A Guide to First World War Common Wealth War Graves

A GUIDE TO FIRST WORLD WAR

COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES IN NEWRY AND MOURNE

John Beattie (on the right) (Courtesy of Martin Grant)

Front Cover: St Patrick’s Church of Ireland graveyard, Newry (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection). Included, at the front left, is the Commonwealth War Grave of John Beattie

INTRODUCTION

Every year thousands travel to France, Belgium and elsewhere to visit Commonwealth War Graves from the First and Second World Wars.

Founded by Sir Fabian Ware, the Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves Commission was established in 1917. It cares for the graves and memorials of almost 1.7 million Commonwealth servicemen and women who died in service or from causes attributable to service during the two world wars. For the First World War the qualifying dates for inclusion were between 4 August 1914 (Britain’s declaration of war on Germany) and 31 August 1921 (The official end of the Great War as declared by an Order in Council).

The Commission maintains graves and memorials at some 23,000 locations in over 150 countries worldwide. Its work in the countries that saw the worst of the fighting is well-known but perhaps less commonly recognised is the fact that the United Kingdom is second only to France in terms of the numbers commemorated.

In 2014 Newry and Mourne Museum (as part of a Heritage Lottery Funded project) commissioned a local photographer, Christina Joyce, to photograph the First World War Commonwealth War Graves located within the Newry and Mourne District Council area, plus those in Poyntzpass which was part of Newry’s historic hinterland. This booklet seeks to tell the stories of each of the men, and one woman, who received a Commonwealth War Grave.

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme (Courtesy of Dr Robert Whan). Among the 72,195 commemorated, the following men from Newry are listed: Walter Stewart Bond, Thomas Clarke, Henry Clarke, Robert Duffy, Thomas Fegan, James Jones, John Kenneth Scott, Francis Short, Richard W. Topp and George W. A. Wauchope.

BESSBROOK

BESSBROOK (CHRIST CHURCH) CHURCH OF IRELAND

Captain Samuel Jervois Scott

S. J. Scott was born on 7 May 1871 at Woodfort, Bandon, Co. Cork. He was the fourth son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Scott (née Poole) of Woodfort and Gortaglanna, Kilbrittain, Co. Cork. He was educated at Bandon Grammar School before studying for the medical profession in Dublin. He was registered as a medical practitioner in May 1896. Subsequently he was resident medical officer to Drumcondra Hospital and for a time was resident clinical assistant at Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin, before becoming a temporary medical officer to the Coalisland Dispensary District, Co. Tyrone. Around 1903 he was appointed medical officer of the Bessbrook Spinning Company.

Whilst at Bessbrook, S. J. Scott took an active part in the life of the community. He was Chairman of the Bessbrook Miniature Rifle Club and was extremely fond of shooting and field sports. He was also a member of Orange Lodge No. 927 and held office in his church, Bessbrook Church of Ireland, as Parochial Nominator, Diocesan Synodsman and Rector’s Churchwarden. During the pre-war Home Rule crisis he acted as Commander of the Bessbrook Company of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and he was also medical attendant to the local Royal Irish Constabulary.

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Dr Scott accepted a commission in the 9th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers. He arrived in France with the 36th (Ulster) Division in October 1915. During his war

service in France, he contracted trench fever and was afterwards sent to Wales before being transferred into the Royal Army Medical Corps (108th Field Ambulance), from which he returned with the rank of Captain in 1918.

Upon his return, he resumed his medical practice in Bessbrook and he died in his 50th year at his Bessbrook residence, “Bellevue”, on 27 May 1920, after a threemonth illness. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth Josephine Scott (youngest daughter of George Russell Price of Booterstown, Co. Dublin), who subsequently moved to Surrey, with their only child, a daughter, Emily Elizabeth Scott.

Among the floral tributes at his grave was a wreath from Bessbrook District L.O.L. 11 (of which he was Worshipful Master) and the Alexander Blane Branch of the Irish National Foresters, Camlough.

S. J. Scott (Courtesy of the Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum, Armagh) and (right) his grave

BESSBROOK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Lance Corporal William John Roy

William J. Roy was born in Bessbrook. He was the son of William and Isabella Roy, who were both employed by the Bessbrook Spinning Company.

