Evening Talk
đź“… Thursday 26th June, 2025
đź•’ 18.30
đź“Ť The Kincaid Gallery, The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum
Discover the journey of Major-General Sir Oliver Nugent, from proud Regimental officer to commanding the Ulster Division on the Somme.
Major-General Sir Oliver Nugent, a landed Irish officer from County Cavan, commanded the historic Ulster Division on the Western Front from 1915 to 1918, famously on 1st July, 1916 at the Somme where the division suffered an horrific number of casualties. However, Nugent’s career was shaped by his service in the 60th Rifles, a connection of which Nugent was intensely proud and he is inscribed on the regimental Roll of Honour (1928) in Winchester Cathedral.
This talk examines not just Nugent’s experience as a regimental officer, including campaigns on the Northwest Frontier and in South Africa, but also how the relationships and patronage networks he formed influenced his career as an operational commander in France and Flanders, overshadowed inevitably by Irish political storms. Buffeted by the Irish politicians, Nugent’s assessments of their political manoueverings in public were courteous but generally withering, leading to suspicions that Nugent paid the price for his views when overlooked for major honours after the war; when this was later rectified, it was assumed to have been orchestrated by fellow northern Irishman and Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, of the Rifle Brigade. Nugent was also a leading force in getting the iconic Ulster Tower at Thiepval being built, the first official memorial raised on the Western Front (1921).
After reading History at Trinity College Dublin, Nicholas Perry had a career in the Civil Service, including the MOD and Northern Ireland Office; in 2024 Nicholas Perry completed his PhD on the Irish gentry and the British Army. His prize-winning biography, Major-General Oliver Nugent: The Irishman who led the Ulster Division in the Great War, was published in 2020; Nicholas Perry is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Doors open at 17.45 for light refreshments. Tickets will soon be available to purchase for in-person or Zoom attendance via our online store or over the phone. If you’d like to be notified when tickets are available to purchase, you can join our mailing list.
If you are a serving rifleman, or a member of the RGJ Association, you can attend the live Zoom event for free. Please contact comms@rgjmuseum.co.uk for more information.