rn destroyers memorial

November 14

remembrance ni

RN Destroyers Memorial

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on 14/11/2007 unveiled a bronze memorial in memory of the 11,000 men lost over the course of WW2 whilst serving in Royal Navy Destroyers. The memorial is at HMS Cavalier in Chatham Dockyard. Cavalier saw service in WW2 and is well worth a visit

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Bronze memorial to RN Destroyers at HMS Cavalier

Limavady War Memorial’s Australian officerMost War Memorials in Northern Ireland carry names of men who had emigrated and returned to serve in WW1. Two brothers from the Limavady area are an example of this.

William Morrison Stewart emigrated to Australia. His brother George A Stewart emigrated to Canada. Both enlisted in the armies of their adopted countries and returned to Europe where both died in the service of democratic freedoms. They are named on Limavady’s War Memorial. Two other brothers were wounded.

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William Stewart was born at Gelvin, Limavady, Londonderry, Northern Ireland on 23/12/1886 to parents George and Margaret Alice Stewart (nee Morrison).The 1911 census recorded William as a 24 year old, Draper’s Assistant.

Aged 26, he left Ireland, a passenger on Afric. He had boarded at Liverpool and arrived at Sydney on 01/10/1912. He was intending to stay at

the YMCA Sydney.

William Stewart’s war record William Stewart was 28 years old and single, when he enlisted at Liverpool, a suburb of Sydney, on 15/02/1915 with the 5th Infantry Brigade, 19th Infantry Battalion “B” Company of the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.). His service number was 654 and his religion was Presbyterian. His next of kin was listed as his father – Mr G. Stewart, Ballyness, Dungiven, Londonderry.

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Private William Stewart embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on HMAT Ceramic (A40) on 25/06/1915. He joined the M.E.F. (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) at Gallipoli on 16/08/1915.

William was promoted to Lance Corporal on 29/10/1915 while posted at the Gallipoli Peninsula. He disembarked at Alexandria from Mudros on 07/01/1916 and promoted to Sergeant on 24/01/1916 while posted at Canal Zone. Sergeant William Morrison Stewart was sent to School of Instruction on 05/02/1916 and returned to duty on 28/02/1916.

He then travelled to join B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force) from Alexandria on 18/03/1916, disembarking at Marseilles, France on 25/03/1916.

Sergeant William Morrison Stewart was promoted to Second Lieutenant on 19/08/1916. He was sent to Grenade School on 10/10/1916 and returned to his Unit on 16/10/1916.

19th Battalion The 19th Battalion was raised at Liverpool in New South Wales in March 1915 as part of the 5th Brigade. The 19th left Australia in late June, trained in Egypt from late July until mid-August, and on 21 August landed at ANZAC Cove. At Gallipoli the Battalion participated in the last action of the August Offensive ' the attack on Hill 60 ' before settling into defensive routine in the trenches. From mid-September, until its withdrawal from the peninsula on the night of 19th December, the 19th Battalion was responsible for the defence of Pope's Hill.

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After further training in Egypt, the 19th Battalion proceeded to France. It took part in its first major offensive around Pozieres between late July and the end of August 1916. After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the 2nd Division, which included the 5th Brigade, came south again in October. The 19th Battalion attacked near Flers between 14 and 16 November, in conditions that Charles Bean described as the worst ever encountered by the A.I.F.

Second Lieutenant William Morrison Stewart was killed in action on 14/11/1916 in France.

Private A. G. Sayle, No. 4766, 18th Battalion (late 19th Battalion) signed a statement regarding 2/Lt. W. M. Stewart’s death which read: “This Officer was killed by a piece of shell. He was hit on the head and died instantly and

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his body laid in the trench all day. We were ordered to move further along the trench and I did not see his body again and could not say whether he was buried. At Flers about 7 am on 14th November, 1916.”

Roll of Honour, Belfast Newsletter 28 November 1916“LIEUTENANT W. M. STEWART, Australian Imperial Force, killed in action, was the eldest son of Mr George Stewart, Ballyness, Dungiven, County Derry. He enlisted in the ranks in Sydney, and served as a non-commissioned officer on the Gallipoli Peninsula, subsequently proceeding to France, where he was promoted to a commission. A brother of deceased, who was serving with the Canadians, was killed in action in June, 1916, and two other brothers have been wounded”.

