REMNI October 24

October 24

remembrance ni

Serre Road Cemetery No2 You can clearly see the battlefield burials and the concentration ones with a total of 7,127 burials mostly dating from 1916. Of these, 4,944 are unidentified. Making this the largest CWGC cemetery on the Somme

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The cemetery was started in May 1917 when the British V Corps cleared the battlefield of soldiers' remains when the territory around the cemetery came into British hands. Many hundreds of soldiers had been killed in the vicinity of this cemetery in the British offensive of 01/07/1916 and it had not been possible to retrieve their bodies for almost a whole year. The British 31st and 4th Divisions had attacked along the Front on that day and had suffered heavy casualties, many of whom were killed in No-Man’s-Land and were irretrievable for many months.

In February of 1917 the German Army left their positions at Serre village and the Redan Ridge, which they had firmly held since September 1914 and made a tactical withdrawal to a line of defence they called the Siegfried Stellung, known to the British as the Hindenburg Line.

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From the establishment of the cemetery in the spring of 1917 until the end of the war there were about 475 soldiers buried here. After the Armistice there were 71 individual graves brought to this cemetery from 16 locations including French civilian cemeteries, one German military cemetery and one American military cemetery.

During the clearance of the battlefields in this area the remains of over 6,500 British and Commonwealth dead were discovered and reburied in Serre Road Cemetery No. 2. The majority of those remains, almost 5,000 of them, could not be identified.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It was completed in 1934. The village of Serre is 11 kilometres north-north-east of Albert.

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The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It was completed in 1934. The village of Serre is 11 kilometres north-north-east of Albert.

On this Day - October 24 Three NI men lost in HMS Eclipse in 1943 HMS Eclipse was an E-class destroyer that saw service in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Mediterranean theatres during WW2, until sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea on 24 October 1943

On 23 October 1943 the two destroyers HMS Eclipse and

HMS Petard sailed along the Turkish coast bound for Leros,

one of the Greek Dodecanese Islands, which was occupied by a British garrison.

On board the Eclipse was Brigadier-General George Davy, the Director of Military Operations, Middle East, who was

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enroute to inspect the defences of Leros. The ships were also carrying troops, ammunition and supplies for the garrison.

At 11.45pm the Eclipse struck a mine between Kos and Kalymnos, blew up and sank in only two minutes. In addition to the ship's complement of around 200 men, she was carrying another 200 soldiers, including a company of the Buffs.

Only around 100 men were picked up by an air-sea rescue launch of the RAF dispatched from Leros and boats sent from HMS Petard, after spending over three hours in the water. Davy was amongst the survivors. He went onto become the Commander of Land Forces, Adriatic, retiring from the Army in 1949.

In 2005 the BBC Peoples’ War programme broadcast this account by a survivor -

“As a Wireless Telegraphist I had been serving on HMS Eclipse, destroyer of the Home Fleet, on Arctic convoys to Russia. Then in March 1943 the Captain sent for me to tell me he was sending me ashore for a commission selection board. Although surprised, I was not unhappy to leave the convoys.

“The board, however, did not recommend me. I was told I had not shown sufficient ambition. I wondered how I could have studied for promotion on the convoys!

“My ship left then for the Mediterrean. And was sunk, having struck two mines off the Island of Leros. She was about to land 200 soldiers of the East Kent regiment at Leros to expel the Germans.

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“Forty years later I wanted to put an 'In Memoriam' notice in the Daily Telegraph. Through the kind offices of the Chaplain of the Fleet who I met whilst serving on the Church of England's General Synod, I received copies of the original signal conveying the news of the loss of the Eclipse, the exact time and location, and a full list of survivors and the much larger list of those lost, both of the ship's compamny and the soldiers she was carrying. On the list of those killed were all my section, including the young man who had replaced me.

“In 2001 my wife and I had a holiday on Leros and with the help of some local fishermen we went to the point on the island nearest to where the ship had gone down. With tears I remembered my colleagues and reflected that for 60 years my bones could have been with them, but for the Captain sending me ashore to that Board. This memory has lived in my heart for all these years and will continue to to my life's end.”

1938

In a move that increases tensions between the United States and Japan, the USS President Coolidge is forced to unload nearly $3 million worth of gold and silver before it is allowed to leave the Japanese controlled port of Shanghai.

1940

British Summer Time to be continued throughout winter.

