“Collateral Descendants of the men who emigrated” Ch: 18
Chapter 18
“COLLATERAL DESCENDANTS OF THE MEN WHO EMIGRATED.”
Ian Adamson
Although the number of Ulster people who emigrated to America in the 17th and 18th centuries was very large, indeed, many of the same basic British stock remained to make the best of the conditions existing. Several of their descendants, collateral with those in America down through the years gave distinguished service for Britain in
other countries in Colonial days. One reputable writer has stated that the history of India is largely the biography of Ulstermen. There is much justification for this claim. In very critical days for British rule in that sub-continent several men from the Province played most vital parts in preventing a plunge into civil war and disastrous lawlessness. Most prominent in the challenging days around Indian Mutiny times, about 1857, were the two brothers, Lawrence, Henry and John, and John Nicholson. Sons of a former British Army officer who had served in the Napoleonic Wars in the Iberian Peninsula, the Lawrences received their education at Foyle College, Londonderry, to which they travelled from their home at Coleraine.
Henry, the elder, had a distinguished army career, beginning with service in the Anglo Burmese War. However, his main contribution to the development of British rule was of a mixed military and administrative nature. He seemed to assess accurately the abilities needed for the success of his future career as circumstances would demand in that unsettled country. He studied and became most fluent in the languages of the different peoples of the North-West Frontier Provinces, and also gave much thought to the ambitions and characteristics of the peoples themselves. His interest was well directed, for when trouble with Sikhs and Afghans threatened, he was able to quell it without much bloodshed. His was a brillant administration and was conducted with courage and firm impartiality. Even to the unsettled State of Kashmir he brought a fairly lasting peace. When in the Central Indian States resentment against some British Army measures, which could have been more sensitively introduced, built up, he travelled quickly to Lucknow. There, while realising that matters had gone too far, he managed by diplomatic means to delay the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny until he had organised the strengthening of the Residency to such an extent that a small British force was able to hold out for six months. They were then relieved by troops under the command of Sir Colin Campbell.
Unfortunately Lawrence, himself, was killed by shrapnel from an exploding shell from the enemy guns at the beginning of the sepoys’ attack. So, he never knew that he had been appointed Govemor – General of the whole country. The word was delayed by the turbulent events. His younger brother, John, did attain to serve in the high rank, denied to Henry, and his wise and courageous rule as Viceroy and Governor – General brought many benefits to the Indian people. His rise to this exalted position was a fairly rapid one. He organized supplies to the Punjab during the first Sikh War most efficiently. Soon afterwards he was appointed Commissioner at Jullunder. Like Henry he had the cool courage, firmness, and wisdom to move just at the
right time, and several times he prevented trouble from war-like chiefs reaching dangerous proportions. He established courts throughout the territories which curtailed the influence of the chiefs, and did much to stamp out the barbarous sacrificing of babies, and also the long established practice of suttee. That was the suicide of widows on their husbands’ funeral pyres. These wise measures brought
him the name “Saviour of the Punjab.”‘ He introduced a common currency throughout the country which brought stability in trading. His services in the highest position in the country were most enlightened and beneficial to the people.
It was also in the years leading up to, and including, the Indian Mutiny that John Nicholson, of Lisburn, in Ulster, gained exceptional fame by his military leadership, Even in those stirring days his exploits stood out. When the warlike Sikhs struck against the British in 1848, it was only his quick, bold actions that saved the situation. The district between Rawalpindi and Peshawar has been, as a result, termed “John Nicholson’s country.” At a narrow part of the approach road to Rawalpindi occurred one of the most memorable examples of his prowess. The place was called the Margalla Pass. A large force of Sikhs was assembledthere prior to an attack on the town. Leading a much smaller number of British troops, Nicholson attacked the column with such ferocity and determination that the enemy was forced to fall back to a tower on the hill side, overlooking and commanding the roadway. There was a hesitation in the British advance, but their leader dashed forward on his own towards the enemy position, and his reckless
courage so inspired the men that they rushed on to support him. The resumed attack was completely successful and the Sikhs fled. A memorial archway was later built into the hillside and John Nicholson’s name engraved in large letters across it. An obelisk, too, was erected there and, in English and Hindustani wording, is recorded one of the most outstanding military feats of that heroic time. On the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, Major General Nicholson raised a Frontier contingent and marched to the relief of Delhi.
There, while leading an attack on the mutineers at the main gateway to the city, the hero of many fierce engagements was killed, He was only 34. There was a statue built, illustrating distinguished man from Lisburn in a typical war-like stance, in the County town, and a commemorative plaque affixed near the doorway of his former h
Robert Rollo Gillespie has been described by Sir John Fortesque, the military historian, as “the bravest soldier who ever wore the uniform of the British Army.”It is an impressive claim. Born at Comber, in Co. Down in 1766, he expressed a strong desire, from an early age to become a soldier. His wish was soon granted by his parents. As an officer of the Light Dragoons, he went in 1792 to the West Indies. It was there in San Domingo he first displayed the impetuous courage that was to characterise his future military life. Fretting at cavalry inaction, he transferred to the infantry, in which he was promoted to the rank of captain.
It was in this role that, with great success, he led a small force on a daring night attack on a strong enemy position at Tiburon. The boldness of his tactics must have impressed his men. Scaling the steep approaches to the back of the fort, although not knowing much about the nature of the terrain, his small force surprised the defenders, and quickly took the position. Soon the whole island was seized by the British. It was in San Domingo, too, that Gillespie displayed exceptional bravery and determination in an episode that must have been recounted in many a barrack-room. Indeed, when
George, the third, observed the short stature of the chief character in the incident, it is reported that he marvelled that so small a man could have performed such a deed. Hearing the screams of his faithful servant during the night, Gillespie, in his right attire, rushed downstairs from his bedroom to find his servant badly injured, and eight
ruffians bent on his own assassination. The aroused Ulsterman ferociously attacked them with his sword, and killed six. One of the fleeing two fired a pistol and wounded him to the head. From this injury, however, Gillespie made a quick recovery.
In those days soldiers received scant attention from their officers, generally, and, in many cases, were treated harshly. Often lives were needlessly lost through neglect and unhealthy conditions that could have been improved. Gillespie, who had himself suffered the horror of Yellow Fever, was sympathetic and enlightened enough to introduce measures which benefited the men under his command. He even went so far as to remove them to the more healthy atmosphere of the seaside, out from the steaming jungle. It was something entirely unheard of at the time and, while endearing him to the soldiers, was resented by other officers. It was noted, however, by someone in authority and led afterwards to improved conditions for “Tommy Atkins.”
On his return from West Indies he was appointed to serve in the Indian Command. In 1806 he joined his regiment at Arcot, near Madras, in Southern India, just in time for trouble. New military rules, insensitive to the pride of caste and religion among sepoys, had been introduced and stubbornly insisted on by the British Army authorities. Insurrection suddenly broke out at Vellore, the larger town near Arcot.
Many hundreds of Europeans were savagely killed. The charge by Gillespie and his troops to the rescue was commemorated in a poem written later by Tennyson, and brings out, not only the dramatic ride, but also the ruthlessness with which order was restored. Gillespie was promoted to the rank of Colonel and placed in command of the sore Division, for an expedition to conquer the island of Java. This brought him contact with the 8th Royal Irish Regiment, with whom he had been closely associated earlier. The expedition was successful and he was made Major General. In this elevated rank he took part in several other engagements, where his reckless bravery helped to bring further successes to British arms.
It must be deemed that he died as he would have wished. On 31st October, 1814, he led his men of the 8th Royal Irish Dragoons in a furious charge to force an entry into the fortress of Kalunga. Their onslaught penetrated the enemy lines, but they were unsupported on the flanks, and found themselves cut-off by their foes in the gateway. Desperate close fighting ensued. Gillespie, urging a brother officer to make a further charge for “the honour of Down” fell mortally wounded.
The news of his death was not received in London for several months, and in the New Year’s Honours List of 1815, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. An imposing high monument to his memory was erected in the Square of his native town of Comber in County Down.
In the Boer War, too, of 1899-1902, in South Africa, the talent of Ulster officers to inspire the soldiers under their command was demonstrated. Mer the battle at Talana, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers was forced to fall back to the town of Ladysmith. There the troops were compelled to withstand a long siege, which, while it lasted, engrossed the interest of all British peoples. In charge of the beleaguered battalion was Major General Sir George White, a native of Ballymena, in County Antrim, who had begun his military career with the 27th Inniskillings. He kept up the morale of his men in spite of the very trying conditions within the, town and the continued determined attacks from without. Relief at last came through a force which included the 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers.
The uncanny ability of men of Ulster stock to provide military leadership reached, what can only be described as an extraordinary peak during the Second World War. The value of their power to command and direct in that global conflict increased from one of
national importance to a necessity for the whole free world. It is no exaggeration to claim that, if it had not been for their military genius, people everywhere could now be enslaved under a worldwide Fascist dictatorship. Those old enough among Europeans, citizens of the former British Empire, and Americans will readily recall the names of Alexander, Alanbrooke, Auchinleck, Dill, Montgomery, and Templer from those challenging days of 1939 till 1945. They became Field Marshals all, and every one with Ulster roots.
Nigel Nicholson in his book on Field Marshal Lord Alexander entitled simply “Alex” finds it impossible to explain “the bouquet of high military talent which the Northern part of Ireland has given Britain over the centuries:’ He finds the record “extraordinary:’ One has only to glance at the command structure of the British Expeditionary Force sent to France in the critical days of September, 1939 to understand his remarks. His outline of that pattern of control of Britain’s contribution
to the defence of Europe reveals clearly the dependence on Ulstermen at the time. Under Lord Gort as Commander-in-Chief were two Army Corps. The 1st was commanded by Lieutenant General Sir John Dill, from County Armagh, and the 2nd Corps by Lieutenant General Alan F. Brooke, from County Fermanagh the latter of whom Winston Churchill was to say
“When I thump the table and push my face towards him what does he do? Thumps the table harder and glares back at me – I know these Brookes, stiff-necked Ulstermen, and there’s no one worse to deal with than that.”
Each corps was comprised of two Divisions, the 1st of which was under the command of General Alexander and the 3rd (i.e. the first component of the Second Corps) was under General Montgomery from Londonderry. These officers were all to prove their competence for their onerous tasks in the days of that long and world shaking conflict. In the dark days of May and early June of 1940 when the evacuation of that same Expeditionary Force, or rather the remnants of it, could not have been more vital for the continuation of Britain’s part in the struggle, it was to Harold Alexander, of Caledon, in County Tyrone, that the Commander-in-Chief turned to save the day.” He did not turn in vain. The successful evacuation of almost 400,000
British and some 140,000 French troops from Dunkirk at the time has been described as miraculous. Certainly the part played by the owners of small boats, especially those on the South coast of England, and by the Royal and Merchant Navies was nothing short of amazing. Their help was indispensable and it would be difficult to over-estimate it. But the soldiers had to be brought to the beaches to be removed and
the achievement of General Alexander in making them available was remarkable. Basically operating under highly emotionally charged and conflicting orders from those in high political and military offices, he managed with a high degree of success to organise
(1 ) the defence of his front line troops while they were withdrawing.
(2) the embarkation of those troops and a substantial number of French troops. One has to remember that this organization was to proceed in the face of an unceasing series of all-out Blitzkrieg” attacks, by overwhelming German forces, especially in the air, and the utter confusion brought about by terror-stricken refugees.
General Alexander’s character qualities and competence to deal with the daunting task were really unique. His conscientiousness in carrying it out was emphasised by his being the last British soldier to leave the Dunkirk beaches. As Churchill himself typically put it, “He was a man for a tight comer,” He displayed that same imperturbability when he was sent to evacuate a large mixed force of British, Indian, and Chinese troops from Burma, where they were in immediate and constant danger of being cut-off by a much stronger Japanese army. He did so successfully, travelling all the way with the men over a distance of some 700 miles, through the North of the country. This, the only possible route, took them across two mountains, through malaria-ridden jungles, and over broad rivers. He led the British and Indian troops to India, and, at least, temporary safety.
