By PRO IUNVA
Cavalry Corps Remembrance Day
Traditionally the Cavalry Corps Remembrance Day has been held in the Curragh Camp on the first Saturday in September. This year it is being held on Wednesday 14 September to mark the centenary of the establishment of the Armoured Car Corps (ACC) on Establishment Day on 14 September 1922. ACC had nine Armoured Car Company’s distributed throughout the Commands, with the Corps HQ in Dublin. In 1924 the Corps HQ moved to the Curragh and the Corps Workshops, “Tintown”, were established, the Corps establishment was reduced to a HQ and four Armoured Car Companies equipped with Rolls Royce, Peerless and Lancia armoured vehicles. In 1934, the Corps title was changed to a more all-encompassing Cavalry Corps. The Corps badge was redesigned and the distinctive Glengarry was adopted as the Corps headdress.
The Cavalry Corps Memorial Garden was the second memorial in Ireland to be unveiled to personnel who lost their lives on UN service; the first was in the Church of the Sacred Heart Arbour Hill. In 1963, the garden, then known as the Congo and Cyprus Memorial was unveiled by the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Seán McKeown, on Sunday 6 October 1963. The first Cavalry Corp Remembrance Day was held on Saturday 5 November 1966. Twelve personnel who served in the Cavalry Corps died while on UN missions.
ROLL OF HONOUR
CAVALRY CORPS MEMBERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON OVERSEAS MISSIONS
CONGO (ONUC)
Sgt Hugh Gaynor 2 Mot Sqn Niemba 08 Nov 1960
Tpr Anthony Browne 2 Mot Sqn Niemba 08 Nov 1960
Tpr Thomas Fennell 2 Mot Sqn Niemba After 8 Nov 1960
Tpr Edward Gaffney 1 Armd Car Sqn Elizabethville 13 Sep 1961
Tpr Patrick Mullins 1 Mot Sqn Elizabethville 15 Sep 1961
Cpl Michael Nolan 1 Tank Sqn Elizabethville 15 Sep 1961
Comdt Thomas McMahon HQ W Comd Leopoldville 28 Sep 1963
CYPRUS (UNFICYP)
Sgt John Hamill Dep Cav Kitima 7 Apr 1965
Cpl William Hetherington CTD (E) Famagusta 19 Jul 1965
Cpl James Fagan 2 Mot Sqn Panozodhia 10 Jun 1968
Tpr Michael Kennedy 1 ACS Famagusta 01 Jul 1969
LEBANON (UNIFIL)
Sgt Edward Yeates 2 Mot Sqn Brashit 31 May 1980
Tpr Paul Fogarty 1 Tk Sqn Hill 880 20 Jul 1986
Tpr Jonathon Campbell 4 Cav Sqn Beirut 05 Sep 1999
The photograph above shows the Chief of Staff with Commandant Joe Foley and Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant Matt Kelly at the ceremony on 6 October 1963. Father Gregory Brophy CF assisted by Father Colum Swan CF and Father Lar Fleming CF blessed the memorial. Photo credit the Cavalry Club.
