WWI

Greyabbey Remembers

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday, the First of July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt that I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world. My pen cannot describe adequately the hundreds of heroic acts I witnessed, the Ulster Volunteer Force, from which the Division was made, has won a name that equals any in history. Their devotion deserves the gratitude of the British empire.” 

These are the words of Wilfrid (not “Wilfred”) Spender, Plymouth-born newspaper manager, quartermaster of the Ulster Volunteers, general staff officer of the 36th (Ulster) Division, winner of the Military Cross for actions at Thiepval, and Cabinet Secretary of the new “Northern Ireland” in 1921.

The Ulster Tower memorial is in the top left and the Thiepval Memorial To The Missing is in the top right. The emblems are of the Royal Irish Rifles.

Main Street, Greyabbey, Co. Down, on the outside wall of the Orange Hall.

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 900 x 748)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02227r T02228r

Pass Not This Spot In Sorrow

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

There has been a 36th Division board on this wall since 2003 (see Steeple Defenders) and this second one is now more than a decade old – see the 2013 post on Peter’s site. It is accompanied by two quotations:
“Pass not this spot in sorrow but in pride/That you may live as nobly as they died.” These lines are also used in a WWI memorial mural in Carlingford Street, Belfast.
“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old./Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn./At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” from Binyon’s For The Fallen.

The mural below, with YCV and 36th Division emblems and a “South Antrim 1st Batt” flag was added in 2016. There’s no mention on-line of “Vol. Jimmy Fee” of the 1st (and only) battalion of the South Antrim brigade.

The board and mural are on the gable next to the Steeple memorial mural to Denver Smith; between the two gables is the UVF flag shown below.

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T01979 T01980 Parkhall Road all gave some some gave all thank you nhs

The Dead

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Two poems of WWI in Ballykeel 2, Ballymena: above, “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.” from ‘In Flanders Fields’ by John McCrae.

Below: “They shall not grow old/As we that are left grow old/Age shall not weary them/Nor the years condemn/At the going down of the sun/And in the morning/We will remember them.” from ‘For The Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon.

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02508 T02509

Ballykeel 2 Remembers

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Ballykeel 2 remembers 1690, VE Day (75th anniversary in 2020 – see also north Belfast | Caw, Londonderry), and (from 2018) the Somme 1916.

Crebilly Road, Ballymena

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02506 T02505

Death August And Royal

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

JP Beadle’s painting “Battle of the Somme: Attack of the Ulster Division” hangs in Belfast City Hall (Royal Irish has a history of its purchase) but is reproduced here in a new Rathcoole memorial to the dead of the Great War. (A list of “Ulster’s VC Heroes” can be found at the bottom of The Dead We Honour Here, from the east Belfast memorial garden. For the King George V quote, see How Nobly They Fight And Die.)

“Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal/Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres./There is music in the midst of desolation/And a glory that shines upon our tears.” This is the second verse of Binyon’s For The Fallen, a poem whose fourth verse – “They shall not grow old …” – is used in dozens of murals and memorials. (And in one case, the fifth verse: They Sleep Beyond England’s Foam.)

John McCrae’s poem concludes the board to the left: “In August 2019 a group from Rathcoole Protestant Boys [Fb] travelled to the battlefields of World War 1 to respect the fallen. The images represented pay homage to that visit, which prved to be and continues to be a journey of discovery and appreciation for the sacrifices made by those brave souls who fought during the Great War and who paid the ultimate sacrifice. As a group and society we look to a better future in the knowledge that those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat it. ‘If ye break faith with us who die/We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.'”

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02484 T02481 T02480 T02482 T02479 T02485 T02483 Rathmullan Dr

Silence Speaks When Words Can Not

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The previous mural on this wall – see Passchendaele Court but this latest mural is a large printed board, with photographs blended together and framed by graveside mourners, poppoes, and the emblems of the Pride Of Govan flute band and the Govan Somme Association (Fb), which also supported the previous mural.

