Ulster-Scots History http://orange-order.co.uk Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:15:11 +0000 5000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/35712-plaque-honours-titanic-orphan/ http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/plaque_honours_titanic_orphan_1_3501585

Pictured at the official unveiling of Fools Haven, Carrickfergus which is included in the Titanic Trail, former home of Ruddick Millar are Ali Brennen Proprietor Fool Haven, Carrickfergus Councillor Sean Neeson, Susie Millar and Gillian Wicklow daughter of Ruddick Millar. INCT 07-001-tc

Published on Thursday 9 February 2012 08:53

A PLAQUE to honour Titanic orphan and renowned Ulster author William Ruddick Millar has been unveiled in his native Carrickfergus.

The former News Letter reporter was orphaned at the age of five when his father, a deck engineer on the Titanic, was killed.

The Titanic liner struck an iceberg in the north Atlantic on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. It sank on April 15, 1912, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history.

Mr Millar was orphaned as his mother had died in January 1912.

Susie Millar, his grand-daughter, yesterday said: “Our entire family are so proud to have him remembered in this way.”

The author of Stirabout, When Johnny Comes Marching Home and The Land Girl was raised in Fool’s Haven Cottage in the Co Antrim village of Boneybefore following his father’s death.

The plaque was unveiled yesterday at the cottage where he was raised by his great aunt.

Ms Millar, herself a journalist, said in spite of her grandfather’s dire start, “he went on to live a very successful life”.

She said: “My grandfather was just five years old when he was orphaned by the loss of Titanic.

“He and his older brother Thomas were sent to live with their great aunt, Mary Millar, in Boneybefore.

“She already had eight children and it was a tight squeeze in their small cottage.

“Both boys were paid a small allowance by the Titanic Relief Fund, but I am sure it took some time for the paperwork on that to come through.”

By the age of 18, one of Ruddick Millar’s plays was being performed at the Grand Opera House in Belfast.

He continued to write plays for stage and radio, newspaper articles and books until his death aged 46 in 1952.

Ms Millar said her grandfather’s account of his father “sailing away on Titanic and how he found out about the sinking as he sailed his own paper boat in the stream at Boneybefore has provided one of the fullest depictions of the effect of Titanic’s loss on an ordinary family”.

The story has since been re-written by Ms Millar in the book The Two Pennies.

She said: “The Millar family is delighted that my grandfather has been recognised in this way more than 50 years after his death.

“His writings portrayed a slice of Ulster life in the 1930s as well as capturing the deep sense of loss after the Titanic’s sinking.

“He was the only author in the 1930s who was talking and writing about Titanic.”

Mr Millar’s daughter Gillian was among family members who attended the unveiling.

The plaque was unveiled by Northern Ireland representative of the Maritime Heritage Committee, Alliance councillor Sean Neeson.

Also in attendance were Belfast Titanic Society president John M Andrews and chairman Una Reilly MBE.

Ms Millar said: “My Aunt Gillian was able to tell us tales this morning about my grandfather’s parties.

“Even though he had such a terrible start to life, he had a good sense of humour throughout and he made the best of it.”]]> Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:15:11 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/35712-plaque-honours-titanic-orphan/ http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/35709-a-tale-of-one-city-charles-dickens-in-belfast/ A Tale of One City - Charles Dickens in Belfast
By John Gray
Belfast historian
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-16907159

Charles Dickens visited Belfast three times to read extracts from his work


Charles Dickens a global industry
For Charles Dickens Belfast was "a fine place with a rough people".

He thought the city's citizens "a better audience on the whole than Dublin; and the personal affection there was something overwhelming".

This was his reaction to his first visit to Belfast in August 1858.

With the bicentenary of his birth falling on 7 February, and his popularity as the leading democratic English novelist of the mid-19th century undiminished, it is worth recalling his three visits to Belfast in 1858, 1867, and 1869.

Dickens had first contemplated visiting Ireland in 1842 with a view to engaging in some travel writing. It did not happen, and in any case his contemporary, Thackeray, beat him to it with his Irish Sketch Book (1843).

Nonetheless, Dickens included Ireland in his first major tour as a reader of his works in 1858, and apart from Belfast, also visited Dublin, Cork and Limerick.

This was a wholly new kind of performance. As his friend, Frank Finlay, editor of Belfast's liberal Northern Whig, who sold the tickets on that first visit, commented: "Mr Dickens is one of the few great authors who are also great actors."

"Great uproar"
He was an enthusiast for the theatre and indeed wrote now largely forgotten plays. Dickens certainly found performance invigorating, but there was another reason for his exhausting tours which embraced the whole of the British Isles and America and that was money.

For all his prodigious success as a novelist it was insufficient to maintain his profligate domestic regime which embraced a wife and 10 children, and from 1858 onwards a separate ménage with his probable mistress, the actress Ellen Ternan.

Whatever else can be said about his Belfast visits they were worth it. In 1858 his two nights produced a profit of £130.

His first Belfast performance took place at the Victoria Hall on the evening of Friday 27 August. Such was the press of the crowd that the performance itself was threatened - "there was a very great uproar at the opening of the doors, which, the police in attendance being quite inefficient… it was impossible to check". Eventually The Christmas Carol received a rapturous response and all went "most brilliantly".

On the Saturday morning he walked to Carrickfergus and back, a distance of 16 miles, and in the afternoon gave a reading from Dombey and Son. This evoked an extraordinary response - "I have never seen men go in to cry so undisguisedly as they did".

In the evening he read from The Poor Traveller, The Boots at the Hollytree Inn, and the Mrs Gamp episode from Martin Chuzzlewit.