Again Sir Winston Churchill, in 1942, just before Alexander left for Burma, stated, “If we could not send an army, we could, at least, send a man,”‘That man was later to become the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Middle East, Commander of the 18th Army Group, and afterwards Supreme Commander of the Mediterranean Theatre, during which time the armies under his command defeated and drove the German and Italian forces from Africa back into Europe again. After the War, he was appointed Governor General of Canada.
General Gerald Templer, before the outbreak of the Second World War, made it known that in the early 1930′s the commonly held view in authoritative British military circles was that the two most promising officers in the British Army at day were Harold Alexander and Claude Auchinleck. These two Ulstermen were to be appointed in 1934 as commanders of two neighbouring brigades in the North West Frontier area of India. There they were to add further to their considerable reputations. Indeed, they took part in combined operations against the
Mohmand tribes near Afghanistan, with Auchinleck in command. “The operations were successful. “The Auk”, as he was nicknamed in Army circles, was appointed commander-in-Chief of India in 1940, but his service in that capacity was short lived. In June, 1941 he was sent to succeed General Wavell as Commander-inChief in the Middle East, where the British forces had been driven back by the Germans and Italians under Field Marshal Rommel.
Those were the days of tremendous pressures on both the Allied political and military leaders, and as A.J.P. Taylor points out in his “History of the Second World War” it was the political leaders who counted, the generals being often simply administrators. When Auchinleck took over, German invasions, troop movements, and victories on land, sea, and by air operations began to pose new
threats to
(1) Allied oil supplies from Persia and Iraq, brought about by rapid
enemy thrusts into South Russia, and the Balkans, and
(2) Allied naval supply lines to North Africa and British Mediterranean bases, especially Malta through increased U-boat and air attacks from newly acquired lands. Thus, immediately Churchill and the War Cabinet began to urge the new Commander-in-Chief, Auchinleck, for quick aggressive action in North Africa. However, “The Auk” was not to be stampeded. He delayed beginning attacking operations until November, 1941, when the threat to the Middle East oil region was
removed by the Russian containment of German thrusts. Rommel’s forces were driven back out of Cyrenaica, although the British advance was sustained only by the determined intervention, at one stage, of the Commander-in-Chief, himself, in front-line operations.
In that successful offensive, Auchinleck showed that he would ‘encourage and employ new and bold ideas, if the safety of too many men was not endangered. Virginia Cowles in “The Phantom Major” described him as “an efficient, thorough, cautious Ulsterman”, but his caution was brought about by his deep rooted feeling of responsibility for those he commanded. However, he willingly accepted the offer of a young Scottish army officer, called David Stirling, to set up a force that would raid behind the enemy lines to destroy aircraft, lorries, and
fuel dumps.
He placed the new unit under his direct authority. It was to prove an incredibly productive decision as it brought into being what was to become the Special Air Service, the now famous and world renowned S.A.S. They were able to achieve considerable success. Rommel was later to say that they “caused more damage than any other British unit.”This statement was, if anything, not comprehensive enough.
They had destroyed over 250 aircraft, blown up and destroyed vehicles, ammunition dumps, derailed trains, destroyed petrol dumps, mined roads, and struck fear into enemy troops over a very wide area. Rommel was to send to Germany for a substantial detachment of special troops to try to stop their attacks. They are of special Ulster interest, because the second-in-command of the first regiment was a young officer, Blair Mayne from Newtownards in County Down.
After Stirling was captured, the Ardsman was destined to take over command of the entire force for the remainder of their wartime operations throughout North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. Later as Lieutenant Colonel, he was in command of one of the regiments that formed the S.A.S. Brigade that was listed on the Battle Order for the D-Day invasion of Europe. With the D.S.O. and three Bars, in 1945 he was the most decorated soldier in the British Army. The winning of the 2nd bar to his Distinguished Service Order medal is of particular interest to many in his native Ulster. In one of Paddies many letters home to his sister Barbara, he described a bit about what happened. “Before we went on this op, we were inspected and spoken to by all the generals and, I believe, impressed them with our looks and turnout. I am pleased about that but I am more pleased by the way we impressed the Jerries and Eyeties, and we did that in no mean tune. We went at them like terriers after rats. We had only one man killed in our first operation and he, poor chap, had been with me since commando days at Galashiels. I was very fond of him.
Incidentally we made our second landing (from an assualt craft called ‘The Ulster Monarch) on the Twelfth. (The 12th of July is the Orangemans day in Ulster when a celebration of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is commemmerated with parades) All we needed was some drums and banners and we would have felt right at home. The attack was on Agusta. I wonder if you heard anything about it on the wireless or in the papers. Probably didn’t – we never had much publicity.
The official medal citation covering this action reads as follows:- On July 10th 1943, Major Mayne carried out two successful operations, the first the capture of CD battery the outcome of which was vital to the safe landing of 13 Corps. By nightfall SRS captured three additional batteries, 450 prisoners, as well as killing 200 to 300 Italians. The second operation was the capture and hold of the town Agusta. The landing was carried out in daylight – a most hazardous combined operation. By the audacity displayed, the Italians were forced from their positions, and masses of valuable stores and equipment were saved from enemy demolition. In both these operations it was Major Maynes courage, determination and superb leadership which proved the key to success. He personally led his men from landing craft in the face of heavy machine gun fire. By this action he succeded in forcing his wat to ground where it was possible to form up and sum up the enemies defences.
Corporal Billy Hull was a fellow Ulsterman from the Shankill Road in Belfast who became Blair Maynes wartime driver. While at their base in Chelmsford, Hull and other members of his regiment the Royal Ulster Rifles, were recruited for a mission behind enemy lines in occupied France. 24 hours before the zero hour Hull recieved new orders that his expertees was required for a seperate operation against a train carrying nazi troops and supplies. Hull pleaded with Mayne to be allowed to go on the first mission with his RUR colleagues but was refused as the new mission was deemed equally vital. The troops who Hull was to have originally accompanied known as the Garston ‘stick’, were either killed in the drop the remainder being later murdered by the nazis. This episode left a lasting mark on Corporal Hull and one which others including Blair Mayne soon noticed in his determination to even the score with the nazis.
The Colonel had one job which he knew would provide his corporal with a much-needed distraction. He asked him to go into the town of Chelmsford and pick up a vehicle from a signwriter’s premises. When Hull arrived at the shop he was led to a yard at the rear. To his astonishment,Hull found a jeep with the bonnet decorated with an Ulster flag, ringed with shamrock. decorated jeep, and drove straight through to Germany without stopping, his signals corporal was David Danger, who recalls: “He directed me to fix a public address system to his staff car with the aim of broadcasting rude words to the retreating Germans. We also fitted his gramophone to the back of the jeep, and all the way up through Holland we played John MacCormack, greatly to the astonishment of the convoys.”
Blairs brother also recalled a time when they were boys their father used to have a shed at their home in Mountpleasant Newtownards for hanging animal carcasses. On occasions this attracted rats. The two boys and their father would then open the shed chasing them out of it whereupon they shot them with rifles.
The rifles were a story in themselves as they were the remnants of those smuggled into Ulster during the ‘Home Rule’ crisis of 1912 aboard the ship the Clyde Valley. These arms were destined for the then Ulster Volunteer Force the men Lord Edward Carson had formed into a private army to fight against imposition of Irish Home Rule upon Ulster and one of whose members had been Blair Maynes father.
It is here interesting to also note that the most decorated soldier in the American army was a man of Ulster Scots descent one Audie Murphy who went on to become a major star in many Hollywood westerns. The S.A.S. worked in North Africa in close co-operation with the Long Range Desert Group, which consisted of soldiers not only from the British Isles, but from New Zealand and from Rhodesia. (Among the men from the last-named country was a cousin of the author, Laurence Allen, who had emigrated from Belfast in the years just before the start of the Second World War.)
After the successful British advance in late 1941, Rommel again counter attacked and the 8th Army was forced back. Auchinleck once more took command of the front-line and, in order to prevent their encirclement, withdrew his forces to EIl-Alamein. There the Quattara Depression, a very large and long salt bog, protected the British flank on the land side. From that position Auchinleck sent out several crippling counter-attacks against the enemy in July, 1942. Taylor, the historian, claims that this fighting, which became known as the First Battle of EI Alamein, was decisive “The Axis advance in North Africa was stopped for good.” This verdict was, in keeping with Rommel’s own words, “Our chance”" was irretrievably gone!” However, Churchill did not see it that way, and Auchinleck was replaced as Commander-in-Chief, by General Alexander, with General Montgomery put in charge of the 8th Army.
If there was one British general who inspired the British people to believe that victory was possible from 1942 onwards it was Bernard Montgomery – known to all as Monty. The years before had brought little to encourage such hopes. Everywhere the enemy seemed to be gaining victory after victory, not only on land, where their armies
constantly pushed forward, but at sea, where losses, not only of merchant ships, but also of British warships had added to gloomy reports. However, soon after the change of command in that year in North Africa, more encouragement for the British public was to come. The partnership of Generals Alexander and Montgomery was to “Turn the Tide,” and to lead to considerable successes for the Allies. The contrasting personalities of the two principal characters would seem to have indicated that such harmony could not be long standing. Alexander’s quiet, modest efficiency was the direct opposite of the flamboyant, arrogantly aggressive, but highly capable Montgomery. Monty, himself, probably summed up the difference best when he
wrote,
“I ruffled people’s feelings, Alex smoothed them.” A typical response from Monty upon being put in command of the Eighth Army in August 1942 read
“…..I then cancelled orders about a further withdrawal. I issued orders that if Rommel attacked, we would fight him on ground where we stood: There would be no withdrawal and NO SURRENDER!”
(Titled ‘Situation in August 1942.’)
However, it would seem that there was more to the selection of two such different persons at such a critical time, and for such an important, command, than would appear on the surface. Indeed, General Brooke, as related in Bryant’s “Turn of the Tide,” seems to have chosen the two men following on his observation of them working together around the critical time of Dunkirk. He was highly impressed then by how imperturbable and efficient both were then, and how well they worked together. It would seem that the choice of these two Ulstermen at that time for Middle East operations, was most carefully thought out, and skilfully directed towards the beginning of the road to victory.
The impression was encouraged that Monty was the Eighth Army and the Eighth Army was Monty’s focussed the people’s attention on what was to prove a most successful general and a most successful army. Monty’s haughty attitude to others, outside his own Eighth Army (only those who had served under him were permitted to wear the Africa Star), and his distinctive and jauntily worn beret were deliberately pursued by him to foster the idea that this was a special army commanded by a special general. Alexander seems to have deliberately kept himself in the background, although, when necessary, he could still demonstrate that he was in over-all control. They both realised that soldiers and officers would follow best a strong definite leader, who knew what he was about. That he did was soon evident. With his “different” army he “hit the enemy for six” and “saw Rommel off.”‘ It was exactly what the British public, as well as the Government and the Cabinet, wanted. By the 13th May, 1943 the enemy had been driven out of North Africa.
Monty remained in command of the 8th Army for the invasion of Sicily and the subsequent attack on the Italian mainland. There were to be several setbacks to the Allied progress in that theatre, as the Germans put up a desperate and stubborn resistance. When the forces under his command had reached the neighbourhood of Salerno.
Montgomery was transferred back to Britain, where he was to take charge of all the land-forces for “Operation Overlord” – the Normandy invasion. This position he held until August, 1944, when as A.J.P. Taylor describes, at “a significant moment in British history.”‘ General Eisenhower took over as Supreme Commander. Significant in that from then on Britain with many fewer troops in Europe was to take the subordinate role. Monty remained in command of the British and Canadian armies as they pushed on through Holland to capture Hamburg on 3rd May, 1945. This was to involve the daring airborne landings that he organised to secure three most strategic bridges over the River Rhine, in order to outflank the strongly fortified Siegfried Line. Two were successfully taken, but the other at Arnhem was to fail through a combination of most unfortunate and unforeseeable circumstances. The chance regrouping of two armoured enemy divisions in the neighbourhood, and the dropping of paratroops rather far from the target area meant that the vital element of surprise was missing.
