Army Records Society : Major-General Oliver Nugent and the Ulster Division

Major General (later Sir) Oliver Nugent commanded the Ulster Division on the western front between October 1915 and May 1918, leading it in most of its major battles including the Somme, Messines, Third Ypres, Cambrai and the German spring offensive of 1918. This book illustrates the operational and political difficulties he faced.

Major General(later Sir) Oliver Nugent commanded the Ulster Division on the western front between October 1915 and May 1918, leading it in most of its major battles including the Somme, Messines, Third Ypres, Cambrai and the German spring offensive of 1918. The correspondence in this volume, drawn mainly from Nugent's papers in the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, illustrates both the operational and political difficulties he faced. Centered particularly on Nugent's frank letters to his wife but also including exchanges with Sir Edward Carson, the King, and Generals Hutton, Macready and Maxse, as well as letters by Wilfred Spender, a leading Unioniost and member of his staff, this collection brings out some of the complexity of Ireland's involvement in the Great War.