McEWAN, David

Rifleman David McEwan

Rifleman, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Service No: 8596
Died: 10/03/1915
Age: 26

Remembered on Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

David McEwan was born on the 18th December 1888 in Cushendun, Co Antrim. He was the son of St.George Glencairn McEwan (known as George), a coastguard, and his wife Ann nee McNeill and was the eldest of their six children. The birth, which was registered by his grandfather David McNeill, recorded the surname as McKeown but this was not picked (probably because his grandfather was illiterate) but a corrected entry was made in December 1899.

The family moved several times as George was posted to various stations. After David's sister Margaret was born in 1890 the family moved to Slieveban in Co Donegal. It was here his brothers George, William and Isaac where born. The family then moved to Helen's Bay where brother Charles was born in 1899. When his father George retired from the Coastguard the family moved to Hardcastle Street in Belfast and it was here George died in 1914.

About 1907 David enlisted in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. The 2nd Battalion had been stationed in Ireland but in 1906 had moved to Aldershot before moving to Dover in 1909. It was in the Citadel Barracks there that David is recorded in the 1911 census as having attained the rank of corporal.

When war broke out the 2nd Battalion, now stationed at Tidworth, were mobilised leaving there on the 13th August and disembarking at Rouen the following day. They moved forward and were involved in the battle of Mons on 23rd August.

David may have missed this engagement, however, as his Medal Index Card records the date on entering the theatre of war as the 26th August, but would have been involved in the first Battle of Ypres and La Bassée after which the battalion had been reduced to 40 men.

In March 1915, the 1st Battalion took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, an attempt to seize Aubers Ridge, attacking over the same ground where the 2nd Battalion had been virtually wiped out at the Battle of La Bassée the previous October. In their ranks were veterans of Mons, redrafted from the 2nd Battalion on recovery from wounds, etc. One of those men was David McEwan.

The Northern Whig of 2nd April 1915, reported: "Details of the losses sustained by the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles at Neuve Chapelle, on the 10th ult., and subsequent days, continue to be received in Belfast... Rifleman David M'Ewan, killed in action, was a son of Mrs A. M'Ewan, 34, Hardcastle Street, Belfast. He was 26 years of age, and was serving at the front since November last."

Portrait image courtesy of Nigel Henderson, Great War Ulster Newspaper Clippings

CONWAY, William John

Corporal, 2nd Batt. (attch. 7th), Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)
Service No: S/6003
Died: 26/03/1918
Age: 22

Remembered on Arras Memorial
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

Stevenston War Memorial, Ayrshire

William John Conway was born in 1st October 1895 at 10 St. Leonard Street in Belfast. (His birth was register by a Grace Macaulay who gave the surname as Connery). He was the second child of Robert Conway, a Railway Guard, and his wife Margaret Jane (nee Moore).

William's father Robert came from Conlig, a small village midway between Newtownards and Bangor. Robert was working as a car driver when he married Margaret in Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church in February 1892.

Robert and Margaret where living in Castle Street, Bangor, when their first child Margaret was born in Dec 1892 – Robert now working as a Railway Porter – before moving to Belfast where William was born in 1895 and his sister Minnie Agnes was born 12 St Leonard Street in 1899.

The family then moved to Stevenston in Ayrshire, although the exact date is unknown. As no sign can be found in the 1901 Irish census it can only be assumed they moved shortly before. It was there that Williams four other siblings where born – Robert, Martha, Hugh, and Thomas.

William enlisted in the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), entering France on 20 September 1915 – the date which the 10th Battalion are recorded as entering France. Two months later, in November 1915, the 10th were sent to  Salonika.

In April 1916, suffering from acute nephritis, William (recorded as serving with D Company, 10th Batt.) was transferred to the Hospital Ship Formosa and in December he embarked at Shat-el-Arb for Bombay (now recorded as serving with the 2nd Battalion) and in February 1917 was transferred to England.