Dickens performed at the Ulster Hall in 1867 and 1869
Apart from his enthusiasm for the "tremendous houses there" Dickens offered only brief and opaque wider commentary; Belfast citizens were "curious people too. They seem all Scotch but in a state of transition".

He found time to buy an Irish joke for his daughters in the form of "a trim, sparkling, slap-up Irish jaunting-car.… It is the oddest carriage in the world, and you are always falling off, but it is gay and bright in the highest degree. Wonderfully Neapolitan".

In 1867 he performed on the evening of Friday January 8 at the newly built Ulster Hall, opening with Dr Marigold and closing with the famous trial of Bardwell versus Pickwick from the Pickwick Papers.

Special stage
No doubt the move to the Ulster Hall had been made to accommodate a larger audience, but there were problems with the acoustics. This may have affected the initial attendance at the same venue in 1869 on a tour billed as "the last that will ever be given by Mr Dickens in this country".

On the night of 8 January a relatively sparse audience heard him perform from The Christmas Carol and the Pickwick Papers. But steps had been taken to improve the acoustics: Dickens performed from a special stage set in front of and below the usual stage and backed by a "black sounding board".

This resolved the problem, and, re-assured, the Belfast audience flocked to his final performance on the evening of Friday 15 January with many unable to gain admission. This time he opened with selections from David Copperfield, and finished with Bob Sawyer from the Pickwick Papers, an episode that had the audience convulsed with laughter.

Almost 40 years later an anonymous occupant of the gallery recalled the occasion. It still struck him how the performance came "apparently without an effort from the master" and without any reference to a script. It seemed as though Dickens was "speaking to me alone".

He described how the audience responded to David Copperfield: "People unloosed their breaths, and a sigh went over the house when he had finished…. The time of silence was very marked before the burst of applause told how the audience had appreciated him."

True Belfast audiences had a tendency to mesmerised and uncritical adulation of the travelling stars of the day, but Dickens was both a super star and a pioneer of really effective performed public reading.

In any case it seems that Dickens thought well of the town.]]> Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:03:07 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/35709-a-tale-of-one-city-charles-dickens-in-belfast/ http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/35077-shatter-spoke-for-irish-protestants-as-well-as-the-jewish-congregation/ independent.ieJanuary 29th, 2012view original
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/john-paul-mccarthy-shatter-spoke-for-irish-protestants-as-well-as-the-jewish-congregation-3002921.html

IN his essay, The Idea of a University, Cardinal Newman observed that "what is spoken cannot outrun the range of the speaker's voice". By this he meant that speaker and sentiment must somehow coalesce to generate affecting rhetoric.

The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, gave a master class in this regard last week with his landmark speech on the Holocaust.

Cutting a chastening swathe through the various arguments about "context", Shatter denounced Irish neutrality as morally bankrupt. Previous Fine Gael politicians have handled the Emergency era fairly roughly as well. Remember that Garret FitzGerald dismissed neutrality as morally inadequate in Ireland in the World (2005), arguing: "I could never regard our decision to opt out of western European defence and to rely for our defence exclusively on a combination of other states in the formulation of whose policy we have no say as being in accordance with our dignity as a state, or with our moral responsibilities."

In order to drive home his point about Irish moral delinquency here, he noted some mortifying similarities between contemporary Irish security policy and those of war-torn Tajikistan. (For a spell, both countries were unique in being members of the Conference on Security and Co-Operation, but not members of the Nato-led Partnership for Peace.)

But even so, there was something special about Shatter's critique. Mr Shatter is the Republic's second Jewish cabinet minister, and his reflections on our non-intervention during the attempted extirpation of European Jewry carry extra moral freight.

De Valera is still an historical titan, author of Bunreacht na h-Eireann's old article 44 that offered symbolic recognition to Ireland's Jewish congregations and the only other member of the prime ministerial goyim alongside Australia's Bob Hawke to have an Israeli forest named in his honour. And put bluntly, only an Irish Jew could wheel out the big moral guns against him when discussing his courtesy call on the German ambassador in 1945.

Shatter suggested that Dev had surrendered to the termites within by then, and that he had lost his "moral compass". And in deploying such a blunt moral vocabulary, the minister will hopefully have sent a new generation of readers off in the direction of the figure who made many similar points about the Emergency, albeit in real time -- namely, Kilkenny essayist Hubert Butler. No one who spends a day with Butler's collection of essays, The Sub-Prefect Should Have Held His Tongue, can doubt the force and insight of the minister's critique.

Butler wrote brilliantly about the Catholic Church's craven record during the early Nazi period and during the Second World War itself. He wrote for the ages when he described how the mass-murdering Croatian Andrija Artukovich hid in "neutral" Irish Franciscan safe houses after 1945. And Butler also describes how he himself was subjected to repeated clerical slanders in the post-war period when he tried to interrogate Irish Catholicism's shady history of solidarity with Yugoslav Catholic fascists. Anyone wanting to follow up on Butler should check out his essays for sure, but also Rev Dr Robert Tobin's beautiful new biography of Butler, The Minority Voice: Hubert Butler and Southern Irish Protestantism, 1900-91.

Mr Shatter's topic was, of course, European Jewry, but I, for one, could not shake the feeling that he was speaking for Protestant Ireland as well. Reading a Jewish critique of Irish anti-Semitism prompts awkward comparisons and made me at least ask about the specifically Protestant critique of the sectarian element in modern Irish Catholic nationalism.

President Hyde never broke a lance publicly for the many hundreds of his innocent and helpless rural co-religionists who were murdered during 1919-22. President Childers never said a word so far as I am aware about the profoundly sectarian dimension in Bunreacht na h-Eireann's education clauses.