It was eminently fitting that it was to Field Marshal Montgomery that the German forces surrendered at Luneberg Heath on 4th May, 1945. There was much similarity in the important military roles during the Second World War of Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke (Alan F. Brooke) and Field Marshal Arlington National Cemetry in Virginia is the resting place of some of America’s greatest heroes and is the focus of American remembrance of its sons and daughters who died on active service. But among those American heroes rests a field marshal of the British Army who earned so much respect in wartime America that, as Winston Churchill wrote,
“mourning the:. . . loss to our combined war effort resulting from the death of Field Marshal Sir John Dill. His character and wisdom, his selfless devotion to the Allied cause, made his contribution to the combined British-American war effort of outstanding importance. It is not too much to say that probably no other individual was more responsible for the achievement of complete co-operation in the work of the Combined Chiefs of Staff. . . . We mourn with you the passing of a great and wise soldier and a great gentleman. His task in this war has been well done.”
Surely no greater tribute could be paid to a truly outstanding general of Ulster Scots descent. Another Ulsterman Alan Brooke succeeded Dill as CI.G.S. in December, 1941. In this capacity he was influential regarding the Allied grand strategy, especially in Europe and the Middle East. His was the experience and knowledge of officers that was much used for the selection of commanders at different stages of the war and for the different theatres. His quick grasp of all dangers and advantages of developing situations made his advice to Churchill and the remainder of the War Cabinet invaluable. A complication in the successful planning of war moves was the need to preserve harmony in all aspects between America and Britain. One can readily see that this was a difficult task. He had to try to smooth out disagreements between strong personalities of army leaders, to endeavour to lessen the inevitable suspicions that grew as to the comparative contributions and sacrifices of men and materials in the different theatres, and also that the pursuit of a particular strategy had not been taken for the benefit of one nation. He also had to hold resolutely to what he saw was the right course of action towards not only immediate, but also final, victory. The ultimate success of Allied arms is testimony that he carried out his onerous duties with brilliant efficiency and competence.
The sixth of the Second World War military leaders from Ulster was Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer who was born at Loughgall, in County Armagh. He gave most distinguished service, especially as Division Commander in the hard fought campaign in Italy. There the rugged mountainous terrain, extremely severe weather conditions, particularly in the early Winter of 1944, and fanatical German resistance brought heavy casualties and very slow progress to the Allied forces. These difficult circumstances called for an extremely high standard of leadership and this was certainly provided by the man from the County Armagh. It would seem apt here to mention that at the crossing of the River Carigliano, the 2nd Inniskillings added further to their glorious history of battle honours. Their hard-won success there helped a great deal towards enabling the Eighth Army to push on beyond the Sangro and Cassino.
However, Field Marshal Templer is nowadays best remembered for his post war leadership in Malaya. That whole country was beset by unrest and violence stirred up by the Communist Party, and he was sent there in 1952 to bring order out of chaos. As High Commissioner he successfully combined military action with diplomatic moves and brought harmony among the various peoples of that entry that had suffered so much in the Japanese War years. He enabled them assume independence without unnecessary bloodshed.
It was not only in the military, but in a variety of spheres of life that Ulstermen have distinguished themselves. It was as an explorer and surveyor that Francis Rawdon Chesney, from Banbridge, became famous. He foresaw the great advantage to Britain in the 1820′s of having a trade route from the Mediterranean Sea by way of the
River Euphrates to the Persian Gulf and thus to India. With this view he explored the land of Iraq and tested the navigability of that great river. In 1835 he organized the transportation of two steamers in sections overland, used them on the river and proved that such a route was feasible. However, the idea was not pursued by the British Government. The information gleaned from his survey of the Isthmus of Suez was later used by the Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps, for the building of the famous and most important Suez Canal.
Francis Crozier, from Banbridge, in County Down, was also stirred by the spirit of exploration and discovery. The possibility of finding a route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean North of the land mass had exercised men’s minds for many years. In 1845 Sir John Franklin set off with over 120men on H.M.S. “Erebus” and H.M.S. “Terror’ to seek the elusive North West Passage by way of the islands North of Canada. His second-in-command was Crozier. The two ships vanished and later explorers could find no trace of the ill-fated expedition.
There have been noted scientists and inventors also among the men from Ulster. Such a one was William Thomson, later to be known as Lord Kelvin. His father, James Thomson, from Ballynahinch, in County Down, became, first of all, Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. Later he was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics in Glasgow University. William, his son, was born in Belfast, opposite the Institution where his father taught. At the age of 24 he became Professor of Natural Philosophy at the same Glasgow university. But later he applied his brilliant mind successfully to more practical things. One of his many accomplishments was his inspiring and direction of the laying of the first trans-Atlantic cable from England to America. The famous Kelvin Hall in Glasgow was that city’s honouring of this famous Ulsterman. There must be few countries in the world in which Ferguson or Massey Ferguson farm machinery, especially the tractor, is unknown. The inventor of these widely acclaimed aids to farming, Harry George Ferguson, was born in Dromore, in County Down. Following a prolonged study of machinery used on the farms, not only of Ulster, but of all Ireland, during the first World War, he sought to provide a low-priced tractor that could be widely adopted to help farm work generally throughout the land. Not only did the machine, this talented engineer invented, meet the attractiveness of low cost, but it also embodied a linkage which, when connected with the implements it pulled, enabled the driver to control almost all operations from the tractor seat. It revolutionized farm-work. It was such a success that the demand for it from many countries, in all parts of the world, rose most quickly.
In 1938 Harry Ferguson agreed to the manufacture of his machines in United States of America. He also had the distinction of designing and building an aeroplane. In this, he made the first recorded flight in Ireland flying along the strand at Newcastle Co Down from Dundrum bay and winning a £100 prize put up by the town a considerable sum in those days. In March, 1983, the 500th human life was saved by the invention of another talented County Down man. The benefit of this most clever contrivance is increased by the fact that these were highly skilled men, whose lives were saved thus. They were of such abilities as to be set apart from their fellows – the pilots of extremely fast-flying aeroplanes. The invention is the Martin Baker ejector seat, and the man who made it available for such a laudable purpose, Sir James Martin. His early years were spent in the rural area of Killinchy Woods, near the small town of Crossgar, within a few miles from Downpatrick. It was at Killinchy Woods Public Elementary School that he obtained his early education. In the years that followed he pursued with dedication his great love for the study of machinery and mechanical operations. This was to lead to his founding of his own Aircraft Company, and later to his becoming Managing Director and Chief Designer of the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd. Prior to this life-saving invention, he had invented and patented several nationally useful and valued contrivances, including a balloon-barrage cable cutter, a 12 gun nose for the Havoc night fighter, a jettison hood for the Spitfire, and a flat feed for the 20mm Hispano gun.
But it is for the rocket ejector seat that James Martin will be best remembered. It provides a comparatively safe way of escaping from the fastest and highest flying aircraft – a pilot has successfully ejected from a plane travelling at over 1300 miles per hour, another from one over 10 miles above the earth. When one considers that there are estimated to be some 22.000 of these seats in operation today, by 68 nations, that on average 3 lives each week are saved by their operation, and that they have been used effectively from May 1949 till the present day, including the Battle for the Falklands, one begins to appreciate the debt the world, in general, owes to this talented man from County Down.
There must be millions of people, from the most eminent to the lowliest, who have visited with much benefit to themselves the British Museum, There will not have been too many of those who have been aware that it owed its beginning to the foresight, the generosity, and the dedication of an Ulster naturalist and physician. That man was Sir Hans Sloan, who was born at Killyleagh in County Down in 1660. In his long and distinguished career he was first physician to King George, the Third, collected some 800 new species of plants, and succeeded Sir
Isaac Newton as President of the renowned Royal Society. It was Sloan’s bequest to the National Library of over 50,000 volumes, thousands of manuscripts, and a large collection of coins, and curios that formed the nucleus of the most prestigious museum in the United Kingdom.
The small town of Saintfield in County Down was the birthplace of Francis Hutcheson, who became famous as a professor of Philosophy at Glasgow University from 1729 till 1746. He was the author of “A system of Moral Philosophy.” Dr. McCosh has recorded that Hutcheson was the true founder of the Scottish School of Philosophy, Several noteworthy authors have been natives of Ulster. They have included George A. Birmingham, which was the pen-name of Canon Hannay. He wrote several light novels which sometimes poked fun at the clergy. Freeman Wills Croft also became famous as a writer of detective stories, It was as a novel writer, too, that Forrest Reid’s name became known. His writings were particularly considerate and sympathetic regarding the various characters and in his portrayals of the environment. Dr. Alexander Irvine, too, had a keen sense of understanding of his fellows. He had a most varied career, during which he wrote a simply told moving story about the deep religious faith of his mother
“My Lady of the Chimney Corner.”‘ Born in Pogue’s Entry, in Antrim, his early years saw him a stable boy, a coal miner, and, as a Royal Marine, he took part in the famous Gordon Relief Expedition. His meeting with Professor Henry Drummond, the dynamic religious speaker and writer, was a turning point in his whole life. Shortly afterwards, he emigrated to America, where, after studying at the Divinity School at Yale. from 1899 till 1903. he became assistant pastor of the Church of the Ascension of Fifth Avenue. New York City. He preached there for fifty years, During the First World War. he was invited by Lloyd George to go on a morale boosting. speaking tour to the British and American troops in France. Captain Mayne Reid. son of a minister at Ballyroney. in County Down. also attained fame in U.S.A. to which country he emigrated. After his employment as a journalist. he devoted his attention to writing novels. centred on American frontier life. One of his most popular publications was. “The Rifle Rangers.”
James Seaton Reid’s, “History of Presbyterian Church in Ireland” written in the 18th century was widely acclaimed in Britain and America as a reliable record at that church from its troubled early years in Ulster. Such well-known historians as Macauley. Lecky and Froude were enthusiastic in their praise of this County Armagh author. Other successful writers were St. John Ervine. from Belfast. J.J. Connington.
the pen-name for a distinguished University lecturer. W.R. Rogers. Filson Young, whose “Letters from Solitude’ are written with much sensitivity. and Agnes Romilly White. who wrote a simple. but moving story at First World War times in Dundonald near Belfast called “Gape Row,” It is still read and much appreciated. The fame of Edward Hincks. the rector of Killyleagh in County Down. was established in the mid-
nineteeilth century. when he discovered the correct methods of deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and the related Persian cuneitorm vowel systeml which ‘brought to life” many of the archaeological finds of the Royal Tombs in Egypt and those in connection with Semitic kings..
Edward Hinck’s brother. Sir Francis. also became eminent. After emigrating to Canada in the 1840, he became a journalist. writing in Toronto and Montreal. and later a newspaper editor. Greater things were to follow. for him. In 1851 he became Prime Minister of Canada, a position he held until 1854. He was. too. at a time the Governor of Barbadoes and the Windward Islands New Zealand was the country in which two other Ulstermen were to reach the position of Prime Minister. They were John Ballance and William Ferguson Massey. Their life stories provide examples of the same grit and integrity as shown by the many who settled in America in the 18th century. John Ballance was born at Mallusk in County Antrim. Soon after arriving in New Zealand, he took part in the Maori Wars. Later he became a newspaper editor.
He was very much concerned about the welfare of people, and this consideration allied to his courtesy and good humour made him much more respected and popular. It was not long till he was elected as a ‘workers’ representative in the Parliament. He attained the position in 1891, and soon set about reducing the excessive influence of some of the most wealthy land and property owners. His government replaced the tax on property with one on land and income.
This relieved the small land-holders from crippling payments and introduced more realistic tax on the better-off. They also passed an Employers’ Liability Act, by which ‘bosses’ had to pay compensation in the event of injury or death to a worker during employment. There was very firm opposition to these measures. The Legislative Council, whose members were appointed by the Governor, refused to pass the Acts, but Ballance was not to be denied. He appointed a new Council, and appealed to the British Government who supported him. Ever since, New Zealand had the right to manage all her own affairs, without interference from the Governor. John Ballance died in 1893.
William Ferguson (Bill) Massey was born in Limavady, in County londonderry. His father and mother, when they emigrated to New Zealand, left him with friends to complete his education. Bill joined them, when he was 14, at their farm near Auckland. Within a few years he had his own farm, and, at the age of 37 became a member of Parliament. In 1912 he was elected as Prime Minister, and retained that position for 13 momentous years. They took in the challenging times of the First World War, and the period of turmoil and change which followed it. One of the first Acts of his government enabled some 13,000 Crown tenants to purchase their own farms. In 1913 he met with courage what turned out to be almost a General Strike. His resolution as a responsible leader inspired volunteers to act as special constables, dockers, van drivers, and even seamen until the disagreement was settled. When War broke out in 1914, his response was a typically Ulster one. He cabled to the British Government, “All we are and all we have is at the disposal of the British Government.” Willing as he was to pledge his country to play its full part in the coming conflict, he was not prepared to let New Zealand troops take needless risks.
