the event of invasion). By the 4th August 1914 Britain and much of Europe were pulled into a war which would last 1,566 days, cost 8,528,831 lives and 28,938,073 casualties or missing on both sides.
The Regiment raised 3 Battalions and gained 47 battle honors during the course of the war.
04.08.1914 Stationed at Nasirabad, India.
13.10.1914 Embarked for England from Bombay arriving at Devonport, Plymouth and then moved to Winchester as part of the 82nd Brigade of the 27th Division.
20.12.1914 Mobilised for war and landed at Havre and engaged in various actions on the Western Front including;
The action of St Eloi, The Second Battle of Ypres.
28.11.1915 Embarked for Salonika from Marseilles arriving 05.12.1915 and engaged in various actions against the Bulgarian Army including;
The capture of Karajakois, The capture of Yenikoi.
03.11.1916 Transferred to the 30th Brigade of the 10th Division;
Kosturino, Retreat from Serbia, Capture of the Karajokois, Capture of Yenikoi.
02.09.1917 Sailed to Egypt arriving 06.09.1917 and engaged in various actions against the Turkish Army including;
Third Battle of Gaza, Capture of the Sheria Position, Capture of Jerusalem, Defence of Jerusalem, Tell ‘Asure, Battle of Nablus.
31.10.1918 Ended the war at Burka N.W. of Nablus, Palestine.
04.08.1914 Stationed at Devonport as part of the 8th Brigade of the 3rd Division
14.08.1914 Mobilised for war and landed at Boulogne.
24.10.1914 Transferred to Army troops to defence the Lines of Communication.
14.03.1915 Transferred to the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division at Le Bizet.
26.07.1915 Transferred to the 11th Brigade of the 4th Division which engaged in various actions on the Western Front including;
The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Le Transloy.
22.05.1916 Transferred to the 22nd Brigade of the 7th Division.
14.10.1916 Transferred to the 49th Brigade of the 16th Division at Kemmel;
The Battle of Messines, The Battle of Langemark.
23.04.1918 Transferred the 188th Brigade of the 63rd Division;
The Battle of St Quentin, The Battle of Bapaume, The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Drocourt-Queant, The Battle of the Canal du Nord, The Battle of Cambrai 1918, The passage of the Grand Honelle, The Final Advance in Picardy.
11.11.1918 Ended the war at Spiennes south of Mons, France.
3rd (Reserve) Battalion
04.08.1914 Stationed at Clonmel and the moved to Dublin.
Sept 1916 Moved to Templemore Co. Tipperary.
End o f 1917 Moved back to Dublin.
April 1918 Moved to England as part of the Irish Reserve Brigade at Larkhill.
- [S1209] SOURCE: (Full): Ancestry.com,
Source Combined Fields: The National Archives of the UK (TNA).
War Office: Soldiers’ Documents from Pension Claims, First World War (Microfilm Copies); (The National Archives Microfilm Publication WO364); Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England.
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Citation Detail: WO364; Piece: 1048,
Citation Text: Record for John Dowling
- [S1217] SOURCE: (Full):
Source Combined Fields: Award Description:, discussion list, -. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ : -.
Citation Detail: Award: The Egypt Medal (1882–1889) was awarded for the military actions involving the British Army and Royal Navy during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War and in the Sudan between 1884 and 1889. Resentment at increasing British and other European involvement i