That task was left to philosophers such as UCC's Desmond Clarke who wrote in 1984 that the constitution's liberal veneer is hardly compatible with direct and indirect State financing of religious schools and of an exclusively Roman Catholic seminary like Maynooth College out of general taxes. The only practising Protestant who seems as willing as Alan Shatter to stand up for his diminished flock is Bishop Colton of Cork City.

Mr Shatter's speech showed that "context" comes from the heart, not the archive, and that the proper "context" for assessing our performance between 1939-45 is that provided by Irish Catholicism's anti-Semitic prejudices, such as suffused the work and writings of Arthur Griffith, Peter Berry at Justice, and Oliver J Flanagan TD.

The other "context" to be canvassed is the basic postulate of Irish nationalism, namely its oft-stated belief since the Fenian era that the Anglo-Irish quarrel takes precedence over all others, a belief that drove IRA leader Sean Russell into open alliance with the Nazis.

Rarely has an Irish minister managed to brush against so many awkward historical chimes in the way that Minister Shatter did. His splendid speech shows that Hubert Butler's Ireland was not spent, merely sleeping awhile.

Originally published in]]> Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:55:11 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/35077-shatter-spoke-for-irish-protestants-as-well-as-the-jewish-congregation/ http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/35023-scotland-2012/ clydesburn.blogspot.comMark ThompsonJanuary 13th, 2012view original
http://readitlaterlist.com/a/read/130151106


Ulster 1912 was the setting for the Ulster Solemn League & Covenant, which was signed by over 470,000 people. Over 14,000 signed in Scotland, mainly in the west (through Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire) and along the central belt from Glasgow to Edinburgh, with a smattering in Fife and around Stirling. And Ireland was where the threat to the United Kingdom lay.
100 years on, the constitutional debate has shifted across the water to Scotland. Will the people of Scotland vote for independence from the rest of the UK? Will the terms of the referendum be fair and clear? I have friends in Scotland on both sides of the debate. I know some who vote SNP regularly (because they find the SNP to be a capable political party who get things done) but who wouldn't want independence.

Regardless of what happens politically, the historical connections between Ulster and Scotland will be unchanged and the cultural ties will still remain. Portpatrick will not float further away from Donaghadee. Kintyre will not drift further away from Antrim. We will continue to share a cultural inheritance across the narrow sea, a separation so small that it's often called The Sheugh (ie a field-drain) with the other side visible with the naked eye. In 1912 there were over 14,000 Ulster folk in Scotland who signed the Ulster Covenant. No doubt there were thousands more who didn't. But how many Ulster people live there today? Personally speaking, I would like to see the results of a future Scottish census which would ask the people there if their parents, grandparents or great grandparents were Ulster people, and/or Irish people. Now that's a statistic that would be really interesting.

(some readers will be interested in the story of the Scottish Covenant Association of the 1940s and 50s - click here for the Wikipedia entry)

(Ps - I will here admit to having a letter published in the News Letter when I was about 13, proposing that Northern Ireland and Scotland should get together and both go independent. I might have been mad... but maybe it just set a pattern which has stuck with me! If you are in the Newspaper Library in Belfast you'll find it if you scour through the letters pages covering the years 1985 - 1987)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Covenant_Association

Scottish Covenant Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scotland

The Scottish Covenant Association was a non-partisan political organisation in Scotland in the 1940s and 1950s seeking to establish a devolved Scottish Assembly. It was formed by John MacCormick who had left the Scottish National Party in 1942 when they decided to support all-out independence for Scotland rather than devolution as had been their position.
MacCormick took many supporters with him, and set up the Scottish Union, which later became the Scottish Convention before eventually evolving into the Scottish Covenant Association. The name Covenant was a direct reference to the Solemn League and Covenant signed by the Scottish Covenanters of the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Covenant Association played an enormous part in mobilising Scottish public opinion in favour of devolution, with over two million signatures in favour of such being gathered between 1949 and 1950 through the Scottish Covenant.[1] Ultimately though the Association's disengagement from the conventional political process meant that this enthusiasm waned and had no outlet, with it being some 50 years before devolution was secured for Scotland.
Perhaps the greatest coup of the Covenant Association was the removal of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey by four of their members (Ian Hamilton, Kay Matheson, Gavin Vernon and Alan Stuart) over Christmas in 1950. This famous act attracted huge publicity for the cause of Scottish home rule.]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:07:15 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/35023-scotland-2012/ http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/34996-second-world-war-in-northern-ireland/ http://en.wikipedia...._(United_States) #fb



Second World War in Northern Ireland


http://ww2ni.webs.co...tyfermanagh.htm

County Fermanagh


Trory Church Graveyard
On looking around the graveyard at Trory Church overlooking St Angelo Airfield I was surprised to find the grave of Major General Thomas Patrick David Scott.
Scott had been Officer Commanding 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers between 1942 and 1944 and subsequently from 1944 until 1947 he had commanded 38th Irish Brigade.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his actions during the war.
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Ashbrooke

Ashbrook is near to Brookeborough and in 1942 was used at billets by soldiers from 1st Battalion 135th Infantry of 34th Infantry Division U.S. Army. On 15th December they were joined by 2nd Battalion 121st Infantry 8th Infantry Division who stayed there until June 1944.
The picture here shows the grand entrance gates to the estate.
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Castle Coole, Enniskillen

Castle Coole in Enniskillen was used by the United States Army. Between 1st and 13th June 1942 it held a Headquarters and Headquarters Company of 109th Quartermaster Battalion. Other Units based here were a Military Police Platoon from 8th Infantry Division which arrived on 16th December 1943 as well as 12th Engineer Combat Battalion 8th infantry Division which was here from 15th December 1943 until 28th June 1944, 2nd Battalion 28th Infantry of 8th infantry Division who were here from 15th December 1943 until June 1944 and an Antitank Company of 28th Infantry, 8th Infantry Division which arrived on 16th December 1943.
The first picture shows the Stable Block which was used by the soldiers with the second picture showing General Eisenhower and soldiers in the grounds with the chimneys of the grand House in the background.
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Irvinestown Cemetries


