Dedication of the memorial to the employees of the Belfast and Northern counties railway who fell in the Great War , York road Station, Belfast.
British POW s (Orderlies), in Oflag lX -A , Spangenberg Castle, Kassel, Germany 1943. Standing 2nd from right is Sam McConaghy from Newtownstewart Co Tyrone, This was his second war, having served in the Inniskillings 1914- 18.
My Great uncle, Andy Adams, of Baronscourt Co Tyrone, he was captured before Dunkirk, and spent the entire war as a POW. He was a Kriegie in Stalag XI-B (Fallingbostel) Germany, and later in Poland, he was liberated by the Russians .
HMS DUMBLETON, Ton class minesweeper , launched in Nov 1957 at H&W Belfast, She was transferred to the South African Navy in 1958, and was renamed as SAS PORT ELIZABETH, she served until 1985.
HMS HUMBER , was a monitor completed by Vickers at Barrow in 1914, she saw action off Belgium, and the Dardanelles, bombarding enemy positions with her 6 inch guns. She survived the war.
MV EMPIRE STAR, completed in 1935 by H&W ,Belfast ,she took part in the evacuations of Crete, Greece, and Singapore, where she was bombed by Japanese aircraft, killing 13. She was later sunk by a U boat south of the Azores with the loss of her captain, and 38 crew members.
HMS MUTINE, Algerine class minesweeper, launched by H&W Belfast in 1942, commissioned in February 1943, seen here leaving Belfast, with a snow covered Cavehill in the background. She served extensively in the Mediterranean for the rest of the war.
Soldiers of the 16th (Irish) Division help rescue religious valuables from a church damaged by enemy shellfire.
1925 , newly elected Unionist MP for Oldpark , Wilson Hungerford leaves Belfast city hall, my Great Grandfather, Joseph Kane, of Mountview st, was his election agent, and follows behind him, I assume the chap on the left is a bodyguard…
A constable of the Royal Irish Constabulary Dublin 1921, an ex serviceman , wearing his medal ribbons, and carrying his swagger stick , ready to face the murder gang.
HMS LALESTON, Ton class Minesweeper, built by H&W Belfast in the old Workman Clark north yard , and completed in 1954. These were the last class of RN warships with a wooden hull.
Men of the 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, 36th (Ulster) Division. 2nd from left is Rifleman William McFadzean who was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry on the 1st July 1916 ,in Thiepval wood. LWF..🇬🇧
Ulster Special Constabulary, ( ‘A’ Specials) , Central Area Tyrone 1921, ( Omagh. / Dromore). Richard McFarland left. The constable centre, is wearing Great War medal ribbons . The ira terrorists feared, and hated these brave men. 🇬🇧
Ulster Special Constabulary ( ‘A’ Specials) 1921, a full time, mobile anti terrorist force. No ‘black and tans’ or auxiliaries were needed in Ulsters six counties, men like These did the job. Jack McFarland on right, based in Davidsons yard ,Mountpottinger road , Belfast. 🇬🇧
My Grandfather, Richard McFarland, of Trillick, Central Area Tyrone Ulster Special Constabulary, ( ‘A’ s , ), these young men wore uniform and brought the Irish Republican Army murder gang , who skulked in the shadows ,to heel in just two years.
My great uncle, Jack McFarland, Ulster Special Constabulary , of Trillick, Co Tyrone ,He joined the ‘A’ force in 1920 age 16, served until the Ira terror campaign was crushed , then emigrated to Vancouver. He served in the RCAF in the 2nd WW.. in Europe, and North Africa. 🇬🇧🇨🇦
