RUTHERFORD, Robert Henry

Flying Officer (Navigator), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Service No: 133718
Died: 22/07/1943
Age: 20

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Robert Henry Rutherford was born in 1923.

His father was from Co Cork and had been a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police before becoming a detective sergeant in the Royal Irish Constabulary. He married his wife Pauline, a native of Co Longford, in Dublin in 1910.

On the disbandment of the RIC in 1922 Samuel, Pauline and their children moved to Bangor where Robert was born.

The following transcription taken from the Co Down Spectator of 31 July 1943 gives a biography of his life.

BANGOR AIRMAN’S DEATH

FLYING-OFFICER ROBERT H. RUTHERFORD

ANOTHER NAME has been inscribed on the roll of gallant young Bangor men who have made the supreme sacrifice in the present war — that of Flying-Officer Robert H. Rutherford, the intimation of whose death on Active Service was received with profound regret by his many friends.

Only a few weeks ago we mentioned in our columns that Flying-Officer Rutherford had paid us a visit at our Bangor office while on leave from his unit. Extremely modest when speaking of his own work as navigator of a big bomber, he was enthusiastic in his praise of the skill, daring and good comradeship of his crew. Younger son of the late Mr. Samuel Rutherford, and of Mrs. Rutherford, the young airman was educated at Main Street P.E. School, Bangor Grammar School, and Ardmore College, Belfast. As a schoolboy he had an outstanding athletic record, particularly in flat events, and had the distinction of winning both the 100 and 220 yards Northern Ireland boys’ championships. He played in one of the Grammar School rugby sides, and was the winner of many prizes at the annual athletic sports.

After leaving school he entered the costing office of Messrs. Short & Harland, Belfast; but the Air Force called him, and, enlisting some two years ago, he trained in Canada under the Empire Training Scheme, qualifying for his commission as Pilot-Officer last December. He continued his training in England, and was promoted Flying-Officer only last month. In the Air Force, as at school, his manly qualities and modest bearing made him extremely popular.

A gifted amateur actor, he was a member of Bangor Drama Club, in whose productions he figured in principal parts with great success. He was a fine vocalist, and was a member of First Bangor Presbyterian Church choir. The deep sympathy of the community goes out to his bereaved mother; his sister, Mrs. H. Ballagh, Holywood, and his brother, Mr. Samuel W. Rutherford, in their irreparable loss.

THE FUNERAL

The great regard in which the deceased airman was held expressed itself in a very large attendance at the funeral, which was to Bangor New Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon.

On its way from Belfast to Bangor the funeral stopped at Holywood for a few minutes where the Rev. W. G. Wimperis, an old friend of the family, conducted a short family service.

The interment was preceded by a short service in First Bangor Presbyterian Church, conducted by Rev. Dr. Currie. Mr. Frank A. Parsons, F.R.C.O.. was at the organ, and the choir led the large congregation in the singing of “Rock of Ages” and “The Lord’s My Shepherd.”

Rev. Dr. Currie's Tribute

Robert is commemorated on the Memorial Window
for those who died in the Second World War
in First Bangor Presbyterian Church
(Image courtesy Nigel Henderson)

The mystery of the unfinished life, said Dr. Currie — or what seems to us an unfinished life — is as old as grief itself. The war has intensified it, but it did not create the problem. We on this side of the Great Divide cannot expect to solve the problem, but something may be said about it which may help in some degree to reconcile us to it. We are reminded of the fact that the death On Calvary was that of a young man. What more natural than that Mary His mother — Joseph, her husband, being dead — should have expected to have Jesus with her to the end. But instead, she was a pathetic and helpless witness of His crucifixion. And so, the sorrow which so many hearts are enduring at the present time, was Mary’s sorrow in Jerusalem nineteen hundred years ago. “We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel,” said His friends. They had loved Him deeply, and moreover, they had hoped great things of Him, but death, like a killing frost, had touched the tender bloom, and it was gone.

We do not suggest that the death of Jesus is the solution of our problem. Rather, it is the aggravation, the supreme example of it. But death was not the end of Him. He did redeem Israel. He is doing it still. And furthermore, He is doing it by that very cross by which men thought they had disposed of Him for ever. If God could do that by the Son of Mary Who died at the age of thirty-three, we can believe that He will also do much by the broken, unfinished lives — as they seem to us — which we mourn to-day. Yea, we believe that the life of the future is one in which the whole nature springs into a new vividness of activity; that the training received in this life is not wasted, but is part of the preparation for the fuller life and nobler service of eternity. “His servants shall serve Him,” — there as well as here. What sweeter description of death could there be than that which is given it in the New Testament — falling asleep. “He fell asleep by the will of God.” Sleep is i a gentle thing. It is associated with peace and serenity. Moreover, it implies a waking again. We fall asleep to wake again, and to wake, the better for sleeps — refreshed by its quiet and strengthened by its rest for the new duties of the new day.

“Finest and Most Gallant”

Flying-Officer R. H. Rutherford, whose sudden death we all greatly deplore was one of our finest and most gallant young men. From every standpoint he was worthy of great praise. Physically, mentally and morally, he was all one could wish a young man to be. A most devoted and thoughtful son, a loyal and kindly brother and friend, deeply interested in his church — which he faithfully served as a member of the choir — and beloved by all who were privileged to know him, he will be sadly missed and lamented.

