May I Never Hear Such Cries Again!

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These Kilburn Street boards commemorate the “Young Citizen Volunteers Of Ireland” and the battle of the Somme. The text in the side-wall board (shown below) is from the diary of a Somme soldier: “We surge forward. Bayonets sparkle and glint. Cries and curses rent the air. Chums fall, some without a word … and others … Oh, my God! May I never hear such cries again! There goes the YCV flag tied to the muzzle of a rifle. That man had nerve! Through the road just ahead of us we had crossed the sunken road. We could see khaki figures rushing the German front line. The Inniskillings had got at them.”

The larger board, on the right, describes the transition from rebels to British Army soldiers: “On the 17th May 1914 the Young Citizen Volunteers became a battalion of the Belfast regiment of the Ulster Volunteer Force. This formed part of the Ulster Division authorised on 28th October 1914 which officially became the 14th battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles, part of the 109th brigade. The 14th saw action throughout the First World War.”

It includes a quote from Edward Carson, “You will find in your ranks men with the same ideals, men with the same loyalty and the same determination to uphold the rights of their country”, and a quote from VC winner William Fredrick McFadzean, “You people at home make me feel quite proud when you tell me I am the soldier boy of the McFadzeans. I hope to play the game and if I don’t add much lustre to it I certainly will not tarnish it.”

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These Stones

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Sandy Row Ulster Volunteers/WWI memorial: “For God and Ulster 1912, Ulster Volunteer Force, South Belfast Battalion, trained in the adjoining brewery yard. These stones are kept in remembrance, “lest we forget”.”

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War And Peace

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The three central panels of the World Wars memorial in Tullycarnet (featured previously), along with two smaller stones, stand in front of a mural reading “Time for peace. Invest in kids … not war!”. The image of a boy playing with a ball against a wall is based on a 1994 photograph by Crispin Rodwell. The slogan in the photograph, originally, was “Time for peace; time to go” but for publication, as here, the second part was cropped out.

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Tullycarnet Memorial

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A three-stone memorial to army soldiers from both World Wards in Tullycarnet, featuring a line from the gospel of John (“Greater love has no-one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” 15:13) and a song by Randall Wallace for the 2002 movie We Were Soldiers called ‘The Mansions of the Lord’: To fallen soldiers let us sing, where no rockets fly nor bullets wing, our broken brothers let us bring, to the mansions of the Lord. No more weeping, no more fight, no prayers pleading through the night, just divine embrace, eternal light, in the mansions of the Lord. Where no mothers cry and no children weep, we will stand and guard though the angels sleep, Oh through the ages safely keep, the mansions of the Lord.”

By Ross Wilson with support from the International Fund For Ireland (IFI)

For a wide shot, see War And Peace.

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Out Of The Rubble

The Covenant and Somme boards originally on the corner of Barrington Gardens before demolition (see July 1st) have been mounted together on a metal frame inside the security gates.

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Thiepval St.

The nameplate on the lower corner of Northland Street now reads “Thiepval Street” and the Thiepval board above adorns the end wall (replacing an earlier mural to UVF A Company 5th platoon; the stone shown below, although not present in 2006, perhaps belongs to the era of the previous mural). On the other side of Conway Street is/was North Howard Walk where a plate now reads “Passchendaele Court“. It’s not clear whether the names have been changed officially or not. The names are unofficial (as of November 15th, 2012). In the New Lodge earlier this year (April-May, 2012), Fishers Court became McGurk’s Way (U.tvBBC-NI).

Close-ups of the board and the stones below …

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X00731 X00734 X00732 X00736 u.v.f. when the last war is waged and the last post is played when the last boy is laid and the last prayer is said when the last mother cries and the last tear drop dries when the son is gone we’ll now remember the somme. this stone is dedicated to the memory of the fallen volunteers of no. 5 platoon, a company 1st belfast battalion, ulster volunteer force, as poppy petals gently fall remember us who gave our all not in the mud of foreign lands nor buried in the desert sands, in ulster field and farm and town fermanagh’s lanes and drumlin’d down we died that violent death should cease and ulstermen might live in peace; for god and ulster, lest we forget, “I am not an ulsterman but yesterday 1st. july as I followed their amazing attack i felt that i would rather be an ulsterman than anything else in the world” captian [captain] wilfred [wilfrid] spender – the somme, in proud and loving memory of our fallen charge from thiepval wood 1916, sir edward carson, 36th ulster division

July 1st

In the old style of calendar (prior to 1752), the Battle Of The Boyne took place on July 1st, the same date as the Battle Of The Somme (in the new style of calendar). It is reported that some soldiers from the 36th Division wore their Orange Order collarettes into battle. In the image above, which reproduces a painting by Carol Graham, they defend their trench from a German assault.

Carson signing the 1912 Covenant is the second of the pair.

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The World Wars In Lower Shankill

Here are three murals/boards by Steven Tunley for the Re-Imaging Communities programme in Dover Place, lower Shankill.

From left to right: “Fathers and sons of the Shankill enlist to fight in World War One”, “Belfast blitz – Easter Tuesday , 15 April 1941”, and “VE Day – 8th May 1945”.

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Women Through The Ages

A good part of this Enfield Street, Belfast, mural is in fact dedicated to Edward Carson – in the top left are “Sir Edward Carson’s family”, “Sir Edward Carson’s wife”, and “Sir Edward Carson’s mother” and below them is a photograph of Carson presenting colours to the South Belfast Volunteers (see We Won’t Have Home Rule) and another (to the middle) of “Sir Edward Carson being introduced to woman nurses”. In the centre are “Local women preparaing food during UWC strike 1974”. Other images include English monarchs Victoria (Queen Of Ireland, Empress Of India) and ElizabethUlster 1914, and the signing of the Ulster Covenant by women.

“This project is part of Belfast City Council’s Cultural Networks programme. It is funded by the EU Programme For Peace & Reconciliation In Northern Ireland And The Border Region Of Ireland (Peace III).”

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To Those Who Gave Their All For The Great War

William Frederick McFadzean of the 14th (Young Citizens) battalion Royal Irish Rifles, was awarded the Victoria Cross for throwing himself on a box of grenades that had fallen into the trench during the Battle Of The Somme, July 1st, 1916. The figure on the left is Edward Carson. The close-up below shows a “Sydenham roll of honour to those who gave their lives in the Great War and to those who haven’t been traced but are known unto God.”

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