Editing Gerald Templer (section)

== First World War ==
From Wellington he then entered the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]] in December 1915 and, after attending a shortened course for the war, was [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]] as a [[second lieutenant]] into his father's regiment, the Royal Irish Fusiliers, on 16 August 1916, just under a month before his 18th birthday.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29708|page=8029|date=15 August 1916}}</ref>{{sfn|Heathcote|1999|p=273}} In contrast to his time at Wellington, Templer greatly enjoyed Sandhurst, and later wrote with amusement that he "was a completely undistinguished cadet from every point of view and passed out – nobody failed at that stage of the First World War because we were so badly needed as cannon fodder – in July 1916, a couple of months before my eighteenth birthday".<ref>Cloake, p. 15</ref> Due to his age, however, he was unable to serve overseas and was sent to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion in [[Buncrana]] in [[Inishowen]], on the north coast of [[County Donegal]], in [[Ulster]], [[Ireland]].<ref>Cloake, p. 16</ref>

Templer remained with the battalion until mid-October 1917 when, now aged 19, he was sent to the 7th/8th (Service) Battalion on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref>Cloake, pps. 17–19</ref> The battalion was a [[Kitchener's Army]] unit serving as part of the [[49th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|49th Brigade]] of the [[16th (Irish) Division]]. However, he was posted to 'C' Company of the 1st Battalion in mid-November a [[Standing army|Regular Army]] unit, then serving in the [[107th (Ulster) Brigade|107th Brigade]] of the [[36th (Ulster) Division]]. Soon after Templer's arrival, the battalion took part in the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]] in late November, although Templer himself took no part in the battle and the battalion, and his 'C' Company in particular, sustained heavy losses.<ref>Cloake, p. 21</ref> In early February 1918 Templer's battalion, the 1st Irish Fusiliers, was transferred to the [[108th Brigade (United Kingdom)|108th Brigade]], due to a severe manpower shortage in the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF) on the Western Front, which necessitated the reduction of all British brigades from four to three battalions.<ref>Cloake, p. 24</ref> He was promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 16 February 1918.{{sfn|Heathcote|1999|p=273}} On 20 March Templer, seriously ill, passed out while in the trenches, suffering from acute [[diphtheria]], and he was later evacuated to [[England]]. The [[German Army (German Empire)|German Army]] launched their [[German spring offensive|Spring Offensive]] the day after and, while he was away his battalion sustained over 770 casualties out of a strength of some 800 men.<ref>Cloake, pps. 24–25</ref> He returned to the battalion, now composed of mainly teenagers, and fought with it in the [[Hundred Days Offensive]], which saw the war turn in favour of the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] and eventually resulted in the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice with Germany]] being signed and the war ending on 11 November 1918. Templer was considerably lucky during the war, having not been wounded, although, as with many others of his generation, it left its mark on him in other ways.<ref>Cloake, pps. 25–27</ref> He wrote, many years later, "I still sometimes in my sleep at night hear the screams of the wounded horses, galloping on the ground, tripping over barbed wire, and treading on their own guts. It was a terrible thing to have to witness, worse in some ways than the human casualties". A week before his death Templer had this dream again, over sixty years after the war.<ref>Cloake, pps. 27–29</ref>