       “His life was gentle; and the elements
        So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up.
        And say to all the world, this was a man!”

He has passed away at the age of twenty. At the summons of his Great Commander-in-Chief, his Spirit has flown to the Heavenly Base, where he has been commissioned for service of a higher kind than belongs to mortals here below.

Our sympathy goes out in full measure to the bereaved mother and all the members of the family. We pray that God may abundantly fulfil unto them His gracious promise: “As one whom his mother comforteth so will I comfort you.”

The chief mourners were Messrs. S. W. Rutherford (brother); Henry Ballagh (brother-in-law); Alex. Robb, G. Humphries, and J. Bryant (uncles), and T. G. H. Bennett.

The beautiful wreaths were from His sorrowing Mother; Sam and Eleanor, Lorna and Wendy; Henry and Pauline; Uncle Alec and Aunt Daisy, Phyllis and Charlie; Uncle George and Aunt Emily; Uncle Jim and Aunt Vic; The Ballagh Family; Mr. and Mrs. Lynas, Holywood; Dr. and Mrs. Currie; Mr. and Mrs. Parsons; Mrs. Glass and family; His friends in High Street; First Bangor Choir; Bangor Drama Club; Jack Leadbetter (Dublin); Officer-Commanding and Fellow Officers at a R.A.F. Station; Senior N.C.O.’s, R.A.F. Station; Corporals, R.A.F. Station; Mr. and Mrs. Hare, High Street; First Bangor Youth Fellowship; Staff Junior Boys’ School, Bangor; Miss M’Millan; Dorothy, John and Sally; Mrs. Patterson, Iris and Cora; George Patrick — his old friend; First Bangor Presbyterian Church; Wm. and Nan Sinclair, Joyce and David.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The funeral arrangements were carried out by Mr. Jacob O’Neill, undertaken, Dufferin Avenue, Bangor.

TRIBUTE BY MR. M. WILKINS, M.A.

It was with deep regret and a sense of grievous loss that we heard of the sudden death on active service of Flying-Officer Robert Henry Rutherford, the twenty-third Old Boy of Bangor Grammar School to make the supreme sacrifice in this war. He was with us for just three years, coming with an Entrance Scholarship in 1935 and passing the Junior Certificate in 1938 with two distinctions and two credits. From the first one picked him out among the crowd of boys, conspicuous with his tall form and athletic build, his lithe carriage and graceful head with grey expressive eyes under the waving dark hair. It was impossible not to note and remember him, so full of restless eager interest in life, born for leadership in word and action. One felt that with his gifts of mind and understanding he should have achieved greater things in examinations perhaps he was too full of imagination and the love of action and adventure for close study. He shone in drama: there he found scope for his gift of words, his craving for action, his wide sympathy, his love of fun, his intense interest in human existence. In our little school dramatic society he was a foremost member, full of energy, talent, enthusiasm: he filled many parts with ability and distinction.

On the running track he was supreme. His giant form moved with a speed that was irresistible and a wonder to watch. He easily carried off our Junior Victor Ludorum (Wilson) Cup. At the Ulster Schools Sports in 1937 he was the central star of our team that won the Junior Championship: he won the Junior 100, 220 and 330 yards, setting up records for the 100 (11 1/5 secs.) and 220 yards (24 2/5 secs.) which are still unbeaten. In that year, too, he had played as a three-quarter on our Rugby Medallion team. He appears in the photographs taken of these two groups which hang in the School.

I remember my intense disappointment when this lad of high promise left us after passing Junior Certificate. I felt it to be a loss to the School that he should not go forward to the final year of his course and gain a place among our leading boys. Perhaps it was characteristic of him to break loose and go out into the wider world before his time, to follow paths of glory and peril that have led him to death in the service of a great ideal. It is our best, our loveliest and bravest that fall. We should all of us feel a deep humility, a sense of the unworthiness of our common lives, that these young men, so guiltless of the sins that have led to this war, should sacrifice the promise of noble lives for the redemption of humanity. Their heroism and goodness strengthens our belief in a God Who is better than anything we can conceive and in Whose Eternal Hands they are safe. And may He in His Infinite Mercy bring comfort and hope to the bereaved.

Northern Whig, Saturday, 24 July 1943

Killed on Active Service

RUTHERFORD -- July, 1943, Robert Henry Rutherford, Flying-Officer, R.A.F.V.R., killed on active service, younger son of the late Samuel Rutherford and Mrs. Pauline Rutherford, Bangor, Co. Down. Funeral arrangements later. Deeply mourned by his sorrowing Mother.

RUTHERFORD -- July 1943, Robert Henry Rutherford, Flying-Officer, R.A.F.V.R., killed on active service, younger son of the late Samuel Rutherford and Mrs. Pauline Rutherford, Bangor, Co. Down. Deeply mourned by his sorrowing Brother, Sam, Sister-in-law, Eleanor, and little Nieces, Lorna and Wendy. 4. Sandringham Gardens, Bangor, Co. Down.