William (Jnr) enlisted in Newry and became a Lance Corporal in the Royal Irish Rifles. He died in the Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich, aged 23, on 11 May 1915. The cause of death was tetanus as a result of wounds received at the Front in France. In his final letter home to his father, then a widower, William wrote about how he looked forward to helping his aged father in the family garden.

William’s remains were brought back to Edward Street Railway Station, Newry, from where they made their way to Bessbrook. The shops in the village all closed and the blinds in houses were drawn as the procession made its way to the Presbyterian graveyard. The minister of the congregation, Rev. Alexander Stuart, officiated and at the close of the burial service the Last Post was sounded by a member of the Bessbrook Boy Scouts. Wreaths were laid by Bessbrook Victoria Flute Band and Bessbrook Orange Lodge, which William had been a member of.

His younger brother, Samuel, who was also a LanceCorporal in the Royal Irish Rifles, had been killed in action two months earlier, on 3 March 1915.

William was survived by his father and one sister, Miss Margaret Roy, who chose to have the words “He gave his beloved sleep” inscribed on the headstone in Bessbrook Presbyterian Church. He is also listed on the congregation’s Roll of Honour.

BURREN

ST MARY’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, BURREN

Frederick Joseph Maginnis

Frederick was born in Newry and came from a farming family. His parents John and Cecilia Maginnis resided at Corrags, Newry and Frederick had seven siblings. He moved to Manchester where he found employment as a draper and resided at 138 Slater Street, Oldham Road, Manchester. In April 1915 he enlisted in Manchester, joining the 16th Manchester Regiment. He was 5 feet, 9¼ inches tall and at his enlistment was 12½ stone. Some records relating to his military service are held at the National Archives, Kew, London and among them are sheets relating to conduct. These show that on December 1915 he was confined to barracks for 4 days as punishment for having a “Dirty Rifle on Parade”. In 1916 he received a fracture to his forearm as a result of a gunshot wound. He died, aged 23, on 4 November 1916 when travelling from Ireland to England to re-join his unit. He was sailing on the SS Connemara when it collided with a collier, the Retreiver.

Grave of W. J. Roy (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

CAMLOUGH

ST MALACHY’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, CAMLOUGH

Rifleman Thomas Hughes

Thomas Hughes, born in Bessbrook, Co. Armagh, was the son of Richard and Catherine Hughes. He was a career soldier and before the outbreak of the First World War had spent six years serving in India. Whilst serving with the Royal Irish Rifles in France he was seriously wounded and was sent to the 3rd Northern General Hospital, Sheffield where he spent over a year. He was then transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast to be nearer to home for relatives to visit and it was in the Belfast hospital that he died, aged 29, on 29 January 1918. He was survived by his widow, Annie Hughes (née Hanna), who he had married in Bessbrook Presbyterian Church only a few months before his death. Rev. Fr. James Quinn, C.C., officiated as his remains were laid to rest, with full military honours.

CORPORAL MICHAEL JAMES McCONVILLE

Michael James McConville was the son of Patrick and Sarah McConville of High Street, Bessbrook. He enlisted in the Royal Irish Fusiliers on 29 July 1909. He arrived in France on 22 September 1915 and after receiving serious injuries at the Front was discharged because of those wounds on 9 February 1918. McConville received the Silver War Badge on 21 October 1918. A member of the Newry Branch of the Discharged and Demobilised Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Federation, Michael died from his wounds on 5 November 1918, aged 26. Rev. Fr. Quinn officiated at his funeral and full military honours were accorded, including the playing of the Last Post.

Grave of F. J. Maginnis (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Private Thomas Williams

Thomas was the son of James and Mary Williams of Betturb, Co. Cavan. He had been in the Royal Irish Fusiliers from 1901–1904 and upon his return home found work as a labourer. Thomas re-enlisted at the onset of the First World War in August 1914. Later, he transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers. After five years of service he was discharged as medically unfit in January 1919. Due to a dilated heart condition, he was not able to resume his work as a labourer. He died on 25 June 1919, aged 38, in an accidental drowning incident in Camlough Lough. Thomas was survived by his wife, Sarah, of Hill Street, Bessbrook. Sarah chose to have the words, “My dearly beloved husband” engraved on Thomas’s headstone.