Aware that German raiders were on the prowl in the South Pacific, he refused to let the troopships leave their shores until better naval protection was afforded. Under his Government the setting up of Electricity Boards to control and further the provision of that power to the more important towns in the two main islands was successfully performed. Winston Churchill’s words of appreciation of this Ulsterman must have brought pleasure to his country as well as to himself:-
“We knew Mr. Massey when the storm raged and the waves ran high. We saw him always resolute and always cool and confident. New Zealanders may well congratulate themselves upon one who is regarded as such a source of strength to the Empire.”
Northern Ireland, too, showed her valuation of her son by naming the processional way up to her Parliament at Stormont Massey Avenue. An Ulster Scot, also, was to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, itself, in the early 1920′ s. He was Andrew Bonar Law. His father, Rev. James Law, a Presbyterian minister, had emigrated to New Brunswick, in Canada from his native town of Coleraine. There, his son, later to be thus distinguished, was born. Bonar was brought up from the age of 12 by a wealthy relative in Glasgow. He was elected M.P. in 1900, and, becoming leader of the Conservative Party in 1911, retained that challenging position during the momentous years from then until 1922. In that year he was elected to be Prime Minister when his party came to power. His was a unique appointment, as it was the first, and probably the only time, that a person born in an overseas part of the Commonwealth attained that position. During his strong leadership of the Conservatives before the outbreak of the First World War, he fiercely supported Ulster’s resistance to having Irish Home Rule forced on her by the Liberal government under Asquith. Law acted almost in unison with such stalwart leaders as Captain James Craig. Lord Carson. and Lord Londonderry. He declared publicly that there were no limits to the lengths he would go in his opposition to such a betrayal of a loyal people. In this declaration he was certainly in accord with those who were representing Ulster in those critical days. There was a strong and widespread support for the people of the Province. not only from the Conservative Party. but from many such prominent men as Lords Roberts. Milner. and Halifax and Mr Rudyard Kipling. There were also declarations of help and donations from many parts of the Commonwealth:- Canada. Australia. New Zealand. South Africa. and even from parts of U.S.A. This was understandable. They were no idle words that “Ulster would fight. and Ulster would be right.” Her position was well summarised in parts of Rudyard Kipling’s poem.
“Ulster 1912.”
“The dark eleventh hour
Draws on and sees us sold
To every evil power
We fought against of old.
The faith in which we stand.
The laws we made and guard.
Our honour. lives. and land
Are given for reward
To murder done by night.
To treason taught by day.
To folly. sloth. and spite.
And we are thrust away.
We stand to pay the cost
In all that men hold dear.
What answer from the North?
One Law. one Land. one Throne.
Basically what was to be enforced were
(1) separating people of British stock from their fellows in Britain. their Government. and from their Sovereign. and uniting them to a basically hostile people. under an anti-British and potentially Republican government.
(2) the endangering of their religious faith. for to them Home Rule
meant. and still means. Rome Rule. The deep felt and intense Ulster opposition to this unwarrantable separation took tangible form eventually in the formation of the disciplined, armed Ulster Volunteer Force, to resist physically this coercion. But the real reason for their steadfast refusal to submit was well displayed in August. 1914.
when Lord Carson and Captain James Craig, in response to a request from Lord Kitchener. the British War Minister. offered 35.000 trained men of the UVF. to defend King and Country. Their basic loyalty was a positive one: “One Law. One Land, One Throne.” Kitchener rather reluctantly agreed later to include the word “Ulster” in the name of the unit formed:- The 36th (Ulster) Division. Asquith, in the House of Commons, after announcing that the Home Rule Bill would become law on 18th September, 1914, stated, as a sop, that its operation would be suspended until the end of the War, and that opportunities would be afforded to alter or modify its provisions, He spoke highly of the spirit of patriotism shown by the U.V.F, and said that it made unthinkable the coercion of Ulster. Bonar Law, after scathingly rebuking the Prime Minister for the Government’s deceit and betrayal, most pointedly led Carson and the entire Conservative Opposition from the House, It was an unmistakable scorning of shameful political manoeuvring, There was to be a further demonstration of Ulster’s loyalty in contrast to the Government’s unfeeling desertion, It took place at the Battle of the Somme, which began on the 1 st July, 1916. In that dreadful battle almost half of the 36th (Ulster) Divison – termed derisively “Carson’s Army” by some uncomprehending people – were to shed their blood in Britain’s cause.
But in doing so, they were to make, against a well entrenched and powerful German army, the farthest advance by any major unit. They took not only the formidable Schwaben Redoubt, the strongest part in the enemy position, but they were to push on and reach the second German line. No wonder Philip,Gibbs, the well known war correspondent, was to write that day:-
“Their attack was one of the finest displays of human courage in the world “
Captain, later Lieutenant Colonel Wilfred Spender, who observed this glorious action, also paid his tribute to the Ulster troops,
“I am not an Ulsterman, but yesterday, the 1st July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world. Then I saw them attack, beginning at a slow walk over No Man’s Land, and then suddenly let loose, as they charged over the font two lines of enemy trenches shouting “No surrender boys!”
Unfortunately, the advances by the neighbouring divisions broke down and as Martin Holbrook records in his book “The First Day on the Somme,” “indeed for 4 miles on either side (of the Ulsters) there was no advance to distract the German defence.” The troops from the country, the British Government were willing to desert, were left exposed to concentrated attacks by shell, mortar, and bullet for some 14 hours without help from any source, It was barely interrupted slaughter, They held on grimly until re-enforced German counter-attacks caused them to give way, The Division lost in killed, wounded, and missing 5,500 officers and men. The stories of the Ulster 36th divisions Victoria Cross winners are here recalled……
Captain Eric Norman Franklin Bell 9th Battalion Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers:- For most conspicuous bravery, when the front line was hung up by enfilading machine gun fire, Captain Bell crept forward and shot the machine gunner. Later, on no less than three occasions, when our bombing parties, which were clearing the enemies’ trenches, were unable to advance, he wet forward alone and threw trench mortar bombs among the enemy. When he had no more bombs availible he stood on the parapet, under intense fire, and used a rifle with great coolness and effect on the enemy advancing to counter attack. Finally he was killed rallying and reorganising infantry parties which had lost their officers. All this was outside the scope of his normal duties with his battery. He gave his life in supreme devotion to duty.
Second Lieutenant James Samuel Emerson 9th Battalion Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers:- On the 6th December 1917 on the ‘Hindenberg Line’, north of La Vacquene, France, Second Lieutenant Emerson led his company in an attack and cleared 400 yards of enemy trench. Though wounded when the enemy attacked in superior numbers, he met their attack with eight men, killing many and taking six prisoners. For three hours afterwards, all other officers having become casualties, he remained with his company, refusing to go to the dressing station, and repeatedly repelling bombing attacks. Later leading his men to repel another attack, he was mortally wounded. His heroism inspired his men to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
Lance Corporal Ernest Seaman 2nd Battalion Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers:- On the 29th of August 1918 at Terhand Belgium, when the right flank of his company was held up by enemy machine guns, Lance Corporal Seaman went forward under heavy fire with his lewis gun and engaged the position single handed, capturing two machine guns and twelve prisoners, and killing one officer and two men. Later in the day he rushed another enemy machine gun post, capturing the gun under heavy fire. He was killed immediately afterwards, but due to his gallant conduct, his company was able to push forward to it’s objective.
Private Norman Harvey 1st Battalion Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers:- On the 25th of October 1918 at Ingoyghem Belgium when the battalion was held up and suffering heavy casualties from enemy machine guns, Private Harvey on his own initiative, rushed forward and engaged the enemy single handed, disposing of 20 of them and capturing the guns. Later when his company was checked by another enemy strongpoint, he again put the enemy to flight. Subsequently after dark, he voluntarily carried out a single handed and important reconnaissance and gained valuable information.
Second Lieutenant Edmund de Wind 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles:- For seven hours after the launch of German assaults of March 21, 1918, and despite being wounded twice, he fought on against overwhelming odds tohold his position at Groagie. On two occasions, with two NCOs only, he got out on top under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire and cleared the enemy out of the trench, killing many. He continued to repel attack after attack until he was mortally wounded and collapsed. His valour, self-sacrafice, and example were of the highest order.
Private William Fredrick McFadzean 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles:- In the early hours of July 1st 1916, he was in a concentration trench in Theipval Wood preparing grenades for distribution. A box of bombs slipped into the crowded trench, with two of the safety pins falling out. Instantly realising the danger, with heroic courage threw himself on top of the bombs. The bombs exploded, blowing him to pieces, and only one other man was injured. He knew well his danger, being himself a bomber, but without a moments hesitation, he gave his life for his comrades.
Rifleman Robert Quigg 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles:- On the 1st of July 1916 rifleman Quigg took part in three assaults. Early next morning, hearing a rumour that his platoon officer was lying out wounded, he went out seven times to look for him under heavy shell and machine gun fire, each time bringing back a wounded man. The last man he dragged in on a waterproof sheet from within a few yards of the enemy’s wire. He was seven hours engaged in this most gallant work, and finally was so exhausted that he had to give up.
Lieutenant Geoffrey St. George Shillington Cather 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers:- Lieutenant Cather spent over five hours on the evening of 1st July 1916, up to midnight, searching for wounded men in No-Man’s-Land north of the Ancre. During that time he rescued three men, dragging them to safety. Next morning, at 8am, he contionued his search, brought in another wounded man, and gave water to others, arranging for their rescue later. Finally at 10.30am, he took out water to another wounded man, and was proceeding further when he himself was killed. All this was carried out in full view of the enemy, and under direct machine gun fire and intermittent artillery fire. He set a splendid example of courage and self-sacrifice.
Second Lieutenant Cecil Leonard Knox Corps of Royal Engineers (‘Att’ 36th Ulster Division) :- On the 22nd of March 1918 twelve bridges at Tugny France were entrusted to this officer for demolition, and all of them were successfully destroyed. In the case of one of the steel girder bridges, the destruction of which he personally supervised, the timing fuse failed. Without hesitation Second Lieutenant Knox ran to the bridge, under heavy fire and machine gun fire, and while the enemy was still on the bridge, tore away the the fuse and lit the instantaneous fuse, to do which he had to get under the bridge. This was an act of the highest devotion to duty, entailing great risks, which as a practical civil engineer he fully realised.
Of nine Victoria Crosses awarded to British forces in that battle, four were bestowed on Ulstermen, Wilfred Spender was later to write:-
“The Ulster Division has sacrificed itself for the Empire, which has treated them none too well. The much derided Ulster Volunteer Force has a name which equals any in History. Their devotion deserves the gratitude of the British Empire, It is due to the memory of these brave heroes that their beloved Province shall be fairly treated.”
An example of that gratitude was to follow within a few years, The cemetery in which many of their Fallen were buried was named by the Army “The Connaught Cemetery.” As Martin Middlebrook writes, “One wonders why it was not named ‘The Ulster Cemetery.”
However, the sacrifice of Ulster lives was taken into account in the settlement of 1921, when much of the Province was excluded from incorporation into the Irish Free State.
Although Bonar Law’s occupation of the Premiership in the House of Commons was a short one from October, 1922 till May, 1923, yet his leadership of the Conservative Party in the years of the fierce Home Rule clash with the Liberals and the Irish Nationalists was a crucial factor in uniting opposition to that unwanted legislation.
“COLLATERAL DESCENDANTS OF THE MEN WHO EMIGRATED.”
