PUL

The Menin Gates

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The Menin Gate memorial, at the eastern edge of Ypres, Belgium, commemorates 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the area during WWI and whose bodies were not recovered. “To the armies of the British Empire who stood here from 1914 to 1918 and to those of their dead who have no known grave.” The gates in the image above are off Bonds Street, Londonderry, leading to the Ebrington Centre car park.
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Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f8, 1/50, ISO 400, full size 3560 x 2232
text: X06335

We Are The Dead

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The 10th (Irish) Division fought only briefly “in Flanders fields”, towards the very end of the war, having spent most of its time in Gallipoli (in the Ottoman Empire), Macedonia, Egypt, and Palestine. The 16th took part in the Somme, especially at “Guinchy” [Ginchy] and Guillemont, while the 36th were deployed on the first day (the Battle Of Albert).

The poem in the middle is the first half of John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row/That mark our place, and in the sky/The larks, still bravely singing, fly/Scarce heard amid the guns below.//We are the dead; short days ago/We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow/Loved and were loved, and now we lie/In Flanders fields.”

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Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f4.4, 1/125, ISO 80, full size 4632 x 3672
text: X06358 Ebrington Centre, Londonderry

Dumnie Pamiętane I Nigdy Nie Zapomniane

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“Proudly remembered and never forgotten.” For Armistice Day, 2018 – the one hundredth anniversary of the end of WWI – the ‘Band Of Brothers’ mural, which celebrates the contribution of Polish airmen stationed in Northern Ireland to the Battle Of Britain in WWII, was partly covered over with a vertically aligned Polish flag, obscuring fire damage from August(?) seen in the third image. The wreath of poppies is in fact next to the Kitchener mural.
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Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f8, 1/60, ISO 125, full size 3744 x 5616
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Camera Settings: f8, 1/40, ISO 100, full size 5196 x 2130
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Camera Settings: f3.5, 1/100, ISO 80, full size 4896 x 3672
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Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f8, 1/50, ISO 320, full size 3744 x 3744
text: X06324  X06323

North Down Battalion

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The yellow board in the foreground lists battles of the North Down Battalion in World War I (for a description of the battalion, see the previous 2017 post). Added to that since then is a large black-and-white board to the modern Ulster Volunteer Force and its divisions: Bangor, Donaghadee, Ballywalter, Newtownards, Millisle, and Portavogie. (It’s worth noting that although this is a board, the UVF emblem in the middle is depicted as having been painted on a brick wall, indicating a preference for old-school muraling.)
Below is a shot of the rest of the low wall, with Bangor Protestant Boys Flute Band (previously seen in 2017). Owenroe Drive, Bangor.
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Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f4.6, 1/160, ISO 80, full size 3672 x 4896
Click to enlarge (to 2000 x 1658)
Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f5, 1/800, ISO 80, full size 4429 x 3672
text: X06092

Hand-Crafted

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Use whatever you can find to express your identity: re-purpose the placards of capitalism, grab a pair of scissors and cut, draw the outline of your hand with a felt-tip pen.
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Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f5.4, 1/200, ISO 80, full size 3672 x 4896
text: X06219 Hallidays Road

Armistice

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John 15:13 reads “Greater love hath no man than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” Fighting in the Great War ceased at 11 a.m. on November 11th, 1918, after approximately 10 million military deaths, 10 million civilian deaths, and another 20 million injured.
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Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f8, 1/80, ISO 320, full size 5520 x 3552
text: X06321

We Shall Defend Our Island

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The mural in Castlereagh Parade has been repainted for the centenary of the end of WWI, but with some notable differences. Three flag-holders have been added above. On the right are now a poppy and mourning soldiers. The quote comes from a speech by Winston Churchill on 1940-06-04 – “We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches. [We shall fight on the landing grounds.] We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.” – but the current first line was previously omitted in favour of another Churchill quote: “We have nothing to offer but blood, tears, and sweat.” See: Whatever The Cost May Be.
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Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f3.7, 1/80, ISO 80, full size 4896 x 3672
text: [X06310] X06311 [X06312]

Westwinds East Belfast

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This large Union Flag is another “East Belfast UVF” marking in the Westwinds estate in Newtownards (10 miles to the east of Belfast), a more colourful companion to the hooded gunmen in  East East Belfast and EB UVF.
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Camera Settings: f3.4, 1/200, ISO 80, full size 1785 x 2690
text: X06081 [X06082]

Victoria Crosses Of The 36th (Ulster) Division

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Dee Craig has updated the Victoria Crosses mural in Cregagh, honoring G[eoffrey St. George Shillington] Cather, W[illiam Frederick] MacFadzean, R[obert] Quigg, and E[ric] N[orman] F[rankland] Bell. Five more were included in a board on the Shankill and another in Willowfield Street. (For the previous Cregagh version, see M03390)
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Camera Settings: f4, 1/80, ISO 80, full size 3300 x 3925
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Camera Settings: f4, 1/80, ISO 80, full size 4695 x 3233

text: X06313 [X06314] X06315 cappagh gardens

Orange Lodged

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For the third time, these two panels – one of the signing of the Covenant in 1912 and the other of soldiers in collarettes and sashes defending their trench against a German attack – are visible at Barrington Gardens. They were originally on the gable at the corner before it was demolished (see July 1st); during re-development they were placed on a metal frame (see Out Of The Rubble).
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Camera Settings: f3.8, 1/125, ISO 80, full size 4896 x 3672
Click to enlarge (to 1600 x 1848)
Copyright © 2018 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f3.8, 1/250, ISO 80, full size 3180 x 3672
text: X06287 X06286