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.

ILIFF, Eric

Corporal, 10th Batt., Durham Light Infantry
Service No: 42730
Died: 16/09/1916
Age: 18

Interred in AIF Burial Ground, Flers.
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor cemetery.
   
Eric Ilff was born in Cleadon, Co Durham in the later part of 1897. He was the son of Harold Iliff, a Land Agent, and his wife Edith Mary (nee Dodd). He was the second of their four children, his siblings being Muriel (c1896), Phyllis (c1900), and Constance (c1909).

He attended Bede Collegiate Boys' School in Sunderland, were he was a Durham County Council Junior Scholar, before being transferred to Ryhope Secondary School in 1911, when the County Council opened that school. The 1911 census recording that his father, Harold, had become a teacher of music by this time.

After school be became an apprentice engineer at the Scotia Engine Works in Sunderland.

Eric enlisted with 7th Reserve Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry (SN 3310) on 26th November 1914, and was appointed Lance Corporal on 15th July 1915.

He reverted to Private when posted to the Expeditionary Force on 16th July 1916 but was appointed Acting Corporal on 4th August 1916 when serving with the 10th Entrenching Battalion.

Eric was then posted to the 10th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry on 3rd September 1916 and allotted regimental number 42730 and reverted to private once again.

He was reported missing, later killed in action, on the 16th September 1916 when the 10th Battalion where involved in a major action east of Gueudecourt.

How and why his family moved to Bangor is unknown but his parents where still living in Cleadon in the late 20s.

AIF Burial Ground, Flers, France

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.

SCOTT, William

William is recorded on the memorial in
First Presbyterian Church, Bangor

Able Seaman, HMS Majestic, Royal Navy
Service No: 216800
Died: 27/05/1915
Age: 31

Remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor cemetery

William was born in Fisher's Hill, Bangor, on 18th November 1883. He was the son of William Scott, a boatman, and his wife Agnes Scott (nee Gray) and their second child the other being their daughter Jane Gray who had been born in Fisher's Hill on 12th March 1882.

Sadly, in 1884, when just eight months old, William lost his father to typhoid fever at the young age of 27.

In February 1891, William's mother remarried. His new step-father, William Smiley, was a blacksmith who was a widower with one daughter, Jane, who was born in August 1875.

The family continued to live in Bangor. Firstly in Ava Terrace where, on 6th December 1891, a sister Ruth was born and then in Ruthville, where three other siblings where born – Agnes May born 25th October 1893, Mary Elizabeth born 11th April 1896, and John Henry born 23rd April 1899.

The family then moved to Albert Street, Bangor, where, in the 1901 census, William is recorded as a clerk.

On 18th April 1902, William enlisted in Royal Navy (giving his date of birth as 18th April 1884) where he served on several ships such as Calliope, Royal Oak, and Magnificent.

HMS Majestic

Although he signed on for usual 12-year term in 1902, just over seven years later, on 9 May 1908, William's service document records 'Shore purchase' which usually means he purchased his release from service. It also records he joined the RFR (Royal Fleet Reserve) on 10 May 1908.

On 3rd March 1909, William, now working for the Milfort Weaving Company, married Annie Allen Johnston in St Annes Parish Church, Belfast.

Annie was living at 6 Castleton Avenue, Belfast, and it was here on 6th March 1909, there first child, Agnes May, was born.

William and his family moved subsequently to Parkmount Street, Belfast where they had three other children – Annie Eveline born 8th August 1910, Hilda Jean born 23rd February 1912, and Ruth Gray born 14 August 1913.

On the outbreak of war,  William was recalled for service and joined the  Majestic on 2nd August 1914.

It was on Majestic that William was lost when it was torpedoed on 27th May 1915.

The following is extracted from the Wikipedia page on Majestic:

Sinking of the Majestic

"When World War I broke out Majestic, together with the rest of the squadron, was attached to the Channel Fleet during the early stages of the war before being detached for escort duties with Canadian troop convoys. She then had spells as a guard ship at the Nore and the Humber. In early 1915, she was dispatched to the Mediterranean for service in the Dardanelles Campaign. She participated in bombardments of Turkish forts and supported the Allied landings at Gallipoli.

"On 27 May 1915, while stationed off W Beach at Cape Helles, Majestic became the third battleship to be torpedoed off the Gallipoli peninsula in two weeks. Around 0645 hours, Commander Otto Hersing of the German submarine U-21 fired a single torpedo through the defensive screen of destroyers and anti-torpedo nets, striking Majestic and causing a huge explosion. The ship began to list to port and in nine minutes had capsized in 54 feet (16 m) of water, killing 49 men. Her masts hit the mud of the sea bottom, and her upturned hull remained visible for many months until it was finally submerged when her foremast collapsed during a storm."

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

SCOTT – Lost, with sinking of H.M.S. Majestic, on 27th May 1915, William Scott, aged 31 years (late of Milfort Weaving Company, Ltd). Inserted in fond remembrance by his mother, Mrs. Wm. Smiley, Ruthville, Bangor, and his wife, Kylene Terrace, Croft Street, Bangor.

North Down Herald and County Down Independent, 25 June 1915.

HILL, Ernest Ludgate

Private, 26th Battalion,  Australian Infantry
Service No: 5048
Died: 14/11/1916
Age: 18

Remembered on Villers-Bretonneux Memorial
Remembered on family memorial in Bangor Cemetery

Ernest is recorded on the
Greyabbey and District War Memorial
at Greyabbey (St Saviour’s) Parish Church

Ernest Ludgate Hill was born in Greyabbey, Co. Down, on 25th December 1897. He was the son of Marshall Hill, a teacher, and his wife Sarah Louisa Hill (nee Ludgate) and the second of their six children.

Ernest grew up in Greyabbey but emigrated to Australia around 1914-15 where he worked on a farm.

He enlisted on 2nd February 1916 in Lismore, New South Wales, lying about his age when doing so by adding three years.

Initially placed in the 11th Depot Battalion he was then posted to the 14th Depot Batt. on 26th March 1916. He then joined 13th Reinforcement, 26th Battalion, on 1st April 1916.

Ernest embarked on the "Franconia" for England on 2 August 1916 before landing in France on 24th September 1916. He left Etaples on 2 October 1916 to join his unit at the front the following day.

He was initially reported missing on 14th November 1916, but on 19th April 1917, a report received through the Red Cross recorded him as a prisoner of war in Limberg, Germany.

This later proved incorrect and on 15th October 1919 was officially reported as killed in action on 14th November.

Barry Niblock, on his website North Doan and Ards War Dead, records the following: "Sometime later his family received a few of Ernest’s personal effects from a German soldier who forwarded them after Ernest died. The German soldier whose forename was Ernst had come upon Ernest’s body on the battlefield and had recovered the items from the pockets of Ernest’s uniform."