Ian Adamson
Although the number of Ulster people who emigrated to America in the 17th and 18th centuries was very large, indeed, many of the same basic British stock remained to make the best of the conditions existing. Several of their descendants, collateral with those in America down through the years gave distinguished service for Britain in
other countries in Colonial days. One reputable writer has stated that the history of India is largely the biography of Ulstermen. There is much justification for this claim. In very critical days for British rule in that sub-continent several men from the Province played most vital parts in preventing a plunge into civil war and disastrous lawlessness. Most prominent in the challenging days around Indian Mutiny times, about 1857, were the two brothers, Lawrence, Henry and John, and John Nicholson. Sons of a former British Army officer who had served in the Napoleonic Wars in the Iberian Peninsula, the Lawrences received their education at Foyle College, Londonderry, to which they travelled from their home at Coleraine.
Henry, the elder, had a distinguished army career, beginning with service in the Anglo Burmese War. However, his main contribution to the development of British rule was of a mixed military and administrative nature. He seemed to assess accurately the abilities needed for the success of his future career as circumstances would demand in that unsettled country. He studied and became most fluent in the languages of the different peoples of the North-West Frontier Provinces, and also gave much thought to the ambitions and characteristics of the peoples themselves. His interest was well directed, for when trouble with Sikhs and Afghans threatened, he was able to quell it without much bloodshed. His was a brillant administration and was conducted with courage and firm impartiality. Even to the unsettled State of Kashmir he brought a fairly lasting peace. When in the Central Indian States resentment against some British Army measures, which could have been more sensitively introduced, built up, he travelled quickly to Lucknow. There, while realising that matters had gone too far, he managed by diplomatic means to delay the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny until he had organised the strengthening of the Residency to such an extent that a small British force was able to hold out for six months. They were then relieved by troops under the command of Sir Colin Campbell.
Unfortunately Lawrence, himself, was killed by shrapnel from an exploding shell from the enemy guns at the beginning of the sepoys’ attack. So, he never knew that he had been appointed Govemor – General of the whole country. The word was delayed by the turbulent events. His younger brother, John, did attain to serve in the high rank, denied to Henry, and his wise and courageous rule as Viceroy and Governor – General brought many benefits to the Indian people. His rise to this exalted position was a fairly rapid one. He organized supplies to the Punjab during the first Sikh War most efficiently. Soon afterwards he was appointed Commissioner at Jullunder. Like Henry he had the cool courage, firmness, and wisdom to move just at the
right time, and several times he prevented trouble from war-like chiefs reaching dangerous proportions. He established courts throughout the territories which curtailed the influence of the chiefs, and did much to stamp out the barbarous sacrificing of babies, and also the long established practice of suttee. That was the suicide of widows on their husbands’ funeral pyres. These wise measures brought
him the name “Saviour of the Punjab.”‘ He introduced a common currency throughout the country which brought stability in trading. His services in the highest position in the country were most enlightened and beneficial to the people.
It was also in the years leading up to, and including, the Indian Mutiny that John Nicholson, of Lisburn, in Ulster, gained exceptional fame by his military leadership, Even in those stirring days his exploits stood out. When the warlike Sikhs struck against the British in 1848, it was only his quick, bold actions that saved the situation. The district between Rawalpindi and Peshawar has been, as a result, termed “John Nicholson’s country.” At a narrow part of the approach road to Rawalpindi occurred one of the most memorable examples of his prowess. The place was called the Margalla Pass. A large force of Sikhs was assembledthere prior to an attack on the town. Leading a much smaller number of British troops, Nicholson attacked the column with such ferocity and determination that the enemy was forced to fall back to a tower on the hill side, overlooking and commanding the roadway. There was a hesitation in the British advance, but their leader dashed forward on his own towards the enemy position, and his reckless
courage so inspired the men that they rushed on to support him. The resumed attack was completely successful and the Sikhs fled. A memorial archway was later built into the hillside and John Nicholson’s name engraved in large letters across it. An obelisk, too, was erected there and, in English and Hindustani wording, is recorded one of the most outstanding military feats of that heroic time. On the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, Major General Nicholson raised a Frontier contingent and marched to the relief of Delhi.
There, while leading an attack on the mutineers at the main gateway to the city, the hero of many fierce engagements was killed, He was only 34. There was a statue built, illustrating distinguished man from Lisburn in a typical war-like stance, in the County town, and a commemorative plaque affixed near the doorway of his former h
Robert Rollo Gillespie has been described by Sir John Fortesque, the military historian, as “the bravest soldier who ever wore the uniform of the British Army.”It is an impressive claim. Born at Comber, in Co. Down in 1766, he expressed a strong desire, from an early age to become a soldier. His wish was soon granted by his parents. As an officer of the Light Dragoons, he went in 1792 to the West Indies. It was there in San Domingo he first displayed the impetuous courage that was to characterise his future military life. Fretting at cavalry inaction, he transferred to the infantry, in which he was promoted to the rank of captain.
It was in this role that, with great success, he led a small force on a daring night attack on a strong enemy position at Tiburon. The boldness of his tactics must have impressed his men. Scaling the steep approaches to the back of the fort, although not knowing much about the nature of the terrain, his small force surprised the defenders, and quickly took the position. Soon the whole island was seized by the British. It was in San Domingo, too, that Gillespie displayed exceptional bravery and determination in an episode that must have been recounted in many a barrack-room. Indeed, when
George, the third, observed the short stature of the chief character in the incident, it is reported that he marvelled that so small a man could have performed such a deed. Hearing the screams of his faithful servant during the night, Gillespie, in his right attire, rushed downstairs from his bedroom to find his servant badly injured, and eight
ruffians bent on his own assassination. The aroused Ulsterman ferociously attacked them with his sword, and killed six. One of the fleeing two fired a pistol and wounded him to the head. From this injury, however, Gillespie made a quick recovery.
In those days soldiers received scant attention from their officers, generally, and, in many cases, were treated harshly. Often lives were needlessly lost through neglect and unhealthy conditions that could have been improved. Gillespie, who had himself suffered the horror of Yellow Fever, was sympathetic and enlightened enough to introduce measures which benefited the men under his command. He even went so far as to remove them to the more healthy atmosphere of the seaside, out from the steaming jungle. It was something entirely unheard of at the time and, while endearing him to the soldiers, was resented by other officers. It was noted, however, by someone in authority and led afterwards to improved conditions for “Tommy Atkins.”
On his return from West Indies he was appointed to serve in the Indian Command. In 1806 he joined his regiment at Arcot, near Madras, in Southern India, just in time for trouble. New military rules, insensitive to the pride of caste and religion among sepoys, had been introduced and stubbornly insisted on by the British Army authorities. Insurrection suddenly broke out at Vellore, the larger town near Arcot.
Many hundreds of Europeans were savagely killed. The charge by Gillespie and his troops to the rescue was commemorated in a poem written later by Tennyson, and brings out, not only the dramatic ride, but also the ruthlessness with which order was restored. Gillespie was promoted to the rank of Colonel and placed in command of the sore Division, for an expedition to conquer the island of Java. This brought him contact with the 8th Royal Irish Regiment, with whom he had been closely associated earlier. The expedition was successful and he was made Major General. In this elevated rank he took part in several other engagements, where his reckless bravery helped to bring further successes to British arms.
It must be deemed that he died as he would have wished. On 31st October, 1814, he led his men of the 8th Royal Irish Dragoons in a furious charge to force an entry into the fortress of Kalunga. Their onslaught penetrated the enemy lines, but they were unsupported on the flanks, and found themselves cut-off by their foes in the gateway. Desperate close fighting ensued. Gillespie, urging a brother officer to make a further charge for “the honour of Down” fell mortally wounded.
The news of his death was not received in London for several months, and in the New Year’s Honours List of 1815, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. An imposing high monument to his memory was erected in the Square of his native town of Comber in County Down.
In the Boer War, too, of 1899-1902, in South Africa, the talent of Ulster officers to inspire the soldiers under their command was demonstrated. Mer the battle at Talana, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers was forced to fall back to the town of Ladysmith. There the troops were compelled to withstand a long siege, which, while it lasted, engrossed the interest of all British peoples. In charge of the beleaguered battalion was Major General Sir George White, a native of Ballymena, in County Antrim, who had begun his military career with the 27th Inniskillings. He kept up the morale of his men in spite of the very trying conditions within the, town and the continued determined attacks from without. Relief at last came through a force which included the 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers.
The uncanny ability of men of Ulster stock to provide military leadership reached, what can only be described as an extraordinary peak during the Second World War. The value of their power to command and direct in that global conflict increased from one of
national importance to a necessity for the whole free world. It is no exaggeration to claim that, if it had not been for their military genius, people everywhere could now be enslaved under a worldwide Fascist dictatorship. Those old enough among Europeans, citizens of the former British Empire, and Americans will readily recall the names of Alexander, Alanbrooke, Auchinleck, Dill, Montgomery, and Templer from those challenging days of 1939 till 1945. They became Field Marshals all, and every one with Ulster roots.
Nigel Nicholson in his book on Field Marshal Lord Alexander entitled simply “Alex” finds it impossible to explain “the bouquet of high military talent which the Northern part of Ireland has given Britain over the centuries:’ He finds the record “extraordinary:’ One has only to glance at the command structure of the British Expeditionary Force sent to France in the critical days of September, 1939 to understand his remarks. His outline of that pattern of control of Britain’s contribution
to the defence of Europe reveals clearly the dependence on Ulstermen at the time. Under Lord Gort as Commander-in-Chief were two Army Corps. The 1st was commanded by Lieutenant General Sir John Dill, from County Armagh, and the 2nd Corps by Lieutenant General Alan F. Brooke, from County Fermanagh the latter of whom Winston Churchill was to say
“When I thump the table and push my face towards him what does he do? Thumps the table harder and glares back at me – I know these Brookes, stiff-necked Ulstermen, and there’s no one worse to deal with than that.”
Each corps was comprised of two Divisions, the 1st of which was under the command of General Alexander and the 3rd (i.e. the first component of the Second Corps) was under General Montgomery from Londonderry. These officers were all to prove their competence for their onerous tasks in the days of that long and world shaking conflict. In the dark days of May and early June of 1940 when the evacuation of that same Expeditionary Force, or rather the remnants of it, could not have been more vital for the continuation of Britain’s part in the struggle, it was to Harold Alexander, of Caledon, in County Tyrone, that the Commander-in-Chief turned to save the day.” He did not turn in vain. The successful evacuation of almost 400,000
British and some 140,000 French troops from Dunkirk at the time has been described as miraculous. Certainly the part played by the owners of small boats, especially those on the South coast of England, and by the Royal and Merchant Navies was nothing short of amazing. Their help was indispensable and it would be difficult to over-estimate it. But the soldiers had to be brought to the beaches to be removed and
the achievement of General Alexander in making them available was remarkable. Basically operating under highly emotionally charged and conflicting orders from those in high political and military offices, he managed with a high degree of success to organise
(1 ) the defence of his front line troops while they were withdrawing.
(2) the embarkation of those troops and a substantial number of French troops. One has to remember that this organization was to proceed in the face of an unceasing series of all-out Blitzkrieg” attacks, by overwhelming German forces, especially in the air, and the utter confusion brought about by terror-stricken refugees.
General Alexander’s character qualities and competence to deal with the daunting task were really unique. His conscientiousness in carrying it out was emphasised by his being the last British soldier to leave the Dunkirk beaches. As Churchill himself typically put it, “He was a man for a tight comer,” He displayed that same imperturbability when he was sent to evacuate a large mixed force of British, Indian, and Chinese troops from Burma, where they were in immediate and constant danger of being cut-off by a much stronger Japanese army. He did so successfully, travelling all the way with the men over a distance of some 700 miles, through the North of the country. This, the only possible route, took them across two mountains, through malaria-ridden jungles, and over broad rivers. He led the British and Indian troops to India, and, at least, temporary safety.
Again Sir Winston Churchill, in 1942, just before Alexander left for Burma, stated, “If we could not send an army, we could, at least, send a man,”‘That man was later to become the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Middle East, Commander of the 18th Army Group, and afterwards Supreme Commander of the Mediterranean Theatre, during which time the armies under his command defeated and drove the German and Italian forces from Africa back into Europe again. After the War, he was appointed Governor General of Canada.
