The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1917-07-14
HOW irish TROOPS
Captured RIDGE
IN FLANDERS
Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Con
naught Men Drive All Before
Them at Mea8ines.


From all quarters come proofs of
the valor and dash Of the Irish troops
J, in the capture of the Wytschaete and
Messines ridge. North and South
fought side by side, and the bravery
Of all is the outstanding feature of
one Of the greatest battles of the war.
The following are characteristic ex-
tracts:
"The Irish and the New Zealanders
can claim the best trophies of the
RIDGE" says Percival Phillips in the
Daily Express. II have heard many
tributes paid to the splendid work of
all the troops engaged in this attack,
for, as one high officer said, No Brit
ish battalions ever did finer work.
And today l spent some hours hear
ing of the Irishmen - Home Rulers
and Orangemen - who went up the
cracked and furrowed slopes of the
historic ridge and how they swept
through the dugouts and ruined vii
lagos, carrying everything before
them.
II saw some of them lying where
they fell-a sergeant of the Irish Rifles
at the bottom of one great crater ap-
parently asleep with an open water
bottle beside his outstretched hand
and wound in his side-and l saw
some of the victors tramping back
down the rugged shell-strewn fields be-
low the dustheap of Messines, coming
to rest and sleep for the first time in
nearly 48 hours.
Irish Unity Here.
II can tell you, for example, that
Dublin men were going with the bar
rage, touching shoulders with their
comrades of an Orange lodge in
Ulster. There were Munster lads
raking through the brick piles and
shivered concrete cellars of Wys-
chaete and Irish riflemen pinning
down stubborn NO surrender Prus-
slams among the stumps of Wytschaete
Wood.
1.-THE Irishmen did not have continu-
GUS and logged fighting all the way
up. In some places the Germans ran
to meet them with hands appraised,
but as frequently they stumbled on
broad patches of strongly held de-
lenses that had been cut off, but had
not surrendered. All the troops, in
fact, had the same experience
"Wytschaete Wood was a sudden
and unexpected snag in the path of
the Irish riflemen, who had come
through the gaping front of the sup
port trenches.
All Were Splendid.
"The Ulstermen had much the same
experience as their comrades from
the South. It is impossible to pick
out exceptional instances of heroism-
for all the men were splendid. There
was a certain amount of friendly ri
valry between the men of the North
and South of Ireland. They tried to
take as many prisoners as possible
about two thousand were gathered in
by all the Irish battalions, and 1 be-
lieve this number can be divided al.
most evenly between North and South.
"The. Irishmen wholly defeated the
Grenadiers and the other two regi-
l.
in the first, phase of the advance, with
the result that the first of the German
reserve divisions was thrown into the
battle about noon to try to stem the
pressure of the Irish, Australians and
New Zealanders. It likewise suffered
heavily from shells and our machine
guns.
German officers wanted to know,
first of all, what division was opposite
theirs, and one simply lifted his eyes
to heaven when told that the Irish
had wrested Messines from his bat
TALON of Prussians in Wytschaete."
The Men From the West.
A British observation officer, we'll
known before the. war an an active
anti-Home Rule worker, said: "The
finest incident was the dash of the
Irish infantry. Into storm of projec-
tiles they dashed without the slight
est hesitation. At times the fire was
terrible. Gaps were made in our
ranks, but they were filled like clock
work and the irresistible tide of Irish
valor rolled on to the appointed goal.
Zone Of the N. Irish battalions
pressed ahead with such impetuosity
that it was temporarily out of touch
with supports, and had to Withstand a
fierce onset from three fresh Bavarian
battalions which were advancing to
the aid of their comrades. The Ulster
men took up the best available posi-
ton and message was sent to advise
headquarters of their plight.
"The nearest support battalion was
one belonging to a famous West of
Ireland regiment. They made their
way through a tornado of shells and
arrived on the left of the Ulstermen
in time to thwart German move to
enfllade the latter. The enemy were
then pressing the Ulstermen very
{ hard. The latter withstood a fierce
pounding with artillery and had
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