I was already interested in history, particularly the world wars, and this jaunt stands out as a particular favourite childhood memory. Juxtaposed alongside the memories of educational enjoyment, and sense of history, are many hedonistic japes, such as a group of us taking speed just before getting onto the coach to drive, overnight, to Dover. We were separated late at night for talking, and sent to different corners of the large coach. I found some distraction by listening to rave music on my then fashionable “Walkman” but it was confiscated. Like my friends, I arrived in Dover looking and feeling none too clever. But the enduring interest in Europe at war still remains.
I’ve been back to Normandy since, and visited war sites in Germany and Poland, along with a few of the ones in London. Whilst researching new places to visit when in France, I noticed that a tour of WW1 trenches visited the Ulster Memorial Tower in Thiepval which is described as Northern Ireland’s National war memorial. This got me interested, and a bit of Googling led me to The Somme Association. I had no idea that Northern Ireland had a national war memorial – indeed, the state had not been established when those memorialised upon it perished during World War 1.
The history of the tower is fascinating. The French government sold the land upon which it is built to the Government of Northern Ireland for one Franc. It is the first memorial to have been built on the Western Front. A short history of the tower is given on the Association’s website:
Instrumental in setting up The Somme Association was David Campbell, then of the UUP, now of the Loyalist Communities Council.
I was in the North on a day when a guided tour was being offered of The Somme Association museum. And, so, I drove through flag festooned streets, past a “Newtownards Stands with Soldier F” banner (now also honouring Dennis Hutchings), and to The Somme Museum. The staff were friendly, and encouraged me to have a look around until the tour started. The guide would come and find us. I’ve always found museums to be improved by a guide, and a good guide can make a museum an unforgettable experience. Our guide was very good, I wish I could remember his name. His bearing and demeanour suggested military experience, and his walking stick perhaps an injury incurred. I suspected ex-UDR or ex-RIR, but I didn’t ask.
The guide told us of the background to the war, and how it came to be that three divisions were near Thiepval Wood, the 10th (Irish); 16th (Irish); and 36th (Ulster). He went into details about the 10th and the 16th, describing how they fought with distinction, and the whereabouts of memorials to them. He left, understandably, the 36th (Ulster) Division until last, but not without paying sincere respect to the Irish divisions. We were told about the battle, the terrible casualties, the achievement of objectives, and the effects that it had on the war. There was a lot of detail in a short space of time, but the guide was unhurried and delivered it very well.
The tour continued, and we were shown a machine gun that would have been used at the time, and directed to look at a building far into the distance to demonstrate the range. Later, we went into a “living museum” part, which discussed life in Ireland during WW1, how news was delivered to pre-modern towns and villages, and also how young men, and often young boys, were recruited to fight in Kitchener’s armies. This was social history, explained very well. The political turbulence in Ireland was not ignored, but again, was dealt with fairly impartially. We proceeded through the tour, passing walls with striking images – at one of these, the guide pointed out that the Kings of Germany, Britain, and Russia were all grandsons of Queen Victoria, and then pointed out a photo of a royal wedding at which all men were present. He said “it could be described as a family feud that costs millions of people their lives.”
We continued through realistic models of trenches, with stories about conditions, and ended back where we started. But then, we were shown parish records and memorials which starkly demonstrated the terrible cost to communities in Belfast and elsewhere that WW1 cost. One could see brothers who died together, and entire streets which lost many of their men. One lane, if I recall correctly in Cork, became known as ‘Widow’s Lane’ as seven women lost their husbands in the war.
I would urge all nationalists and republicans to visit the Somme Museum. It is your history too, and when it’s presented like this, it’s impossible not to be moved by it, regardless of political persuasion.
I’ve been back to Normandy since, and visited war sites in Germany and Poland, along with a few of the ones in London. Whilst researching new places to visit when in France, I noticed that a tour of WW1 trenches visited the Ulster Memorial Tower in Thiepval which is described as Northern Ireland’s National war memorial. This got me interested, and a bit of Googling led me to The Somme Association. I had no idea that Northern Ireland had a national war memorial – indeed, the state had not been established when those memorialised upon it perished during World War 1.
