Part Two of a two-part compilation showing Irish Guards, 16th (Irish) Division and 36th (Ulster) Division on the Western Front between late 1915 and the middle of 1917, and a Canadian battalion touring Ireland, 1917. Source: Imperial War Museum Film Catalogue Vol 1.The First World War Archive, ed Roger Smither, England, Flicks Books, 1993. This footage is particularly interesting because it shows northern and southern soldiers fighting during the one major occasion when they fought side by side. This was during the closing phases of the Battle of the Somme when men of the 16th Division (mostly drawn from the Irish Volunteers formed in November 1913 to defend Home Rule) were with men of the 36th (Ulster) Division (drawn almost exclusively from the Ulster Volunteer Force formed in January 1913 to prevent the imposition of Home Rule). These troops suffered horrific losses together at Guillemont and Guinchy; one of those killed was the writer and former Nationalist MP, Lieutenent Tom Kettle. The final stages were more successful when the northerners and southerners together took the village of Wytschaete (the Irish call it ´White Sheet´). However, Major Willie Redmond, Nationalist MP and brother of the Nationalist leader John Redmond, was killed. His body was brought back by men of the Ulster Division. The film show Redmond´s grave. At 56 Redmond had been the oldest man of the 16th Division.

'With the North and South Irish at the Front' was a compilation film (made from footage taken between 1915-17) which was ultimately released in 1918. Its original release details shed further light on its use as a propaganda piece to demonstrate Irish unity. Parts of it were initially released as a one reel film entitled With the Irish at the Front. Significantly it was released by the War Office on 1 May 1916, just days after the Easter rising as part of a series of Official films. This would have appeared to counteract the display of insurgence by the Irish rebels during the Rising. This first film dealt only with the 16th division, a division made up largely of Nationalist volunteers and appeared days before Topical Budget’s film covering the Dublin Rebellion. This original footage was later re-edited to include material of the 36th Division, comprising mostly members of the UVF, the division which was to suffer heavy losses during the Battle of the Somme the following July. The final two reel version of the film was released in 1918 as With the North and South Irish at the Front. The footage of Irish regiments appearing in the 1916 version was repackaged and juxtaposed with footage of northern soldiers to produce a propaganda film displaying unity amongst Irish soldiers in their support for Britain in the war effort. In the Imperial War Museum catalogue, notes on the second, longer film state 'British propaganda towards Ireland during the war was understated and covert, at least in films. This episode makes no effort to enlist sympathy for the British cause or the Irish soldiers. It merely provides evidence for the fact that the British Army on the Western Front contained a number of organised formations made up exclusively of Irishmen.' Source: Imperial War Museum Film Catalogue, vol 1 The First World War Archive, ed Roger Smither, England, Flicks Books, 1993, p77.

Sponsor - Ministry of Information; Production Company - British Topical Committee for War Films.