100th Anniversary of the Battle of Messines – Wytschaete Ridge and to acknowledge the Sacrifice made by the 16th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) Divisions
The City of Armagh Branch held a Parade, wreath-laying Service, and the ceremonial unveiling of a Commemorative Bench at the Cenotaph on The Mall, Armagh to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Messines – Wytschaete Ridge on Sunday 11th June, 2017. This battle was the first time that Volunteers from 16th (Irish) Division and the 36th (Ulster) Division had fought side by side against a common foe. It was this battle that was the inspiration for the building of the Island of Ireland Peace Park and Tower close to the battle site.
At the outset of our planning process, it was suggested that we apply to the Irish National War Memorial Trustees for permission to have the Ginchy Cross brought up from Dublin to be displayed on The Mall close to the Cenotaph during this Commemoration Service.
The Ginchy Cross was fashioned from beams taken from a destroyed farm following the 16th (Irish) Divisions capture of the area around Ginchy and Guillemont on 6th September 1916 as part of The Somme offensive. It stood between Ginchy and Guillemont as a tribute to the losses suffered by this Irish Division (4,300 casualties including 1,067 men killed) before being brought to Ireland in 1926. This wooden cross was replaced by one of three replica granite crosses in Guillemont, another was placed at Messines (both to commemorate the 16th) with the third sited in Macedonia to commemorate the 10th (Irish) Division. The Ginchy Cross has been stored in a book room located at the Irish National War Memorial at Islandbridge, Dublin since 1926. It is eleven feet tall approximately and requires 4-6 strong men to move it.
Once we had established who to contact, an appropriate letter was posted requesting the presence of the Ginchy Cross. In order to ‘strengthen’ this request we outlined a proposal to have the Cross displayed in a ‘neutral environment’ which would be open to visits from all communities for a week before the Commemoration Service. The Commemoration itself would be similar to our 2014 Service in that it would be Cross-Community and Cross-Ireland, with international representation.
If the event was to be cross-community, then this should be reflected by the clergy taking part. We were privileged to secure the services of The Most Reverend Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and his counterpart The Most Reverend Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.
A partnership with the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council was soon formed and an exciting programme of events surrounding the historic appearance in Armagh of the Ginchy Cross was jointly planned.
Neither Armagh County Museum nor the Military Museum had rooms with sufficient head-clearance to display the Ginchy Cross. A suggestion was made to approach the Cardinal Tomas O’Fiaich Library and Archive. This venue turned out to be an ideal location, and a partnership was soon established between the library and ourselves to have a series of lectures held in the presence of the Ginchy Cross which would be open to everyone and free of charge.
The terms and conditions set out on how this historic and iconic artefact could be transported and displayed meant that funding was needed to enable us to make this idea become a reality. Three appropriate funding applications were duly submitted, and the waiting for confirmation of success began as our planning progressed.
From very early in the planning process the Lord Lieutenant for County Armagh the Right Honorable The Earl of Caledon KCVO had agreed to attend as a representative of Her Majesty The Queen.
Heather Humphries TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, was delighted to accept our invitation. Our local MLAs William Irwin and Danny Kennedy also accepted, but in politics a day can be a long time and Danny Kennedy was to lose his seat in a by-election before our Commemoration. He remained on our guest list and we were delighted to welcome him on the day.
His Excellency the Ambassador of Belgium in Ireland, Phillippe Roland accepted our invitation to represent the people of Belgium. Although the French Ambassador to Ireland also accepted our invitation, he was not able to attend. The Honorary Consul for the Republic of Poland in Northern Ireland, Mr Jerome Mullen also accepted our invitation.
The President, Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary of N. Ireland District RBL were each invited, along with their counterparts in the Rep. of Ireland District RBL. It was soon apparent that this Commemoration was the only Royal British Legion led Commemoration in the whole of Ireland to mark this Centenary, so invitations were sent out to every RBL Branch across Ireland inviting their members to join us.