RUTHERFORD -- July, 1943, Robert, Henry Rutherford, Flying Officer, R.A.F.V.R., killed on active service, younger son of the late Samuel Rutherford and Mrs. Pauline Rutherford, Bangor, Co. Down. Deeply mourned by his sorrowing Sister, Pauline, and Brother-in-law, Henry. “Cul-na-Greine,” Belfast Road, Holywood, Co. Down.

MAHAFFY, Henry Irwin

Second Lieutenant, Royal Flying Corps
Date of Death: 22/10/1917
Age: 23

 Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Henry Irwin Mahaffy was born in Ward Villa West, Bangor, on 7 September 1894. He was the son of William Irwin Mahaffy, a solicitor, and his wife Jane (nee Machett) a native of Australia where they married in 1893. He was the eldest of their six children.

He attended Bangor Grammar School and September 1911 became apprenticed to his father who had offices in Calendar Street, Belfast, and had been appointed as Town Solicitor of Bangor in 1901.

Henry, who also played rugby for Bangor, enlisted on the formation of the Ulster Division and served in France with the 13th Battlion, Royal Irish Rifles.

In February 1917, he returned home and qualified for a commission in the Royal Flying Corps and was gazetted as 2nd Lieutenant in May and was stationed at Salisbury Plain.

However, just five months later, in October 1917, Henry was to tragically lose his life in a training flight.

His father travelled to England and returned Henry's body to Bangor for interment.

His younger brother William, was later killed in the Second World War while serving with the Royal Air Force.

MURRAY, Francis Patrick

Lance Corporal, Royal Dublin Fusiliers
transferred to (228110) Labour Corps
Service No: 26545
Died: 27/12/1917
Age: 28
   
Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Francis Patrick Murray was born in Bramley, Leeds, in 1889 (possibly 1st January). He was the son of Richard Murray, an Excise officer and Elizabeth Murray nee Trevor, and the second of their four sons.

His father's position saw the family, including his older brother Richard, move to Ireland where his brother William was born in Dublin in 1894 and then Monasterevin, Co Kildare, where brother Eugene was born in 1897.

In the census of 1901, Francis, now aged 12, and his three brothers were living with their aunt Maria Carroll, in Richmond Terrace, Bray

In 1911, Francis was working as a Chemists Assistant and living in a Hotel in Harcourt Street.

Francis was working as a Chief Dispensing Chemist and was a licentiate of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland when he enlisted in the 10th (Commercial) Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers in Dublin on 24 March 1916.

His father Richard, now a retired Surveyor of Customs and Taxes, died in Dublin in October 1916.

Little is known of exact service but in March 1917 Francis was admitted to Huddersfield War Hospital with Valvular Disease of the Heart, the record stating that it was present at enlistment.

He was posted to the 11th Battalion on 9th April 1917 before being transferred to the Labour Corps in July 1917.

Francis was stationed in Clandeboye South Camp when he was admitted to the Camp Hospital on 13th December suffering from tonsillitis and was discharged to "Light Duty" on the 18th December having recovered.
A surviving medical note records that on the morning of 27th December 1917: "He was found dead near a latrine close to his Barrack Room, the Police were notified and an inquest was not considered necessary... I am informed the night previously joined in Xmas festivities with some of his comrades at Bangor. This man's condition was in my opinion aggravated by his military service."

BLOCKLEY, John Alfred

Petty Officer 1st Class, HMS Viknor, Royal Navy
Service No: 132052
Died: 13/01/1915
Age: 45

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

On Wednesday, 27 January 1915, the Northern Whig reported the following

Found in Belfast Lough
In Bangor yesterday afternoon Dr. Samuel Wallace conducted an inquiry into the circumstances under which J. E. Blockley, said to be a first-class petty officer on board H.M.S. Vicknor, whose body was discovered on Monday, had met his death. When taken from the water the body was encircled by a lifebelt, and round the neck of the deceased was an inflated rubber collar. Where the deceased came from is as yet unknown, but his official number is given as 132052.
     Sergeant J. Johnston gave evidence of identification. The deceased was J. E. Blockley, said to be a first-class petty officer on H.M.S. Viknor, and appeared to be about forty-six years of age. Whether he was married or where he came from was not yet known. The body had been picked up off Black Head on Monday, and identified by a disc attached to it.
     Dr. J. F. Mitchell expressed the opinion that he body had been in the water for about a week, and death in his opinion was due to asphyxia caused by drowning.
     A verdict of "Found drowned in Belfast Lough" was returned.

John Alfred Blockley was born on 14th February 1870 in Hinckley, Leicestershire. He was the son of Zinor Blockley, a carpenter, and his wife Agnes, and the second of their six children.

John was working as an errand boy when on 14th February 1888, his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Royal Navy.

He served on numerous vessels and shore establishments and in 1904 was serving on Excellent when he married Mary Margaret Foster in Portsmouth. They had two children: John Alfred born 1905 and George Edmund born 1910.

John completed his 12 years service in February 1910 and the following year was working as a "beer retailer" in the Lord Palmerston in Arundel Street, Portsmouth although he transferred his licence to another in July 1913.

In August 1914, John was recalled for service joining the crew of the Dolphin as Petty Officer. He then served at Victory 1 and on the Excellent before joining the Vicknor in December 1914.