Shown above are two pictures of some of the graves which can be found in Irvinestown. The top picture is in the Roman Catholic Church while the second is the Church of Ireland Church. - Pilot Officer Hebenton who is mention below is buried here.
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Trory Sunderland Flying Boat Memorial
The Memorial Stone shown here marks the crash site of a Shorts Sunderland Flying Boat of 422 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force on 20th February 1944.
Both Air Crew were killed.
They were Pilot Officer L.A. Hebenton from Calgary in Canada and Sergeant R.W. Bodsworth from Northampton in England.
Hebenton was buried nearby in Irvinestown while Bodsworth was flown home to be buried in Kingsthorpe Cemetry, Northamptonshire.
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Necarne Castle, Irvinestown


I cannot think of a more bizarre item to retain as a reminder of involvement in the Second World War than a Mortuary Slab!
There is no doubt however that it is most definately something that people will look at.
This can be seen in the grounds of Necarne castle in Irvinestown.
On 21st May 1942 this Hospital was opened and 109th Medical Battalion of 34th Infantry U.S. Army were based here and between 19th September 1942 and 28th December 1943. This was initially a 200 bed hospital however the military soon increased capacity to 500 beds. It was known as 160th Station Hospital of V Corps. Its name was changed to 28th Station Hospital which it remained until 19th August 1944.
Being a Hospital there was also 147th Army Postal Unit based there between 26th January and 22nd May 1944.
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Belleek
Shown here is a picture of a Memorial Stone which can be seen on the bridge at Belleek facing the famous Belleek Pottery.
This refers to the use by Allied Aircraft of the "Donegal Corridor" through neutral Republic of Ireland to access the Atlantic Ocean.
More information in relation to the Corridor can be found in the "Information - Other" section of this website.
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Newtownbutler Radio Station
There was a Royal Air Force ground staff radio station on Lettergreen Road between Newtownbutler and Donagh.
This was used to contact aircraft and ensure safe passage to Northern Ireland.
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Crom Castle, Newtownbutler
On 6th April 1941 17th Infantry Brigade of 5th Y Division Leicester Regiment and Seaforth Highlanders arrived at Crom Castle where nissen huts were constructed in the grounds for use by soldiers while Officers lived inside the castle.
Between 16th December 1943 and June 1944 United States Army soldiers of 3d Battalion, 28th Infantry 8th Infantry Division were also based at Crom.
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Lough Navar Air Crash Memorials
http://ww2ni.webs.co...0marker%202.jpg
These are 2 memorials side by side at the Lough Navar Viewpoint relating to the crashes of a 201 Squadron Sunderland and 202 Squadron Catalina in November 1943 and November 1944 respectively.
The wording on the two memorials is as follows :-
"WAR GRAVE
Sunderland W4036 Of 201 Squadron RAF Sank in Lough Erne on November 18th 1943
Flt/Lt Douglas J Dolphin RCAF (Skipper) age 23
Sgt. John B Green RAF age 23 Sgt Elvert Parry RAF age 20 Killed. Buried Flintshire. Wales.
Remember all airmen based on Lough Erne who died in World War Two"

And

"CATALINA JX 242 OF 202 SQN. KILLADEAS
CRASHED AT LOUGH AN LABAN
ON NOVEMBER 20th 1944
EIGHT CREW MEMBERS DIED
Flt/Lt. George Forbes-Lloyd RAF (Skipper)
P/O William Sharpe RAAF
W/O Ernest Slack RAF
Sgt. Fred Deam RAF
Sgt. John Geldert RAF
Sgt. Peter Marshall RAF
Sgt. Douglas Nater RAF
Sgt. Gordon Tribble RAF "
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Portora Royal School
http://ww2ni.webs.co...com/portora.jpg
The 2 plates shows here can be seen on the impressive entrance gate to Portora Royal School in Enniskillen having been erected to mark the passing of past pupils of Portora Royal School who were killed during the Second World War.
Flight Lt. Derek Edward Reay was 22 years old and serving with 207 Squadron, Royal Air Force. He was in Lancaster Bomber W4959 on 23rd / 24th November 1943 on a Bombing Raid to Berlin when the aircraft was lost with the lives of all crew members.
Flying Officer Geoffrey Norman Reay was 21 years old and serving with 51 Squadron, Royal Air Force. He was in Halifax Bomber LW177 on 5th November 1944 on a mission to Bochum when this was one of three bombers lost. He is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery.
Captain William Edward Carson Irwin was 31 years old and a member of the Royal Artillery when he was killed on 6th August 1944. He was from Irvinestown.
It is worth recording that Eisenhower visited Portora School.
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R.A.F. Castle Archdale
http://ww2ni.webs.co...18_edited-1.jpg
http://ww2ni.webs.co...46_edited-1.jpg
R.A.F. Castle Archdale is the jewel in the crown for anyone visiting County Fermanagh with an interest in Second World War history.
Now maintained as a Country Park with many facilities I am pleased to say that much of the old Flying Boat base remains to be explored and indeed this history is celebrated with various W.W.2 sites of interest being marked and even a Visitor Centre. - I would strongly advise thatif you want to see all that is available then get your waterproof clothing on and go off into the woods using your eyes! - There is a visitors plan available on site but not all interesting locations are marked.
The first three pictures here show a memorial stone where the old House once stood. A lime arch which was entwined by Airmen standing on Guard Duty at the Main Entrance to the base during the War and a memorial stone which can be found beside a Beacon at the end of the Burma Road. - When walking in this area you will see 2 chairs with plaques attached. One says "This Bench was erected in memory of Flight Sergeant BILL PARKER of 422 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force who was stationed at Castle Archdale during World War 2 1943 - 1944 where he served as a Wireless Operator and Air Gunner" The second says "Wing Commander Kenneth William Mackenzie D.F.C. A.F.C. A.E. 8th June 1916 - 5th June 2009. 'One of The Few'"
The next picture shows some Second World War Jetties which are not marked on the Tourist Plan but can be seen near the Bird Hide.
Interestingly a Pan Am Clipper aircraft landed at Castle Archdale on 17th June 1942 while taking Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands to New York.
http://ww2ni.webs.co...e%20shelter.jpg
The first photograph above shows the old Petrol Store which is well concealed in undergrowth and not too far from the wartime Inciderator Building which is again not shows on plans. The second shows the well protected Bombstore with the third being a shelter near where the Mess once stood.
It was from here that Catalina Z of 209 Squadron sighted the German Battleship Bismarck on 26th May 1941.
Contrary to general opinion it was not the aircrafts Captain - Flying Officer Dennis Briggs who first saw the ship but his Co-Pilot Ensign Leonard B Smith.
It was not until the following December that the United States entered the war however Briggs was an American and part of a secret arrangement where U.S. aircrew were gaining operational experience while passing on their knowledge of the Catalina Flying Boat.
As a result of the necessary secrecy Briggs’ involvement was not made public .
The final operational patrol of R.A.F. Coastal Command from Castle Archdale took place on 3rd june 1945 by 201 Squadron.
Ensure you obtain one of the "World War 2 Heritage Trail" leaflets and take your time to enjoy what is there to be seen.
These pictures show the Shetland Dock with its 2 sets of steps for aircrew to board the Flying Boats. - This is at Shetland Dock.
The uncovered Airraid shelter is in the area of where the Dining Hall, Mess, Cinema and Recreation Hall stood.
http://ww2ni.webs.co...ing%20boast.jpg
http://ww2ni.webs.co...20docks%201.jpg
The old boat is a "Bomb Scow" which can be seen at Shetland Dock. It would have been used to take Depth Charges out to the aircraft.
For more information check out the "Useful Links" section.

