Remembrance NI
Every day is a Remembrance Day
October 17 – Roll of Honour
In today’s Roll for WW1, a former North Irish Horse trooper who contracted malaria and died while serving in Palestine, and a Royal Flying Corps pilot from Belfast who died in Egypt. From WW2, a Royal Ulster Rifleman who fought for the liberation of the Netherlands. Photo – Kantara Memorial Cemetery, Egypt Read More
October 16 – Roll of Honour
Edwin Edmonds from Belfast perished in HMS Otranto on this date in 1918. Hundreds of men including US army personnel died when in a storm the troopship was rammed by another ship off Islay. Photo above – Funeral on Islay of 199 American soldiers from Otranto. Read More
October 15 – HMS Hawke – Northern Ireland’s greatest naval loss
One of the greatest single losses to Royal Navy personnel from Northern Ireland occurred on the 15th October 1914 when the German Submarine SM-U9 which was patrolling the North Sea came across two British Cruisers, HMS Hawke commanded by Capt. Hugh P.E.T. Williams, and her sister ship HMS Theseus. At least 49 from Northern Ireland perished on HMS Hawke. They came from all walks of life. Read More
October 15 – Roll of Honour
Remembrance event at the council offices in Lisburn. The figure is that of Frank Pantridge. He was awarded the Military Cross for his services as a Medical Officer during the Fall of Singapore when he became a POW. He served much of his captivity as a slave labourer on the Burma Railway. He returned to NI in 1950 as a cardiac consultant at the RVH. He went on to develop the portable defibrillator, and in 1965 installed his first version in a Belfast ambulance. The Roll today recalls the service of 12 men from the three services.
October 14 – HMS Royal Oak
The Princess Royal led the 80th anniversary tributes to those who lost their lives on HMS Royal Oak in October 1939. Six weeks into the war seven men from Northern Ireland were amongst 833 sailors who were lost when their ship HMS Royal Oak went down in minutes after being attacked at anchor in Scapa Floe on October 14, 1939. Read More
October 14 – Roll of Honour
In WW1 two men named Thomas Gallagher died. One was Catholic, the other was a Protestant. In WW2 a son-in-law of Lord Glentoran was lost in HMS Liverpool. See also post today on HMS Royal Oak. Read More
October 13 – Roll of Honour
Among those remembered today – Men from Cookstown and Larne who served in Australian and American forces in WW1; A Belfast Gunner from the Shankill Road who died in WW2 blitz defending London; two RUR men who fell in the liberation of Holland. Read More