The following on the loss of the Viknor is extracted from the Dawlish Chronicles

     ... One such loss with all hands was of the armed merchant cruiser HMS Viknor.  She had been built as long before as 1888 as a passenger liner, the Atrato, for use on routes between Britain and the West Indies. Capable of carrying 279 passengers, and 421 ft long and 5,347 tons, she was distinctly yacht-like in appearance due to her clipper bow and smartly raked masts and funnels. Sadly underpowered at 1000 hp, her single screw driving her at no more than 14 knots, she must nevertheless have looked a splendid sight on the blue waters of the Caribbean. In 1912 she was renamed as the Viking by new owners and was used for cruising, an activity for which speed was not an essential.
     Thoroughly obsolete in 1914, not to mention slow, it is therefore surprising that she should have been requisitioned by the British Admiralty service on the outbreak of war in 1914. Now named HMS Viknor, she was armed as a “merchant cruiser” and allocated to the Royal Navy’s 10th Cruiser Squadron which was tasked with patrolling between Iceland and Northern Scotland. Minimally armed, these merchant cruisers were not expected to meet enemy warships and their main purpose was to intercept neutral shipping for inspection to detect war contraband destined for Germany. Considering that during the winter months the ships on this station were likely to encounter some of the worst sea conditions in the world, it is surprising that an old underpowered vessel like the Viknor was ever chosen for such duty.
     During the first weeks of 1915 the Viknor was on patrol off the North West coast of Ireland. She appears to have been in radio contact but she was to disappear in heavy weather on January 13th, close to Tory Island, off the coast of Donegal, without sending a distress signal. She took with her the entire 291-man crew, as well as a German national who had been taken off a ship the neutral Norwegian vessel Bergensfjord, under suspicion of being a secret agent, as well as six other men who have been cryptically referred to as “stowaways”. Some wreckage and many corpses were subsequently washed up on the Irish and Scottish coasts.
     Though the exact cause of the Viknor’s loss cannot be established with certainty, it is possible that she struck a German mine. This could possibly have been one of the 200 laid in the same general area by the German auxiliary cruiser Berlin, one of which had sunk the British super-dreadnought HMS Audacious on October 27th 1914...
     The Viknor’s wreck was found by the Irish survey vessel Celtic Explorer in 2006 but the reason for her loss could still not be identified with absolute certainty.

The liner Atrato, later the Viking and lastly HMS Viknor

Killed in Action

BLOCKLEY – In loving memory of John Alfred Blockley, Warwick House, Kimbolton-road, Copnor, of H.M.S. Viknor, drowned off the Irish coast, January, 1915. – From his sorrowing wife and boys. R.I.P. Portsmouth Evening News, 29th January 1915.

McCONNELL, Robert

Rifleman Robert McConnell

Rifleman, Depot Batt., Royal Irish Rifles
Service No: 2313
Died: 05/03/1918
Age: 20

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Robert McConnell was born on the 26th February 1898 in Herdstown, Donaghadee. Known as Bertie, he was the son of David McConnell, a labourer, and his wife Mary Ellen (nee Strain) and was the fifth of their 11 children.
 
The family lived in Herdstown before moving to Portavo (c1907) and thence to Bangor where they were living in Corporation by the time of the 1911 census and where Robert attended Bangor Grammar School.

When the war broke out Robert, his father David, and older brother David junior enlisted in the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. While there is no record to indicate when David junior enlisted, part of his father's Service Record survived which gives a date of 14th September 1914 and the entry for Robert's Silver War Badge gives his date as 20th November 1914. David seniors record also indicated that he had previously served seven years in the Royal Garrison Artillery.


Tragedy hit the family shortly afterwards however when, in October, his mother Mary died of ovarian cancer. The Newtownards Chronicle of 23rd October 1914 reported:

"... Deceased was the wife of David M'Connell, one of the Bangor U.V.F. at present in camp at Clandeboye. The case is a peculiarly sad one, as deceased leaves a family of ten children, six of whom are totally unfit to provide for themselves. Mrs. M'Connell has been ailing for several weeks, and it is much to be feared that a woman in humble circumstances could not, with the delay in the Government remittances, have received nourishment requisite to her delicate condition. Mr. M'Connell is well-known in Bangor having, before he enlisted, been in the employment of Mr. Hugh Morrow as driver of a dust cart for the Urban Council."

His father was discharged in November to look after the young family.

On the 1st July 1916, Robert's brother David was reported as killed at the Somme.

In December 1916 Robert's brother George, now living in Donaghadee, married Bridie Coughlin. They later moved into the family home in Church Street.

Robert and his brother David are remembered on the
memorial in St Comgall's parish church

In September 1917 his father David re-enlisted in Belfast with the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was later transferred to the Labour Corps before being compulsorily transferred to the Durham Light Infantry (28th Batt.) in June 1918. He was demobilised in February 1919 and was finally discharged in March 1920.

Robert became ill and developed pulmonary tuberculosis and in April 1917 was discharged from the Army going to live in the family home in Church Street.

On the 5th March 1918, Robert McConnell died in Forster Green Hospital of Pulmonary Haemorrhage aged 20.

