Neither Unionist nor Nationalist: The 10th (Irish) Division in the Great War

by Stephen Sandford, Keith Jeffery (Foreword)

This book is a major history account of the 10th (Irish) Division during World War I. Unlike the 36th (Ulster) and the 16th (Irish) Divisions, which have been well served by historians in recent years, the history of the 10th has been largely overlooked. The book emphatically rectifies this long oversight and, in so doing, brings to completion the complicated story of the Irish divisions during World War I. Using newly available sources, regimental medal rolls, newspaper reports, obituaries, census returns, and Commonwealth War Graves records, the book subjects the 10th Division to a ground-breaking analysis, unearthing an unprecedented amount of evidence crucial to understanding its formation, composition, and battle history, from Gallipoli to Palestine. Fascinating and vital details - concerning ethnicity, age, religion, employment, and social background - confound expectations and reveal that the 10th Division was neither as Irish nor as nationalist as previously believed. The research sheds new light on the effects of regimental morale and discipline on combat performance. All told, the book can lay legitimate claim to being the definitive account of the 10th (Irish) Division and will be the benchmark against which future histories of the Division are written. [ Military History, Irish Studies, World War I]

344 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2014

Reviews

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/neither-unionist-nor-nationalist-the-10th-irish-division-in-the-great-war-by-stephen-sandford/

This book is full of detail about the nature of the 10th (Irish) Division, which unlike the 16th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) Divisions was not aligned with either Nationalism or Unionism. I found it a bit hard to get through. There are lots and lots of statistics about the background of the soldiers, especially the officers, and the comparative disciplinary record; the actual fighting occupies only 22 pages, less than 10% of the book; only two maps are reproduced, and they are not much help in trying to understand the narrative. There is a rather poor chapter analysing military leadership as demonstrated in the Division's own leaders, and a better one on the lessons learned, or not learned, about military tactics in the course of the campaign. I couldn't really recommend it to anyone who isn't a First World War completist.