As the Battle of the Somme drew to a close on the 18/11/1916, there were men from Coleraine and district on the front line, just as there had been since the opening day on the 1st of July. Two of the last Coleraine men to die were serving with the 10th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Edward Dallas and William McGrath enlisted together in January 1916. Prior to enlisting Eddie Dallas, of Church Street, was the principal of Boghill National School, while William McGrath, of New Row, worked in his family’s butcher shop in Church Street. Both men were staunch supporters of Alexandra Football Club. Eight of the 1916 entries in the Roll today highlight the costly service of the Royal Naval Division. In 1940 William Hurst from HMS Caroline was serving in HMS Decoy and was killed in her at Alexandria when she was struck by an enemy bombing raid. Educated at Campbell College and Cambridge University he was the son of the founder of Charles Hurst Automobiles. His WW2 grave in Egypt was visited by two fellow Caroline officers, Richard Pim, later Chief Inspector (a form of Head Constable) of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and John E Sayers, later editor of the Belfast Telegraph, who worked closely with Churchill maintaining his war office. In 1941 John Henderson was lost in HMS Puckeridge, a Hunt-type escort destroyer. A member of the 10th Belfast Scout Troop and of the St John Ambulance Brigade he was married only three weeks before his death. Baron Cooke of Islandreagh, a WW2 veteran remembered today, was the last President of the Belfast Branch of the Burma Star Association. Photo – These comrades have been stood down until next year.
Remembrance NI - Every day is a Remembrance Day 