DORNAN, Matthew

Private, 1st Batt., Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Service No: 8956
Died: 13/02/1919
Age: 30

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Matthew was born in Beech Street, Belfast, on the 11th September 1889. He was the son of  Joseph Dornan, a brick burner, and his wife Mary Dornan (nee McGreavey) and was the third of their four children.

The family lived at various addresses in Belfast: Taggarts Houses, Lower Ballysillan, where sibling Agnes was born in 1895; Lawnview Street in the 1901 census; and Mayo Street in the 1911 census and later.

Matthew worked in the Blackstaff Flax Spinning and Weaving Co. on the Springfield Road.

On the 7th February 1907 Matthew, then aged 18, enlisted for full-time service in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers having previously served in the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion.

He served in Malta, China and India where he spent part of his service working as a hospital orderly and in June 1914, he re-enlisted for another 2 years.

Matthew went to Gallipoli with the 1st Battalion in March 1915 and in August 1915 was sent to hospital with dysentery from which he suffered with continually off and on over the next year.

In 1916 the Battalion went to France but Matthew continued to suffer bouts of ill health.

In November 1917 he was finally discharged due to his health, his discharge papers recording that his discharge was due to "Disability caused by military service... attributable to... climate, stress of campaign, dysentery enteric and trench foot; Disability melancholia."

He is recorded as a Lance-Corporal on his discharge papers.

Matthew on being discharged went to live with his aunt Mrs Brown who lived in Ruby Street, Bangor.

It was there that Matthew died on the 13th February 1919 aged 28 of septic pneumonia and cardiac failure.

MURPHY, John

Rifleman, 3rd Batt., Royal Irish Rifles
Service No: 7446
Died: 14/12/1918
Age: 29

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

John Murphy was born on 23rd January 1889 in 22 College Street West, the fourth child of James Murphy, a labourer, and his wife Sarah (nee Simpson).

As was common with lower working class families at the time, the family can be found living at a number of addresses and where living in Eureka Street at the time of the 1901 Census. However, the family had moved once again and where living in Bentham Street when his mother Sarah died in 1904.

In June 1908, John now living in Conway Street, he enlisted in the Royal Irish Rifles (Special Reserve). As part of a restructuring of the militia regiments that year this had been the 4th Royal Irish Rifles with which John had served previously.

On the outbreak of war, John was called up and went to France in September 1914 with the Expeditionary Force. He was wounded and sent home in October 1914 with a gun shot wound to his right thigh.

Although the wound caused no permanent incapacity John was now suffering from chronic bronchitis. It was believed this had originated in 1914 when he was at camp near Belfast and had been aggravated by his service in France. He was discharged on 16th April 1915 as no longer physically fit for service.

His condition gradually worsened and in April 1917 he applied for a Total Disablement Pension.

On 7th November 1918 John married Margaret Foley in St. Matthews Church, Ballymacarrett.

Unfortunately, they weren't to have much time together, for just five weeks later, on 14 December 1918, John was to die of heart failure at the home of his sister Elizabeth in Bangor.

MacCALLUM, John Evelyn Matier

Group Captain, Royal Air Force
Date of Death: 16/10/1943
Age: 37

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

John "Lyn" MacCallum was born on the 3rd October 1906 in Longstone Street, Lisburn. He was the son of William MacCallum, a teacher, and his wife Charlotte MacCallum (nee Williams).

After his education he entered the R.A.F. in 1923. Later gaining a cadetship at Cranwell, he was commissioned as a pilot officer in December 1927.

In 1931 he married Patricia Bishop in Ismailia, Egypt.

Until 1932 he was employed on flying an air pilotage duties with Army co-operation squadrons at home and in the Middle East. After three years as a flying instructor at home training schools he was with bomber squadrons in England in 1935-36. He then joined the Far East Command, and was subsequently appointed for personnel staff duties at its head-quarters in Singapore, where he was still serving in 1939.

He was promoted squadron leader in August, 1937, and wing commander, in June, 1940.

MacCALLUM -- In October, 1943, Group-Captain John Evelyn MacCallum, R.A.F., second son of Harry and Lottie MacCallum, Castle Street, Portadown, and husband of Corporal Mollie MacCallum, W.A.A.F.

Belfast Newsletter, 20th October 1943

COLLIER, Reginald John

Second Lieutenant, Royal Flying Corps
Service No: 16207
Age: 19
Date of Death: 12/02/1918

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Reginald John Collier was born on 15th October 1898 at 21 Strandmillis Gardens, Belfast, to William F. Collier, an accountant, and Marion F. Collier (nee Townsend). The family later moved to Evelyan Gardens on the Cavehill Road before settling in Bangor in the early 1900s.

Known as Jack, he was educated at Bangor Grammar School and Kings Hospital School, Dublin and took up a position in the Belfast Banking Company, working in their Cromac Street branch when he enlisted in early 1917.

A BE 2E which was the type of aircraft Jack was flying.

He was also a member of the Queen's University Officer Training Corps in the years 1916-1917.

He transfered from the General List to the the Royal Flying Corp with the rank of Second Lieutenant in August 1917.