Tragedy At Castle Archdale
On 14th October 1942 a Marine Dinghy with 10 Maintainence Man on board capsized with the loss of all hands.
Here are the Rank, Number, Name, Age, Service, Nationality, Buried, Grave
of all those who were killed.

LAC 1103801 Francis Hart, 28 RAFVR United Kingdom, Chorley, (St.Gregory's) Roman Catholic Churchyard Grave A 49

Cpl. 1120540 Frank Stafford, 21 RAFVR United Kingdom Healey (Christ Church) Churchyard Spec. Memorial

AC1 1446250 Walter James Lanham, 21 RAFVR United Kingdom Irvinstown Church of Ireland Churchyard Plot 1 Grave 16

AC2 1120278 John Smith Falconer Thomson, Age N/K RAFVR United Kingdom Edinburgh (Portobello Cemetery) Sec.Q. Grave 217

AC1 1555497 Robert McAndrew, 21 RAFVR United Kingdom Kirkaldy (Hayfield) Cemetery Comp. H Grave 435

AC1 1117076 David Pullar 27 RAFVR United Kingdom Balgay Cemetery, Dundee Sec B, Grave 5

AC2 1489553 Owen Edwards, 21 RAFVR United Kingdom Llanbeblig Public Cemetery Grave1259

LAC 626152 William John Thomas, 30 RAFVR United Kingdom Llamsamlet (St.Samlet) Churchyard Row N Grave 19

Cpl. 406119 John M. Butchart, 47 RAF United Kingdom Belton (St.Peter) Churchyard NE of Church

AC2 1618038 William Arthur Barton ? RAFVR United Kingdom Manor Park Cemetery Sec.125 Grave 104

