I am trying to find some information on a James Joseph Walsh b24/08/07 who enlisted in the 11th Battalion Rifle Brigade as an Eire Recruit in February 1941 in Belfast. Have tried to find out more of this brigade with little or no success and was wondering if anyone can enlighten me as to where he would have been stationed or if posted where his theatre of war would have been. If not, can someone point me towards some websites where I could retrieve some information. As he was from Dublin, and a Roman Catholic I find it strange that he volunteered to fight in a mainly protestant country as I assume sectarianism was quite rife in those times. I have attached a copy of his Attestation Paper. All information gratefully received. Brian Carter.
Curious - there's no 11th Battalion mentioned in the index of Rifle Brigade's Second World War history, though they had one in the Great War. It would be worth applying for his service record, though it's a long wait. I'm not an expert on the politics, but there were plenty of Irishmen from the Republic who joined the British Army.
There was an 11th Battalion, Rifle Brigade that existed for a short time in 1941, but it was a home defense battalion. It started out as the 7th (Home Defence) Battalion. Here is its service record: 7th (Home Defence) Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own) The battalion was raised on November 2nd, 1939 from the 23rdB Group NDC at Woolwich. It was located at Woolwich through October 1st, 1940 and moved to Chiswick by January 1st, 1941. It was retitled as the 11th (HD) Battalion on January 15th, 1941. It remained at Chiswick through at least April 1st, 1941 and moved to Maze Hill by July 1st, 1941. It absorbed the 14th (HD) Battalion, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps on October 24th, 1941. The battalion moved to London by January 1st, 1942. It became the 30th Battalion on April 13th, 1942 and moved to Corsham by October 1st, 1942. It moved to Reading by January 1st, 1943 and was disbanded on April 29th, 1943.
