Men From The Fountain

All three major WWI memorials with relevance to Ulster – Thiepval Memorial, Menin Gate, Ulster Tower – are brought together in a gallery in Londonderry’s Fountain as part of a tribute to the “Men from the Fountain who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War.”

“Thiepval Memorial: The Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme is a war memorial to 72,195 missing British and South African servicemen, who died in the battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave. It was built in red brick and limestone between 1928 and 1932. It is near the village of Thiepval, Picardy in France. A visitors’ centre opened in 2004.”

“Menin Gate: The Menin Gate memorial to the missing is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the 54,395 British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located at the eastern exit of the town and marks the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line. The Menin Gate memorial was unveiled on 24 July 1927.”

“Ulster Tower: The Ulster Tower is Northern Ireland’s national war memorial. It was one of the first memorials to be erected on the western front and commemorates the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division and all those from Ulster who served in the First World War. The memorial was officially opened on 19 November 1921 and is a very close copy of Helen’s Tower which stands in the grounds of the Clandeboye estate, near Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Many of the men of the Ulster division trained in the estate before moving to England and then France early in 1916. The Tower is staffed by members of the Somme Association, which is based in Belfast.”

Previously the site of In God We Trust.

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Ghosts Of The Somme

A memorial stone has been added to the fading mural of soldiers of the 15th battalion heading to France in 1915, beginning a list of former members of the Rathcoole Friends Of The Somme (Fb). For the names of the five portraits, and the mural in better condition, see Many Did Not Return.

The title of today’s post is the title of Jonathan Evershed’s book (youtube).

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Moving In Marches Upon The Heavenly Plain

The stencil is in Mount Vernon, which is also home to a series of metalworks – see They Sleep Beyond Ulster’s Foam. That title, as well as the title of today’s post, comes from Binyon’s poem For The Fallen, the fourth stanza of which is often cited in memorial for the dead of the Great War: “They shall grow not 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.”

The stencil is perhaps not only a memorial to the dead of WWI – the planes appear to be WWII models such as the Hurricane or Spitfire on the electrical box (and in A Miracle of Deliverance); most WWI planes were biplanes.

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The Dead We Honour Here

“The dead we honour here made the noble sacrifice for a cause that should never be forgotten.” A new board has been added to the memorial to the Ulster Volunteers on the Newtownards Road at St Leonard’s Crescent (the old Newcastle Street) over the bricked-up windows of the Belvoir Bar (see previously Not For Sale). The annual parade of the Belvoir Somme Association took place at the end of September (youtube)

There is also a portrait of Carson (see the Paddy Duffy collection), moved up from its previous location on the corner of Welland Street. The UVF Band mural is to the right of the memorial: see The Great War and They Said We’d Never Last.

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Ulster’s VC Heroes david nelson ernest wright alexander william mcfadzean edmund de win richard annesley west hugh colvin james somers jams duffy robert morrow edward barry stewart bingham thomas hughes robert hill hanna robert quigg john spencer dunville eric norman frankland bell james crichton geoffrey st. george shillington cather james anson otho brooke john alexander sinton dedicated to the women of east belfast that served in wwi and wwii

The Great War And The Recent Conflict

“In remembrance of all those Ulster men and women from the greater Dunmurry area who died during the Great Wars 1914-18 and 1939-45. Also those men and women who died during the recent conflict. Lest we forget.” These are the same words as appeared on a plaque on the previous memorial, which included the Special Constabulary. In the background is a “Welcome to loyalist Seymour Hill” board with flags and poppies, along with a 2021 tarp reading “Seymour Hill says no to the Irish Sea border”.

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Remembrance Day

For November 11th – Armistice Day/Veterans Day/Remembrance Day – this giant tarp showing light pouring through the Thiepval Memorial was placed on the Shore Road, surrounded by 12 white crosses.

For the memorial to the right, which includes the 10th and 16th Divisions along with the 36th (Ulster) Division, see In Defence Of The Citizens Of Belfast.

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The Brave Men From The Fountain

This mural was previously on the side of the youth club (and before that was one of the WWI boards on the front wall that replaced some graffiti (News Letter)), but was removed when the club was extended and given a ‘Swiss façade‘ as part of an Urban Village redevelopment last year (2021) (BBC).

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.” “This mural, funded by the Housing Executive, has been re-located by the Cathedral Youth Club. It is a reminder of the brave men associated with the Fountain area, who served in World War One.”

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Education Is A Journey

Here are two murals aimed at children in Kilcooley, Bangor. On the one hand, the first one (images 1, 2, 3) includes a WWI soldier and the saying “For your tomorrow, we gave our today”; on the other, the second – Education is a journey, not a destination – is a NIHE project that replaces a UDA mural: see Simply The Best.

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Bowtown Remembers

Three-in-a-row at the Bowtown (Newtownards) newsagents: on the left, “Lest we forget” (final image); in the middle, the emblems of the UVF, 36th Division, and YCV against a backdrop of WWI soldiers; on the right-hand, Captain Tom Moore, who raised money for the NHS during lockdown. Above the shop itself can be seen “East Belfast UVF” while the flag is from the North Down UVF. The sticker on the phone box says Stop PSNI Harassment.

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The Volunteers Who Bravely Fought For Our Freedom

The emblem at the centre of this latest version of the 36th (Ulster) Division mural in Glynn seems to be a novel creation, putting together a crown sitting on a blue ribbon draped over a shield showing a (right-handed) red hand, with a garland of shamrock, thistle, and rose.

This is the fifth mural (at least) on this wall since 2008. The only images we have of the previous one shows it in a vandalised state (see the images from 2020 below); for earlier, see 2015, 2011 (Street View), and 2008.

The plaque on the stone to the right reads, “When you go home, tell them of us and say for their tomorrow we gave our today”

The new mural has the following to its left: “This mural was erected by the Friends of the Somme Co. Antrim in remembrance of the volunteers of the 36th (Ulster) Division who bravely fought for our freedom. ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.”

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