On 12th February 1918, Reginald was killed in a flying accident while training with 13 Training Squadron at RAF Yatesbury.

He is remembered on the war memorial in St. Comgall's parish church in Bangor and in the Queen's University Roll of Honour.

ROLL OF HONOUR

COLLIER – February 12, accidentally killed when flying, Reginald John Collier, Second-Lieutenant R.F.C., only son of W. F. Collier, 123, Hamilton Road, Bangor, aged 19. Funeral service in Bangor Parish Church this day (Saturday, 16th inst.), at 2.30. Funeral immediately after to Bangor New Cemetery.

Northern Whig, 16th February 1918.

SLOSS, Francis Neville

Corporal, 83 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Service No: 1544915
Died: 18/06/1943
Age: 19

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Second World War memorial in
St. Comgall's Parish Church, Bangor

Francis Neville Sloss was born on 15th July 1923, the eldest son of Francis A. Sloss and Alice M. F. V. Sloss (nee Patchell). His father was a solicitor and the family were living in Central Avenue at the time of Francis' death.

Francis was educated at Sligo Grammar School and High School.

SLOSS – June 1943, Corporal Francis Neville Sloss, R.A.F.V.R., age 19 years, elder son of Francis A. Sloss, LL.B., Solicitor, Bangor, Co. Down, and grandson of the late Joseph Sloss, M.D., Staff Surgeon, Royal Navy, and of William A. Patchell, Belfast. Service in Abbey Church to-morrow (Wednesday), at 3 o'clock. After service, funeral to Bangor New Cemetery.

Northern Whig, 22nd June 1943.

BEATTIE, Robert

Pioneer, 22nd Company, Royal Engineers
Service No: 338725
Died: 08/09/1919
Age: 26

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Robert Beattie was born in Maryport, Cumberland, in Sept 1893. He was the youngest son of John Beattie and his wife Ellen (nee Agnew).

John and Ellen where from Co. Down and moved to Cumberland shortly after their marriage in 1876. John was a labourer and was working in an ironworks in Maryport and the family lived there until the late 1890s when they moved to Bangor and were living in Castle Street in 1901 later moving to Bingham Street.

Robert started work as a greengrocer and when war broke out enlisted in the Royal Irish Rifles (SN:18179) but was transferred the the Royal Engineers with whom he went to France in October 1915.

Robert was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital on 25th August 1919 were he died just over two weeks later on 9th September* from a haemorrhage on the brain.

* Although the headstone and CWGC recorded the date as 8th September the official death entry records the 9th.

MILEY, Frederick James

Leading Aircraftman, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Service No: 1056802
Died: 26/01/1942
Age: 28

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Frederick James Miley was born in Duke Street, Athy, on 29th August 1913. He was the son of Robert Miley, a grocer, and his wife Margaret Miley (nee Mansfield).

Fred Miley is recorded on the
Bangor Parish War Memorial
in St. Comgall's Church 

The family moved to Bangor and Fred was educated at Main Street school. Both he and his younger brother William (who also served in the RAF) attended Bangor Grammar School having both won Entrance Scholarships in 1926 – "probably the only case of two brothers winning scholarships together at the same examination" according to their headmaster Maurice Wilkins.

In a biography written by Mr. Wilkins on the death of Fred he said, "They were not boys one could forget — quiet, modest and industrious, of attractive bearing and manners, quick intelligence and brilliant promise. They excelled in all subjects — boys whom it was a real pleasure to have in a class, for the sake of the example they set of good conduct and splendid proficiency."

He enlisted in the RAF shortly after the outbreak of the war and served some time in the Middle East where he contracted an illness. He returned home where he died several weeks later.

WRIGHT, Robert

Civilian Casualty
Died: 17/04/1941
Age: 41

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Robert lived at Hazeldene Gardens, Bangor with his wife Louisa (CWGC.org give the address as 32 Avenue Baylands). On the night of 15th April 1941 the German Luftwaffe carried out the second of three air raids on Belfast. Some of the bombers missed their targets and several outlying areas where hit– one being Bangor. Robert was injured in the raid and died in Bangor Hospital two days later.

 
WRIGHT — April 17, 1941, at Hospital, Robert E., dearly-beloved husband of Louisa Wright, Hazeldene Gardens, Bangor. Funeral from Central Hall, Bangor, to-morrow (Sunday), 20th inst., at 4 p.m., to New Cemetery, Bangor. At Home with the Lord. Deeply regretted.

Northern Whig, 19th May 1941

MAGINNIS, Hugh

Ship's Cook, S.S. Wileysike
Died: 09/05/1918
Age: 38

Interred Bangor Cemetery

Born in Bangor, son of Hugh and Jane Maginnis.

Photo of ss Wileysike (from Clive Ketley on www.tynebuiltships.co.uk)

S.S. WILEYSIKE
The ss Wileysike (Reg No: 95248) was an lightly-armed British cargo ship. On the 9th May 1918, while en route from Glasgow to France with a cargo of coal, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U54 when 8 miles SW of St Ann’s Head, Wales. She went down with the loss of 4 lives: Hugh, David Davies (Wales), George Pettinger (Yorkshire) and Rafael Diaz (Mexico).
    She was built in 1888 by the Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company and, when sunk, was owned by the Wileysike Steamship Co Ltd (WS Miller & Co) of Glasgow.

