An Irish Soldier describes The World War One Somme, 1976

Emmet Dalton of The 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 16th Irish Division talks about his experiences at the Battle of the Somme.

Dalton, who won a military cross at the Battle of the Somme, tells Cathal O’Shannon about the use of creeping barrages to advance and the loss of over eight hundred men in a twenty four hour period.

“It would be very hard to describe the Somme I don’t know that there has ever been a battle like it. I mean you had two armies in static positions. The movement of either of them would be about two hundred yards, the difference between the two basic front lines.”

[grocefamilyfarm]

Making this man skip to the end was a crime against history and journalism.

[E.OrthodoxMHNIN]

‘Do you wish me to describe all [of] this?’ It hurts my heart and soul that they didn’t have time to simply let this gentleman pour out all the details he and experiences he could or was willing to then and there on camera. Tragic for loss of an opportunity.

[derekc]

I find it mind blowing that I am watching and listen to this man and his experience of the battle of Somme in WW1.

[johnbarlowhorses]

My Grandad fought on the Somme, he was Coldstream Guards and later Machine gun Corps, he died in 1993 aged 97, he loved the Irish , he liked a drink and his pipe . He farmed all his life and brought up six kids . It was great that I knew him

[ppgedez]

When men like this talk we listen. What a man.

[JKnoscope]

I wish he didn't abbreviate it and just let the man talk

[HistoryNerd]

Videos like this on YouTube is what the internet is for. I’m listing to a man who fought in the Somme in his own words. Amazing.

[teasiebrien]

My Husband's grandfather was one of the 98 men

[treyb]

Imagine losing almost all of your officers and 90% of your battalion only to advance 200 yards...unbelievable

[SkyBlueNeil]

My Grandad was in the Irish Rifles at The Somme, he got a piece of shrapnel in his neck from a bombardment which gave him terrible coughing fits for the rest of his life, he had a shot of Irish Whiskey and laid on his bed and died aged 87.

[dub_dub]

My great-grandfather survived Gallipoli, survived Palestine and ended up in the trenches of Europe right at the end of WW1.
How he didn't die in any of these military campaigns is beyond me and I'm very grateful he did. I wouldn't be here otherwise.

Amazing to see Mr Dalton in in the flesh.

[ciananmacreamoinn]

So composed at 78 years of age, having experienced the horrors of the trenches. Died 2 years after this interview. Well worth reading more about this man Emmet Dalton. He was involved with smuggling arms into Dublin aged 15 in 1913, then joined the British Army for WWI. After the war joined the IRA back in Dublin. Was with Michael Collins at the ambush at Beal na Blath and advised Collins to keep driving but Collins, lacking combat experience chose to stop and fight, was killed. Emmet survived the ambush and went on to have a long career in Movie production and set up Ardmore studios. I believe there is a movie of his life.

[towenaar]

1000 miles of Germans,
1000 miles of French,
And English, Scots and Irishmen,
All fighting for a trench,
And when the trench is taken,
And many thousands slain,
The losers, with more slaughter,
Retake the trench again.

[amandawright]

My Granda was an Inniskilling Fusiller, 36th Ulster Division, survived The Somme and many other Battles, returned to Ulster and died peacefully in his Bed at 83yrs old, surrounded by his loving Family❤
We will Remember Them

[pidgeoneyes]

The interviewer is Cathal O'Shannon. He was a Lancaster tail gunner during WWII.

[gerrymcdonald]

My great uncle Peter was killed at The Somme. He was a private in the Canadian Army. In civilian life he was a professional baseball player. I have a photocopy of his soldier record which is a handwritten record filled in by the officers, detailing when the men transferred or out, were disciplined (e.g. AWOL), promoted, demoted, wounded or killed. The final entry in Uncle Peter's soldier record was his death, stating he was shot in the chest and leg. He wrote to his mother every day while in France, and she walked to the post office every day to fetch his letter (which was weeks behind of course). One day she sent to the post office and there was no letter, but rather a little box addressed to her in unfamiliar handwriting. It was Peter's personal effects (pocket watch, his Catholic Holy Medal which she had given to him and he wore round his neck, and a letter from his commanding officer informing the recipient of Peter's death). She walked home with the little box and never spoke a word the rest of her life, the traumatic shock so affected her brain. I have Uncle Peter's Victoria Cross.

[russefrance]

My great uncle was a young Serjeant (correct) in the Irish Rifles. He was 22 when he was killed in March 1918 having survived, from the beginning, almost impossible odds up to that point. He has no grave but I found his memorial at Pozieres in 2010. Meant a lot.

[johntheball]

Emmet Dalton there, a very brave man well worth looking up.

[thedoctorg]

My great-great grandfather Ernest Zimmermann served in Somme as a soldier of Bavarian Regiment 14, 5th Bavarian Division, of the Imperial German Army. He survived that hell, but the mental scars earned there haunted him for the rest of his life.

[thefairhairedboywiththered]

My Mum worked in an old people’s home when I was a kid and remember her taking me to see a World War One veteran . He still had his helmet with a bullet hole in it . He let me try it on, I remember it being very heavy.