Second Lieutenant William Morrison Stewart is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France as he has no known grave; the Roll of Honour, located in the Hall of Memory Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia; Plaque Dungiven Presbyterian Church below a Memorial Window; named on his parents’ private headstone, along with his younger brother – Private George A. Stewart, in Dungiven Parish Churchyard, Dungiven, Co. Londonderry, Limavady War Memorial

Acknowledgments - The Australian War Memorial, Australians Commemorated, Cathy Sedgwick, Haslett Group

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Roll of Honour - November 14 Representing their comrades who died on this day

1914

+ALLISON, William John

Royal Irish Fusiliers. 1st Btn. Private. 7864. Died at home on 11/11/1914. Born at Slatt Ballymena, the son of Thomas and Agnes Allison, nee Dunseath. William enlisted in Belfast and lived in Drogheda. His name is recorded on the Brookwood Memorial. The Brookwood 1914-1918 Memorial is a memorial which commemorates casualties with no known grave. The majority of the casualties commemorated there are service personnel from the land forces of the UK, who subsequently died in the care of their families.

+DONNELLY, DanielRoyal Irish Fusiliers. 1st Bn. Private. 8752. Died 14/11/1914. Aged 27. Formerly with the East Lancs Regt. The 1901 census lists 14 year old Daniel living with his family at house 54 in Alexander Street West, Smithfield, Belfast. His father was a Yarn Spinner Mill Worker.Son of William and Jane Donnelly, of 12, Getty St., Belfast. Born at Dungannon about 1887. Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France

+McDONALD, JOHN Royal Irish Fusiliers. 1st Bn. Private. 8467. Died 14/11/1914. Aged 29. Son of Mrs. Jane McDonald, of I06, Hill St.,

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Gilford. Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France

+WOODS, William John Royal Irish Fusiliers. 1st Bn. Private. 7445. Died 14/11/1914. Aged 33. Son of John Woods, of Portadown; husband to Minnie Dowling (formerly Woods), of 10, Carleton St., Portadown. Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France

1916

+McFADDEN, Joseph

Royal Irish Rifles, 15th Btn. Rifleman. 17/1253. Died 14/11/1916. Age 26. Son of Joseph and Emily McFadden, of Newry St., Banbridge. Ration Farm (La Plus Douve) Annexe, Belgium. Seapatrick C of I Parish WM, Banbridge

+STEWART, William Morrison

Australian Infantry, A.I.F. 19th Btn. Second Lieutenant. Died 14/11/1916. Age 30. Son of George and Margaret A. Stewart, of Ballyness, Dungiven, County Londonderry. His brother George Alexander Stewart with Canadian army also fell. Two more brothers served. Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. Australian National War Memorial, Canberra, Limavady WM, Dungiven Presbyterian Church Memorial Window, Family Memorial in Churchyard. See account above

1941

+McCORRY, TerenceRAF. Sergeant. Died 14/11/1941. Aged 28. 95 Sqdn. An account states that the Squadron was then based in

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Freetown, Sierra Leone. However, while flying over the Bay of Biscay, Sunderland L5803, engaged a Focke Wulf FW 200 Condor of 3/KG 40. The Sunderland pilot, Flying Officer Henry Ronald Bailey, managed to guide the damaged flying boat back to UK waters. He received a bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross on 16/03/1943 for his actions. The citation for his Bar to the DFC states - “On one occasion he was pilot of a Sunderland flying boat when it was attacked by a Focke-Wulf Kurier over the Bay of Biscay. The first burst of enemy fire killed one of the mid-gunners and rendered the rear turret useless. The aircraft was holed in many places but, by skilful manoeuvring, Flying Officer Bailey continued the combat and drove off the attacker. On return to base, although the hull of the flying boat had been holed in many places below the water line, this officer successfully descended on the water without further mishap. He is an excellent pilot who has been a source of inspiration to the other members of his squadron.” Belfast-born McCorry was the gunner referred to in this action. The rest of the crew survived the skirmish with the Focke-Wulf FW 200 Condor. Son of Michael and Teresa McCorry and husband to Mary McCorry of Belfast. Belfast Milltown (Roman Catholic) Cemetery

1943

+KERR, Thomas David

2nd Bn. Royal Irish Fusiliers. Fusilier. 6976531. Died 14/11/1943. Age 32. Son of John Kerr and of Elizabeth Kerr, of Ballygawley, Co. Tyrone. Leros War Cemetery, Greece

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1944

+McCONAGHY, Charles HenryRAFVR. Pilot Officer. 188107. Died 14/11/1944. Aged 20. 224 Sqdn. Son of Charles Brown McConaghy and Elizabeth McConaghy, of Portrush. Runnymeade Memorial, Surrey, Panel 212

1945

+McCARRON, Jean McCarron

Auxiliary Territorial Service.Private. W/51539. Died 14/11/1945. Age 24. Daughter of Robert and Margret McCarron, of Tamlaght. Tamlaght Finlagan Church of Ireland Churchyard, County Londonderry

VETERAN

SEEDS, Hugh

Gunner. 144506. 354th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery. Hugh, from Kilkeel, Co. Down enlisted in Feb 1917 and saw action at the Battle of Cambrai. Transferred to Army Ordnance Corps in April 1918, demobilised Nov 1919.

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November 14

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