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Irish Army Organisation - 1941 - 1945

– Organisation of units and establishments. – 

The pre-war army organization was based on the territorial Commands of Eastern, Western, Southern and Curragh. Each Command headquarter commanded those regular army units stationed within it and looked after the administration of the reserve units allotted to that area.
The outbreak of war and especially the emergency of Summer 1940 saw the formation of a much expanded army and the setting up of the divisional level of command to control those forces which would be expected to take the battle to any enemy that should present itself.

In the diagrams below, use your mouse to click on a particular sub-unit to view the organization of that unit or formation.


Army High Command

(See figure below) The Army of 1939 was commanded at its upper echelon by the Army headquarters in Dublin. Below this were the three territorial Commands:

Eastern Command Western Command Southern Command Curragh Command

The Field Force Head Quarters was a force which was to have commanded the Army once it had taken the field against a potential invader. The normal 'peace time' army was commanded from Dublin. The army headquarters was in the event of invasion, to form two echelon. The forward echelon would take to the field of battle as Field Forces Headquarters. The rear echelon would remain behind to maintain the organization and administration of the armed forces.




Sources: The Irish Sword - The Journal of the Military History Society of Ireland, 1993;