Hitler meets Petain at Montoire, which leads ‘to agreement in principle of collaboration’, but Petain rejects the idea of a Franco-German military alliance.

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RAF night raids on Berlin and Hamburg inflict serious civilian casualties for the first time.

1941

The Ukrainian city of Kharkov falls to the German 6th and 17th Armies of Army Group South.

1942

U-boat control in France creates wolfpack ‘Battleaxe’. This will operate in the North Atlantic until it is disbanded on the 1st November 1942 and will include at one time or another U-134, U-203, U-409, U-509, U-510, U-572, U-604 and U-659.

RAF bombs Turin, the first bombing of Italy from British bases.

The land battle begins in earnest around Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, with the elite Japanese 2nd Division being wiped out.

Main detachment of Western Naval Task Force leaves Hampton Roads, VA & Casco Bay, ME for Operation Torch landings in Morocco, under Rear Adm. Kent Hewitt.

1943

An E-boat attack on a convoy off the Norfolk coast result in four E-boats being sunk and one British trawler.

The Red Army achieves a breakthrough on the Dnieper river and captures Melitopol.

1944

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The aircraft carrier USS Princeton is sunk by a single Japanese plane during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Fifty black sailors are convicted of mutiny in the controversial Port Chicago case; after only 80 minutes deliberation, all 50 men given 15-year sentences

Australians secure Goodenough Island off New Guinea.

1945

Vidkun Quisling, Norway’s wartime minister president, is executed by firing squad for collaboration with the Nazis.

The United Nations formally comes into being with twenty- nine ratifications having been received.

Roll of Honour - October 24

Representing their comrades who died on this day 1914 +ARMSTRONG, RobertPrince Of Wales’ Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment), 2nd Btn. Private. 6799. Died 24/10/1914. 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment were based in Tidworth, Wiltshire, when the Great War began in August 1914. As part of 7th Brigade in 3rd Division they landed in Le Havre on14/08/1914. They saw action in the 1914 engagements at Mons, Solesme, Le Cateau, Marne, Aisne, La Bassee, Messines and the First Battle of Ypres. Robert Armstrong

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was born at Glendermott, County Londonderry, enlisted at Londonderry, and resided at Glasgow. Le Touret Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

1916

+GAULT, John Victor Gault

Royal Irish Rifles, 5th Btn. (Royal South Downs). 2nd Lieutenant. Died 24/10/1916 in Battle of Le Transloi, the Somme, France. Age 29.Born 10/07/1887 at Cogry, Ballyclare, son of James and Margaret Gault (née Ferguson). John had been in the linen trade. Bancourt British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Ballyclare WM, Kilbride Parish Church WM

+McGRATH, Henry

Royal Scots Fusiliers, 8th Btn. Private. 16466. Died 24/10/1916. Age 22 years old. Henry was born about 1894 in Coalisland. Son of Francis and Elizabeth McGrath, of 2, King St., Port Glasgow. Karasouli Military Cemetery, Polykastro (formerly Karasouli), Thessalonika. Port Glasgow WM.

+McWILLIAMS, James Royal Irish Rifles, 1st Btn. Rifleman. 10678. Died 24/10/1916. Age 38. Born at Richhill. By 1901 he was married and living in Belfast. He was an unemployed riveter. Enrolled initially with 6thBtn RIR and served in Gallipoli before transferring to 1st Btn.in France. Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte, France.

October 24

+PORTER, Leslie Vernon Lushington

RFC. 45 Sqdn. Captain. Died 24/10/1916. Age 35. Leslie Porter was born on 12/05/1881 in the townland of Curryfree

in County Londonderry. He was a son of Captain David Leslie Porter (Royal Army Medical Corps) and Caroline Elizabeth Porter (nee Hamilton) who were married on 20/05/1879 in Glendermott Presbyterian Church Londonderry.

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They had three children - Henry, Leslie and WilliamLeslie Porter was just four years old when his father died in Egypt on 21 June 1885. Captain Porter had taken part in the expedition to relieve General Gordon at Khartoum.

Leslie Porter was recognized as one of the most skillful motorists in Ireland he was a prominent figure in motoring circles here and abroad. He founded the ‘Northern Motoring Company’ in 1899 and later set up his own firm at 24 Gt. Victoria Street. He drove a Wolseley car in the 1903 Paris to Madrid motor race and in 1908 he came fourth in the TT race in the Isle of Man.

