MOFFETT, Samuel

Rifleman, 11th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Service No: 18/97
Died: 15/03/1916
Age: 29

Interred in Forceville Communal Cemetery and Extension
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

Samuel is recorded on the Memorial
in Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church

Samuel McWha Moffett was born 19th March 1886 in Ballyleidy (Clandeboye), Bangor. He was the son of Thomas Moffett, a labourer, and his wife Elizabeth Moffett (nee Russell) and was the youngest of their nine children. The family moved shortly after to Ballymullen, Crawfordsburn where they are recorded as living in both the 1901 and 1911 census.

In the 1911 census Samuel's occupation is recorded as clerk. He was also a member of Bangor Commercial L.O.L. 477.

Rifleman Samuel Moffatt, 11th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (South Antrim Volunteers), has died in hospital of wounds received in France. Deceased was a son of Mr. Thomas Moffatt. Clandeboye, County Down, and a member of Bangor Commercial L.O.L. No. 447.

Northern Whig, 25th March 1916

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

KILLED IN ACTION

MOFFETT -- March 15, 1916, killed in action, Rifleman Samuel Moffett, 11th Batt. Royal Irish Rifles, youngest son of Thomas Moffett, Clandeboye.

BANGOR COMMERCIAL L.O.L. 447
MOFFETT -- Died in hospital, on 15th March, 1916, from wounds received in action on same date, Rifleman Samuel Moffett, number 18/97 C Company 11th Batt. R.I.R., son of Thomas Moffett, Clandeboye. Deeply regretted by members of above. M. GIBSON, W.M.; R. D. MONTGOMERY, Secretary.

Belfast Newsletter, 25th March 1916

REA, Vivian Trevor Tighe

Lieut. Vivian T. T. Rea

Lieutenant, 4th Batt. attd. 2nd Batt., Royal Irish Rifles
Died: 25/10/1914
Age: 23
 
Interred in Guards Cemetery, Windy Corner, Cuinchy
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

Vivian Trevor Tighe Rea, was born in Mendoza, Argentina in 1891, the only son of Henry Tighe Rea and Clara Small and eldest of their five children. His parents were married in St. John's Anglican Church, Buenos Aires in June 1890.

The family returned to Ireland and were living on the Sandown Road, Belfast, in 1901, where his father is listed as working as an accountant in a shipyard office. Vivian went on to study at Campbell College, Belfast, from 1905 to 1908, before going to Queens University were, in 1910, he gained a B.A. with honours in logic, metaphysics, history of philosophy, and jurisprudence.

In 1906 his father was appointed a Vice-Consul for the Argentine Republic. He later became an honorary Vice-Consul of the Netherlands being decorated for his services in 1932.

Vivian was very active in the Scout movement becoming honorary secretary for the Ulster Provisional Council of Baden-Powell Scouts and was the Scoutmaster of the 1st Bangor troop. He was also an member of the Queen's University OTC and, in 1912, he joined the 4th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles being gazetted a second-lieutenant on probation on 10th February, which was confirmed in June 1912. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 20th February 1913.

Vivian felt called to the ministry of the Church of Ireland and so after Queen's went to the Divinity School in Trinity College Dublin. He was also active in the Trinity College Theological Society were he latterly became secretary.

On the outbreak of war he volunteered for service and left for the front on the 25th September 1914 to help fill vacancies in the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles.

On the 16th November 1914, the Belfast Newsletter gave the following report of his death:

Death of Lieutenant Vivian Rea.

TRIBUTES TO A GALLANT OFFICER.

