Ireland and the Great War - Easter 1916 Rising

The 1916 Rising

Some railed against "this stab in the back". Some tried to desert and get back to Dublin to join in. Most shrugged their shoulders and got on with it.

"We felt we had been stabbed in the back"

In this extract from the 1966 television documentary "And in the Morning...", veterans discuss how they felt when they heard that there had been an armed rising in Ireland.

"We were committed to what we had to do"

This veteran of the Irish Guards recalls hearing about the rebellion in Ireland while stationed in Essex.

"We were surprised, annoyed and we thought that it was madness"

Emmet Dalton tells how he had no sympathy for the Irish rebels. He felt that the cause that had inspired him to fight in the British Army was the right one, and that the Easter Rising had never had any hope of success as a military operation.