In 1911 while demonstrating a Daimler to Herbert Brown, a linen manufacturer, at his home at Tordeevra, Helens Bay, Leslie met Herbert’s daughter Kathleen (known as K) and on 20/12/1911 they were married in Glencraig C of I Parish Church. The couple bought Ballywooley Farm at Carnalea and they had three children.

In May 1915 Kathleen bought an aeroplane flight for Leslie as a birthday gift and he decided to learn to fly. He graduated on 14/11/1915 and joined the Royal Flying Corps on 22 November. He was promoted Flight Commander on 01/05/1916 and he trained as a flying instructor.

In the first week of September 1916 while based at Sedgeford in Norfolk Captain Leslie Porter was granted a period of home leave before being sent to the Front. He flew home to Carnalea in his bi-plane and during his stay he performed several spectacular flying displays over Belfast and Bangor. His daring stunts attracted big crowds and, on several occasions, he ‘looped the loop’. At the end of this period of home leave he flew back to Norfolk and the 380-

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mile flight from Carnalea to Norfolk, via Newcastle-upon- Tyne, took 3 hours 27 minutes.

In October 1916, 45 Squadron went to France and on 22 October Captain Leslie Porter led a small group of Sopwith 11⁄2 Strutter aircraft behind enemy lines. His plane did not return. The first message from the War Office intimated that Captain Porter was missing and at the beginning his family harboured hope that he was being held as a Prisoner-of- War.

Leslie Porter’s family sought help from several people in high places to try to ascertain his fate. Following representations made by the Crown Princess of Sweden, who was a daughter of the Duke of Connaught, the American Ambassador in Berlin made enquiries. He was informed by the German authorities that Captain Leslie Porter had died on 24/10/1916 and the authorities returned a silver locket that he had been wearing. Arras Flying Services Memorial, France.

1917

+HUNTER, W

Royal Irish Rifles. 1st Btn. Rifleman. 47464. Died 24/10/1917. Age 23. Son of Samuel and Rebecca Ann Hunter, of 23, Donegore St., Belfast. Native of Magherafelt. Prowse Point Military Cemetery, Belgium. Woodschapel Parish Church RH

+ROBINSON, Hugh

Canadian Infantry. 49th Btn. Private. 782432. Died 24/10/1917 at a Canadian field ambulance having been wounded in the stomach and back. Private Robinson, who

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emigrated in 1912, enlisted in May, 1916, and had been eleven months in France, was the third son of Hugh and Margaret Robinson, of Tobercorn, Ballykilbeg, Downpatrick. Brandhoek New Military Cemetery, Belgium

+STUART, Alexander

Army Chaplains Department. Chaplain 4th Class. Died 24/10/1917 near Cambrai. Age 24. Minister of Bessbrook Presbyterian Church, chaplain to the 12th Batt. Royal Irish Rifles, son of the late Rev. J. G. Stuart, Clare, Tandragee, and of Mrs. Stuart, 38, Brookvale Avenue, Belfast, and grandson of the late Rev. Robert Fleming, Cavan. (The Witness, 02/11/1917, Belfast Telegraph 19/04/1920). Ruyaulcourt Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Bessbrook WM. McCrea Magee College WM, Londonderry

1918

+CARGIN, Stanley Royal Army Medical Corps, 108th Field Amb. Private. 41249. 24/10/1918.Age 21. Brother of Norman J Cargin, Second Lieutenant North Staffordshire Regiment who died 01/05/1916. Son of Hugh and Emma Cargin, of 65, Market St., Lurgan. Divisional Collecting Post Cemetery and Extension, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

+CLARKE, BernardArmy Service Corps, 4 Centre. M/402290. Died 24/10/1918 in Fargo Military Hospital, England. Age 25. Born and lived in Armagh. St Helen’s Cemetery,

+COLLINS, John James Royal Field Artillery. 123rd Bde. D Bty. Bombardier. 77289.