Subsequent to the retreat at Mons, the 7th Brigade, in which were included the Wiltshires, Manchesters, South Lancashires, and Irish Rifles, took part in the forward movement towards Lille, via La Bassee. They occupied Richebourg, and proceeded thence to Neuve Chapelle, about twelve miles south-west of Lille, and thence to Herlies and Aubers, both of which were taken. The Irish Regiment got too far ahead, and was ordered to retire towards Neuve Chapelle, where trenches had been prepared by the villagers. The 2nd Rifles were under fire here for thirteen days, during which time the majority of their officers were either killed or wounded. October 24th and 2Sth were two of the most terrible days experienced. The Rifles had for some time been kept in the trenches continuously day and night, and on these days several determined attempts were made to rush the British trenches. None of these were successful until the evening of the 26th, when the trenches and the adjoining village were partly occupied by the Germans. The enemy's success was short-lived, for the whole of the lost ground was retaken by the Rifles, then sadly diminished in numbers, aided by the Indian troops, who had been hurriedly sent to reinforce them.
It was on the 25th October that Lieutenant Vivian T. T. Rea received a fatal wound in the trenches. His company commander, Captain H. A. Kennedy, had previously been severely wounded, but was still alive, and a part of this officer's duties had presumably devolved upon Lieutenant Rea. (Captain Kennedy has since died of his wounds). The ambulance party attended, notwithstanding the rain of shrapnel and rifle bullets, and Lieutenant Rea was taken to a chateau at the end of the village of Neuve Chapelle, about 300 yards behind the trenches. The medical officer saw that the wound was fatal, and that the wounded officer was rapidly sinking. Lieut. Rea spoke to the doctor, and on learning his condition charged him with a reassuring message to those at home. Shortly afterwards he lapsed into unconsciousness, and died almost without suffering. After nightfall his body was interred, together with that of Captain Reynolds, in the grounds of the chateau. Shortly after Lieutenant Rea had been brought into the chateau wounded, another severe casualty occurred to an officer. Two stretcher-bearers were sent out to bring the wounded officer in, and both these men were shot dead by the enemy. At three o’clock on the following morning, the 26th ult., the chateau, which had been used as a base by the staff, and the cellars of which were utilised as a hospital for the wounded, was shelled and set on fire by the enemy. It was necessary to hurriedly remove the wounded, and shortly afterwards the building was reduced to ruins.
Of Lieutenant Rea, it may be added that the night before he was fatally wounded, on hearing the cries of wounded men in front of "B" Company's trench during a lull in the firing at nightfall, he took one or two of the men of his company and brought the wounded men into safety. They were attended by the base medical officer, who, however, expostulated with the gallant officer on ground that there waa insufficient room in the cellars of the chateau for the British wounded soldiers. A brother officer states:— Lieutenant Rea died like a gallant gentleman; his men were devoted to him, and said that he put heart into them in the desperate fighting. Another officer says of him: Lieutenant Rea was not only extremely popular with all who came in contact with him, both officers and men, but he was also a very plucky and diligent officer. He rendered valuable assistance as an interpreter when not in the trenches owing to his fluent knowledge of the French language. The medical officer who was in charge of the base hospital at Neuve Chapelle, and who has been invalided home suffering from concussion, states that he buried twenty officers of the Royal Irish Rifles, and that the experience was one never to be forgotten.

Vivian is recorded on a number of memorials including those of St. Comgall's Church in Bangor
and Trinity College Dublin

Private William Leckey, of B Company, 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, returning home to 16, Memel Street, Bridge End, having been wounded in the right hand and left thigh, reported in an interview with the Belfast Newsletter:

"After Captain Kennedy had fallen, Lieutenant Vivian T. T. Rea, 'a fine gentleman and a brave officer,' took command of his company, displaying in the highest degree those noble qualities which have characterised the officers during the terrible fighting in which the Rifles were engaged. Lieutenant Rea was principally concerned with the welfare of the men under his control, and he fell on 25th October while crossing open ground between the trenches, the hail of shrapnel and rifle fire being of the most deadly character. He had had a long conversation with Private Leckey some time before he was killed, his popularity with the men being based on his evident concern for their well-being, his plucky conduct in the face of great danger, and his coolness and nerve under the most trying circumstances."

On 20 November 1915 a stained glass memorial window was unveiled in Bangor Parish Church in his memory. The ceremony was attended by ten officers and 100 men of the 4th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles who had travelled from Carrickfergus.

In 1926, at a service was held in First Bangor Presbyterian Church in commemoration of the Battle of the Somme at which a silk flag surmounted by a silver fleur de lis was presented to the Bangor First Troop of Boy Scouts, in commemoration of Lieut. Rea and other members of the troop who felt in the war. by Mrs. T. Lyttle, of Clifton Road, Bangor.

REA – October 25, killed in action in Belgium, Vivian T. Tighe Rea, B.A., Lieutenant, Royal Irish Rifles, only son of Henry Tighe Rea, of 1, Glandore Park, Belfast, and grandson of the late Hugh Rea, of Clifton Lodge, Belfast, and Northern Bank, Derry.