General Gerald Templer, before the outbreak of the Second World War, made it known that in the early 1930′s the commonly held view in authoritative British military circles was that the two most promising officers in the British Army at day were Harold Alexander and Claude Auchinleck. These two Ulstermen were to be appointed in 1934 as commanders of two neighbouring brigades in the North West Frontier area of India. There they were to add further to their considerable reputations. Indeed, they took part in combined operations against the
Mohmand tribes near Afghanistan, with Auchinleck in command. “The operations were successful. “The Auk”, as he was nicknamed in Army circles, was appointed commander-in-Chief of India in 1940, but his service in that capacity was short lived. In June, 1941 he was sent to succeed General Wavell as Commander-inChief in the Middle East, where the British forces had been driven back by the Germans and Italians under Field Marshal Rommel.
Those were the days of tremendous pressures on both the Allied political and military leaders, and as A.J.P. Taylor points out in his “History of the Second World War” it was the political leaders who counted, the generals being often simply administrators. When Auchinleck took over, German invasions, troop movements, and victories on land, sea, and by air operations began to pose new
threats to
(1) Allied oil supplies from Persia and Iraq, brought about by rapid
enemy thrusts into South Russia, and the Balkans, and
(2) Allied naval supply lines to North Africa and British Mediterranean bases, especially Malta through increased U-boat and air attacks from newly acquired lands. Thus, immediately Churchill and the War Cabinet began to urge the new Commander-in-Chief, Auchinleck, for quick aggressive action in North Africa. However, “The Auk” was not to be stampeded. He delayed beginning attacking operations until November, 1941, when the threat to the Middle East oil region was
removed by the Russian containment of German thrusts. Rommel’s forces were driven back out of Cyrenaica, although the British advance was sustained only by the determined intervention, at one stage, of the Commander-in-Chief, himself, in front-line operations.
In that successful offensive, Auchinleck showed that he would ‘encourage and employ new and bold ideas, if the safety of too many men was not endangered. Virginia Cowles in “The Phantom Major” described him as “an efficient, thorough, cautious Ulsterman”, but his caution was brought about by his deep rooted feeling of responsibility for those he commanded. However, he willingly accepted the offer of a young Scottish army officer, called David Stirling, to set up a force that would raid behind the enemy lines to destroy aircraft, lorries, and
fuel dumps.
He placed the new unit under his direct authority. It was to prove an incredibly productive decision as it brought into being what was to become the Special Air Service, the now famous and world renowned S.A.S. They were able to achieve considerable success. Rommel was later to say that they “caused more damage than any other British unit.”This statement was, if anything, not comprehensive enough.
They had destroyed over 250 aircraft, blown up and destroyed vehicles, ammunition dumps, derailed trains, destroyed petrol dumps, mined roads, and struck fear into enemy troops over a very wide area. Rommel was to send to Germany for a substantial detachment of special troops to try to stop their attacks. They are of special Ulster interest, because the second-in-command of the first regiment was a young officer, Blair Mayne from Newtownards in County Down.
After Stirling was captured, the Ardsman was destined to take over command of the entire force for the remainder of their wartime operations throughout North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. Later as Lieutenant Colonel, he was in command of one of the regiments that formed the S.A.S. Brigade that was listed on the Battle Order for the D-Day invasion of Europe. With the D.S.O. and three Bars, in 1945 he was the most decorated soldier in the British Army. The winning of the 2nd bar to his Distinguished Service Order medal is of particular interest to many in his native Ulster. In one of Paddies many letters home to his sister Barbara, he described a bit about what happened. “Before we went on this op, we were inspected and spoken to by all the generals and, I believe, impressed them with our looks and turnout. I am pleased about that but I am more pleased by the way we impressed the Jerries and Eyeties, and we did that in no mean tune. We went at them like terriers after rats. We had only one man killed in our first operation and he, poor chap, had been with me since commando days at Galashiels. I was very fond of him.
Incidentally we made our second landing (from an assualt craft called ‘The Ulster Monarch) on the Twelfth. (The 12th of July is the Orangemans day in Ulster when a celebration of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is commemmerated with parades) All we needed was some drums and banners and we would have felt right at home. The attack was on Agusta. I wonder if you heard anything about it on the wireless or in the papers. Probably didn’t – we never had much publicity.
The official medal citation covering this action reads as follows:- On July 10th 1943, Major Mayne carried out two successful operations, the first the capture of CD battery the outcome of which was vital to the safe landing of 13 Corps. By nightfall SRS captured three additional batteries, 450 prisoners, as well as killing 200 to 300 Italians. The second operation was the capture and hold of the town Agusta. The landing was carried out in daylight – a most hazardous combined operation. By the audacity displayed, the Italians were forced from their positions, and masses of valuable stores and equipment were saved from enemy demolition. In both these operations it was Major Maynes courage, determination and superb leadership which proved the key to success. He personally led his men from landing craft in the face of heavy machine gun fire. By this action he succeded in forcing his wat to ground where it was possible to form up and sum up the enemies defences.
Corporal Billy Hull was a fellow Ulsterman from the Shankill Road in Belfast who became Blair Maynes wartime driver. While at their base in Chelmsford, Hull and other members of his regiment the Royal Ulster Rifles, were recruited for a mission behind enemy lines in occupied France. 24 hours before the zero hour Hull recieved new orders that his expertees was required for a seperate operation against a train carrying nazi troops and supplies. Hull pleaded with Mayne to be allowed to go on the first mission with his RUR colleagues but was refused as the new mission was deemed equally vital. The troops who Hull was to have originally accompanied known as the Garston ‘stick’, were either killed in the drop the remainder being later murdered by the nazis. This episode left a lasting mark on Corporal Hull and one which others including Blair Mayne soon noticed in his determination to even the score with the nazis.
The Colonel had one job which he knew would provide his corporal with a much-needed distraction. He asked him to go into the town of Chelmsford and pick up a vehicle from a signwriter’s premises. When Hull arrived at the shop he was led to a yard at the rear. To his astonishment,Hull found a jeep with the bonnet decorated with an Ulster flag, ringed with shamrock. decorated jeep, and drove straight through to Germany without stopping, his signals corporal was David Danger, who recalls: “He directed me to fix a public address system to his staff car with the aim of broadcasting rude words to the retreating Germans. We also fitted his gramophone to the back of the jeep, and all the way up through Holland we played John MacCormack, greatly to the astonishment of the convoys.”
Blairs brother also recalled a time when they were boys their father used to have a shed at their home in Mountpleasant Newtownards for hanging animal carcasses. On occasions this attracted rats. The two boys and their father would then open the shed chasing them out of it whereupon they shot them with rifles.
The rifles were a story in themselves as they were the remnants of those smuggled into Ulster during the ‘Home Rule’ crisis of 1912 aboard the ship the Clyde Valley. These arms were destined for the then Ulster Volunteer Force the men Lord Edward Carson had formed into a private army to fight against imposition of Irish Home Rule upon Ulster and one of whose members had been Blair Maynes father.
It is here interesting to also note that the most decorated soldier in the American army was a man of Ulster Scots descent one Audie Murphy who went on to become a major star in many Hollywood westerns. The S.A.S. worked in North Africa in close co-operation with the Long Range Desert Group, which consisted of soldiers not only from the British Isles, but from New Zealand and from Rhodesia. (Among the men from the last-named country was a cousin of the author, Laurence Allen, who had emigrated from Belfast in the years just before the start of the Second World War.)
After the successful British advance in late 1941, Rommel again counter attacked and the 8th Army was forced back. Auchinleck once more took command of the front-line and, in order to prevent their encirclement, withdrew his forces to EIl-Alamein. There the Quattara Depression, a very large and long salt bog, protected the British flank on the land side. From that position Auchinleck sent out several crippling counter-attacks against the enemy in July, 1942. Taylor, the historian, claims that this fighting, which became known as the First Battle of EI Alamein, was decisive “The Axis advance in North Africa was stopped for good.” This verdict was, in keeping with Rommel’s own words, “Our chance”" was irretrievably gone!” However, Churchill did not see it that way, and Auchinleck was replaced as Commander-in-Chief, by General Alexander, with General Montgomery put in charge of the 8th Army.
If there was one British general who inspired the British people to believe that victory was possible from 1942 onwards it was Bernard Montgomery – known to all as Monty. The years before had brought little to encourage such hopes. Everywhere the enemy seemed to be gaining victory after victory, not only on land, where their armies
constantly pushed forward, but at sea, where losses, not only of merchant ships, but also of British warships had added to gloomy reports. However, soon after the change of command in that year in North Africa, more encouragement for the British public was to come. The partnership of Generals Alexander and Montgomery was to “Turn the Tide,” and to lead to considerable successes for the Allies. The contrasting personalities of the two principal characters would seem to have indicated that such harmony could not be long standing. Alexander’s quiet, modest efficiency was the direct opposite of the flamboyant, arrogantly aggressive, but highly capable Montgomery. Monty, himself, probably summed up the difference best when he
wrote,
“I ruffled people’s feelings, Alex smoothed them.” A typical response from Monty upon being put in command of the Eighth Army in August 1942 read
“…..I then cancelled orders about a further withdrawal. I issued orders that if Rommel attacked, we would fight him on ground where we stood: There would be no withdrawal and NO SURRENDER!”
(Titled ‘Situation in August 1942.’)
However, it would seem that there was more to the selection of two such different persons at such a critical time, and for such an important, command, than would appear on the surface. Indeed, General Brooke, as related in Bryant’s “Turn of the Tide,” seems to have chosen the two men following on his observation of them working together around the critical time of Dunkirk. He was highly impressed then by how imperturbable and efficient both were then, and how well they worked together. It would seem that the choice of these two Ulstermen at that time for Middle East operations, was most carefully thought out, and skilfully directed towards the beginning of the road to victory.
The impression was encouraged that Monty was the Eighth Army and the Eighth Army was Monty’s focussed the people’s attention on what was to prove a most successful general and a most successful army. Monty’s haughty attitude to others, outside his own Eighth Army (only those who had served under him were permitted to wear the Africa Star), and his distinctive and jauntily worn beret were deliberately pursued by him to foster the idea that this was a special army commanded by a special general. Alexander seems to have deliberately kept himself in the background, although, when necessary, he could still demonstrate that he was in over-all control. They both realised that soldiers and officers would follow best a strong definite leader, who knew what he was about. That he did was soon evident. With his “different” army he “hit the enemy for six” and “saw Rommel off.”‘ It was exactly what the British public, as well as the Government and the Cabinet, wanted. By the 13th May, 1943 the enemy had been driven out of North Africa.
Monty remained in command of the 8th Army for the invasion of Sicily and the subsequent attack on the Italian mainland. There were to be several setbacks to the Allied progress in that theatre, as the Germans put up a desperate and stubborn resistance. When the forces under his command had reached the neighbourhood of Salerno.
Montgomery was transferred back to Britain, where he was to take charge of all the land-forces for “Operation Overlord” – the Normandy invasion. This position he held until August, 1944, when as A.J.P. Taylor describes, at “a significant moment in British history.”‘ General Eisenhower took over as Supreme Commander. Significant in that from then on Britain with many fewer troops in Europe was to take the subordinate role. Monty remained in command of the British and Canadian armies as they pushed on through Holland to capture Hamburg on 3rd May, 1945. This was to involve the daring airborne landings that he organised to secure three most strategic bridges over the River Rhine, in order to outflank the strongly fortified Siegfried Line. Two were successfully taken, but the other at Arnhem was to fail through a combination of most unfortunate and unforeseeable circumstances. The chance regrouping of two armoured enemy divisions in the neighbourhood, and the dropping of paratroops rather far from the target area meant that the vital element of surprise was missing.
It was eminently fitting that it was to Field Marshal Montgomery that the German forces surrendered at Luneberg Heath on 4th May, 1945. There was much similarity in the important military roles during the Second World War of Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke (Alan F. Brooke) and Field Marshal Arlington National Cemetry in Virginia is the resting place of some of America’s greatest heroes and is the focus of American remembrance of its sons and daughters who died on active service. But among those American heroes rests a field marshal of the British Army who earned so much respect in wartime America that, as Winston Churchill wrote,
“He was accorded the unique honour of a resting place in Arlington Cemetery, the Valhalla hitherto reserved exclusively for American warriors.”