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Died 24/10/1918 from wounds. Age 24. Son of Thomas and Catherine Collins, of 44 Main Street, Keady, Co. Armagh, and later of Tattinclave, Drumacrib, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan. Awoingt British Cemetery+JOHNSTON, William Royal Irish Rifles, 11th Btn. Lance Corporal. 315. Died 24/10/1918. Age 20 . Son of William John and Bridget Johnston, of Katesbridge, Banbridge. Military plot, St Mary’s Churchyard, Tipperary

+TICHBOURNE, Muriel Elizabeth FordVoluntary Aid Detachment, Nurse. Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot. Died 24/10/1918. Age 25. Daughter of Ford and Elizabeth Tichborne of Armagh. Her father was a C of I clergyman. Aldershot Military Cemetery. Memorial window St Mark’s Parish Church, Armagh

1939

+BIGGER, Reginald Austin RAF. Sergeant. 580320. Died 24/10/1939. Aged 24. 77 Sqdn. Son of William Austin Bigger and Mary Clark Bigger, of Holywood, Co. Down. Runnymeade Memorial, Panel 1, Surrey.

1940

+SHARVIN, John Edward Redmond

RAF. Sergeant. 550430. Died 24/10/1940. 269 Sqdn. Son of Senan and Martha Sharvin, of Strangford. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 19.

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1942

+McCONNELL, Harry AtkinsonNew Zealand Infantry, 21st Bn. Private. 14712. Died 24/10/1942. Aged 29. Son of Harry and Sarah McConnell Atkinson, of Carrickfergus; husband to Ethel May Atkinson, of Levin, Wellington, New Zealand. El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt

+BAIRD, John Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), 5th Bn. Private. 7013288. Died 24/10/1942. Aged 23. Son of Hugh and Mary Baird, of Omagh, Co. Tyrone. El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt

1943 HMS ECLIPSE

HMS Eclipse was an E-class destroyer that saw service in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Mediterranean theatres during WW2, until sunk by a mine in the Agean Sea on 24/10/1943.

+BOWEN, Thomas J

RN. Leading Seaman. Died 24/10/1943. Age 25. HMS Eclipse. Son of late Paul G and Mrs RR Bowen, Ballymoney St., Belfast. (Belfast Weekly Telegraph 10/12/1943). Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 78

+McPHERSON, Robert John

RN. Petty Officer Stoker. D/KX 85045. Date of Death: 24/10/1943. Age:32. H.M.S. Eclipse. Son of John and Sarah McPherson, of Newtownstewart. Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 81

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+DUNLOP, Patrick Francis

RN. AB. D/JX 363148. Died 24/10/1943. Age 27. HMS Eclipse. Son of late Mr and Mrs John Dunlop. Step-mother resident at Crumlin St., Belfast. (Belfast Weekly Telegraph 17/12/1943). Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 79

1944

+O'NEILL, Shane Edward Robert North Irish Horse. Royal Armoured Corps. Lieutenant Colonel. 36738. Died 24/10/1944. Aged 37. 3rd Baron O'Neill. Son of Capt. the Hon. Arthur Edward Bruce O'Neill, M.P., and Lady Annabel O'Neill, of South Kensington, London; husband of Lady O'Neill, of Shane's Castle, Randalstown, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. Lord Lieutenant of Co. Antrim. His father fell in the 1914-1918 War. Coriano Ridge War Cemetery, Italy

VETERANS

ARMSTRONG, Christopher RN. Leading Stoker. Survivor HMS Recruit. On 01/05/1915 Recruit was patrolling with sister ship Brazen in the southern North Sea, 30 miles south-west of the Galloper Lightvessel off the Thames Estuary, when she was struck by a single torpedo fired by the German submarine UB-6. Recruit broke in two and sank quickly with the loss of 39 men, 4 officers and 22 crewmen were rescued. The Royal Navy search for this submarine resulted in the Battle off Noordhinder Bank, in which two German torpedo boats were sunk. Enrolled 21/07/1910 for 12 years. War service in Yarmouth, Eclipse, Acteon, King Edward VII, Dido and Apollo. Served to

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14/04/1921. Born Belfast 24/10/1891. Conlon St., Belfast. ADM 188/881/7435CALDWELL, George RMLI. Private. 17084. Plymouth Division. Enlisted 31/08/1914. Served in HMS Ajax and HMS Caesar. Wounded. Invalided 24/10/1917. A plumber. Born Belfast 10/05/1897. Enfield Street, Belfast. Woodvale - PCI RH. ADM 159/160/17084

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The remembrance ni programme is overseen by Very Rev Dr Houston McKelvey OBE, QVRM, TD who served as Chaplain to 102 and 105 Regiments Royal Artillery (TA), as Hon. Chaplain to RNR and as Chaplain to the RBL NI area and the Burma Star Association NI. Dr McKelvey is a Past President of Queen’s University Services Club. He may be contacted at [email protected]

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REMNI October 24

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