DONAGHMORE

ST BARTHOLOMEW’S, DONAGHMORE

Sapper Henry Marshall

Henry Marshall was born at Warrenpoint. He was the son of James Finlay and Mary Marshall of Church Street, Warrenpoint (who later moved to Tullymurry, Donaghmore). Prior to enlisting, Henry was a carpenter like his father. He enlisted in Newry in November 1915, joining the Royal Engineers, and was sent to the Home Counties, England for training. John was 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and at enlistment weighed 9½ stone. After getting “wet through” he became unwell and was admitted to the Union Hospital, Hitchin in Hertfordshire on 27 February 1916. He was transferred to the Eastern General Hospital, Cambridge on 4 March 1916 and died there three days later, on 7 March 1916. The cause of death was cerebrospinal fever (meningitis).

The coffin containing his remains was brought back to Edward Street Station, Newry (coming via Greenore). His funeral was carried out with full military honours. When the coffin arrived at the railway station, it was met by a firing party, drums and pipers of the 4th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers who were then stationed in Newry Barracks. The pipers and funeral cortege made their way through Newry as far as the Newry Mineral Water Works on the Downshire Road, where a fleet of cars were waiting to carry them to Donaghmore. Those lending cars were Alex. and Frank Fisher, W. F. Harris, Peter Lambe, Matt McCann, Samuel J. Murray, Robert S. Redmond, George B. Rowland (2 cars) and Harry Willis. The procession re-formed again near to Donaghmore, and a number of photographs were taken

there. Clergy, both Church of Ireland and Presbyterian, from Warrenpoint and Donaghmore, participated in the service.

The 4th Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers had planned to hold a sports day in Linenhall Square to mark the anniversary of the 1811 Battle of Barossa but this was postponed on account of Private Marshall’s funeral.

Grave of Henry Marshall (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

KILLEAVY OLD GRAVEYARD

Private Owen Loughran

Owen was born at Bootle in England. He enlisted at Seaforth and served, during the First World War, with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. His death took place at a Dublin hospital on 10 November

MOURNE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, KILKEEL

Rifleman Alfred Cousins

Alfred died at his own home on the Harbour Road, Kilkeel, aged about 30, on 9 February 1917. Prior to the war he had “followed the sea”. He enlisted into the Royal Irish Fusiliers when they were on a recruiting tour in Kilkeel. Alfred had been on active service in the trenches for about a year and a half when he returned home on leave. He was a member of the Kilkeel True Blues Orange Lodge and Kilkeel Ulster Volunteer Force. The fact that he was not accorded a military funeral, a local newspaper reported, “occasioned a good deal of disappointment”. He was buried in the family burying ground at Mourne Presbyterian Church, Kilkeel.

Able Seaman John Cousins

John Cousins was born in Kilkeel on 26 August 1870. He was the son of James and Jane Cousins of Shore Road, Kilkeel. A fisherman, he enrolled in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) on 23 August 1894 and was presented with the RNR Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct on HMS Dolphin on 18 November 1915. He was 5 foot, 6 inches tall and had blue eyes. By 1911 he and his wife, Sarah (who had been a seamstress), had had 11 children but only 7 were still alive: Lizzie Jane, Mary Ann, Robert James, Letitia, William, Helen Mary and Sarah. John died on 2 March 1917 and at the time of his death his widow was living in Stanley Terrace, Kilkeel. He was a member of Mourne Presbyterian Church, Kilkeel.

1916.

There is a photograph of Loughran’s grave on the back of this booklet

First World War Commonwealth War Graves at Mourne Presbyterian Church, Kilkeel (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

KINGSMILLS

KINGSMILLS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Private William Rantin

William Rantin was the third son of William James and Mary Jane Rantin from Tullyhappy, and was a brother to Abram, Samuel, William, Mary Jane, Agnes, James and Robert. William, as a young man, emigrated to Canada, where he found employment as a labourer. He belonged to Canada’s Non-Permanent Active Militia (the country’s part-time volunteer military force) before the outbreak of the First World War and enlisted in the Canadian Machine Gun Corps (3rd Division Machine Gun Company) on the 25 March 1915 at Port Arthur, Ontario. Private Rantin was 5 foot, 7 inches tall, had blue eyes, brown hair and a tattoo on both forearms. He arrived in England in December 1915 and was sent to the battle front in France in February 1916, where he was wounded. In 1917 he returned to England and was stationed at Bramshott. While there on the evening of 1 June 1917 he fell from a barracks window and died in hospital. He was 28. His body was brought back to Tullyhappy and, a Presbyterian, he was buried in Kingsmills Presbyterian church graveyard, near Whitecross. A party of Northumberland Fusiliers was among those who gathered to pay the last honours to the deceased. The presence of Captain Rev. J. D. Morrow, of Toronto, who had come over from England was particularly appreciated by the bereaved relatives.