GRATTAN, Angeline

Civilian Casualty
Died: 16/04/1941
Age: 18

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Angeline Grattan was the daughter of Andrew and Matilda Grattan and lived at 40 Ashley Gardens Bangor. On the night of 15th April 1941 the German Luftwaffe carried out the second of three air raids on Belfast. Some of the bombers missed their targets and several outlying areas where hit– one being Bangor. Angeline along with her mother Matilda and her sister Shelagh were killed in the raid.

Funeral of Raid Victims

The funeral took place yesterday to Bangor New Cemetery of Mrs. Matilda Grattan and her daughters, Shelagh (20) and Angeline (18), who lost their lives as the result of enemy action. A service was held in St. Comgall’s Catholic Church, Brunswick Road.
    The chief mourners were Mr. Andrew Grattan (husband and father), his married daughter, Mrs. G. O’Connell, of Galway, and her husband; another daughter, Miss Kathleen Grattan, and Mr. B. M’Kinney.
    Three sons, Messrs. Robert, George and Andrew, are abroad.
    The Mayor, Councillor W. M. M’Millan, and the Town Clerk, Mr. R. M. Moore, represented the Council and residents of the town. The services were conducted by the Rev. T. MacGowan, P.P., and the Rev. A. R. MacNabb, B.A., C.C.
    The funeral arrangements were carried out by Mr. Jacob O’Neill, undertaker, Dufferin Avenue, Bangor.

    Northern Whig, 19th May 1941

GRATTAN, Shelagh

Civilian Casualty
Died: 16/04/1941
Age: 20

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Shelagh Grattan was the daughter of Andrew and Matilda Grattan and lived at 40 Ashley Gardens Bangor. On the night of 15th April 1941 the German Luftwaffe carried out the second of three air raids on Belfast. Some of the bombers missed their targets and several outlying areas where hit– one being Bangor. Shelagh along with her mother Matilda and her sister Angeline were killed in the raid.

Funeral of Raid Victims

The funeral took place yesterday to Bangor New Cemetery of Mrs. Matilda Grattan and her daughters, Shelagh (20) and Angeline (18), who lost their lives as the result of enemy action. A service was held in St. Comgall’s Catholic Church, Brunswick Road.
    The chief mourners were Mr. Andrew Grattan (husband and father), his married daughter, Mrs. G. O’Connell, of Galway, and her husband; another daughter, Miss Kathleen Grattan, and Mr. B. M’Kinney.
    Three sons, Messrs. Robert, George and Andrew, are abroad.
    The Mayor, Councillor W. M. M’Millan, and the Town Clerk, Mr. R. M. Moore, represented the Council and residents of the town. The services were conducted by the Rev. T. MacGowan, P.P., and the Rev. A. R. MacNabb, B.A., C.C.
    The funeral arrangements were carried out by Mr. Jacob O’Neill, undertaker, Dufferin Avenue, Bangor.

    Northern Whig, 19th May 1941

GRATTAN, Matilda

Civilian Casualty
Died: 16/04/1941
Age: 54

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Matilda Grattan was the wife of Andrew F. Grattan and lived at 40 Ashley Gardens Bangor. On the night of 15th April 1941 the German Luftwaffe carried out the second of three air raids on Belfast. Some of the bombers missed their targets and several outlying areas where hit– one being Bangor. Matilda and her daughters Shelagh and Angeline were killed in the raid.

Funeral of Raid Victims

The funeral took place yesterday to Bangor New Cemetery of Mrs. Matilda Grattan and her daughters, Shelagh (20) and Angeline (18), who lost their lives as the result of enemy action. A service was held in St. Comgall’s Catholic Church, Brunswick Road.
    The chief mourners were Mr. Andrew Grattan (husband and father), his married daughter, Mrs. G. O’Connell, of Galway, and her husband; another daughter, Miss Kathleen Grattan, and Mr. B. M’Kinney.
    Three sons, Messrs. Robert, George and Andrew, are abroad.
    The Mayor, Councillor W. M. M’Millan, and the Town Clerk, Mr. R. M. Moore, represented the Council and residents of the town. The services were conducted by the Rev. T. MacGowan, P.P., and the Rev. A. R. MacNabb, B.A., C.C.
    The funeral arrangements were carried out by Mr. Jacob O’Neill, undertaker, Dufferin Avenue, Bangor.

    Northern Whig, 19th May 1941

LEE, Edward Elliott

Captain, Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Service No: 104897
Died: 19/12/1946
Age: 53

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Edward Elliott Arthur Axford Lee was born in Dublin on the 21st June 1893. He was the son of Edward E. Lee and Eliza Lee (nee Axford) and the eldest of their six children. His father was a tobacco merchant operating out of premises at 23 Wellington Quay in Dublin, and Edward grew up at the family home in Lower Gardiner Street.

Working as a Solicitors Clerk when war broke out, Edward joined the Officer Training Corp and went to Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 26th June 1915 and had attained the rank of Captain by the end of the war. His brother, Harold, enlisted in the 10th Battalion in December 1915.

