EEJ (Eric) Moore DSO

Eric Moore was born on 24 September 1894. He was commissioned into the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1914, when he was posted to the 2nd Battalion. He remained with the Battalion until wounded during the Battle of Festubert in May 1915, after which he was invalided home. He was appointed Adjutant of the 4th (Reserve) Battalion at Buncrana, and was rushed to Dublin with the Ulster Composite Battalion to deal with the Easter Rising in 1916.

Returning to France in 1918, he was taken prisoner during the big German offensive of that year.

After the war he was appointed Adjutant of 1st Battalion and accompanied the battalion to India and Iraq. On returning to England in 1927 he was appointed Adjutant of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst - the only officer not from the Brigade of Guards to hold this prestigious appointment. On leaving Sandhurst in 1931 Eric Moore was appointed to command the Regimental Depot in Omagh.

With the re-formation of the 2nd battalion in 1937 he was appointed Second-in Command and accompanied the battalion to France on the outbreak of war. Here promotion followed and he was given command of 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment. After Dunkirk he returned to command his own regiment until promoted to Brigadier.

In 1941 he took command of 2 Brigade in North Africa and Italy. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order following the capture of the island of Pantellaria. He was invalided home during the Anzio Battle and for a short period commanded 55 Division as an acting Major General. His last appointment before retiring was with the Royal Air Force in Germany. He retired from the Army in 1947.

For some time, Eric Moore acted as Deputy Colonel of the Regiment whilst Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck was in India dealing with the partition of that country and the break-up of the Indian Army. Eric succeeded Auchinleck as Colonel of the Inniskillings in 1947. He held this appointment for 13 years, during which time he presided over 34 meetings of the Regimental Committee, often dealing with the complex problems of the reorganization of the Regiment following the war. He was succeeded as Colonel of the Regiment by Major General Denis Moore.

Brigadier Eric Moore died on January 13th, 1979 at the age of 85.