Centenary of the Holywood and District War Memorial

by Posted in News Tagged , , ,

Centenary of the Holywood and District War Memorial

Wreath Ceremony 1922

Model (Belfast Telegraph Aug 1919)

On Saturday 28th January 1922, the Holywood & District War Memorial was unveiled.

The decision to proceed with the erection of a war memorial to commemorate fatalities from Holywood and District was taken at the Town Hall on 15th August 1919. Mr Leonard Stanford Merrifield of Chelsea provided a model of the memorial. In 1919, 150 subscribers had promised £725 and it was thought that the total cost would be £900, which equates to £47,500 in current terms.

The memorial was erected on a parcel of open ground between Holywood Railway Station and Holywood Orange Hall. The plot had been purchased for this purpose by Mr David Alfred Fee JP, who donated the plot to Holywood Urban District Council.

Site Preparation (Belfast Telegraph Nov 1921)

Site preparation work commenced in November 1921. The rugged Portland Stone base of the memorial was nine feet and six inches tall and the bronze statue of the soldier in full war kit in “On Guard” position was six feet high.

Dedication Panel

Company Quartermaster Sergeant Wilmot Webster, Commandant of the Holywood Branch British Legion, read out the names of the 109 men commemorated on the memorial, the announcement of each name being followed by a muffled drumbeat. Wilmot Webster of High Street in Holywood was a 42-year-old married man with three children when he enlisted with the 6th Battalion Connaught Rangers on 14th November 1914. He held the rank of Acting Quartermaster Sergeant when he was deployed to France with 16th (Irish) Division in December 1915.

Extra Name (S Patterson)

He was serving with the Labour Corps when he was transferred to the Class Z Army Reserve on 10th April 1919. He subsequently received a pension for deafness attributable to his war service and rheumatism and arthritis aggravated by war service. He died on 1st January 1926, aged 52, and is buried in Holywood Cemetery.

An additional name was added in 2011. Samuel Potter, who served as Patterson, was killed in action on 14th September 1914 during the Battle of Aisne whilst serving with 2nd Battalion Connaught Rangers. Amongst the names commemorated are a recipient of the Victoria Cross, three men awarded the Military Cross and two men awarded the Military Medal.

George Malcolm Dunlop

The memorial was unveiled by Mrs Bessie Dunlop of St Helen’s in Holywood, the widow of Dr Archibald Dunlop. She said, “I feel honoured in being asked to unveil this beautiful and striking monument, erected to the memory of our fellow-townsmen, who gave their lived for King and Country. I am one of those who suffered a double loss among them. I think my eldest son was, of those we commemorate today, the very first to fall.”

John Gunning Moore Dunlop was born on 14 December 1885 and received his commission from Cambridge University Officers Training Corps in September 1910. He was gazetted to the Special Reserve of Officers for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in June 1911. He was deployed to France with 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers, disembarking at Boulogne on 22nd August 1914. He was Killed in Action five days later near Clary during the Battle of Mons at the age of 28.

George Malcolm Dunlop was born on 13th January 1889, received a commission with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1909, and held the rank of Captain in December 1914. He was killed in action with 1st Battalion at the age of 26 during the calamitous landing at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25th April 1915.

Mary Elliott laying Holywood wreath

The Public Wreath was laid by Mrs Mary Elliott of Sullivan Street who lost three sons in the Great War.

Private William Robert Elliott was serving with 2nd Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed on 26th August 1914 during the retreat from Mons at the age of 32.

Lance Corporal Joshua Elliott was serving with 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles when he was killed by shell-fire during heavy enemy bombardment on 4th August 1917, at the age of 30.

Sergeant Francis James Elliott was serving with 2n Battalion Royal Irish Rifles when he died of wounds on 7th August 1917 at the age of 28.

Holywood War Memorial (Belfast Weekly Telegraph, Feb 1922)

The Dunlop brothers and the Elliott brothers are also commemorated on the memorial tablet in Holywood Parish Church.

David Alfred Fee, Chairman of Holywood Urban District, said,

“I have the melancholy pleasure of accepting, on their behalf, as custodians of the ratepayers, the statue just now unveiled, which will remind future generations of the heroic deeds of the gallant sons of Ulster who went out voluntarily in response to their country’s call to fight in the spirit of their forefathers for liberty and freedom”.

David Alexander Fee was to suffer personal loss in the Second World War when his son, Lieutenant Thomas Hugh Cecil Hickland Fee, Royal Naval Reserve, was Killed in Action on 23rd November 1939, aged 28, whilst serving on HMS Rawalpindi.

HMS Rawalpindi

Holywood Trophy Gun (Larne Times, July 1924)

From July 1924, the memorial was flanked by two German guns that had been awarded to Holywood as war trophies.