Some other Airmen also list their lives other than through either Enemy Action or Aircraft Accidents.
21st August 1944. Flight Sgt. 1294335 William Thomas Gale, RAFVR. Age N/K Died as a result of being struck by a rotating Catalina propeller. - He is buried in Irvinestown Church of Ireland Churchyard Plot 2. Grave 54.
21st September 1944. Warrant Officer, 422693 Edward Lindsay Darrell, 22 years old. RNZAF drowned at Rock Bay, Lough Erne. He is buried in Irvinestown Church of Ireland Churchyard Plot 2. Grave 55.
31st July 1945. Leading Aircraftsman, 1701051 Kenneth John Burnett. 22 years old. RAFVR. Drowned in swimming in Lake. He is buried in Irvinestown Church of Ireland Churchyard Plot 2. Grave 68.
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St Angelo Airfield
http://ww2ni.webs.co...17_edited-1.jpg
Now known as Enniskillen (St Angelo) Airport this can be found at Kesh Road, Enniskillen in the townland of Trory.
Although it appears to be a busy little airfield virtually all of the historic buildings and emplacements have been wiped from the landscape which is rather sad. I have included an article in the "Useful Links" Section which gives more details.
Unfortunately I could only find this singular building remaining from its busy days as an R.A.F. Fighter Sector Station in 1941 and 1942 or as a diversion airfield for the very busy North Atlantic Ferry route. The following year of '43 Coastal Command used it as a Flying Instructors School.
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Manor House Hotel
http://ww2ni.webs.co...40_edited-1.jpg
During the war the Manor House was requisitioned by the Government and was used by United States Forces and an Officers Mess and Headquarters for the nearby Killadeas Flying Boat station.
Visitors to the hotel should take time to explore the immediate area which includes both Killadeas and Castle Archdale Flying Boat stations as shown here.
The old building illustrate is on the hill between the Manor House and Killadeas and would have been used in connection with the Air Base. The pictures show an old door painted Air Force Blue, a large room in original colours and Second World War toilet facilities!!
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Killadeas
http://ww2ni.webs.co...02_edited-1.jpg
http://ww2ni.webs.co...edited-1.jpgThe Lough Erne Yacht Club is the current owner of what had been a major base for Flying Boats on Lough Erne.
The Base was constructed by the U.S. Government with the main County Fermanagh Headquarters being at Ely Lodge as well as Killadeas.
Commissioned in 1942 by the U.S. Navy and known by the Royal Air Force as 131 Operational Training Unit, the R.A.F. carried out repair work on site.
Coastal Command took charge in 1942 from the United States Unit - Company K, 2nd Battalion 168th Infantry. From 13th May until 13th December 1942 109th Engineer Battalion of 34th Infantry Division U.S. Army wasalso based at Killadeas.
The pictures show the original Royal Air Force flagstaff, a memorial stone at the base of the flagstaff, 2 Flying Boat Mooring Blocks and the ramaining large repair hangar.
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Women Police Officers
On 15th November 1943 six female recruits entered the Royal Ulster Constabulary Training Depot at Enniskillen to become the first Policewomen in all of Ireland.
As there was no female uniform they were issued dark-blue overalls with mens caps until a female R.U.C. uniform could be designed and tailored for each officer.
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Boa Island Flying Boat Mooring Station
http://ww2ni.webs.co...31_edited-1.jpg
http://ww2ni.webs.co...dited-1.jpgThis is an interesting location which may be referred to as “Rock Bay” and is situated on the southeastern side of the island.
The site was a satellite to Killadeas and was used by 131 Operational Training Unit from 31st May 1944 until March 1945.
As can be seen from the pictures there is one remaining building, with 2 strong metal doors, in a field with another which has been utilised by a private dwelling. There is rubble where a third may have stood close to the pathway from the main road down to the jetty which has a metal end section to which aircraft or boats could be tied.
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Enniskillen Castle
Shown here is one of the best known landmarks in County Fermanagh - The famous Watergate of Enniskillen Castle which is home to the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Regimental Museum.
"The Skins" have a large number of battle honours with the Queens Colour flag including 6 from the Second World War covering Northwest Europe, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Yenangyaung and Burma.
With a history of over 300 years this Museum is well worth a visit and is open throughout the year. Contact the Museum directly for more details.
http://ww2ni.webs.co...en%20castle.jpg]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:29:12 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/34996-second-world-war-in-northern-ireland/ http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/34995-70-years-ago-today-4000-us-infantrymen-landed-in-belfast-northern-ireland/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/34th_Infantry_Division_(United_States) #fb



34th Infantry Division (United States)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/34th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division

34th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia (SSI)
Active August 1917 – 1963, 1991 – present
Country United States of America
Branch National Guard
Type Division
Role Infantry
Size approx 15,000 Soldiers
Garrison/HQ Rosemount, MN
Nickname Red Bull
Motto "Attack, Attack, Attack!"
Engagements World War II

The 34th Infantry Division is a division in the Army National Guard that participated in World War I, World War II and continues to serve today, with most of the Division part of the Minnesota and Iowa National Guard. It is staffed by roughly 2,800 soldiers from the Iowa Guard, about 350 from the Nebraska Guard, and about 100 from other states. It holds the distinctions of being the first US Division deployed to Europe in World War II. The division takes its name from the shoulder sleeve insignia designed for a 1917 training camp contest by American regionalist artist Marvin Cone, who was then a soldier enlisted in the unit.[2] Cone's design evoked the desert training grounds of Camp Cody, New Mexico, by superimposing a red steer skull over a black Mexican water jug called an "olla."[3] In World War I, the unit was called the "Sandstorm Division." German troops in World War II, however, called the U.S. division's soldiers "Red Devils" and "Red Bulls"[4]; the division later officially adopted the latter nickname.
The United States Army Rangers also trace their lineage back to the 34th Division. The modern incarnation of the Rangers were developed from 34th Infantry volunteers in Ireland under the command of Major William O. Darby. Of the original five hundred twenty World War II Rangers, two hundred eighty one came from the 34th Infantry Division.
The 34th replaced the 47th "Viking" Infantry Division when the 47th was deactivated in 1991.
During the Civil War, the First Minnesota Regiment, today the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment (2/135) was the first volunteer regiment to offer its services to President Lincoln. The men of the 1st Minnesota are most remembered for their actions on the late afternoon of 2 July 1863, during the second day's fighting at Gettysburg, resulting in the prevention of a serious breach in the Union defensive line on Cemetery Ridge.


The division was established as the 34th Division of the National Guard in August 1917, consisting of units from North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota. The 34th Division arrived in France in October 1918 but was too late to see action in World War I as the war ended the following month.
Overseas: Most of the division personnel were sent to other organizations.
Commanders:
Maj. Gen. A. P. Blacksom (25 August 1917)
Brig. Gen. F. G. Mauldin (18 September 1917)
Maj. Gen. A. P. Blacksom (10 December 1917)
Brig. Gen. F. G. Mauldin (8 May 1918)
Brig. Gen. John A. Johnston (26 October 1918)
Returned to U.S. and inactivated: December 1918
[edit]World War II