As the 2nd Battalion stayed in Palestine and Mesopotamia, however, it is logical to assume he was transferred to the 7th Battalion with whom he is recorded as serving when he was presumed killed on 26th March 1918.

ANGUS, James

Private James Angus

Private, 29th Batt., Canadian Infantry
Service No: 75229
Died: 11/09/1916
Age: 29

Remembered on Vimy Memorial
Remembered on Family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

James Angus was born on 16th July 1887 in Cottown, a small townland in Co Down between Donaghadee and Bangor. He was the eldest son of Alexander Angus, a labourer, and his wife Mary (nee Murphy) and the second of their nine children.  

On leaving school James became an agricultural labourer like his father and, at some point after 1911, emigrated to Canada. It was there were he enlisted with the 29th Battalion Canadian Infantry in November 1914.

His attestation papers gave his year of birth as 1889 and occupation as Powder Maker. The  papers also recorded that he belonged to an active militia and further that he was serving with the 72nd Regiment Seaforth Highlanders in August 1914 and that he transferred to the 29th Battalion Canadian Infantry in November 1914 were he signed his attestation papers on 21st Nov 1914 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Memorial Window in Shore Street Presbyterian Church, Donaghadee

James sailed from Montreal to England on the s.s. Missambie in May 1915 and embarked for France in September 1915.

James was reported as killed in action on 11th September 1916. He was the third of three Angus brothers to be killed in action. His brother Robert was killed on 9th July 1916 at the Somme. His brother Blair was reported missing on 1st July 1916 but it took almost a year before he was official recorded as presumed killed on that date.

ANGUS, John Blair

Rifleman Blair Angus

Rifleman, 13th Batt., Royal Irish Rifles
Service No: 17155
Died: 01/07/1916
Age: 19

Remembered on Thiepval Memorial
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

John Blair Angus, known as Blair, was born on the 10th July 1896 in Cottown, a small townland in Co Down between Donaghadee and Bangor. He was the youngest son of Alexander Angus, a labourer, and his wife Mary (nee Murphy) and the sixth of their nine children.

Blair served with the 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. Barry Niblock on his North Down and Ards website records that his expertise as a rat catcher led to his appointment as Assistant Rat-Killer in his Platoon.

Memorial Window in Shore Street Presbyterian Church, Donaghadee

Blair was posted as missing in action after the first day of the Battle of the Somme and, although recorded as killed in the columns on the Northern Whig of 14 July 1916, it was not until June 1917 that it was officially confirmed that he must be presumed to have been killed on that date.

Two of Blair's brothers, James and Robert, also served. Robert was killed on 9th July 1916 and James on 11th September 1916.

Mr. Alexander Angus, 20, Albert Street, Bangor, has just received official news that his third son, Rifleman Blair Angus, Royal Irish Rifles, missing since 1st July, was killed on that date. This is the third and last son of the family, the others having been killed on 9th July, 1916, and 15th September, 1916, respectively.

Northern Whig, 18th June 1917

ANGUS, Robert

Lance-Corporal Robert Angus

Lance Corporal, 2nd Batt., Royal Scots Fusiliers
Service No: 20885
Died: 09/07/1916
Age: 23

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

Robert Angus was born on 6th September 1893 in Cottown, a small townland in Co Down between Donaghadee and Bangor, and was the second son of Alexander Angus, a labourer, and his wife Mary (nee Murphy) and the fifth of their nine children. Like his father and brother Robert worked as an agricultural labourer after leaving school.

Robert moved to Scotland and was working as a bricklayer's labourer when he enlisted in  December 1915 in the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He was posted  to the 3rd Batt. in February 1916 where he was appointed Lance-Corporal in March 1916. He was then posted to the 1st Batt. joining them in France in June 1916.

Memorial Window in Shore Street Presbyterian Church, Donaghadee

Posted to the 2nd Batt. on 5th July 1916 Robert was killed in action just 4 days later on 9th July 1916 on the Somme.

