87th Regiment of Foot

The Royal Irish Fusiliers

Chronology

• 1793 raised as the 87th (The Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot
• 1820 became the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot
• 1881 amalgamated with the 89th Regiment of Foot to become 1st Battalion, Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers), later changed to The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's)
• 1968 amalgamated with The Royal Ulster Rifles and The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers to become The Royal Irish Rangers
• 1991 amalgamated with the Ulster Defence Regiment to form the new The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment).

First World War

1st Garrison Battalion

1st Garrison Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers was raised in Dublin in September 1915. In February 1916 it sailed for India where it arrived on March 4th 1916 and remained until May 1917 when it joined the Burma Division.

They arrived in Mandalay in May 1917 from Bombay. In October 1917 they moved to Shwebo, and in December 1918 they moved to Maymyo.

Lance Corporal Charles McGowan, G/283, who served in the 1st Garrison Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers, was based at Police Bungalow Colaba Bombay in February 1917.

From an existing service record, it appears that the Battalion was still in Maymyo, Burma in August 1919.

Also see Bedfordshire Regiment for the type of duties which may have been undertaken in Burma by a Garrison Battalion.

External Links

Historical books online

• Historical Record of the Eighty-Seventh Regiment, or the Royal Irish Fusiliers : containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1853 Archive.org. Indian service commences page 16 in 1815 in Calcutta.
• Memoirs of the extraordinary military career of John Shipp, late a lieut. in His Majesty's 87th Regiment written by himself. A new illustrated edition with an Introduction by H Manners Chichester 1890 Archive.org. Originally published 1829 in 3 volumes Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 and 1843 edition with a further chapter. Archive.org

He first enlisted in 1797 age 13 (born 1784) and was with the 22nd Regiment of Foot in India, where he took part in the siege of Bhurtpore (page 99) and as a result he was promoted to be an officer in 1805. He sold out in 1808 and re-enlisted and went to India again. In 1815 he was promoted and became an ensign in the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers, Chapter 9, commencing page 155. He left India in 1825.

Other

• 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot Wikipedia
• Royal Irish Fusiliers Wikipedia
  
• Royal Irish Rangers Wikipedia
  
• 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot including deployments of the 1st Battalion. Regiments.org, an archived site.
• The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) including deployments: 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion Regiments.org, an archived site
• Royal Irish Fusiliers Regimental Museum at Armagh. Army Museums Ogilby Trust
• The Royal Irish [Regiment] Details of Museums and future database for the Royal Irish Fusiliers (87th and 89th Regiments of Foot), the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (27th and 108th Regiments of Foot), and the Royal Irish Rifles (83rd and 86th Regiments of Foot). In addition, in time it is intended to include in the database the names of many soldiers who served in what have become known as the Disbanded Irish Regiments, such as the Connaught Rangers, (88th and 94th Regiments of Foot), the Dublin Fusiliers (102th and 103th Regiments of Foot) and the (18th) Royal Irish Regiment