The man on whom that unique honour was bestowed was Sir John Dill, the vital link in the Anglo-American alliance in Washington from January 1942 until his death on 4 November 1944. The personal representative of Churchill as Minister of Defence, Dill was recognised by the Americans as one of the outstanding individuals who cemented the alliance and made it work in spite of the differences on both sides that could have seriously damaged the war effort. A memorial service was held in Washington Cathedral and the lesson was read by the US Army Chief of Staff. The funeral cortege drove along a route lined by thousands of troops to Arlington National Cemetery where the coffin was transferred to a gun carriage drawn by six grey horses. The US Joint Chiefs acted as honorary pall bearers as the coffin, draped with the Union Flag, was carried to the graveside. Salutes were fired, the Last Post and Reveille sounded and official America mourned a revered British general. One American witness described the scene:“I have never seen so many men so visibly shaken by sadness. Marshall’s face was truly stricken.”
The US Joint Chiefs sent a unique message of condolence to their British counterparts,“mourning the:. . . loss to our combined war effort resulting from the death of Field Marshal Sir John Dill. His character and wisdom, his selfless devotion to the Allied cause, made his contribution to the combined British-American war effort of outstanding importance. It is not too much to say that probably no other individual was more responsible for the achievement of complete co-operation in the work of the Combined Chiefs of Staff. . . . We mourn with you the passing of a great and wise soldier and a great gentleman. His task in this war has been well done.”
Surely no greater tribute could be paid to a truly outstanding general of Ulster Scots descent. Another Ulsterman Alan Brooke succeeded Dill as CI.G.S. in December, 1941. In this capacity he was influential regarding the Allied grand strategy, especially in Europe and the Middle East. His was the experience and knowledge of officers that was much used for the selection of commanders at different stages of the war and for the different theatres. His quick grasp of all dangers and advantages of developing situations made his advice to Churchill and the remainder of the War Cabinet invaluable. A complication in the successful planning of war moves was the need to preserve harmony in all aspects between America and Britain. One can readily see that this was a difficult task. He had to try to smooth out disagreements between strong personalities of army leaders, to endeavour to lessen the inevitable suspicions that grew as to the comparative contributions and sacrifices of men and materials in the different theatres, and also that the pursuit of a particular strategy had not been taken for the benefit of one nation. He also had to hold resolutely to what he saw was the right course of action towards not only immediate, but also final, victory. The ultimate success of Allied arms is testimony that he carried out his onerous duties with brilliant efficiency and competence.
The sixth of the Second World War military leaders from Ulster was Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer who was born at Loughgall, in County Armagh. He gave most distinguished service, especially as Division Commander in the hard fought campaign in Italy. There the rugged mountainous terrain, extremely severe weather conditions, particularly in the early Winter of 1944, and fanatical German resistance brought heavy casualties and very slow progress to the Allied forces. These difficult circumstances called for an extremely high standard of leadership and this was certainly provided by the man from the County Armagh. It would seem apt here to mention that at the crossing of the River Carigliano, the 2nd Inniskillings added further to their glorious history of battle honours. Their hard-won success there helped a great deal towards enabling the Eighth Army to push on beyond the Sangro and Cassino.
However, Field Marshal Templer is nowadays best remembered for his post war leadership in Malaya. That whole country was beset by unrest and violence stirred up by the Communist Party, and he was sent there in 1952 to bring order out of chaos. As High Commissioner he successfully combined military action with diplomatic moves and brought harmony among the various peoples of that entry that had suffered so much in the Japanese War years. He enabled them assume independence without unnecessary bloodshed.
It was not only in the military, but in a variety of spheres of life that Ulstermen have distinguished themselves. It was as an explorer and surveyor that Francis Rawdon Chesney, from Banbridge, became famous. He foresaw the great advantage to Britain in the 1820′s of having a trade route from the Mediterranean Sea by way of the
River Euphrates to the Persian Gulf and thus to India. With this view he explored the land of Iraq and tested the navigability of that great river. In 1835 he organized the transportation of two steamers in sections overland, used them on the river and proved that such a route was feasible. However, the idea was not pursued by the British Government. The information gleaned from his survey of the Isthmus of Suez was later used by the Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps, for the building of the famous and most important Suez Canal.
Francis Crozier, from Banbridge, in County Down, was also stirred by the spirit of exploration and discovery. The possibility of finding a route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean North of the land mass had exercised men’s minds for many years. In 1845 Sir John Franklin set off with over 120men on H.M.S. “Erebus” and H.M.S. “Terror’ to seek the elusive North West Passage by way of the islands North of Canada. His second-in-command was Crozier. The two ships vanished and later explorers could find no trace of the ill-fated expedition.
There have been noted scientists and inventors also among the men from Ulster. Such a one was William Thomson, later to be known as Lord Kelvin. His father, James Thomson, from Ballynahinch, in County Down, became, first of all, Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. Later he was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics in Glasgow University. William, his son, was born in Belfast, opposite the Institution where his father taught. At the age of 24 he became Professor of Natural Philosophy at the same Glasgow university. But later he applied his brilliant mind successfully to more practical things. One of his many accomplishments was his inspiring and direction of the laying of the first trans-Atlantic cable from England to America. The famous Kelvin Hall in Glasgow was that city’s honouring of this famous Ulsterman. There must be few countries in the world in which Ferguson or Massey Ferguson farm machinery, especially the tractor, is unknown. The inventor of these widely acclaimed aids to farming, Harry George Ferguson, was born in Dromore, in County Down. Following a prolonged study of machinery used on the farms, not only of Ulster, but of all Ireland, during the first World War, he sought to provide a low-priced tractor that could be widely adopted to help farm work generally throughout the land. Not only did the machine, this talented engineer invented, meet the attractiveness of low cost, but it also embodied a linkage which, when connected with the implements it pulled, enabled the driver to control almost all operations from the tractor seat. It revolutionized farm-work. It was such a success that the demand for it from many countries, in all parts of the world, rose most quickly.
In 1938 Harry Ferguson agreed to the manufacture of his machines in United States of America. He also had the distinction of designing and building an aeroplane. In this, he made the first recorded flight in Ireland flying along the strand at Newcastle Co Down from Dundrum bay and winning a £100 prize put up by the town a considerable sum in those days. In March, 1983, the 500th human life was saved by the invention of another talented County Down man. The benefit of this most clever contrivance is increased by the fact that these were highly skilled men, whose lives were saved thus. They were of such abilities as to be set apart from their fellows – the pilots of extremely fast-flying aeroplanes. The invention is the Martin Baker ejector seat, and the man who made it available for such a laudable purpose, Sir James Martin. His early years were spent in the rural area of Killinchy Woods, near the small town of Crossgar, within a few miles from Downpatrick. It was at Killinchy Woods Public Elementary School that he obtained his early education. In the years that followed he pursued with dedication his great love for the study of machinery and mechanical operations. This was to lead to his founding of his own Aircraft Company, and later to his becoming Managing Director and Chief Designer of the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd. Prior to this life-saving invention, he had invented and patented several nationally useful and valued contrivances, including a balloon-barrage cable cutter, a 12 gun nose for the Havoc night fighter, a jettison hood for the Spitfire, and a flat feed for the 20mm Hispano gun.
But it is for the rocket ejector seat that James Martin will be best remembered. It provides a comparatively safe way of escaping from the fastest and highest flying aircraft – a pilot has successfully ejected from a plane travelling at over 1300 miles per hour, another from one over 10 miles above the earth. When one considers that there are estimated to be some 22.000 of these seats in operation today, by 68 nations, that on average 3 lives each week are saved by their operation, and that they have been used effectively from May 1949 till the present day, including the Battle for the Falklands, one begins to appreciate the debt the world, in general, owes to this talented man from County Down.
There must be millions of people, from the most eminent to the lowliest, who have visited with much benefit to themselves the British Museum, There will not have been too many of those who have been aware that it owed its beginning to the foresight, the generosity, and the dedication of an Ulster naturalist and physician. That man was Sir Hans Sloan, who was born at Killyleagh in County Down in 1660. In his long and distinguished career he was first physician to King George, the Third, collected some 800 new species of plants, and succeeded Sir
Isaac Newton as President of the renowned Royal Society. It was Sloan’s bequest to the National Library of over 50,000 volumes, thousands of manuscripts, and a large collection of coins, and curios that formed the nucleus of the most prestigious museum in the United Kingdom.
The small town of Saintfield in County Down was the birthplace of Francis Hutcheson, who became famous as a professor of Philosophy at Glasgow University from 1729 till 1746. He was the author of “A system of Moral Philosophy.” Dr. McCosh has recorded that Hutcheson was the true founder of the Scottish School of Philosophy, Several noteworthy authors have been natives of Ulster. They have included George A. Birmingham, which was the pen-name of Canon Hannay. He wrote several light novels which sometimes poked fun at the clergy. Freeman Wills Croft also became famous as a writer of detective stories, It was as a novel writer, too, that Forrest Reid’s name became known. His writings were particularly considerate and sympathetic regarding the various characters and in his portrayals of the environment. Dr. Alexander Irvine, too, had a keen sense of understanding of his fellows. He had a most varied career, during which he wrote a simply told moving story about the deep religious faith of his mother
“My Lady of the Chimney Corner.”‘ Born in Pogue’s Entry, in Antrim, his early years saw him a stable boy, a coal miner, and, as a Royal Marine, he took part in the famous Gordon Relief Expedition. His meeting with Professor Henry Drummond, the dynamic religious speaker and writer, was a turning point in his whole life. Shortly afterwards, he emigrated to America, where, after studying at the Divinity School at Yale. from 1899 till 1903. he became assistant pastor of the Church of the Ascension of Fifth Avenue. New York City. He preached there for fifty years, During the First World War. he was invited by Lloyd George to go on a morale boosting. speaking tour to the British and American troops in France. Captain Mayne Reid. son of a minister at Ballyroney. in County Down. also attained fame in U.S.A. to which country he emigrated. After his employment as a journalist. he devoted his attention to writing novels. centred on American frontier life. One of his most popular publications was. “The Rifle Rangers.”
James Seaton Reid’s, “History of Presbyterian Church in Ireland” written in the 18th century was widely acclaimed in Britain and America as a reliable record at that church from its troubled early years in Ulster. Such well-known historians as Macauley. Lecky and Froude were enthusiastic in their praise of this County Armagh author. Other successful writers were St. John Ervine. from Belfast. J.J. Connington.
the pen-name for a distinguished University lecturer. W.R. Rogers. Filson Young, whose “Letters from Solitude’ are written with much sensitivity. and Agnes Romilly White. who wrote a simple. but moving story at First World War times in Dundonald near Belfast called “Gape Row,” It is still read and much appreciated. The fame of Edward Hincks. the rector of Killyleagh in County Down. was established in the mid-
nineteeilth century. when he discovered the correct methods of deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and the related Persian cuneitorm vowel systeml which ‘brought to life” many of the archaeological finds of the Royal Tombs in Egypt and those in connection with Semitic kings..
Edward Hinck’s brother. Sir Francis. also became eminent. After emigrating to Canada in the 1840, he became a journalist. writing in Toronto and Montreal. and later a newspaper editor. Greater things were to follow. for him. In 1851 he became Prime Minister of Canada, a position he held until 1854. He was. too. at a time the Governor of Barbadoes and the Windward Islands New Zealand was the country in which two other Ulstermen were to reach the position of Prime Minister. They were John Ballance and William Ferguson Massey. Their life stories provide examples of the same grit and integrity as shown by the many who settled in America in the 18th century. John Ballance was born at Mallusk in County Antrim. Soon after arriving in New Zealand, he took part in the Maori Wars. Later he became a newspaper editor.
He was very much concerned about the welfare of people, and this consideration allied to his courtesy and good humour made him much more respected and popular. It was not long till he was elected as a ‘workers’ representative in the Parliament. He attained the position in 1891, and soon set about reducing the excessive influence of some of the most wealthy land and property owners. His government replaced the tax on property with one on land and income.
This relieved the small land-holders from crippling payments and introduced more realistic tax on the better-off. They also passed an Employers’ Liability Act, by which ‘bosses’ had to pay compensation in the event of injury or death to a worker during employment. There was very firm opposition to these measures. The Legislative Council, whose members were appointed by the Governor, refused to pass the Acts, but Ballance was not to be denied. He appointed a new Council, and appealed to the British Government who supported him. Ever since, New Zealand had the right to manage all her own affairs, without interference from the Governor. John Ballance died in 1893.
