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Lieut. Holt Montgomery Hewitt
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Died: 01/07/1916
Age: 29
Interred in Mill Road Cemetery, Thiepval
Recorded on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery
Holt Montgomery Hewitt was born in South Parade, Belfast, on 11th June 1887. He was the son of James Henry Hewitt, Manager of Workshops for the Industrious Blind, and Jeannie Denby Hewitt nee Marshall. The family appear to move between Belfast and Bangor: Ernest’s brother William being born in Princess Gardens, Bangor, in 1893; the family living in Rosetta Park, Belfast, in the 1901 census; then appearing in Altamount, Downshire Road, Bangor in the 1911 census. (The parents later living at 97 Mornington Park, Bangor).
Prior to the war, Holt, along with his brothers Ernest and William, joined the 1st Battalion North Down Regiment of the Ulster Volunteer Force, serving in ‘D’ Company, and is recorded on their Roll of Honour.
He was also a prominent member of the North of Ireland Football Club on whose memorial he is also recorded.
Holt received a commission from temporary Second Lieutenant to temporary Lieutenant in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on the 2nd September 1915. He was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps on 23rd January 1916.
LIEUTENANT HOLT M. HEWITT.
Lieutenant H. M. Hewitt, Machine Gun Corps, officially reported missing, believed killed, is a son of Mr. J. H. Hewitt, Altamont, Downshire Road, Bangor, who is well known in Belfast as Manager of the Workshops for the Blind. Before joining the Ulster Division in September, 1914, Lieutenant Hewitt was manager for Messrs. W. M. Barkley & Co., coal merchants. A member of the North Down Regiment, U.V.F., Lieutenant Hewitt served first in the 9th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tyrone Volunteers), and in January last was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. He was a prominent Rugby half-back, first for Bangor F.C., and subsequently for North of Ireland. He has another brother in the Service, and a third brother, Lieutenant E. H. Hewitt, 4th Battalion King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment, who was killed in action in May, 1915.
Belfast Newsletter, 7th July 1916
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Missing -- Believed killed
LIEUT. H. M. HEWITT.
Lieut. H. M. Hewitt, officially reported missing, believed killed, joined the Ulster Division in September, 1914, serving first in the 9th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tyrone Volunteers), and being transferred in January last to the Machine Gun Corps. He is a son of Mr. J. H. Hewitt, Altamont, Downshire Road, Bangor, who is well-known in Belfast as manager of the Workshops for the Blind. Before joining the Ulster Division Lieut. Hewitt was manager for Messrs. W. M. Barkley & Co., coal merchants.
The Witness, 7th July 1916
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Ulster News in Brief
The following resolution was passed at the monthly meeting of the Executive Committee of the Bangor Soldiers' Club, on the motion of Mr. John Polson, seconded by Mr. D. Cheyne -- "That this meeting of the committee of the Bangor Soldiers' Club places on record its deep sympathy with the relatives of those who have fallen, and expresses its pride in the gallant bravery of the Ulster Division, which has won for itself a name of imperishable renown. That copies of this resolution be sent to Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt and those connected with the work of the Soldiers' Club who have been similarly bereaved."
The Witness, 21 July 1916
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THE ROLL OF HONOUR.
THREE BROTHERS KILLED.
Mr. J. H. Hewitt's Heavy Bereavement
Mr J. H. Hewitt, Altamont, Downshire Road, Bangor, Manager of the Workshops for the Blind, Royal Avenue, Belfast, received a letter yesterday from the commanding officer of the 9th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tyrone Volunteers), which leaves little doubt that he has lost a third son, Second-Lieutenant W. A. Hewitt, who had previously been reported missing. Lieutenant E. H. Hewitt, the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), and Lieutenant Holt M. Hewitt, 9th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, attached Brigade Machine Gun Company, have already been killed, the former last year and the latter a few days ago. Lieutenant-Colonel Ricardo's letter regarding the third boy is as follows:–
July 6, 1916.
Dear Mr. Hewitt – I hardly know how to write. A letter is such a poor thing. Your two boys were loved by everyone in the regiment. They had such a sunny nature, together with such sterling characters that they were an example and inspiration to all. I cannot give you details of how Holt fell. Captain MacConachie, I am sure, will do that. Your little lad Willie led his platoon over our parapet, and the last I saw of him was his happy smile as I wished him luck. They got across to the German trenches, in front of which they came under an appalling machine-gun fire. Your lad was hit, and Sergeant Lally, who is now in hospital wounded, was with him when he passed over. It was a sad day for us, and I feel quite stunned and heartbroken. Your Willie was one of the nicest-minded boys I ever knew. My wife saw a letter he wrote to the widow of a man in his company, and she told me it was the most beautiful letter of sympathy she had ever read. No one but a spiritually-minded boy could have written such a letter. I made him my assistant adjutant, and of all my young lads I could spare him the least. No words can express the sympathy we all feel for yourself and Mrs. Hewitt and your family in the grievous double blow. I cannot write more.Lieutenant E. W. Crawford, adjutant of the Tyrone Battalion, has also written a sympathetic letter to Mr. Hewitt, and states – "The whole attack was the most heroic thing possible. The Divisional General, speaking of it, said it was the most gallant and heroic incident of the war. The pity of it was we lost our best, both officers and men."
Belfast Newsletter, 12th July 1916
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THREE BANGOR BROTHERS KILLED
Memorial Tablet Unveiled.
The unveiling of a memorial tablet commemorating the heroic deaths of Lieutenant E. H. Hewitt the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), and his brothers, Lieutenant Holt M. Hewitt and Second-Lieutenant. W. A. Hewitt, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, took place at the morning service in Bangor Parish Church on Sunday. There was a large congregation, and amongst those present were Mr. J. H. Hewitt, father of these gallant boys, and other relatives. Lieutenant Hewitt was killed on 15th June, 1915, and his brothers fell on that day of glorious but sad memories, the 1st July, 1916.
The tablet was unveiled by the Lord Bishop of Derry and Raphoe (Right Rev. J. I. Peacocke), who was a former rector of Bangor, and was an intimate friend of the family. After the second lesson his Lordship, with the rector (Rev. J. A. Carey) proceeded to the west wall, where he read the dedicatory prayers. In the course of a loving tribute to their memory, his Lordship said he was proud to have known such boys. They had fallen in the service of their country, and it was but fitting that their memories should be perpetuated in the church in which they were wont to worship. Their noble lives and heroic deaths would long be remembered in the parish and far beyond its bounds. His Lordship also referred feelingly to the death of Captain Richard I. Robson, another member of the congregation, who fell in battle a few days ago. The hymn, "For all the saints who from their labours rest," was sung in place of the anthem. The memorial brass has been erected by Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt.
Belfast Newsletter, 15th August 1917
Portrait image from the RBAI Inst and the Great War website
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