From examining old newspaper images and postcards, the memorial has been moved twice in the past 100 years. It was originally position in the middle of the square closer to the Orange Hall and protected from traffic by railings. Later, four sturdy stone bases were set in place to support light fittings. Later still, the memorial was moved closer to the shoreline and there was talk of turning it around so that the people attending on Remembrance Sunday would not be facing the back of the memorial.

Holywood War Memorial

There was local opposition to this as the soldier was deemed to be protecting the town from seaborne attack. In recent years, the memorial was moved to its current position and the rugged Portland Stone base replaced by a dressed stone base.

Holywood War Memorial

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.

 

 

 

 

Nigel Henderson

History Hub Ulster Researcher

WW1 Centenary – The sinking of HMS Viknor off Tory Island

by Posted in News Tagged , , ,

HMS ViknorHMS Viknor – an armed merchantman, struck a mine off Tory Island on 13 January 1915.

War graves headstones can be found on Rathlin and in the churchyards of Bonamargy and Ballintoy on the mainland.

HMS Viknor was a 5386 ton armed merchant cruiser of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, originally a Blue Star Line vessel called the ‘Viking’. She was requisitioned and renamed by the Royal Navy. She was under the Command of Commander E O Ballantyne and had a crew compliment of 22 officers and 273 ratings – these were made up of Royal Navy Reserves, 25 of whom came from the Newfoundland Division of the Royal Navy Reserves.

On January 13th, 1915 while on active patrol duty in heavy seas off Tory Island she struck a German mine and sank with the loss of all hands.

In Bonamargie Friary you will find the grave of Private. J. Griffin, PO 7084, RMLI. In Ballintoy Churchyard the grave of E.R. Hewett, RN J/27300, 1st Class Boy can be found. The following HMS Viknor crewmen are also buried in Northern Ireland: Petty Officer J R Bowering and Greaser L Ogle are buried in Larne New Cemetery and Petty Officer (2nd Class) J J Walton is buried in St Thomas Church of Ireland Graveyard on Rathlin Island.

There is a family memorial to Petty Officer (1st Class) J A Blockley in Bangor Cemetery and there are also CWGC Headstones for unknown sailors in St Thomas Church of Ireland Graveyard on Rathlin Island, Bonamargy Cemetery and Larne New Cemetery.

For more information on HMS Viknor visit: http://www.causewaycoastalroute.com/war-graves.html

Research by History Hub Ulster members Mark McCrea and Nigel Henderson.

Centenary of the Battle of the Falklands

by Posted in News Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Battle of the Falklands – 08 Dec 1914

Prelude to Battle

Following the Battle of Coronel on 01 November 1914 off the coast of Chile, where the Royal Navy had suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hand of Admiral von Spee’s squadron, the Admiralty was making plans to redress the loss.  Admiral von Spee clearly realised his actions would not go unpunished. At a post battle celebration in Valparaiso in central Chile, he was given flowers whereupon he commented ‘these will do nicely on my grave’ and refused to drink to ‘the confusion of the British Navy’.

The Admiralty ordered two battlecruisers, HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible, to sail south to engage von Spee’s squadron on 11 November 1914, despite being told by Devonport dockyard that Inflexible could not be ready until 13 November. The dockyard pulled together and both ships put to sea at 4.45pm on 11 November.

The location of von Spee’s squadron after Coronel was unknown.  Would he come through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean Sea?  Would he round the Cape Horn into the Southern Atlantic? Would he remain in the Pacific? Was he already off the coast of Brazil as one (false) report suggested? The Admiralty covered all options, but it seemed probable that he would remain off the coast of Chile, so the Falkland Islands would be essential as a coaling base. The battleship HMS Canopus was therefore directed to moor at Port Stanley and guard the islands.

On 23 November, sound intelligence was received by the Admiralty that von Spee remained off the Chilean coast.  On 24 November, Admiral Sturdee and Admiral Stoddart were to join forces and move to the Falklands.

Meanwhile, Admiral von Spee had rounded Cape Horn on 02 December with two armoured cruisers (SMS Gneisenau and Scharnhorst) and three light cruisers (SMS Nurnberg, Dresden and Leipzig).  On 06 December he made a decision to take the Falkland Islands, expecting to meet a small British squadron at worst. Unknown to him, Admiral Sturdee’s squadron, consisting of two battleships (Invincible and Inflexible), three armoured cruisers (Carnarvon, Kent and Cornwall) and two light cruisers (Glasgow and Bristol) arrived at the Falklands on the forenoon of 07 December. Sturdee’s intention was to coal immediately and sail in search of von Spee on 08 December.

At 7.50am on 08 December, while the British ships were still coaling, Admiral von Spee’s squadron was sighted by lookouts from HMS Canopus.  At 8.30am all coaling was ordered to cease and “Action” was sounded. At this moment, SMS Gneisenau and Nurnberg were approaching Port Stanley at a range of eight miles, while the remainder of von Spee’s squadron were at twenty miles.  By 9.15am, the two lead German ships were making ready to fire on the wireless station above Port Stanley. Only HMS Carnarvon was ready for action at this point, but Canopus had the first say in the action by firing on the Gneisenau at a range of 11,000 yards.

