On the front of the wall, soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division stop at a grave as they march through Flanders Fields; just around the corner (second image) is a memorial to a (modern) UVF member “Vol. D[avid] Langley, 1969-2018”.
For the previous Somme mural in this spot, see Steeple Defenders.
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The day before he met his end, Captain James Samuel Davidson, Brigade Captain in the machine gun company of the 108th infantry brigade, 36th (Ulster) Division, wrote to his mother, “Only a few minutes to tell you I am well. The dawn of tomorrow will be the critical time for us but I hope good luck will attend us. Mother dearest, I don’t want you to be too anxious about me but if I should have bad luck, will you give [fiancée] Eileen [Rogers] any of my little personal things she would like to have. I will send a postcard just as soon as I can if all goes well.”
Staff Officer Wilfrid Spender wrote to the family at Seacourt, Bangor, “I am told that your son fell after gallantry which deserved the Victoria Cross and was killed when his men had at last persuaded him to consent to letting them carry him back. Though badly wounded, he had insisted on carrying on. If I may say so, I value the friendship of your son and hope that I may be worthy to renew it later in another and better life.” He had initially been shot in the knee and was shot again while being carried back.
Before the war, Davidson had been a director at Sirocco and a member of the North Down battalion of the Ulster Volunteers.
(Military Images | Men Behind The Glass)
12 panels in Clanmorris Avenue, Bangor.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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“Belfast 1941 Blitz – folcadáın na bhFál, suíomh marbhlaınne [Falls baths, mortuary site]”. For background, see WartimeNI.
Falls Road, west Belfast
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A history of the 36th (Ulster) Division in three panels along Knockwood Crescent in east Belfast:
1914 – Sons Of Ulster Answering The Call – 1915: “Ulster Division – a great military parade will take place at Belfast on Saturday, May 8, 1915. The troops of the Ulster Division numbering 17,000 men will be on parade. Cavalry, infantry, pioneers, engineers, signallers, cyclists corps, Army service corps and Army medical corps. Men and women of Ulster come and see the greatest military display every helf in Ulster, and do honur to your own Division. God save the King.” The original poster can be seen at Wartime Memories. “‘Quit yourselves like men and comply with your country’s demands.’ – Sir Edward Carson.” With a picture of “the inspection of the 36th (Ulster) Division by King George [V] 30th September 1915.
1916 – For God, For King & For Country – 1917: “The Battle of Albert (1st – 13th July) 1916. The leading battalions of the 46th (Ulster) Division) had been ordered out from Thiepval Wood just before 7.30am and laid down near the German trenches … At zero hour the British barrage lifted. Bugles blew the “Advance”. Up sprang the Ulstermen and without forming up in the waves adopted by other divisions, they rushed the German front line …… By a combination of sensible tactics and Ulster dash, the prize that eluded so many, the capture of a long section of the German front line, had been accomplished. During the Battle of the Somme the (Ulster) Division was the only division of X Corps (British Army) to have achieved its objectives on the opening day of the battle. This came at a heavy price, with the division suffering in two days of fighting 5,500 officers and enlisted men killed, wounded or missing. Of nine Victoria Crosses given to British forces in the battle, 4 were awarded to 36th (Ulster) Division soldiers.” With quotes from Wilfrid Spender (see I Would Rather Be An Ulsterman), and the poem We Shall Keep The Faith by Moina Michael. Please get in touch if you can identify the photo of soldiers going off to war at the top.
1918 – Their Name Liverth For Evermore – 1919: “Whether town dweller or country lad, volunteer or regular, officer or other rank, Catholic or Protestant, the sons of Ulster knew a comradeship and a trust in adversity that should be a lesson to us all.” “36th (Ulster) Division 32,186 killed, wounded, missing. The [Ulster] tower is dedicated to the glory of God in grateful memory of the officers, non commussioned officers and men of the 36th (Ulster) Division, and the sons of Ulster in other forces who laid down their lives in the Great War, and of all their comrades in arms who, by divine grace, were spared to testify to their glorious deeds.”
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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
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Copyright © 2023/2025 Paddy Duffy
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… The Great War, “1916-2016”. WWI centenary mural in Grange Drive, Ballyclare.
Replaces Over The Top.
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Side by side in Erskine Park, Ballyclare: a memorial to the 36th (Ulster) Division of the World War of 1914-1918 and “Thank you NHS and all key workers” of the global pandemic, 2020-2023.
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This is a UVF/YCV mural in Grange Drive, Ballyclare, celebrating and commemorating soldiers from the Ulster Volunteers who went on to serve in the 36th (Ulster) Division in WWI and in particular at the Somme. The central panel shows soldiers bearing the Division’s standard (painted in colour in an otherwise black-and-white mural and in the style of the (US) Marines ‘Iwo Jima’ Memorial (WP)) which comprises the Union flag, harp insignia of the Royal Irish Rifles, and the red hand of Ulster on a field of shamrocks.
The other panels show uniforms of the Ulster Volunteers, a Protestant woman defending the fields, soldiers going over the top, and soldiers bowed at a UVF memorial.
Also included, below, is an ‘over the top’ image from a substation at the very top of the estate.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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This is an update to the WWI ‘Ballyclare & District’ mural in Charles Drive. Originally, in 2016 there was ‘South East Antrim’ lettering on the side-wall to the right; in 2019 the orange board with words from Binyon’s For The Fallen (shown last below) was added to the left; on the right now is the board shown above: “The blood of our comrades shed/Shall not have been in vain/We honour Ulster’s dead/And staunch we will remain.” The same lines were used in Ballymoney and in Cloughfern.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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The Pride Of Ballybeen is a flute band formed in 2014. Their band mural features the Union Flag and Ulster Banner flanking the red hand of Ulster on a six-pointed star against an orange field, surrounded by a crown and a garland pinned by a rose; the titular banner, below, is supported by shamrock and thistle.
Video of the band in action on youtube.
Craigleith Drive, Ballybeen, Dundonald.
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Paddy Duffy Collection 