The Royal Dublin Fusiliers | |
---|---|
Active | 1 July 1881 – 31 July 1922 |
Country | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Line Infantry |
Garrison/HQ | RHQ: Naas Barracks, Naas, County Kildare |
Nickname(s) | The Blue Caps, The Dubs, The Lambs, The Old Toughs |
March | Quick: The British Grenadiers Unofficial: The Dublin Fusiliers |
Commanders | |
Ceremonial chief | Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1908) |
Colonel of the Regiment | Major-General Charles Duncan Cooper (1910) |
Insignia | |
Hackle | Blue over Green |
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army created in 1881 and disbanded in 1922. It was one of eight 'Irish' regiments of the army which were raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with the regiment's home depot being located in Naas. The regiment was created via the amalgamation of the Royal Bombay Fusiliers and Royal Madras Fusiliers, two army regiments stationed in India, with militia units from Dublin and Kildare as part of the Childers Reforms. Both battalions of the regiment served in the Second Boer War.
During World War I, a further six battalions were raised and the regiment saw action on the Western Front, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, during which its members won three Victoria Cross medals.[1] Following the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, five army regiments whose traditional recruiting grounds were located in the new state, including the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, were disbanded.[2]