UVF/RHC/YCV

Stephen Desmond McCrea

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RHC volunteer Stevie McCrea (born 31.5.52, killed 18.2.89) was imprisoned for his role in the killing of 17 year-old Catholic James Kerr in a Lisburn Road garage, on the same day as the RHC bombed Benny’s Bar in Sailortown. He was killed in an IPLO attack on the Orange Cross (the Shankill Social Club). This Village mural is the second tribute to McCrea this year – see also A True Soldier Of Ulster in the lower Shankill, near the former location of the Orange Cross in Craven Street.

The text on the board reads: “Stevie was raised in The Village Area of South Belfast. He was just a young man when The Troubles started but without hesitation answered the call by joi[ni]ng the Village RHC. He soon started making a name for himself by putting himself on the front line with his brothers in arms in the RHC. These men where [sic] one of the most active units in Ulster by taking the fight the republicans. In 1972 at the height of The Troubles Stevie was sentenced to life for his part in a retaliation shooting and was imprisoned in Long Kesh. After serving 15 years with dignity and courage he was released. On the 16th February 1989 just after receiving his last pay cheque [from a transitional work scheme] he decided to join a few friends in The Orange Cross Club in the Shankill area. This would be his last drink as republican scum decided to target the Loyalist club. Stevie sacrificed himself to protect his friend by throwing himself in front of a hail of bullets. Stevie died 2 days later from his injuries in the Royal Victoria Hospital.”

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X06870 [X06871] Kilburn St lamh dearg abu lest we forget here lies a soldier

UVF

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Bathed in sunshine: UVF graffiti on the purple wall opposite the Passchendaele mural in Conway Walk.

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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We Await In The Shadows

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Ten years after ending its armed campaign, the Red Hand Commando in 2017 applied to be de-proscribed, on the basis that it had given up its arms in 2009 and transformed itself into an ‘old comrades association’ (see the emblem in the bottom left of the wide shot) (BBC | NewsLetter).

According to this mural, however, B company is ready to reform in response to those who “play with peace”, fifty years later (or so – the mural claims the group was founded in 1970; other sources give 1972 (WP cites Peter Taylor).

“50 years has passed/We were forced to don our masks/Don’t play with peace/Or attack our land/We await in the shadows/B Coy Red Hand.” The photo reproduced is of a Red Hand Action Group in Beresford Street, in the Shankill, west Belfast.

Replaces the ‘99.9% need not apply‘ RHC mural.

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X06861 X06862 derrycoole way rathcoole

Robbed Of His Life’s Blood

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Garlands of flowers rest at the base of the (upper) mural to UVF volunteer Brian Robinson on the thirtieth anniversary of his death, on September 2nd, 1989, by a British Army undercover unit, moments after he had shot and killed a Catholic civilian named Patrick McKenna on the Crumlin Road (WP).

The other (lower) mural to Robinson in Disraeli Street is shown in the image below (and previously in Shankill Star). “1st batt, B coy, Vol Brian Robinson killed in action 2nd Sept 1989. For his country and people he took up the gun, a volunteer to the end, and a true Ulster son. Robbed of his life’s blood in Sept. 89, but the name Brian Robinson will live for all time.”

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The First Outbreak Of The Troubles

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The plaque shown above sits in a memorial garden at the northern end of Disraeli Street, which in 1969 ran out onto the Crumlin Road between Hooker and Brookfield streets on the nationalist side, which saw intense rioting in August 1969 (see 90 Years Of Resistance; also Can It Change? for the lower Shankill). The UVF was founded in 1966 in response to the Civil Rights campaign and an IRA attack on Nelson’s statue in Dublin, and the WDA in June 1970 in response to escalating tensions along the upper Crumlin.

“The officers and volunteers “B” company Ulster Volunteer Force and the officers and volunteers “B” company Woodvale Defence Association remember with pride the people of the Woodvale area killed during the conflict. This plaque stands in the area which bore witness to the first outbreak of the troubles and is a symbol of the solidarity shown by the people of this community.

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Sydenham For Jesus

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“This is a neighbourhood watch area”, says the small sign sandwiched between the UVF East Belfast battalion flag and the “Jesus is alive” placard.

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Loyalist Prisoners Of War

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This UVF LPOW mural in Inverary Drive, east Belfast, probably dates back to the years after the Agreement, when the release of prisoners from both sides was being implemented between 1998 and 2000. That would make the mural about 20 years old.

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Squeak Seymour Memorial Parade

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The East Belfast UVF memorial parade primarily commemorates hitman Robert ‘Squeak’ Seymour, who killed the IRA’s James Burns in his own home in 1981. He was killed by the IRA in 1988. Here is video from the 2019 parade. Seymour’s portrait is included in Ballymacarrett (see Standing Guard) and in London Road (Ulster’s Brave).

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X06578 on the belvoir bar, Newtownards Rd

Weapons Of The UVF

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The YCV WWI mural in Kitchener Drive has been removed and replaced with the modern weaponry above (with two small WWI boards on adjacent walls). For more on the UVF reasserting itself in the Village as it is redeveloped, see one | two | three | four | five | six.

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The Earth And Its Toiling

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“Fading away like the stars in the morning/Losing their light in the glorious sun/Thus would we pass from the earth and its tolling/Always remembered for what we have done.//Who’ll sing the anthem and who’ll tell the story/Will the line hold will it scatter and run/Shall we at last be united in glory/And always remembered for what we have done.”

Only Remembered (or: The Everlasting Memorial) is originally a hymn by Horatio Bonar dating back to 1860 at least, but its music and words have been modified many times (Mudcat). All versions, however, give “toiling” instead of “tolling”, and “only” rather than “always”.

English folk singer John Tams added a verse paying tribute to British war dead which is included here along the bottom of the mural (“Who’ll sing the anthem …” etc) (YouTube). The soldiers commemorated here are UVF members William Marchant, Trevor Logan, Douglas Mahood, John McClean, Norman Dunseith, Stevie Wilson, William Mahood, Brian McCallum, Ronnie Marchant, John Alexander McClean. The mural is on the side wall of the memorial to Brian “Herbie” McCallum.

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