34th ID Soldiers at Camp Cody, NM on 18 August 1918.
In common with other U.S. Army divisions the 34th was reorganised from a square to a triangular division before seeing combat. The division's three infantry regiments became the 133rd, 135th, and 168th Infantry Regiments.
The first contingent embarked at Brooklyn on 14 January 1942 and sailed from New York the next day. The initial group of 4,508 stepped ashore at 12:15 hrs on 26 January 1942 at Dufferin Quay, Belfast commanded by Major-General Russell P. Hartle. They were met by a delegation including the Governor General (Duke of Abercorn), the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (John Miller Andrews), the Commander of British Troops in Ulster (General G. E. W. Franklyn), and the Secretary of State for Air (Sir Archibald Sinclair).
After continuing its training in Northern Ireland, the 34th Infantry Division saw its first combat in North Africa on 8 November 1942. As a member of the Eastern Task force, which included two brigades of the British 78th Infantry Division, and two British Commando units, they landed at Algiers and seized the port and outlying airfields. Elements of the Division took part in numerous subsequent engagements in Tunisia during the Allied build-up, notably at Sened Station, Faid Pass, Sbeitla, and Fondouk Gap. In April 1943 the Division assaulted Hill 609, capturing it on 1 May 1943, and then drove through Chouigui Pass to Tebourba and Ferryville.


The Red Bull in the Winter Line of Pantano, Italy – 29 November to 3 December 1943
The Division then trained for the Salerno landing. The 151st FA Bn. went in on D-day, 9 September 1943, at Salerno, while the rest of the Division followed on 25 September. Contacting the enemy at the Calore River, 28 September 1943, the 34th, part of U.S. II Corps, drove north to take Benevento, crossed the winding Volturno three times in October and November, assaulted Mount Patano and took one of its four peaks before being relieved, 9 December 1943. In January 1944, the Division was back in II Corps front line battering at the Bernhardt Line defenses. Thankfully, after bitter fighting through the Mignano Gap, they were able to take Mount Trocchio without resistance as the German defenders withdrew to the main prepared defenses of the Gustav Line. On 24 January 1944, during the First Battle of Monte Cassino they pushed across the Rapido River into the hills behind and attacked Monastery Hill which dominated the town of Cassino. While they nearly captured the objective, in the end their attacks on the monastery and the town failed. The performance of 34 Division in the mountains is considered to rank as one of the finest feats of arms carried out by any soldiers during the war. In return they sustained losses of about % in the Infantry battalions. They were relieved from their positions 11–13 February 1944. Eventually, it took the combined force of five allied infantry divisions to finish what the 34th nearly accomplished on its own.


Full Color Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) worn on a unit member's dress uniform
After rest and rehabilitation, it landed in the Anzio beachhead, 25 March 1944, maintaining defensive positions until the offensive of 23 May, when it broke out of the beachhead, took Cisterna, and raced to Civitavecchia and Rome. After a short rest, the Division drove across the Cecina River to liberate Livorno, 19 July 1944, and continued on to take Mount Belmonte in October during the fighting on the Gothic Line. Digging in south of Bologna for the winter, the 34th jumped off, 15 April 1945, and captured Bologna on 21 April. Pursuit of the routed enemy to the French border was halted on 2 May upon the German surrender in Italy.


Subdued Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) currently worn on a unit member's Army Combat Uniform
The Division participated in six major Army campaigns in North Africa and Italy. The Division is credited with amassing 517 days of front line combat[citation needed], more than any other U.S. division. One or more 34th Division units were engaged in actual combat with the enemy on 611 days. This would have been 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry and the IRONMAN battalion. This battalion still holds the record over the rest of the United States Army for days in combat. The division was credited with more combat days than any other division in the war. The 34th Division suffered 3,737 killed in action, 14,165 wounded in action, and 3,460 missing in action, for a total of 21,362 battle casualties. Casualties of the division are considered to be the highest of any division in the theater when daily per capita fighting strengths are considered. There is little doubt the division took the most enemy-defended hills of any division in the European Theater. The division's soldiers were awarded 10 Medals of Honor, 98 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, 1,153 Silver Stars, 116 Legion of Merit medals, one Distinguished Flying Cross, 2,545 Bronze Stars, 54 Soldier Medals, 34 Air Medals, with duplicate awards of 52 oak leaf clusters, and 15,000 Purple Hearts. More recently, in 2000 the Minnesota Legislature renamed all of Interstate 35 in Minnesota the "34th Division (Red Bull) Highway," in honor of the Division and its service in the World Wars.[5]]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:25:32 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/34995-70-years-ago-today-4000-us-infantrymen-landed-in-belfast-northern-ireland/ http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/32889-historical-ulster-the-1922-riots-in-pictures/ http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/nostalgia/historical-ulster-the-1922-riots-in-pictures-16084419.html?r=RSS
Wednesday, 30 November 2011


PHOTOSALES
RIOTS: BELFAST 1922. Over 50 Sinn Fein prisoners from County Fermanagh arrived in Belfast under armed guard. One of the lorries with prisoners, baggage and Specials leaving the Great Northern Railway Station for the Belfast Prison. 22/05/22. 1922-162.

The year 1922 saw widespread violence in Northern Ireland with hundreds of people people killed and injured.

Key events of the year included:

7 January 1922 The Dáil voted by 64 votes to 57 to accept 'The Treaty'.

April 1922 Four Courts occupied by anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army.

7 April 1922 Special Powers Act was introduced in Northern Ireland.

June 1922 General election in Ireland won by those in favour of 'The Treaty'. Four Courts attacked by Free State Army.

Beginning of the Civil War in Ireland between those for and against 'The Treaty'.

22 August 1922 Michael Collins killed. Death of Arthur Gfiffith.

November 1922 First of 77 executions, which ended in May 1923, carried out by the Free State.

