The Royal Irish Fusiliers was an Infantry Battalion that would have had an MG Section as part of its Battalion Headquarters. These weapons would have been brigaded when the Machine Gun Corps was formed in 1915. The guns, and crews, would have been formed into a Machine Gun Company.
During the Great War, the Battalions were distributed as follows:
The 1st Battalion was part of the 10th Brigade, attached to the 4th Division.
As a unit of the 4th Infantry Division, it will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
| 1914 | |
| 25 August to 05 September | RETREAT FROM MONS [II. Corps, 26 to 30 August 1914, and III. Corps from 31 August 1914.] |
| 26 August | Battle of le Cateau [under II. Corps]. |
| 01 September | Nery (1/R. War. R. and 2/R.D.F., 10th Bde.) |
| 06 to 09 September | Battle of the Marne [III. Corps]. |
| 13 to 20 September | BATTLE OF THE AISNE [III. Corps]. |
| 13 October to 02 November | Battle of Armentieres [III. Corps]. |
| 13 October | Capture of Meteren |
| 1915 | |
| 25 April to 25 May | BATTLES OF YPRES [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
| 25 April to 04 May | Battle of St. Julien [V. Corps, Second Army, and from 28 April to 07 May in Plumer's Force]. |
| 08 to 13 May | Battle of Frezenberg Ridge [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
| 24 and 25 May | Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
It's MG Section was transferred on 22 December 1915 to form the 10th Bde. MG Coy..
The 2nd Battalion was part of the 82nd Brigade, attached to the 27th Division.
As a unit of the 27th Infantry Division, its MG Section will have taken part in the following battles and engagements.
| The division had no existence before the outbreak of the Great War.
The division assmebled and mobilized at Magdalen Hill Camp (2 miles east of Winchester) during November and December, 1914. The 13 infantry battalions of which was composed came from India (10 from ten different stations), Hong Kong, Tientsin and Canada (P.P.C.L.I.); the infantry brigades were formed at Winchester. The mounted troops included a cavalry squadron from an existing yeomanry unit and a cyclist company, which was formed at Winchester. Of the field artillery brigades: I. was originally at Edinburgh, whilst XIX. and XX. came from India; but all three were extensively reorganized and re-formed at Winchester. The field companies, signal company, field ambulances, and train came from territorial force divisions. The 27th Division embarked at Southampton on the 19th - 21st December, disembarked at le Havre between the 20th - 23rd December, and concentrated between Aire and Arques by the evening of the 25th December. The 17th Division served on the Western Front in France and Belgium until November, 1915. In the following month it embarked for the Macedonian Front, on which it served for the remainder of the War. | |
| 1914 | |
| 1915 | |
| 14 and 15 March | St. Eloi [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
| BATTLES OF YPRES | |
| 22 and 23 April | Battle of Gravenstafel Ridge [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
| 24 April to 04 May | Battle of St. Julien [V. Corps, Second Army, until 28 April; then Plumer's Force]. |
| 08 to 13 May | Battle of Frezenberg Ridge [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
| 24 and 25 May | Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge [V. Corps, Second Army]. |
| On the 1st November the division was warned to be ready to entrain for Marseille on the 10th November. Entrainment began on the 15th, and embarkation for the Macedonian Front on the 17th; but it was not until the 13th February, 1916, that the last of the division disembarked at Salonika. | |
Its MG Section was transferred on the 16 May 1916 to form the 82nd Bde. MG Coy..
In 1922, the Machine Gun Corps was disbanded and the guns returned to the Infantry Battalion as a Machine Gun Platoon and then formed as a Machine Gun Company in the early 1930s.
This remained until the formation of Divisional Machine Gun Battalions in 1936 where guns were brigaded once again.
Upon the disbandment of Divisional Machine Gun Battalions in the post-WW2 restructure of the British Army, the Vickers Machine Gun assest reverted to individual Battalions as part of the Support Company as a Machine Gun Platoon.
The 1st Battalion took part in the British Army Operations against the Mau Mau in Kenya. As part of this operation, they helped train the Rift Valley Home Guard in the use of the Vickers Mk. I.