To the left, as seen in the final images, is a smaller UVF (1st Battalion) A Company 5th Platoon board – like the other new board in the street We Will Always Be Ready (and on the other side of Conway Street – see When Needed We Shall Rise Again).

Conway Walk, Belfast

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 900 x 1200)
Copyright © 2023 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f2.4, 1/60, ISO 16, full size 3024 x 4032

Click and click again to enlarge (to 900 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f2.4, 1/120, ISO 25, full size 3024 x 3024

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f2.4, 1/350, ISO 16, full size 3460 x 2023

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1200 x 900)
Copyright © 2023 Extramural Activity
Camera Settings: f1.8, 1/120, ISO 25, full size 2784 x 1625
T02221 X12023 X12024 X12021 X12022 [T02220]

Ernie Dougan

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Officer in command Vol. Ernest “Ernie” Dougan (30/04/65-22/03/20) Ballyduff/Glengormley Ulster Volunteer Force 1st East Antrim Battalion.” Dougan died at the beginning of lockdown and so the public commemoration of his passing did not take place until 2022. He was also involved in the Ballyduff Community Redevelopment Group (Fb). According to a Sunday World article, Dougan did not join the UVF until sometime after the Agreement, after he was given a punishment beating by the UDA in north Belfast (see Irish Times | Mirror) and moved out to Ballyduff.

Ernie was the brother of Robert Dougan, who was killed by the IRA in 1998 – see Everyone’s Friend | Gone But Not Forgotten.

The two long sides of the electrical box were seen The Ultimate Sacrifice and If Needed We Shall Rise Again. The Ulster Banner with charging soldier on the other short end replaces Carnmoney Remembers.

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02261 T02259 T02262 T02264 T02263

South And Central Antrim Volunteers

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The 11th and 12th battalions of the Royal Irish Rifles were part of the 108th brigade and the 36th (Ulster) Division in WWI.

On July 1st, 1916, the 12th battalion’s objective was to reach the German trenches beyond Beaucourt railway station with the 9th battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers (Armagh, Monaghan & Cavan Volunteers); they were cut down by machine-gun fire and unable to achieve their goal. Robert Quigg of the 12th Rifles and Geoffrey Cather of the 9th Fusiliers were awarded the VC (see previously VCs Of the 36th). The 11th was part of the attack on the Schwaben Redoubt and reached the German second line before being pushed back in the evening. (Royal Irish | Web Matters)

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02271 T02272 T02273 T02274 T02275

Here Lies A Soldier

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

UVF volunteer Denver Smith was killed in the early morning of January 1st, 2000 by a gang of six men with machetes and pikes; the incident was perhaps drugs-related (Guardian | BBC-NI | Irish Times). The iconography, however, is all related to WWI, with soldiers moving across the fields of Flanders in the mural, above, and mourning by a graveside in the memorial garden, below.

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
Camera Settings: f4, 1/640, ISO 100, full size 2049 x 1537

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
Camera Settings: f4.5, 1/500, ISO 100, full size 2049 x 1537

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
Camera Settings: f3.3, 1/500, ISO 125, full size 2049 x 1537
T01976 T01975 T01980

Maiden City Somme Society

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

This board from the Maiden City Somme Society (Fb) traces the history of 1912-1918, from the protests against Home Rule and the signing of the Ulster Covenant (both the men’s (middle left) and women’s (top row, second from left) versions of the declaration are shown; also in the top row are postcards seen previously in The Red Hand And The Winning Hand and Ulster Girl), to the formation and training of the Ulster Volunteers (specifically the City of Derry regiment – emblem left of the city crest), to the Ulster Division’s service in WWI (specifically the 10th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers or ‘Derry Volunteers’ – emblem right of the city crest) shown in the bottom row by JP Beadle’s painting (see Over The Top) flanked by the Thiepval and Ulster Tower memorials.

The board was launched in August 2016 in the Fountain, Londonderry.

Click and click again to enlarge (to 1000 x 750)
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
Camera Settings: f4, 1/250, ISO 100, full size 2049 x 1537
T02164 [X11057]