William Ferguson (Bill) Massey was born in Limavady, in County londonderry. His father and mother, when they emigrated to New Zealand, left him with friends to complete his education. Bill joined them, when he was 14, at their farm near Auckland. Within a few years he had his own farm, and, at the age of 37 became a member of Parliament. In 1912 he was elected as Prime Minister, and retained that position for 13 momentous years. They took in the challenging times of the First World War, and the period of turmoil and change which followed it. One of the first Acts of his government enabled some 13,000 Crown tenants to purchase their own farms. In 1913 he met with courage what turned out to be almost a General Strike. His resolution as a responsible leader inspired volunteers to act as special constables, dockers, van drivers, and even seamen until the disagreement was settled. When War broke out in 1914, his response was a typically Ulster one. He cabled to the British Government, “All we are and all we have is at the disposal of the British Government.” Willing as he was to pledge his country to play its full part in the coming conflict, he was not prepared to let New Zealand troops take needless risks.
Aware that German raiders were on the prowl in the South Pacific, he refused to let the troopships leave their shores until better naval protection was afforded. Under his Government the setting up of Electricity Boards to control and further the provision of that power to the more important towns in the two main islands was successfully performed. Winston Churchill’s words of appreciation of this Ulsterman must have brought pleasure to his country as well as to himself:-
“We knew Mr. Massey when the storm raged and the waves ran high. We saw him always resolute and always cool and confident. New Zealanders may well congratulate themselves upon one who is regarded as such a source of strength to the Empire.”
Northern Ireland, too, showed her valuation of her son by naming the processional way up to her Parliament at Stormont Massey Avenue. An Ulster Scot, also, was to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, itself, in the early 1920′ s. He was Andrew Bonar Law. His father, Rev. James Law, a Presbyterian minister, had emigrated to New Brunswick, in Canada from his native town of Coleraine. There, his son, later to be thus distinguished, was born. Bonar was brought up from the age of 12 by a wealthy relative in Glasgow. He was elected M.P. in 1900, and, becoming leader of the Conservative Party in 1911, retained that challenging position during the momentous years from then until 1922. In that year he was elected to be Prime Minister when his party came to power. His was a unique appointment, as it was the first, and probably the only time, that a person born in an overseas part of the Commonwealth attained that position. During his strong leadership of the Conservatives before the outbreak of the First World War, he fiercely supported Ulster’s resistance to having Irish Home Rule forced on her by the Liberal government under Asquith. Law acted almost in unison with such stalwart leaders as Captain James Craig. Lord Carson. and Lord Londonderry. He declared publicly that there were no limits to the lengths he would go in his opposition to such a betrayal of a loyal people. In this declaration he was certainly in accord with those who were representing Ulster in those critical days. There was a strong and widespread support for the people of the Province. not only from the Conservative Party. but from many such prominent men as Lords Roberts. Milner. and Halifax and Mr Rudyard Kipling. There were also declarations of help and donations from many parts of the Commonwealth:- Canada. Australia. New Zealand. South Africa. and even from parts of U.S.A. This was understandable. They were no idle words that “Ulster would fight. and Ulster would be right.” Her position was well summarised in parts of Rudyard Kipling’s poem.
“Ulster 1912.”
“The dark eleventh hour
Draws on and sees us sold
To every evil power
We fought against of old.
The faith in which we stand.
The laws we made and guard.
Our honour. lives. and land
Are given for reward
To murder done by night.
To treason taught by day.
To folly. sloth. and spite.
And we are thrust away.
We stand to pay the cost
In all that men hold dear.
What answer from the North?
One Law. one Land. one Throne.
Basically what was to be enforced were
(1) separating people of British stock from their fellows in Britain. their Government. and from their Sovereign. and uniting them to a basically hostile people. under an anti-British and potentially Republican government.
(2) the endangering of their religious faith. for to them Home Rule
meant. and still means. Rome Rule. The deep felt and intense Ulster opposition to this unwarrantable separation took tangible form eventually in the formation of the disciplined, armed Ulster Volunteer Force, to resist physically this coercion. But the real reason for their steadfast refusal to submit was well displayed in August. 1914.
when Lord Carson and Captain James Craig, in response to a request from Lord Kitchener. the British War Minister. offered 35.000 trained men of the UVF. to defend King and Country. Their basic loyalty was a positive one: “One Law. One Land, One Throne.” Kitchener rather reluctantly agreed later to include the word “Ulster” in the name of the unit formed:- The 36th (Ulster) Division. Asquith, in the House of Commons, after announcing that the Home Rule Bill would become law on 18th September, 1914, stated, as a sop, that its operation would be suspended until the end of the War, and that opportunities would be afforded to alter or modify its provisions, He spoke highly of the spirit of patriotism shown by the U.V.F, and said that it made unthinkable the coercion of Ulster. Bonar Law, after scathingly rebuking the Prime Minister for the Government’s deceit and betrayal, most pointedly led Carson and the entire Conservative Opposition from the House, It was an unmistakable scorning of shameful political manoeuvring, There was to be a further demonstration of Ulster’s loyalty in contrast to the Government’s unfeeling desertion, It took place at the Battle of the Somme, which began on the 1 st July, 1916. In that dreadful battle almost half of the 36th (Ulster) Divison – termed derisively “Carson’s Army” by some uncomprehending people – were to shed their blood in Britain’s cause.
But in doing so, they were to make, against a well entrenched and powerful German army, the farthest advance by any major unit. They took not only the formidable Schwaben Redoubt, the strongest part in the enemy position, but they were to push on and reach the second German line. No wonder Philip,Gibbs, the well known war correspondent, was to write that day:-“Their attack was one of the finest displays of human courage in the world “
36th Ulster Division Attack Somme 1st July 1916
“I am not an Ulsterman, but yesterday, the 1st July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world. Then I saw them attack, beginning at a slow walk over No Man’s Land, and then suddenly let loose, as they charged over the font two lines of enemy trenches shouting “No surrender boys!”
Unfortunately, the advances by the neighbouring divisions broke down and as Martin Holbrook records in his book “The First Day on the Somme,” “indeed for 4 miles on either side (of the Ulsters) there was no advance to distract the German defence.” The troops from the country, the British Government were willing to desert, were left exposed to concentrated attacks by shell, mortar, and bullet for some 14 hours without help from any source, It was barely interrupted slaughter, They held on grimly until re-enforced German counter-attacks caused them to give way, The Division lost in killed, wounded, and missing 5,500 officers and men. The stories of the Ulster 36th divisions Victoria Cross winners are here recalled……
Captain Eric Norman Franklin Bell 9th Battalion Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers:- For most conspicuous bravery, when the front line was hung up by enfilading machine gun fire, Captain Bell crept forward and shot the machine gunner. Later, on no less than three occasions, when our bombing parties, which were clearing the enemies’ trenches, were unable to advance, he wet forward alone and threw trench mortar bombs among the enemy. When he had no more bombs availible he stood on the parapet, under intense fire, and used a rifle with great coolness and effect on the enemy advancing to counter attack. Finally he was killed rallying and reorganising infantry parties which had lost their officers. All this was outside the scope of his normal duties with his battery. He gave his life in supreme devotion to duty.
Second Lieutenant James Samuel Emerson 9th Battalion Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers:- On the 6th December 1917 on the ‘Hindenberg Line’, north of La Vacquene, France, Second Lieutenant Emerson led his company in an attack and cleared 400 yards of enemy trench. Though wounded when the enemy attacked in superior numbers, he met their attack with eight men, killing many and taking six prisoners. For three hours afterwards, all other officers having become casualties, he remained with his company, refusing to go to the dressing station, and repeatedly repelling bombing attacks. Later leading his men to repel another attack, he was mortally wounded. His heroism inspired his men to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
Lance Corporal Ernest Seaman 2nd Battalion Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers:- On the 29th of August 1918 at Terhand Belgium, when the right flank of his company was held up by enemy machine guns, Lance Corporal Seaman went forward under heavy fire with his lewis gun and engaged the position single handed, capturing two machine guns and twelve prisoners, and killing one officer and two men. Later in the day he rushed another enemy machine gun post, capturing the gun under heavy fire. He was killed immediately afterwards, but due to his gallant conduct, his company was able to push forward to it’s objective.
Private Norman Harvey 1st Battalion Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers:- On the 25th of October 1918 at Ingoyghem Belgium when the battalion was held up and suffering heavy casualties from enemy machine guns, Private Harvey on his own initiative, rushed forward and engaged the enemy single handed, disposing of 20 of them and capturing the guns. Later when his company was checked by another enemy strongpoint, he again put the enemy to flight. Subsequently after dark, he voluntarily carried out a single handed and important reconnaissance and gained valuable information.
Second Lieutenant Edmund de Wind 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles:- For seven hours after the launch of German assaults of March 21, 1918, and despite being wounded twice, he fought on against overwhelming odds tohold his position at Groagie. On two occasions, with two NCOs only, he got out on top under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire and cleared the enemy out of the trench, killing many. He continued to repel attack after attack until he was mortally wounded and collapsed. His valour, self-sacrafice, and example were of the highest order.
Private William Fredrick McFadzean 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles:- In the early hours of July 1st 1916, he was in a concentration trench in Theipval Wood preparing grenades for distribution. A box of bombs slipped into the crowded trench, with two of the safety pins falling out. Instantly realising the danger, with heroic courage threw himself on top of the bombs. The bombs exploded, blowing him to pieces, and only one other man was injured. He knew well his danger, being himself a bomber, but without a moments hesitation, he gave his life for his comrades.
Rifleman Robert Quigg 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles:- On the 1st of July 1916 rifleman Quigg took part in three assaults. Early next morning, hearing a rumour that his platoon officer was lying out wounded, he went out seven times to look for him under heavy shell and machine gun fire, each time bringing back a wounded man. The last man he dragged in on a waterproof sheet from within a few yards of the enemy’s wire. He was seven hours engaged in this most gallant work, and finally was so exhausted that he had to give up.
Lieutenant Geoffrey St. George Shillington Cather 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers:- Lieutenant Cather spent over five hours on the evening of 1st July 1916, up to midnight, searching for wounded men in No-Man’s-Land north of the Ancre. During that time he rescued three men, dragging them to safety. Next morning, at 8am, he contionued his search, brought in another wounded man, and gave water to others, arranging for their rescue later. Finally at 10.30am, he took out water to another wounded man, and was proceeding further when he himself was killed. All this was carried out in full view of the enemy, and under direct machine gun fire and intermittent artillery fire. He set a splendid example of courage and self-sacrifice.
Second Lieutenant Cecil Leonard Knox Corps of Royal Engineers (‘Att’ 36th Ulster Division) :- On the 22nd of March 1918 twelve bridges at Tugny France were entrusted to this officer for demolition, and all of them were successfully destroyed. In the case of one of the steel girder bridges, the destruction of which he personally supervised, the timing fuse failed. Without hesitation Second Lieutenant Knox ran to the bridge, under heavy fire and machine gun fire, and while the enemy was still on the bridge, tore away the the fuse and lit the instantaneous fuse, to do which he had to get under the bridge. This was an act of the highest devotion to duty, entailing great risks, which as a practical civil engineer he fully realised.
Of nine Victoria Crosses awarded to British forces in that battle, four were bestowed on Ulstermen, Wilfred Spender was later to write:-
“The Ulster Division has sacrificed itself for the Empire, which has treated them none too well. The much derided Ulster Volunteer Force has a name which equals any in History. Their devotion deserves the gratitude of the British Empire, It is due to the memory of these brave heroes that their beloved Province shall be fairly treated.”
An example of that gratitude was to follow within a few years, The cemetery in which many of their Fallen were buried was named by the Army “The Connaught Cemetery.” As Martin Middlebrook writes, “One wonders why it was not named ‘The Ulster Cemetery.”
However, the sacrifice of Ulster lives was taken into account in the settlement of 1921, when much of the Province was excluded from incorporation into the Irish Free State.
Although Bonar Law’s occupation of the Premiership in the House of Commons was a short one from October, 1922 till May, 1923, yet his leadership of the Conservative Party in the years of the fierce Home Rule clash with the Liberals and the Irish Nationalists was a crucial factor in uniting opposition to that unwanted legislation.
No comments:
Post a Comment