WWII – Page 3 – Paddy Duffy Collection

Full Spectrum

2023-07-252025-10-24Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Here are five pieces of street art by Glen Molloy (ig) at Clarawood flats. The first three are new; the pair following is from earlier this year (Jan and Feb). The artist of the sixth piece is unknown. The seventh piece is by “The Spermer” (web) from 2020 and already in some disrepair – it was painted at the same time as Glen’s spitfire, shown last.

Demolition of the two blocks of flats was approved by the Housing Executive in May 2021 (Belfast Live) and by the Department Of Communities in September 2021 (Belfast Live). Demolition of Kilbroney is scheduled for the autumn and Clarawood (the tower block) for 2024 (Irish News).

(See also the Housing Executive’s ‘Action Plan’ for all tower blocks (pdf).)

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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A Fighter For Our Freedom

2023-06-112026-04-13Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Sergeant John Kernohan. Service No. 7011935. The youngest of a family of ten, John enlisted with the Royal Ulster Rifles in 1932, then transferring to the Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers in 1942 serving King, Queen and Country for 22 years. The record of his service exhibits great variety, both in regimental affiliation and in location with a service record which was exemplary. John saw service in Hong Kong, Palestine, France, Belgium, India[,] Austria and Malaya, where with the R.A.S.C. for distinguished service was mentioned in dispatches, his name appe[a]ring in the London Gazette of May 1950 [May 19th, 1950, page 2489, “in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Malaya during the period 1st July 1949 to 31st December 1949″; Royal Army Service Corps, Corporal Kerohan].”

The medals from left to right are: General Service – Palestine ribbon, 1939-1945 Star, War Medal, Burma Star, Defence Medal

Drumahoe Gardens, Millbrook, Larne

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Moving In Marches Upon The Heavenly Plain

2023-04-162024-07-12Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

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 this entry, 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 (as on the box below, and in A Miracle of Deliverance); most WWI planes were biplanes.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Ballykeel 2 Remembers

2023-04-122024-11-13Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Ballykeel 2 remembers: 1690, VE Day (75th anniversary in 2020 – see also north Belfast | Caw, Londonderry), the Somme 1916, and “all the young lives tragically lost in the Ballykeel estate” (Ian Boyd took his own life in 2006 – anglican.org).

Crebilly Road, Ballymena

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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The Belfast Blitz

2023-02-122025-06-10Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

900 people died and half the homes in Belfast were destroyed or damaged in the Belfast Blitz of WWII (WP). in the apex of this mural a Nazi bomber sets buildings alight; in the main panel, people, including a milkman, walk among the bombed-out buildings and play a piano that has been pulled from the rubble.

Painted in 2013 by JMK, in Hogarth Street, Tiger’s Bay, north Belfast

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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The Men From Ballyclare

2023-01-152025-08-11Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The Men From Ballyclare & District was launched without the board along the fence/wall in front of the mural. The original post shows “UDA reserved” graffiti on the wall to the right. In 2021, there was some South East Antrim lettering to the right – see A0835. (For the SEA UDA in Ballyclare, see previously the companion WWI mural and 100 Loyal Men. Also, Belfast Live | Bel Tel.)

There is now a long board along the front. The two info plaques profile Edward Girvan and John Erskine, whose portraits are also featured in the larger mural, and between them are the emblems of the branches of the British Army: Merchant Navy, Navy, Army, and Air Force.

To the right of and out of frame in the image above, there is a Union Flag painted for the 75th anniversary of VE Day – see Street View.

Erskine Park, Ballyclare

James Magennis

2023-01-112026-01-20Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Victoria Cross recipient James Magennis was the only person from Northern Ireland awarded the VC for action during WWII (WP). Although the mural is in loyalist Tullycarnet, Magennis was a Catholic, born in west Belfast, though he later lived in Castlereagh. He was given a reception in 1945 at Belfast city hall.

The Glorious Dead

2022-12-182024-08-16Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Four of the 700 NHS staff in the UK to die of Covid during the pandemic have come Northern Ireland, the most recent being dementia specialist Alan Henry in Antrim hospital (Express | BelTel | iTV). In the south, Defence Forces have been deployed to three nursing homes while 6,400 health workers are off sick (Irish Times). The mural above shows a masked nurse and doctor among a field of poppies. It has been added below the three painted boards commemorating Titanic, the Somme, and the WWII Blitz.

On the exterior of the Connswater Community Centre, east Belfast

Seymour Hill In WWII

2022-11-252024-08-09Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

US forces were still segregated racially during WWII; “colored” soldiers (as they were then called) were housed in a camp at Ballybog Road (WW2NI) where Seymour Hill PS now is and just below Seymour Hill House which was used to house evacuees from Belfast after the blitz and which was formerly owned by the Charley family (Lisburn.com | Lord Belmont) – it is now administered by Radius (formerly the BIH Association).

The “framed” portrait on the left is of William “Billy” Harbinson, a member of the Royal Ulster Rifles who was a POW at Colditz (Lisburn.com | WW2NI); the photograph can be seen in the RUR museum.

There used to be a plaque on the wall which read, “This mural was dedicated by Col. Robin Charley on 1st July 2009 to the people from this area who contributed to the to the effort during World War II. Also our American allies who were based here and later contributed to the conflict.”

Painted by Tim McCarthy (“Verz” ig) for the Re-Imaging Programme; it replaced a UDA mural.

Hornbeam Walk, Dunmurry