In May 1922 two stained glass windows were unveiled in the upper end of Kingsmills Presbyterian Church, on either side of the pulpit, to mark the contribution made by 33 members of the congregation to the Great War (seven of whom died in the conflict).

Grave of W. M. Rantin (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

NEWRY

NEWRY REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OLD CEMETERY

Miss Clara Crozier

Clara Crozier was the daughter of Thomas (a farmer) and Eliza Crozier of Altnaveigh, Newry and a sister to Alice, Annie, David, Edward, George, Mary, Robert and Susan Crozier. Before the First World War, Clara worked in the Newry Manufacturing Company based at Hill Street, Newry. She enrolled in the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC) in 1918.

The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (renamed Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps in April 1918) was formed in 1917 to help free more men for the front. The women who enrolled offered support to the army by acting as cooks, waitresses, clerical workers, drivers and telephonists.

Clara was serving in Fermoy, Co. Cork, as a member of the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps, when she contracted influenza and died there on the 17 November 1918. She was 22 years of age.

A member of Downshire Road Presbyterian Church, Newry, Clara was buried with military honours in the Reformed Presbyterian Church cemetery, Newry.

Clara is the only female from the First World War to be granted a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone in the former Newry and Mourne District Council area, and her headstone is in a bad state. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission will be erecting a new headstone for Clara in the near future.

Clara Crozier (Courtesy of Pauline Moore) and her grave (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

ST MARY’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, NEWRY

Driver Joseph Carroll

Joseph Carroll was the son of Bernard and Elizabeth Carroll of 26 Church Street, Newry. He was attached to the 130th Battery, Royal Field Artillery and served throughout the war. While home on leave he contracted a chill and this brought about his death at the age of 31 on 18 March 1919. He was buried with military honours, Rev. F. J. O’Hare, C.C., officiating, and a detachment of the military stationed in Newry Barracks formed the firing party.

Patrick F. Curran was the son of Francis and Sarah A. Curran, Newry. He served in the Royal Irish Fusiliers before joining the Motor Transport section of the Army Service Corps. He had served about two years in France when he was given leave to return home. During his return to Newry he succumbed to an attack of Influenza and died, aged 22, on 3 November 1918. His father had died only seven weeks previously whilst in Paisley. Patrick was given a funeral with full military honours and a detachment of men from Newry Barracks attended. Rev. Daniel V. O’Hagan, C.C., officiated at the graveside.

Grave of Joseph Carroll (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Patrick Francis Curran

Grave of P. F. Curran (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

James Gorman, the son of John and Sarah Gorman, was born on 22 July 1885 at Ballyoonan, near Omeath, Co. Louth. Before the war he was a labourer, like his father. At the time of his enrolment in the Royal Naval Reserve on 26 September 1914 he was living at 50 Rooney’s Terrace, Newry. James was 5 foot, 9 ½ inches tall and had grey eyes. He was a stoker on HMS Maidstone and died in Endell Street Hospital, London, on 2 March 1919 from appendicitis.

William Lundy was a driver in the Royal Field Artillery. He was the son of John and Nellie Lundy, Moore’s Lane (off Castle Street), Newry. After enlisting in Newry he was in Dundalk, and subsequently England, before being sent to France. After at least ten months in France he received an injury and was sent home on leave. During four months at home, one month was spent in Belfast hospital. He had got kicked by a horse which had caused an injury to his knee. He also had an injury to his hand. William was last saw alive on 6 May 1916, three days before his 23rd birthday. His body was found drowned in Newry River, near Greenwood Park, on 18 May 1916. Fr. Fitzpatrick, C.C., officiated in the chapel and at the graveside. Lundy’s coffin was draped with the Union Jack and it had the cap of the deceased placed on top. A local newspaper recorded how, “At the graveside a large concourse witnessed silently the ceremonial with which the army bids farewell to its comrades.”