Belfast Newsletter, 30th October 1914.

HOLLYWOOD, James

Sec.-Lieutenant James Hollywood

Sec.-Lieutenant, 18th Batt. (att. 12th Batt.), Royal Irish Rifles
Died: 01/07/1916
Age: 23

Recorded on Thiepval Memorial
Recorded on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

James was born on 16th April 1893, in 139 Albert Bridge Road, Belfast. He was the son of James Hollywood, a house agent and Elizabeth Hollywood nee Carson. The family moved to Bangor in the late 1890s and lived in Ballyholme Road before moving to Ballygrot (Helen’s Bay).

He attended Friend's School, Lisburn from  September 1904 to July 1906 then going to the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, Belfast.

Employed at Ross Brothers Linen Merchants in Linenhall Street, Belfast, James also spent some time in the Young Citizen Volunteers before joining the Ulster Volunteer Force and is recorded on the Roll  of Honour for the 1st Batt. North Down Regt. as serving in ‘F’ Company alongside his brother Arthur.

The family attended First Bangor Presbyterian Church and both James and brother Arthur are recorded on the church’s war memorial.

He joined the 18th Royal Irish Rifles on 14th September 1914 as  a Corporal, being appointed Company Quartermaster Sergeant on 14th  October 1914 and received a commission in the 18th (R.) Battalion Royal Irish Rifles at Clandeboye, 5th May, 1915, before being sent to the Central Antrim Regiment.

He was killed during the Ulster Division attack at Thiepval Woods. His body was reportedly found later in the year by men of the 2nd Hants Regiment but subsequently lost.

Killed
Second-Lieutenant James Hollywood, Royal Irish Rifles, killed in action, was a son of Mr. James Hollywood, J.P., Red Gorton, Helen's Bay, and 130, Albertbridge Road, Belfast.

The Witness, 14th July 1916

                                                 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Second-Lieutenant James Hollywood

Second-Lieutenant James Hollywood, Royal Irish Rifles, killed in action, was a son of Mr. James Hollywood, J.P., Red Gorton, Helen's Bay, and 130, Albertbridge Road, Belfast. He was in the service of Ross Bros., Linenhall Street, before he received a commission in the 18th (R.) Battalion Royal Irish Rifles at Clandeboye, 5th May, 1915, being sent recently to the Central Antrim Regiment. His brother, Lieutenant A. C. Hollwood, Royal Irish Fusiliers, was wounded some months ago.                                                      

Belfast Newsletter, 7th July 1916

                                                 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Mr. James Hollywood's Heavy Loss

Belfast Water Commissioners' Sympathy

At the fortnightly meeting of the Belfast City and District Water Commissioners, held yesterday at the Water Offices, Royal Avenue, the chairman said he wished, before they proceeded with the ordinary business of the meeting, to call their attention to the calamity that had overtaken the family of one of their members, He referred to Mr. James Hollywood, J.P., two of whose sons – boys of whom any father might be justly proud – had been killed in action in France. He was sure their hearts went out to Mr. Hollywood and his family in that terrible bereavement, and he moved – "That he deep and heartfelt sympathy of the members of the Board be respectfully tendered to Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood in the great sorrow that has fallen upon them by the death in action in France of their two sons, who, in response to their country's call, entered his Majesty's Army, and have yeilded up their lives in defence of the Empire."

Mr. E. W. Pim, J.P., in seconding the resolution, said he felt deeply for Mr. Hollywood and his wife in the great bereavement which had overtaken them, and, indeed, he could not help thinking of many families in Belfast which had also suffered great loss. Their soldiers at the front were undergoing very severe trials, and were nobly doing their duty to their King and country. (Hear, hear.)

The resolution was passed in silence, the members standing.

Belfast Newsletter, 14th July 1916

Portrait image from the RBAI Inst and the Great War website  www.instgreatwar.com

HOLLYWOOD, Arthur Carson

Lieutenant Arthur Hollywood

Lieutenant, 9th Batt., Royal Irish Fusiliers
Died: 01/07/1916
Age: 24

Recorded on the Thiepval Memorial
Recorded on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

Arthur was born on 29th December 1891 in 139 Albert Bridge Road, Belfast. He was the son of James Hollywood, a house and rent agent and Elizabeth Hollywood nee Carson. The family moved to Bangor in the late 1890s and lived in Ballyholme Road before moving to Ballygrot (Helen’s Bay).

