printed board/placard – Page 40 – Paddy Duffy Collection

Spared To Testify To Their Glorious Deeds

2023-01-272026-08-31Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

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

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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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Resistance Becomes Duty

2023-01-152026-08-31Extramural Activity2 Comments

The phrase “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty” is commonly but spuriously attributed to Thomas Jefferson (Monticello). It is used here by “1st East Antrim Battalion – Ballyclare – Ulster Volunteer Force” in the Grange and Erskine Park estates (Ballyclare) to protest Brexit and the NI Protocol. The graveside mourners, however, belong to WWI.

Previously on the gable in Erskine Park: The Heaneys.

The one shown above is next to the 3rd batt/1st batt memorial – see Lest We Forget.

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To The Very Death

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“‘Let no man ever think for a moment that I will not stand to the very death if it is necessary in the interests of Ulster and of the Ulster people.’ Captain James Craig, first prime minister of Northern Ireland.”

To go with the fighting words, Craig is shown here in military uniform – though he was a young man when joined the Royal Irish Rifles and served in South Africa for two years (1899-1901), with the Imperial Yeomanry and the Imperial Military Railways. As the politician who was instrumental in the Ulster Volunteers and the creation of Northern Ireland (and prime minister until his death in 1940), he is usually shown in civilian clothes – see e.g. Floreat Ultona | Ulster Welcomes Her King & Queen | Because He Loves What Is Behind Him.

The source of the quote is unknown – please comment or get in touch if you can say what it is from. It’s also not clear what uniform Craig is wearing – the cap badge is the ‘lion on crown’ used e.g. by officers of the Devonshire yeomanry; it is perhaps a officer’s dress uniform for the Imperial Military Railways (though see the IMR pouch badge). Craig was also assistant adjutant to the 36th Division (DIB).

Erskine Park, Ballyclare

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The Comrades

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Ballyclare Comrades football club – whose motto is ‘Nihil nisi optimi’ [nothing but the best] – was founded in 1919 by members of the local Great War ‘comrades’ association. That heritage is used here for the Ballyclare Protestant Boys flute band. In the centre, between images from WWI, the flowers of the four ‘home nations’ are joined by orange lilies, and in the shield are the lion and the unicorn from the coat of arms of the UK.

“To Flanders fields some men in our town were sent and along their way many would repent their priority goal to keep Ulster free that we may have freedom both you and me as part of Great Britain they fought and died and their names we will remember and remember with pride. Lest we forget. Comrades from Ballyclare. Nihil nisi optimi. The Comrades.” “Ballyclare Protestant Boys Est. 2004”

Next to 1921-2021.

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1912-1921

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“When Ulster men are proudly glad of the land where they were born/And when England’s cry for help was heard we told them have no fear/For across the flanders fields we send our Ulster Volunteers.”

These are just a few lines from the song First Of July Morn and are used here to recall how the Ulster Volunteers – formed to fight against the imposition of Home Rule – became the 36th Division in WWI, and suggest that the British government should continue to support the Northern Ireland state beyond its one-hundedth anniversary and the current impasse over the NI Protocol of Brexit as a reward for loyalty.

The song’s alternate titles “England’s Treachery” or “Englishman’s Betrayal” give a better feel for the attitude of the whole thing: that England betrayed Ulster by having “sold away” the three counties of Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan, and that “Ulster men” should “never more be led away, to fight in foreign lands/Not to die, for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command” (youtube). The application to the current situation would then be that loyalism cannot rely on the good nature of the English and should ready itself for “perfidious Albion” to (try to) give away the six counties as well.

“Ballyclare says no to a Irish Sea border.” “Loyalist Ballyclare will never accept an border in the Irish Sea.” “The Belfast Agreement has been broken – the deal’s off.”

Ballynure Rd/Main Street, Ballyclare, next to The Comrades.

Staunch We Will Remain

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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.

Ballybeen Remembers

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“Ballybeen remembers Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022” on the back of the “Ballybeen estate” sign at the Davarr Avenue entrance to the estate. Elizabeth died in September 2022, shortly after her platinum/70th jubilee.