Medal Society of Ireland

Dermot McKnight Hartigan was born in London on 16 October 1886 and was educated at St Christopher's School, Eastbourne (September 1898 - July 1901) and at Rugby (September 1901 - July 1904). He joined The Royal Military College Sandhurst as a Cadet in January 1905 and was commissioned into the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on the 24th of January 1906. Joining the 1st Battalion in Belfast on 1 March, he later served with the Battalion in Crete (from 24 April 1907); Malta (from 26 February 1908) - where he qualified as an Interpreter in French in July 1908, and where he was promoted Lieutenant on 13 January 1910; N China - Tsientsin (from 23 September 1909), and in India - Mhow - from 3 January 1912. Posted to the Depot in Omagh on 1 November 1912 he was there when war was declared in August 1914.

He was posted to the 2nd Battalion on 26 August 1914, arriving to join A Company on 12 September. The War Diary of the 2nd Battalion records

The ‘Sprig’ reveals that he had been shot in the lung and MOD Records reveal he was moved to Boulogne for transfer to UK the same day. He arrived at Southampton on board the Yacht ‘Albion’ on 18 October and, 4 days later, was promoted Captain. He joined the 3rd Battalion in Derry on 1 April 1915 and rejoined the 2nd Battalion in France on 18 May. His stay with the Battalion was a relatively short one for, on 3 December he went to Marseille to join a troopship on the 6th to take him to the 6th Battalion, part of 10 Division.

He served with the 6th Battalion from 3 January to 26 April 1916, on which date he joined HQ 27 Division, Salonika Forces, as a GSO 3. On 11 January 1917 he left, and on the 12th was posted, again as a GSO 3 to GHQ British Salonika Force. It was, presumably, for this job that he was awarded the Military Cross (without citation) - London Gazette 4 June 1917. Three days later (7 June 1917) he was appointed Brigade Major of 67 Infantry Brigade, which appointment he held until 2 January 1918, when he was posted to the staff of HQ 16 Corps as GSO 2. During this appointment he was promoted Brevet Major (LG 3 June 1918). He left 16 Corps on 2 December 1918 and, on 1 April 1919, relinquished his temporary rank of Major and his appointment as GSO 2.

In the same month (April) he went to Staff College and, while there, was awarded (LG 7 October 1919) the Military Cross (Greece) 2nd Class. This award is unique to the Regiment. In all, only sixty five Greek MC's, 2nd Class, (from a total of eight hundred and eighty six) were awarded to British personnel between 1914 and 1921. Of these, only twenty-five officers also held the British MC, which makes this combination very rare indeed.

After Staff College he served for two years at the War Office in MI3, and then retired to the Reserve on 1^st February 1922, retaining the rank of Major.

He started a business career, which he pursued until the outbreak of war in 1939, when he returned to the Army. On 24 January 1931 he had completed 25 years service and was eligible for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserve of Officers. He was appointed DAQMG at Headquarters Eastern Command on 28 August 1939. According to his obituary, he became, in August 1942 personal assistant to the Deputy Director of Mechanisation and, a year later, he retired at his own request. MOD Records, however, show that he relinquished his appointment as DAQMG on 13 July 1942, and was transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers (RARO) on 28 August the same year. He ceased to belong to the RARO, on age grounds, on 8 December 1945.

Having left the Army, Lieutenant Colonel Hartigan did something most unusual - he joined the Royal Navy. He was commissioned as a temporary Lieutenant Commander on the Special Branch list of the RN Volunteer Reserve. His seniority was from 22 November 1943, and it was decided that, as he had no naval executive training, he was to be employed only in shore staff posts. He was appointed to HMS Turtle, the Combined Operations training base at Poole. It is noted that there was one other holder of the MC (J Pearson - Regiment not known) there at that time. This was to be Hartigan's only appointment, and he retired on 28 May 1945.

Dermot McK Hartigan MC died in 1976, aged 89, in Dublin. He was believed to have been the oldest survivor of those officers of the three old Irish Regiments who had been commissioned before World War 1.