James Gorman

Driver William Lundy

Grave of William Lundy (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Private James Mcgrath

James McGrath died, aged 17, on 12 January 1915. Born in Newry, he was the second son of John McGrath (a butcher) and Jane McGrath, Newry. A Catholic, James was a member of the Irish National Volunteers. He enlisted at Ballykinler, Co. Down, joining the Royal Irish Rifles, in response to Lord Kitchener’s appeal, in order to “vindicate right and freedom”. After three months of active service he was knocked out by frostbite at the Front whilst serving in the trenches. Invalided home, he was admitted to Fazakerley Hospital, Liverpool, where he died after ten days of treatment. The casket containing his remains was sent to Newry by the s.s. Iveagh and a firing party of the Royal Irish Rifles participated in the funeral which a local newspaper described as “an impressive spectacle – the last tribute of respect to an Irish National Volunteer paid by British troops”.

Grave of James McGrath (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Private John Mcgregor

John McGregor, the son of John and Mary McGregor of 11 Kiln Street, Newry, was born in Belfast. Before the First World War he was a general labourer. He enlisted in Newry and served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers (1st Battalion). He was admitted to the 12th General Hospital, Rouen, suffering from shellshock and in a letter sent home to his mother and sister he stated that shells bursting so near him had “shattered all his nerves”. He was transferred to West End Hospital, Welbeck Street, London on 7 February 1916 before coming home to Newry.

Private McGregor died, aged 33, on the 26 February 1916 in Newry Union Infirmary, to which he had been admitted from his residence in Monaghan Row, Newry, the previous evening with spotted fever (meningitis). The sixteen individuals who had come into contact with him at Monaghan Row were, as a precaution, isolated for a time in the Union hospital and provided with new clothing.

Rev. Thomas McGrath, C.C., was the officiating priest at his funeral, which was attended by a detachment of the 4th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers which were, at the time, stationed in Newry.

Private Alexander Mckigney

Alexander McKigney died in Belfast on the 23rd January 1915. Alexander was married to Catherine McKigney (a flax spinner) who lived at 3 High Street, Newry with their children, Mary and Ellen. He enlisted in Glasgow and served in France with the Royal Scottish Fusiliers (1st Battalion). He was hospitalised, in Glasgow, having returned from the Western Front with severe frostbite. His wife last saw him alive on the 5 January 1915, when she visited him in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow.

Recently digitised records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission indicate that the grave Alexander McKigney was buried in belonged to a “distant relative or friend who will in no circumstances permit a headstone to be erected. In this case it is very necessary to avoid friction between the Next-of-kin and the Party who claims a right to the grave by leaving the question of a headstone in abeyance.”

James was the son of James O’Neill and the husband of Margaret O’Neill. He was a sapper in the Royal Engineers (Inland Water Transport) and died on 23 December 1919, aged 50.

Sapper James O’neill

Patrick was born in Limerick, emigrated to Salford and enlisted in Manchester. He served in the Labour Corps and died on 16 January 1918.

Rifleman William Thompson

Before the First World War William worked at Daisy Hill Nurseries. He was in the 6th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles and saw active service in the Dardanelles, Salonica, Egypt and Palestine before being invalided home. He was admitted to Newry General Hospital in July 1918 and died there on 10 February 1919 aged 30. His funeral took place from the residence of his aunt and uncle, Joseph and Mary O’Connell, who ran a boarding house in Castle Street, Newry. Rev. Thomas McGrath, C.C., officiated at the funeral, which was attended by a number of sailors and discharged soldiers. His only brother had been killed earlier in the war.

ST PATRICK’S CHURCH OF IRELAND, NEWRY

John Beattie

Born in Bessbrook, John Beattie was the eldest son of John and Elizabeth Beattie, of Carnegat, Newry. Before the First World War he worked in Bessbrook Spinning Mill. He enlisted in Newry and served with the 5th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was sent to Salonica (Greece), where he sustained a fractured spine caused by shrapnel and was admitted to hospital on 10 October 1916. His injury was so serious that a nurse made the journey with him back to Ireland, where he was admitted into the King George V Hospital, Dublin. It was there that he died on 27 January 1918. A Presbyterian he is listed on the War Memorial in Downshire Road Presbyterian Church, Newry, where he was a member.

Private Patrick Sullivan

Grave of Patrick Sullivan (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

There is a photograph of his grave on the front cover of this booklet.