6 December 1922 The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) came into being.

7 December 1922 The six counties of Northern Ireland opted out of the Free State.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/nostalgia/historical-ulster-the-1922-riots-in-pictures-16084419.html?r=RSS#ixzz1fCjnjmD7



RIOTS: BELFAST 1922. Scenes in Garfield Street, Belfast, immediatley after the murder of Councillor W.J Twaddell, MP. It was beside the lamp-post where Mr Twaddell fell. 22/05/22.




RIOTS: BELFAST 1922. Some of the arms and ammunition captured by the RUC during the raid on the Sinn Fein incendiary bomb factory, Milan Street Falls, Belfast. 01/07/22]]> Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:58:32 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/32889-historical-ulster-the-1922-riots-in-pictures/ http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/32735-our-quarrel-is-with-the-government-alone-edward-carson-february-1914/ "Our quarrel is with the Government alone" - Edward Carson, February 1914
http://clydesburn.blogspot.com/2011/11/quarrel-is-with-government-alone-edward.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Kilsally+%28Kilsally%29&utm_content=FaceBook

With 2012 being the centenary of the Ulster Covenant, I thought that this poster would be of interest to some readers. Edward Carson raised the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, which became the 36th Ulster Division of the British Army on the outbreak of World War One in July 1914. Earlier that year, on 24th February, Edward Carson felt the need to issue this poster, the message of which seems to be to reassure Catholics and Nationalists of the objectives of the (Protestant and Unionist) Volunteers:


"As rumours have been sedulously circulated to the effect that the Ulster Volunteer Force has been organized with an object hostile to those of our fellow-countrymen in Ulster who differ from us, I desire that it should be made plain on all occasions that the sole object of the ULSTER VOLUNTEER FORCE is to make it impossible for the Government to compel us to submit to a Home Rule Parliament in Dublin. Our quarrel is with the Government alone, and we desire that the RELIGIOUS and POLITICAL views of our opponents should be everywhere respected. We fight for equal justice for all under the Government of the United Kingdom.

(signed)

EDWARD CARSON
24th February 1914"

You can decide for yourself, and with the benefit of 100 years of hindsight, whether his sentiment was sincere. Regardless, it makes for interesting reading.

Posted by Mark Thompson at Thursday, November 24, 2011
Labels: History
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By Nuala McCann
BBC News

Michael Collins signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 which led to the formation of the Irish Free State


1921-22: The Irish Free State and civil war
A letter from an Irish finance minister apologising for "a stupid error" made by an official is up for auction next month.

It could be a story from recent days.

But 91 years before Irish finance minister Michael Noonan blamed "human error" for miscalulating the national debt by 3.6bn euros, another Michael was saying sorry.

IRA leader Michael Collins' letter apologised for an error saying "work is awfully heavy at present."

Michael Collins was a soldier and a politician who led the IRA's military campaign against Britain in the war of independence. He signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 and, in so doing, claimed that he had signed his own death warrant.

The treaty brought the Irish Free State into existence and led to the partition of Ireland with the six predominantly unionist counties remaining outside the new state.

Collins later served as finance minister in the provisional government.

His earlier prediction came true when he was shot dead by anti-Treaty republicans in August 1922.


The letter is among correspondence from Collins dating back to 1920 which is to be sold by rare books auctioneers Mealy's in Dublin in December.

He signed in Irish, apologised about his error and acknowledged that his department was under pressure.

"I am sorry that one of my assistants made such a stupid error," he wrote.

His apology was in relation to a receipt to Mrs Margaret Drohan, a subscriber to the National Loan - a bond scheme set upby the first Irish government in 1919 to finance the provisional government moves to be free from British rule.

The letter is one in a series due to go under the hammer at auction on 13 December in the D4 Berkeley Hotel, Ballsbridge.

The documents are expected to fetch between 14,000 and 18,000 euros.

Last year, a collection of letters from Collins to his sister Hannah were sold for about 100,000 euros in Dublin.]]> Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:17:35 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/31977-michael-collins-letter-on-stupid-error-up-for-auction/ http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/31955-the-ira-in-the-2nd-world-war/
The IRA in the 2nd World War
http://theministerspen.blogspot.com/2011/11/ira-in-2nd-world-war.html

The Irish News runs a daily column entitled 'On This Day' in which historian Eamon Phoenix looks at events that happened 'on this day' some years ago and today he looked back to 1 November 1942.

Britain and her allies were at war with Germany but back in Ulster the IRA saw this as their opportunity and during the course of the war they staged many terrorist attacks. Today the newspaper reported that 69 years ago 'ten people - eight civilians and two policemen - were injured by a violent bomb explosion in Herbert Street, off the Crumlin Road' in North Belfast.

Five of the injured were children ranging from seven to fifteen years and six people were detailed in hospital. A police patrol in Herbert Street had challenged two men, both of whom ran away, dropping a Mills grenade and a loaded revolver. The grenade exploded injuring eight civilians, one of whom was a seven-year-old boy named Patrick Scullion, from Butler Street. Most, if not all, of the civilians were Roman Catholics from Ardoyne. The two policemen were also injured and all the injuries were caused by bomb splinters.

As we approach Remembrance Sunday and remember those who served and those who died in two World Wars and other conflicts, it is helpful to recall incidents such as that in Herbert Street. Such incidents help to explain why the Sinn Fein lord mayor of Belfast will once again refuse to take part in the offical remembrance ceremonies.

At a time when many Ulstermen and Irishmen, Protestant and Roman Catholic, were fighting on the battlefields of Europe and beyond, fighting to thwart Hitler's evil plans, the IRA was mounting a squalid little terrorist campaign. I have posted about the links between the IRA and the Nazis on previous occasions but today's newspaper was a timely reminder of those links.]]> Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:54:29 +0000 http://orange-order.co.uk/topic/31955-the-ira-in-the-2nd-world-war/