Herbert Charles Tippet War I engaged in second-line duties but that was to change in the spring of 1916 when he was to see action for the first time. On 24 April 1916 the Easter Rising occurred in Dublin and the following day, Tippet's Battalion was one of a number of units sent in to suppress the uprising. They forced their way into the centre of Dublin and fought the insurgents along the railway line from Broadstone Station to Cabra Bridge. After the rebels withdrew, 4th Battalion formed a cordon around the area until the rising ended. Shortly after, Tippet left Ireland. The
Easter Rising British soldiers arresting a woman who cheered the captured rebels. An RIC District Inspector's report stated: "Martial law, of course, prevents any expression of it; but a strong undercurrent of disloyalty exists". Thomas Johnson, the Labour leader, thought there was, "no sign of sympathy for the rebels, but general admiration for their courage and strategy". The aftermath of the Rising, and in particular the British reaction to it, helped sway a large section of Irish nationalist opinion away from hostility or ambivalence and towards support for the rebels of Easter 1916. Dublin businessman and Quaker James G. Douglas, for example,