William

Born in Newry in 1897, William McAlpine was the son of Robert and Elizabeth McAlpine of 26 Cowan Street, Newry. He enrolled in the Royal Naval Reserve on 25 March 1916 and was a trimmer (coal stoker) on the minesweeper, HMS St. Seiriol. William was 5 feet, 6 inches tall and had brown eyes. He was accidentally drowned at Harwich Harbour, England on 18 November 1916. At the time of his death one of his brothers, Robert, was a Driver in the Army Service Corps and was serving in the British Expeditionary Force in France.

John McAlpine

John Beattie with nurses in hospital in Dublin (Courtesy of Martin Grant)

Grave of W. J. McAlpine (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Rifleman G. McGauchey

G. McGaughey was a rifleman in the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. He died on the 22 January 1920.

Private Herbert George Moore

Born in Benagh, Newry he was the son of Isaac and Annie Moore. His father was an army veteran and served in several campaigns, the final being in the Boer War, after which he was a farmer. Before the outbreak of the First World War Private Moore was employed in the printing department of the Newry Reporter. He enlisted in Glasgow and served with the Hampshire Regiment (2nd Battalion). He died in the Military Hospital at Aldershot on 23 December 1918, aged 25, from wounds he received in action. A Presbyterian, he is buried in St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland graveyard, Newry.

Corporal Samuel Sheppardson

Samuel Sheppardson of Millvale, Newry, died, aged 48, in the Military Hospital, Belfast on 6 August 1915, where he had been for about two months. He had served with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers during the Boer War before subsequently entering the employment of Connors Chemists, Newry. At the outbreak of the First World War he was appointed Recruiting Sergeant for the Newry district. Afterwards he joined the Ulster Division and was appointed sergeant in one of the companies of the Reserve Battalion. He was survived by his wife and three daughters.

His remains were brought from Belfast to Newry by motor hearse. The coffin was covered with the Union Jack and several wreaths. A detachment of the 8th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers, Newry, attended the funeral and the final salute was fired by a party of thirteen men. He was a member of Downshire Road Presbyterian Church, Newry.

Grave of Samuel Sheppardson (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

An Unidentified Soldier

In a fierce gale on the 3 November 1916 the Connemara, a passenger steamer travelling from Greenore to Hollywood collided with the Retriever, a collier owned by the Clanrye Shipping Company, just a few yards from Cranfield Point at the entrance to Carlingford Lough. Over 90 lives were lost in the incident and the only survivor of the disaster was James Boyle from Warrenpoint, who was a 21-year-old crew member of the Retriever.

The remains of an unidentified soldier who had been sailing on the Connemara when it sunk was buried in St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland churchyard, Newry on 8 November 1916. The funeral took place from Newry Military Barracks and full military honours were given. The coffin was covered with the Union Jack and bore a soldier’s cap and accoutrements and was carried to the church on a gun-carriage supplied by the Royal Horse Artillery attached to the battalion of the Essex (Territorial) Regiment stationed at Dundalk. Three volleys were fired and the “Last Post” was sounded by a bugler of the Rifles.

The coffin bore the number “15”, and the official records recorded it as “Soldier, unrecognisable”/“A Soldier of the Great War”/“Unknown British Soldier”. The grave was bought by Newry Town Hall.

Grave of an “Unknown Soldier” at St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Graveyard, Newry (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Private Edwin Woods

Born in Nottingham, Private Woods was in the Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) before transferring to the Royal Defence Corps. He died on 10 November 1918.

NEWTOWNHAMILTON

NEWTOWNHAMILTON CHURCH OF IRELAND

Private Claude Ballard

Claude Ballard, born in 1890, was the youngest son of Rev. Robert John and Mrs Margaret Jane Ballard. Before the outbreak of the First World War Claude resided in Belfast and had also spent some time in America. He enlisted in Liverpool into the King’s Liverpool Regiment following the death of his brother Robert who had served in that regiment before being killed in France on 10 March 1915. Claude later transferred to the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. He died on the 5 May 1918 at Heald Military Hospital, Manchester, from acute pneumonia, following wounds he had received in action on 25 April 1918. The funeral service was conducted by the young man’s father, Rev. R. J. Ballard, who had been rector of Newtownhamilton Parish Church for over three decades before his retirement in 1913. In the course of the address, Rev. Ballard stated, “The feelings of all bereaved fathers were his, but as he looked at the dead body of his son he felt proud of him and of the other boys from that parish who had made the supreme sacrifice – prouder of him today than he would be were he still filling an easy job in Belfast or elsewhere and neglecting his duty”. Claude’s brother, Victor, who had been a police constable before the war, also saw service (in France and India) during the First World War. Their sister, Dorothy, was engaged in Government work in London.

