Up the Micks! - Irish Guards illustrated

Published by Pen & Sword at £35, Up The Micks! is a superb pictorial history of the Irish Guards which begins with the regiment's formation in 1900 and brings the reader right up to the present day. I would have liked to have seen sources cited on more of the illustrations and photos, and it is unfortunate that the date of the regiment's first presentation of the colours is given as May 2002 rather than May 1902. However, these are minor quibbles and there is much to recommend this book, including useful appendices that detail everything over the years from gallantry awards and the evolving Colours to names of colonels and senior NCOs. This will be a very distracting coffee-table book as well as a quick and easy source of reference. I've only just started dipping into my copy but it's going to sit very comfortably with my other Guards regimental histories and I know it's going to be useful. Grenadiers, Coldstreams and Scots, take note.

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1st Battalion, Irish Guards 1916

 

 

I can't remember now how I 'acquired' this image. I obviously downloaded it from somewhere and so any infringement of copyright is unintentional. I do think it is worth sharing because it shows Sergeant Owen Wellspring's squad, presumably photographed at the Irish Guards' barracks in 1916. I have another similar photograph of another "squad" in 1918 and I wonder how many other squad photos there are out there.

 

Owen Wellspring served overseas and was killed in action on the 2nd August 1917. He was 27 years old, the husband of Catherine Wellspring (who later re-married and became Catherine Cappock) of 23 Queen Street, Dublin. Owen has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes that at the time of his death he was serving with No 2. Company, 1st Battalion, Irish Guards and so it's possible that he was also with that company when this photo was taken and that therefore the men here are also in No 2. Company.

 

 

Identifying the Guards

I picked up a copy of Anthony Edgeworth's The Guards yesterday and, looking at the photos, was reminded of an easy way to identify a particular regiment of Foot Guards. Simply look at the arrangement of the buttons on their tunics.

In terms of regimental precedence, the Grenadier Guards come first, followed by the Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards,  the Irish Guards and finally, the Welsh Guards.

1. The Grenadier Guards - 1st - buttons arranged singly:

2. The Coldstream Guards - 2nd - buttons arranged in pairs:

3. The Scots Guards - 3rd - buttons arranged in groups of three:

4. The Irish Guards - 4th - buttons arranged in groups of four:

5. The Welsh Guards - 5th - buttons arranged in groups of five:

Easy when you know how.

The black and white photograph is courtesy of art.co.uk and then, in order of regimental precedence, The Daily Mail, Artangel, London SE1 and BBC News.