The history of the tower is fascinating. The French government sold the land upon which it is built to the Government of Northern Ireland for one Franc. It is the first memorial to have been built on the Western Front. A short history of the tower is given on the Association’s website:
On the 19th November 1921, the Ulster Memorial Tower was dedicated at a ceremony on the site of the Somme Battle. The dedication ceremony was carried out by Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, who was then the Chief of the Imperial General Staff of the British Army. Sir Henry Wilson, a famous Irish soldier born in Currygrane, County Longford, was commissioned into the Royal Irish Regiment in 1884.
From 1921 up until the early 1970’s the Tower had a resident caretaker (veteran soldier) and served as a focus for pilgrimages to the Somme Battlefields. By the late 1980s however the Tower had fallen into disrepair and public access was limited.
In 1988, a cross community group known as the Farset Somme Project began to raise public awareness of the Tower and lobbied government to have the memorial refurbished. On 1st July 1989 the Tower was rededicated in the presence of HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and The Somme Association was founded to manage the Tower and enable it to be open for visitors. In 1994, a Visitors’ Centre, adjacent to the Tower, was opened and a full-time caretaker appointed.
Instrumental in setting up The Somme Association was David Campbell, then of the UUP, now of the Loyalist Communities Council.
I was in the North on a day when a guided tour was being offered of The Somme Association museum. And, so, I drove through flag festooned streets, past a “Newtownards Stands with Soldier F” banner (now also honouring Dennis Hutchings), and to The Somme Museum. The staff were friendly, and encouraged me to have a look around until the tour started. The guide would come and find us. I’ve always found museums to be improved by a guide, and a good guide can make a museum an unforgettable experience. Our guide was very good, I wish I could remember his name. His bearing and demeanour suggested military experience, and his walking stick perhaps an injury incurred. I suspected ex-UDR or ex-RIR, but I didn’t ask.
The guide told us of the background to the war, and how it came to be that three divisions were near Thiepval Wood, the 10th (Irish); 16th (Irish); and 36th (Ulster). He went into details about the 10th and the 16th, describing how they fought with distinction, and the whereabouts of memorials to them. He left, understandably, the 36th (Ulster) Division until last, but not without paying sincere respect to the Irish divisions. We were told about the battle, the terrible casualties, the achievement of objectives, and the effects that it had on the war. There was a lot of detail in a short space of time, but the guide was unhurried and delivered it very well.
The tour continued, and we were shown a machine gun that would have been used at the time, and directed to look at a building far into the distance to demonstrate the range. Later, we went into a “living museum” part, which discussed life in Ireland during WW1, how news was delivered to pre-modern towns and villages, and also how young men, and often young boys, were recruited to fight in Kitchener’s armies. This was social history, explained very well. The political turbulence in Ireland was not ignored, but again, was dealt with fairly impartially. We proceeded through the tour, passing walls with striking images – at one of these, the guide pointed out that the Kings of Germany, Britain, and Russia were all grandsons of Queen Victoria, and then pointed out a photo of a royal wedding at which all men were present. He said “it could be described as a family feud that costs millions of people their lives.”
We continued through realistic models of trenches, with stories about conditions, and ended back where we started. But then, we were shown parish records and memorials which starkly demonstrated the terrible cost to communities in Belfast and elsewhere that WW1 cost. One could see brothers who died together, and entire streets which lost many of their men. One lane, if I recall correctly in Cork, became known as ‘Widow’s Lane’ as seven women lost their husbands in the war.
I would urge all nationalists and republicans to visit the Somme Museum. It is your history too, and when it’s presented like this, it’s impossible not to be moved by it, regardless of political persuasion.
⏩ Brandon Sullivan is a middle aged, middle management, centre-left Belfast man. Would prefer people focused on the actual bad guys.