POYNTZPASS

ACTON CHURCH OF IRELAND, POYNTZPASS

Private James W. Templeton

James Templeton was born in Belfast and was the only child of Robert (a farmer) and Margaret Templeton, Newry (formerly of Poyntzpass). He had been a law clerk, working with Newry solicitor, William Johnston, for about seven years before he joined up in September 1915. He was in the Army Ordnance Corps and had been on active service in France for about a year before his death. He was 5 foot, 8 inches tall, had blue eyes and fair hair. At Grove Town, France, in March 1917, he contracted tuberculosis as a result of “active service (exposure & infection)” and originally was cared for in a French military hospital. About a fortnight before his death, which occurred on 10 May 1917, he was admitted to the Third London General Hospital, Wandsworth, and it was there that he died at the age of 23. He was given a military funeral, with his remains leaving from his mother’s residence in Sandys Street, Newry and making their way to the family burying ground at Acton Church of Ireland, Poyntzpass.

Grave of Claude Ballard (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

POYNTZPASS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Rifleman John Croft

John Croft of Poyntzpass was a rifleman in the Royal Irish Rifles. He died on 23 June 1920 at the age of 36. He is buried in Poyntzpass Presbyterian Church and was survived by his wife, Jane.

ST JOSEPH’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, POYNTZPASS

Private John Campbell

John Campbell was the son of Henry and Annie Campbell of Drumbanagher. At the outbreak of the First World War, John joined the Royal Irish Fusiliers and after undergoing some training was sent to France, where he served until he received a severe wound early in 1917. He was then invalided to England and discharged on 8 November 1917. Since that time he had been in an ailing condition. His prolonged illness ended in his death on 9 January 1920. He was 21 years of age. Rev. Fr. Quinn, Bessbrook, officiated at the funeral which was attended by “the general public of all creeds” and the demobilised sailors and soldiers of the district.

Grave of John Croft

WARRENPOINT

CLONALLAN CHURCH OF IRELAND, WARRENPOINT

Lieutenant John Forster Elliott, M.D.

Dr Elliott, born on 9 June 1867 at Townsend Street, Parsonstown, Westmeath, was the son of John Forster Eliott (a bank manager) and Hester Charlotte McComb Elliott. He studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, and the Ledwich and Carmichael Schools of Medicine there. Dr Elliott was a surgeon with the Union Steamship Company before setting up as a general practitioner in Manchester in the mid-1890s. Around 1900 he went to Natal (South Africa), where he held the post of medical officer to the Indian Immigration Board. Returning home a decade later, Dr Elliott started practice at Rostrevor. A staunch Unionist, in the pre-war days he was actively involved with the U.V.F. movement and was in charge of the local ambulance section. In September 1916, when an appeal was made for qualified

medical men, he joined the Royal Army Medal Corps as a (temporary) Lieutenant. He gave him his house in Rostrevor and his wife went to live with her elderly and disabled mother, Mrs Reid and unmarried sister, Miss Edith Reid, who resided at Victoria Square, Rostrevor with a live-in domestic servant, Kathleen Trainor. Lieutenant Elliott was sent to Lathom Park, near Ormskirk, Liverpool, where there was a hospital for wounded soldiers. The sights and scenes he witnessed in the hospital had a profound impact on Dr Elliott and he was sent home on sick leave in September 1917. His sister-in-law recounted how upon his return he was thinner, “not as bright as usual”, and was suffering from depression and sleeplessness. He died on 30 September 1917 at Rostrevor and the jury at the subsequent inquest returned a verdict of “suicide during temporary insanity”. In sympathizing with Dr Elliott’s wife (Mrs Norah Nugent Elliott) and family, the local newspaper described “poor Dr. Elliott” as “another victim to the horror war”.

