A quarter of a million soldiers from Ireland enlisted in the British Army during the First World War. For every volunteer in the 1916 Rising there were sixteen serving in the trenches. At the outbreak of the First World War Kitchener formed his famous New Army Divisions. Among these was the Tenth (Irish) Division. The first definitively Irish Division the British Army had seen. Formed of regional battalions, men from all over Ireland signed up. A Citizen Army, the freshly trained Tenth (Irish) Division found themselves fighting in the dust of Gallipoli. Some battalions stormed the bloody beaches of Suvla Bay.
Other battalions defended the dirt of Anzac Cove. The Tenth (Irish) Division in Gallipoli is a detailed regimental history in one of the First World War's most infamous campaigns. Praise for The Tenth (Irish) Division: 'A moving and inspiring record of which Irishmen everywhere may well be proud' - Herbert .H. Asquith. 'They fought the good fight for liberty and civilisation, and, in a special way, for the future liberty and honour of their own country' - John Redmond. Major Bryan Cooper (1884-1930) served with the Tenth (Irish) Division at Gallipoli. He later served as a TD for Dublin County, initially as an Independent and later as a member of Cumann na nGaedhael until his death in 1930.
At his funeral, his coffin was draped with both the Tricolour and Union Jack.