Flanders fallen commemorated on centenary
Around 70,000 killed, injured or missing from Irish-raised regiments are commemorated at the Island Of Ireland Peace Park on Messines Ridge in Belgium.
One hundred years ago the First Battle of Ypres began with a massive German assault on the British-held region. When some British troops ran out of ammunition they charged the approaching enemy through a hail of fire using bayonets, historians said.
Mr Feighan, chairman of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly’s committee on sovereign affairs, said it was appropriate to recognise the shared suffering by men from across Ireland during a visit by parliamentarians from Britain and Ireland
“I feel that consecutive Irish governments airbrushed these men out of history and they had to grow up in a state which didn’t dare talk about the bravery, the suffering, the service that they gave, history forgot them but now is an appropriate time to remember.”
Soldiers from the four provinces of Ireland fought, some in the hope that Home Rule would be granted by Britain on the conflict’s conclusion.