Two of Robert's brothers, Blair and Robert, also served. Blair was reported missing on 1st July 1916 but it took almost a year before he was official recorded as presumed killed on that date. His brother James was killed on 11th September 1916.

KILLED IN ACTION
ANGUS – Kiled in action on July 9, 1916, Lance-Corporal Robert Angus, Royal Scots Fusiliers, aged 22 years, second son of Alexander and Mary Angus, late of Cottown. Deeply regretted by his sorrowing Father, Mother, Sisters, Brothers and Uncle (on Active Service). 20 Albert Street, Bangor.

Belfast Newsletter, 1st August 1916

SAVAGE, John Graham

Rifleman John Savage

Rifleman, 13th Batt., Royal Irish Rifles
Service No: 2365
Died: 16/08/1917
Age: 24

Remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

John Savage was born in Holborn Street, Bangor on 7 November 1893. He was the son of James Hamilton Savage, a carpenter, and his wife Mary (nee Graham) and was the third of their four children.

His father James became a succesful building contractor and the family moved to Mount Herald, on the Ballyholme Road. He eventually became an elected Councillor and JP.

On the outbreak of war John enlisted in Belfast with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles.  He was working in a dressing station when it took a direct hit from a shell and most of the medical staff and patients were killed.

The loss made a great impact on the family and they placed a memorial notice iin the paper every year for over 40 years.

When his father James died in November 1954, his will recorded a bequest to Bangor Hospital for "the balance, if any be due, of £100 promised by me to name a bed in memory of my son, John Graham Savage."

John’s older brother Alexander was a Sergeant in the Royal Irish Rifles.

Roll of Honour—In Memoriam
SAVAGE – In loving remembrance of John Graham Savage, killed in action, August, 1917. — Mount Herald, Bangor.

Belfast Newsletter, 17 August 1954.

JORDAN, Robert

Robert is commemorated on the Memorial
in Trinity Presbyterian Church, Bangor

Private, 'D' Coy., 4th Batt., Australian Infantry, A.I.F.
Served as Robert Rogers Gordon
Service No: 1361
Died: Between 06/08/1915 and 09/08/1915
Age: 35

Remembered on Lone Pine Memorial
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

Robert was born on 16 August 1880 at 77 Lepper Street, Belfast, to John Jordan, a sailor, and Jane Jordan nee Barron. (Note: His birth record gives his mothers surname as Barnes but Barron on others. This is confirmed on other records.)

After school Robert took to the sea like his father.

In 1907 he married Mary Ann Tanner in Helen's Bay Presbyterian Church – both are recorded as living in Groomsport at the time.

Robert and Mary moved to Beatrice Road in Bangor and had four children: William (1907); Agnes Jane (1908); Robert (1910); and Gladys Eveline (1913). However, they were to lose Gladys in 1914 at only 9 months old.

Robert had been working in Australia for about a year on the outbreak of war and enlisted on the 3 December 1914. He signed his attestation papers on 5 February 1915 in Liverpool, New South Wales, and posted to the 4th Battalion on 30 March 1915. On his attestation papers he recorded that he had previously served in the Inniskilling Fusiliers for a period of six months before being bought out.

On the 1 May 1915 he was received gun shot wounds to his right shoulder and chest and was sent to Alexandria. He was discharged from hospital there on 21 May and returned to his battalion in Gallipoli on 1 June 1915.

He was reported as killed in action on the Gallipoli Peninsula sometime between the 6 and 8 August 1915.

In a letter to his wife, the company officer said – "I write to give you the sympathy of his comrades and my own in the sad loss of your husband, and to let you know that during all the hard fighting he did his duty nobly and bravely, as all the Australians have done. You have reason to be proud of him, and this should be a comfort to you and your family in your loss. I should have written before, but have myself been wounded in the same attack and sent to England."