In July 1916, he married Ida Florence Hayes with whom he had three children and after the war he returned the the law. In the early 1920s, moving first to Craigavad, he took up a position as a law searcher at a legal firm in Arthur Street, Belfast.

Edward was a Freemason and in 1923 he became a founder member of the Ardath Lodge in the Freemasons Hall in Arthur Square in Belfast. It was also at this time tragedy struck the family when in August of that year they lost their 5-year-old son Teddie when he was struck by a motor car.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, Edward was recalled and commissioned into the RAOC and in 1941 took up the position of Commanding Officer of the Returned Stores Dept. in Templemore Street which was in the Ballymacarrett district of Belfast.
Edward died suddenly at his home on the Holywood Road, Belfast on 19th December 1946.

LEE – December 19, 1946, at his residence Hayeslee, Hollywood Road, Belfast, Captain EDWARD E. LEE, R.A.O.C., to the inexpressible grief of his Wife and Family. Funeral to-morrow morning (Saturday), at 10-30, from the above address to Bangor New Cemetery.

Belfast Telegraph, 20th December 1946

                                       ___________________________________

DEATH OF CAPTAIN E. E. LEE.

Captain Edward E. Lee, officer commanding the Returned Stores Depot, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Templemore St., Belfast, has died suddenly at his residence, 208 Holywood Road.
    Captain Lee was at Sandhurst in 1914, and served in the first World War with the 3rd Royal Dublin Fusiliers, attaining the rank of captain. Between the wars he carried on business in Arthur Street as a law searcher, and was well known in Belfast legal circles.
    In October 1939, Captain Lee was re-commissioned with the R.A.O.C., and served in England for a year before taking up his position in Belfast.
    He was a founder member of Ardath Masonic Lodge.
    Captain Lee is survived by his wife, a son, Flight-Lieut. Arthur E. Lee, R.A.F., and a daughter, Mrs. William Lynn, who resides in London.

Belfast Telegraph, 20th December 1946

                                       ___________________________________

Death of Captain E. E. Lee

The death has occurred suddenly at his residence, 208 Holywood Road, of Captain Edward E. Lee, O.C., the Returned Stores Depot, Templemore Street, Belfast.
    Captain Lee served in the 1914-1918 War with the 3rd Royal Dublin Fusiliers, attaining the rank of Captain. Afterwards he carried on business in Arthur Street as a law searcher and was well-known in Belfast legal circles. He was recommissioned with the R.A.O.C. in October, 1939.
    Surviving are his wife, a son, Flight-Lieut. Arthur E. Lee, R.A.F., and a daughter, Mrs. William Lynn, who resides in London.

Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 21st December 1946

                                       ___________________________________

Funeral of Captain E. E. Lee

Captain Edward E. Lee, 108, Holywood Road, O.C., Returned Stores Department, Belfast, was on Saturday interred in Bangor Cemetery with full military honours. Chief mourners were Flight-Lieutenant Arthur E. Lee, R.A.F. (son), and Mr. H. F. Lee and Mr. Victor Lee, (brothers).
    The War Office was represented by Major-General C. Causdale, C.B.E., and among those present was Lieut.-Colonel S. H. Hall Thompson, Minister of Education, an old friend of the family.
    The funeral arrangements were carried out by Thomas Johnson & Sons, Ltd., Bedford Street, Belfast.

Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 23rd December 1946

DORAN, Patrick Edward

Civilian Casualty
Died: 26th October 1942

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Royal Marine Special Police Reserve. Husband of K. Doran of 106 High Street.

Police Roll of Honour Trust
Special Reserve Constable Patrick Edward Doran
Died 26 October 1942
Killed in an enemy air raid at Bangor, Co. Down, duty status unknown.

KEANE, Stephen Vincent

Ship's Steward Assistant, H.M.S. Victory
Service No: 347362
Died: 25/01/1916
Age: 25

Interred in Bangor Cemetery

Stephen Vincent Keane was born in Helen’s Bay, on 11th July 1890. He was the son of Richard Keane, chief Boatswain at the Coastguard Station and Elizabeth Keane nee Sumner.  Stephen was only 10 when his mother Elizabeth died in 1900, the family then living in Whitehead. His father and family later moved to Bangor where they lived in Dufferin Avenue.

Stephen joined the Royal Navy in Portsmouth on 6th December 1905 as a Ship Steward’s Boy serving first on HMS Victory. His brother Richard enlisting the following day. On his 18th birthday, 11th July 1908, he then signed on for contiuous service as Ship Steward’s Assistant.

British light cruiser HMS Glasgow at Valparaiso in Chile before the
Battle of Coronel on 1 November 1914.

He served on various ships and on the outbreak of war serving on HMS Glasgow which took part in the Battle of Coronel and Battle of the Falklands.  In December 1914 he then transferred to HMS Canopus which then took part in the Dardanelles campaign.

HMS Canopus which fired the first shots of the Battle of the Falklands before transferring to the Mediterranean where she took part in the Naval operations in the Dardanelles campaign.

Stephen took ill and on 5th May was transferred to hospital at Malta were he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and invalided home on 9th June 1915.

He died at home on 25th January 1916, his father passing only two weeks earlier, and was buried in Bangor Cemetery.