At 9.40am the Gneisenau had view of the harbour. It must have been a severe shock to see the dense smoke created by an unexpectedly large number of British warships, and worse still, to see the tripod masts of battleships! By 9.45am the Gneisenau and Nurnberg had turned and fled.  By 10.00am the British ships were under way and the chase had begun.

By 11.07am the enemy were in sight and it was clear the British ships had the advantage of speed. At 11.30am Admiral Sturdee aboard Invincible ordered that the next meal be taken aboard all ships while they closed in.

At 12.51pm the first shot of the chase was fired by Inflexible at the lagging Leipzig.  At 1.20pm, Admiral von Spee made a courageous and honourable move to save the Leipzig and his other light cruisers.  He turned his two armoured cruisers around to engage the British and ordered the light cruisers to make their escape.  Admiral Sturdee immediately ordered his light cruisers to break away and give chase.

Fate of German Armoured Cruisers

As soon as von Spee ordered the turn, Inflexible opened up on Gneisenau and Inflexible attacked the Scharnhorst.  The enemy had not replenished their ammunition since Coronel.  Von Spee sought to close the range down to make fire more effective, and held off returning fire until he was close enough. Sturdee realised this and continued to fire at long range.  By 3.10pm the action was at its hottest with Gneisenau listing and Scharnhorst burning.  By 4.00pm the Scharnhorst’s guns fell silent as she listed to starboard.  By 4.17pm she had sunk with the loss of all hands.

The attention of two British battleships now turned on the cruiser Gneisenau.  Despite being pounded, she continued to fight bravely.  By 5.10pm Admiral Stoddart in the Carnarvon had caught up and joined in.  By 5.30pm she was burning furiously and listing heavily, but still firing defiantly.  She sank at around 5.45pm with around 200 of her 850 men being picked up by 7.30pm.

Fate of the German Light Cruisers

Unknown to the British, the German Light Cruisers were not in good condition at the point war broke out.  After four months cruising with no maintenance periods, they were even worse with doubts raised over the condition of the boilers.  Glasgow being the fastest soon caught the Leipzig and opened fire at 2.53pm.  The Liepzig turned and launched a broadside at Glasgow.  This slowed the Leipzig’s progress and allowed Kent to close up.

Shortly after 3.30pm the German ships scattered on different courses.  Cornwall and Glasgow pursued Leipzig while Kent chased Nurnberg.  Dresden was able to escape due to her superior speed.

By 4.15pm Cornwall and Glasgow had closed in and engaged Leipzig.  Ten minutes later, it was clear that Leipzig was doomed as she was being hit time after time and her speed was falling.  But the Leipzig continued to fight for nearly two hours until the Cornwall closed range and began to fire lyddite, a high explosive.  A surviving German officer described it as ‘terrific’ and ‘fearful’ as the vessel became an inferno filled with dark smoke lit by the flashes of the bursting shells.  By 7.00pm Leipzig’s guns fell silent, but she managed to launch three torpedoes from her starboard tubes.  The crew opened the sea cocks to sink the Leipzig and gathered amidships in hope of rescue before she went down.  Sadly this was not seen by the British due to the smoke and flames and at 7.50pm, Captain Luce decided to finish Leipzig off at close range.  During this, the crew of the Leipzig managed to burn two green lights.  Luce ordered cease fire and put rescue boats into the water at 8.45pm.  Leipzig, a mass of flames and smoke, turned on her beam ends and sank at 9.23pm.  Only eighteen men were saved alive.

The Kent was not known as a good steamer, but by burning almost everything made of wood she had performed a miracle and had got almost within range of the Nurnberg by 5.00pm.  The Nurnberg immediately fired her stern guns which went over the Kent, while the Kent’s guns struggled to get close.  Things quickly improved as two of the Nurnberg’s boilers had burst slowing her down.  The Kent gained ground and soon her guns were within effective range with fire being exchanged from 5.45pm.  By 6.00pm the range was very close and the Nurnberg was taking severe punishment, so she turned away.  Kent continued to shell at longer range and ten minutes later Nurnberg was on fire with several guns out of action.  By 6.25pm Nurnberg had almost stopped in the water.  She had a heavy list, was down by the stern, she was ablaze and all her guns were out of action.  Just before 7.00pm, Nurnberg hauled down her colours in surrender and sank just before 7.30pm.  Kent sent boats to the rescue and continued to search until 9.00pm, but only seven men were saved.

What of SMS Dresden?  She had escaped, but Admiral Stoddart’s order to locate and sink her remained.  Worn out and with no coal, she was trapped by HMS Glasgow in a Chilean port were her crew scuttled her on 14 March 1915.

By Mark McCrea, History Hub Ulster Member

Reference: Naval Operations – History of the Great War Volume 1 – by Sir Julian S Corbett