Major William Charles Hall

William Charles Hall was born on 10 May 1868, the second son of Major William James Hall, J.P., D.L., of Narrow Water Castle, Warrenpoint. He entered the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in November 1885 and served during the Hazara Expedition to Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion in 1891, obtaining the Black Mountain Campaign Medal with a clasp. In 1895 he was promoted to the rank of Captain and on the 18 October 1902 was appointed Major in the Reserve of Officers for service in connection with the South African War. On the formation of the Ulster Division he joined the East Belfast Battalion under brevet and rendered particularly valuable service in the training of recruits.

Major Hall married Miss Olive Edith Kathleen Roche, daughter of Sir Standish O’Grady Roche, in July 1901. He was a Unionist in politics, and a member of the Church of Ireland. His half-brother Major Frank Hall was Military Secretary of the U.V.F., involved in the organising of Ulster Day in 1912, and later joined MI5 as a spy for the British War Office. (Frank was the first ‘Q’ in Army Intelligence, a codename later utilized by Ian Fleming in his Bond novels.)

William Charles Hall’s death came about as a result of the premature explosion of a bomb during a practice exercise at Newtownards on 17 December 1917. The flag at Narrow Water Castle flew at half-mast as Major Hall’s body left, borne on a gun-carriage. The Church was draped in black. A firing party, consisting of over 100 men, was provided by the 4th Battalion R.I.R. from Newry, who discharged the farewell salute.

Major W. C. Hall by William Conor, 1917 (Courtesy of Down County Museum)

Private Charles Warren McGibney

C. W. McGibney was one of the five children of James Ellison McGibney (Principal at Clontifleece National School, near Warrenpoint) and Jane McGibney. Private McGibney joined the Leinster Regiment and he saw particularly active service during the final eight months of the war. After the Armistice, his battalion, which was attached to the 29th Division, was the first British infantry battalion to march over the field on the way to Germany and reached Cologne on 9 December 1918. As a result of the severity of the weather and the long marches involved, Charles contracted tonsillitis. He spent some time in a French hospital before being transferred to the War Hospital in Chichester where he died from pneumonia on the 2 February 1919. He had been recommended for a commission and would have received this in the ordinary way only for the signing of the Armistice.

At the time of Charles’s death his mother and sisters were living at Donaghaguy, Warrenpoint. His elder brother, Francis George McGibney of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, had been killed while leading a raiding party at a chemical works at Rouex in France in May 1917, while another brother, Second Lieutenant James McGibney of the Leinster Regiment was severely wounded at Lens on 10 October 1918. The young men’s father, James Ellison McGibney, upon learning of the death of his eldest son, Francis, obtained leave from his job in the Transavaal Education Department and joined the South African contingent of the British forces in order to “dedicate his own life to the cause for which his son had sacrificed his.”

Grave of C. W. McGibney (Newry and Mourne Museum Collection)

Private Ronald David Murray

Ronald David Murray was the son of Captain Robert and Alice Murray. His father, Robert, was attached to the Northumberland Fusiliers and for a short time was stationed in the Military Barracks, Newry. Ronald volunteered for service immediately following the outbreak of the First World War, joining the 20th London Regiment on 10 August 1914. About 20 months before his death he had to sever his connection with the army due to medical unfitness and he never regained full health. On 8 October 1918 he died at Church Street, Warrenpoint, where he had been temporarily residing for three months. His brother, Private John Christie Murray, who was in the 41st Battalion Australian Infantry, had died the previous year on 25 October and is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, France.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to the staff and volunteers of Newry and Mourne Museum for their assistance with the production of this booklet:

Dr Ken Abraham

Richard Burns

Declan Carroll

Noreen Cunningham

Jackie Dodds

Caroline Hegarty

Andrew Henry

Conor Keenan

Greag Mac a’ tSaoir

Eamonn McArdle

Amanda McKinstry

Shane McGivern

Anna Savage

Kelly Marie Savage

Dympna Tumilty

Pauline Walsh

Back Page:

Grave of Owen Loughran at Killeavy Old Graveyard

Thanks are also extended to all those who contributed images and information for the booklet including:

John Campbell

Beatrice Elliott

Martin Grant

Christina Joyce

Nick Metcalfe

Victoria Millar, Down County Museum

Pauline Moore

Commonwealth War Graves Commission staff, especially David Avery, Michael Greet and Jackie Withers

Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum Staff

Booklet researched and compiled by Dr Robert Whan

© Newry and Mourne Museum, 2015