He attended Friend's School, Lisburn, from September 1903 to July 1906 before going to Royal Belfast Academical Institute in Belfast and thence to the Royal University of  Ireland in September 1909.

He is recorded on the Roll  of Honour for the 1st Batt. North Down Regt. as serving in F Company alongside his brother James.

The family attended First Bangor Presbyterian Church and both James and brother Arthur are recorded on the church’s war memorial.

Arthur was working as a rent agent in his father's business on the Albertbridge Road, Belfast, when he joined the 108th Field Ambulance, part of the 36th  (Ulster) Division, on 12th September 1914, as a Staff Sergeant. The London Gazette of 2nd July 1915 records his commission as Temporary Second Lieutenant  in the 12th (Reserve) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on 19th April 1915, and joined the 9th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers in  January 1916, being posted to A Company. He was subsequently appointed  Lieutenant on 29th February 1916.

The web site for Inst and the Great War records that:–
“He was killed on 1st July 1916 . . . during the Ulster  Division attack on the west bank of the River Ancre. Sgt Whitsell  stated: ‘The first wave of men left the British trenches followed by the second wave to which Lt Hollywood belonged. I followed them with the 3rd wave of men. I saw Lt Hollywood jump into the German trench. I was then wounded and saw no more. Before this attack, Lt Hollywood showed me the rips in his steel helmet where he had been hit, but seemed to be all right then.’

“Private Stewart and Private Coppleton both stated that they saw Arthur  being killed at Hamel, just after leaving the 1st line German trench  about 13.00. Private Cobain wrote that he saw Arthur being ‘hit by a  machine gun bullet during the advance’.

“It was reported that Private Nelson, who was wounded in the attack, lay beside his body for a night.

“Sgt Slater reported that he saw the body being brought in, and that it was buried in the Hamel village graveyard, but Arthur now has no known  grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial (pier and face 15 A),  Somme, France. He is also commemorated on the Bangor War Memorial.” (No source is given for the above information.)

Killed

Second-Lieut. Arthur C. Hollywood, killed, is a son of Mr. James Hollywood, J.P, Helen's Bay and Albertbridge Road, Belfast, who thus lost two boys in the one day.

The Witness, 14th July 1916

                                                 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Lieutenant Arthur C. Hollywood

Lieutenant Arthur C. Hollywood, Royal Irish Fusiliers (County Armagh Volunteers), killed in action, was a son of Mr. James Hollywood, J.P., Red Gorton, Helen's Bay, and Albertbridge Road, Belfast. The death in action of this officer's brother, Second-Lieutenant James Hollywood, Royal Irish Rifles, attached Central Antrim Battalion, was announced in yesterday's issue. The late Lieutenant A. C. Hollywood was wounded some months ago, and had been recommended for conspicuous gallantry in recovering the body of a brother officer. Before he obtained his commission he was in business with his father.

Belfast Newsletter, 8th July 1916

                                                 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Mr. James Hollywood's Heavy Loss

Belfast Water Commissioners' Sympathy

At the fortnightly meeting of the Belfast City and District Water Commissioners, held yesterday at the Water Offices, Royal Avenue, the chairman said he wished, before they proceeded with the ordinary business of the meeting, to call their attention to the calamity that had overtaken the family of one of their members, He referred to Mr. James Hollywood, J.P., two of whose sons – boys of whom any father might be justly proud – had been killed in action in France. He was sure their hearts went out to Mr. Hollywood and his family in that terrible bereavement, and he moved – "That he deep and heartfelt sympathy of the members of the Board be respectfully tendered to Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood in the great sorrow that has fallen upon them by the death in action in France of their two sons, who, in response to their country's call, entered his Majesty's Army, and have yeilded up their lives in defence of the Empire."

Mr. E. W. Pim, J.P., in seconding the resolution, said he felt deeply for Mr. Hollywood and his wife in the great bereavement which had overtaken them, and, indeed, he could not help thinking of many families in Belfast which had also suffered great loss. Their soldiers at the front were undergoing very severe trials, and were nobly doing their duty to their King and country. (Hear, hear.)

The resolution was passed in silence, the members standing.

Belfast Newsletter, 14th July 1916

Portrait image from the RBAI Inst and the Great War website www.instgreatwar.com.