"Royal Ulster Rifleman"

This is a portrait in soft pastels of my Grandfather, John McMillan, taken from a small black and white photograph.  

He is wearing a General Service Cap, worn in the style of a caubeen, which was adopted by the 2nd Battalion.  The Riflemen wear the badge over the opposite eye to other infantry Regiments and because the "Ulsters" were a Rifle Regiment they had a dark green (or rifle green) backing behind the badge.and their shoulder titles and rank insignia were black on rifle green.  The GS Cap or "cap ridiculous" as it was known was introduced in 1943, as was the ribbon for the "1939-43" star (later known as the 1939-45 star), which can be seen next to the ribbon for his General Service Medal, which he received for his tour of duty in Palestine (1937-39).  

Soft Pastels on textured coloured Pastel Paper

(18cm x 21cm)

The 2nd Battalion of the Royal Ulster Rifles has obvious family connections and so my interest has developed from wanting to learn more about my Grandfather, who died when I was 13. I remember he never wanted to talk about his experiences during the Second World War, which I later discovered through my own research, was posible due to the fact that the Battalion was exposed to considerable hostile action for the majority of their time in Northern Europe.

The 2nd Battalion were stationed at Gravesend in Kent in 1935 and it was then that my Grandfather met and married my Grandmother. Below is the caption as it appeared in the Regimental magazine "Quis Separabit".

 
The Battalion stayed in Gravesend only a short time, but many of the Riflemen found time to court and marry local girls, before being moved to Catterick. On 28 November 1936 the Battalion was sent to Palestine, which was only a few months after my Grandfather and Grandmother had their first child, Patricia Ann (my mother). I do not know whether he saw his daughter during those first three years but he did have the photograph opposite, which he had in his tunic pocket at the time of Dunkerque in May 1940. As he wadded out to the small vessels to take him and his comrades off the beaches, the sea water has damaged the bottom half of the photograph (also included is his Bible and rules to the Sergeant's Mess). 

During the battle for Belgium and France, the 2nd Battalion fought long and hard to slow the advancing German Army, but because the front was collapsing around them they retreated back to Dunkerque and were evacuated as part of Operation Dynamo

On arrival back in England the Battalion was swiftly re-assembled and found themselves defending the South Coast in case of a German Invasion. They remained in England until the launch of Operation Overlord, where they arrive in Normandy at around 10 am on 6 June 1944 at a beach slightly west of Ouistreham. My Grandmother told me that my Grandfather actually went to Normandy on D-Day +6, but was certainly with the Rifles when they entered Caen, as he is mentioned in David Orr and David Truesdale book, “The Rifles are There”, being described as "Jack" McMillan from Carrickfergus.

As part of the 3rd Division, the Battalion fought their way through Northern France, into Belgium and the Netherlands, where they crossed the Rhine into Germany in late March 1945.  They had little respite from enemy shelling and many of the Riflemen died in their foxholes trying to shelter from the constant bombardment. The fighting was particularly hard in the German town of Lingen, where Charles Graves, author of the book “The Royal Ulster Rifles”, Vol III, comments, “…Lingen had been a bitter and lethal fight. Hand to hand fighting took place and the bodies of the Germans lying within a few yards of wounded and dead Riflemen grimly testified to the fierceness and severity of the fighting”.

After the battle for Bremen, which was the last major offensive for the 3rd Division, Germany surrendered and the war in Europe was over. My Grandfather was de-mobbed in 1946 and returned to Gravesend and his wife, who he had seen very little of in the 10 years he had been married. He now had two daughters, Patricia and Jean, who had also not seen their father much during the first years of their lives. His association with the Royal Ulster Rifles continued, as he was a very active member of the Gravesend Branch of the RUR Association up until his death in 1973.   The photograph below appeared in the last ever addition of the Regimental magazine, Quis Separabit Volume 41, page 27.

My passion for militaria and interest in the Royal Ulster Rifles has allowed me to build up an interesting collection of medals (including sports medals), uniforms, books and personal items. Below are some of my “treasures”, which hopefully will provide other “researchers” who have an interest in the Royal Ulster Rifles a glimpse of the Regiment’s past through the artefacts I am currently the keeper of.

Amongst my collection I have numerous books concerning the history of the Royal Ulster Rifles, including Charles Graves' work and the excellent book by David Orr and David Truesdale.  I also have most volumes of the Regimental magazine, "Quis Separabit", but are missing some of the additions from the 1950's and 1960's, which I am looking out for.  These are a great source of information as they describe many of the sport and social activities giving an additional dimension to the Riflemen and Officers.  The old photographs are particularly interesting as they identify boxing champions and marksmen, officers and their wives, putting faces to names and so giving depth to my research. 

An important source of information is the Royal Ulster Rifles Museum in Belfast.  I have visited the Museum on many occasions. The photograph opposite was taken during my recent visit to the Royal Ulster Rifles Museum, in January 2009. The Museum can be found at 5 Waring Street, Belfast.  The staff are very helpful and they have access to a wealth of information concerning not only the Royal Ulster Rifles, but also the earlier Regiments from the Rifles' glorious past.

Sixty years ago in the Far East the war in Korea had broken out and the United Nations Organisation was forced to appeal to the other member nations for assistance as the outnumbered American and South Korean forces were in difficulties. Great Britain initially despatched two infantry Battalions in great haste from Hong Kong, but almost immediately announced her intention of sending a composite and self-contained Brigade Group as her contribution. So As part of the  29th Independent Infantry Brigade Group, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Ulster Rifles arrived at Pusan harbour, Korea on 5 November 1950, The Battalion fought two major actions in their year in Korea: the first at Chaegunghyon on 3 - 4 January 1951, and the second on the river Imjin from 23 - 25 April at Hill 358.