in January 1902. The Dublins suffered nearly 700 casualties (killed, wounded, missing) during the conflict, many of whom died of disease, indeed the vast majority of British Army casualties were from disease. The 4th (Militia) battalion, formed from the Royal Dublin City Militia in 1881, was one of the reserve battalions. It was embodied in May 1900, disembodied in December the same year, and later re-embodied for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. About 540 officers and men returned to Southampton on the SS Cestrian in early October 1902, when the battalion was disembodied at Dublin. A music hall song commemorating the bravery of the fusiliers was entitled: "What Do You Think of the Irish Now?" by Albert Hall and Harry Castling. One of the verses said: "You used to call us traitors/ Because of agitators/ But you can't call us traitors now." After the end of the Boer War the 1st Battalion transferred to Malta on the SS Dominion in November 1902, and was also partly based at Crete, both in the Mediterranean. It was posted to Egypt in 1906, where it later received its Colours at Alexandria by the Regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. The 1st Dublins later joined the British garrison in India, the then overseas 'home' of the British Army, remaining there until the outbreak of war in 1914. Upon the conclusion of the war, the 2nd Battalion returned to the UK, being based in Buttevant, Cork, Ireland. It left for Aldershot, England in 1910, where it received its new Colours from the Regiment's Colonel-in-Chief the following year. It remained in England until war began in 1914. In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had three Reserve but no Territorial battalions. First World War The First World War began in August 1914, and the British Empire declared war on Germany after it invaded Belgium. The Regiment raised 6 battalions during the war (11 in total), serving on the Western Front, Gallipoli, Middle East and Salonika. The Dublin Fusiliers received 3 Victoria Crosses (VC), the highest award for bravery in the face of the enemy, and was also awarded 48 Battle Honours and 5 Theatre Honours. The Regiment lost just over 4,777 during the war. Western Front The 2nd Dublins arrived in