Because the Royal Irish Fusiliers have a direct link to WWI and because Armagh has a long history as a Garrison Town (with the Fusiliers (T.A.) Battalion being the last resident Regiment) - we included the Old Comrades Association, Armagh and Dublin Branches as guests.
To ensure the local cross Ireland District RBL. It was soon apparent that this Commemoration was -community aspect we also invited the St Patrick Conference of The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, Armagh, who have included our Branch as partners in their past ventures. A cross-community over- 60’s club, The Brolly Club, who meet in our Branch premises were also invited, as were The Order of Malta and St John Ambulance Corps.
Our guest list was increasing all the time. A decision was made to invite representatives of the other 4 Churches around which we rotate annually to hold our Remembrance Sunday Services. We also invited all local Councillors, the Trustees of the Irish National War Memorial Board, senior members of the Office of Public Works in Dublin, The Mall Trustees and many others from across Ireland connected to Ex-Service Associations.
Mr Kevin Myers, journalist and historian accepted our invitation to return as our guest speaker.
The Armagh Old Boy’s Silver Band was invited to lead our Parade from Dobbin Street to The Cenotaph. Historically this same Band (but unsurprisingly different Band Members!) had led the second batch of Volunteers through the streets of Armagh to the train station as they left for training in preparation for duty in the trenches in 1915. It was particularly poignant to have them lead our Centenary Parade.
Planning and preparations forged ahead, with the event looming in less than two week’s time, and we still haven’t heard whether we are to receive funding of any kind!, Finally on the 30th May a letter is received from the Executive Office Good Relations Division confirming that they will fund the movement of the Ginchy Cross. (The only funding we were offered). All is now good to go.
The Ginchy Cross is brought to the Tomas O’Fiaich Library and Archive on Tuesday 6th June (the Monday being a bank holiday in the Republic) and installed in the lecture room. Two lectures are held on Wednesday 7th with 50 people attending each lecture. A third lecture is held on Saturday 10th June with 19 people present. The Ginchy Cross looks absolutely stunning in this environment.
On Sunday 11th June the Cross is moved to The Mall, Armagh close to the Cenotaph. If it looked stunning in the O’Fiaich Library – it is even more magnificent in this environment!
The Parade and Commemorative Service go off with only a few minor hiccups, which very few people will have noticed. We were particularly honoured to have the Standard of The Old Contemptibles (Dublin Central Branch) lead the Parade of Standards. It was such a pleasure to see so many Standards paraded - this was a fitting tribute to all who we were striving to show respect to. Amongst the other Standards on Parade were the Standard of NI District, NI District Women’s Section, NI District Youth Standard, Republic of Ireland District Standard, Group 9 Standard, the Branch Standards of Dublin, Limerick and Armagh Branches. The Standards of Armagh and Dublin Branches of The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Old Comrades Associations) were also on Parade. Other RBL Branch Standards and Association Standards (North and South) were paraded, too numerous to mention, and we express our gratitude to all who gave up their time to attend and support our Parade. We also had the RBL N. Ireland Motorcycle Branch joining us to add a little extra ‘colour’ to the proceedings.
All our invited VIPs were escorted to their seats after being ‘announced’ at the entrance to The Mall area. The representatives of Belgium, Ireland and Poland were given a musical ‘National Salute’ before being seated, as was Lord Caledon on his arrival.
Kevin Myers gave a short address and it was obvious that he had put considerable time and thought into what was said. We are very grateful to him for doing so, and by speaking in such terms, for adding so much to our Commemoration Service. A scripture reading by our Branch Chaplain The Very Reverend Robert Townley followed, after which The Military Wives Choir led us in singing the hymn “Be Thou My Vision”.
The Act of Remembrance and Wreath Laying then took place with the two Archbishops jointly laying a wreath as a symbol of unity.
The Memorial Bench was then unveiled by the President of N. Ireland District RBL and his counterpart in the Rep. of Ireland (who being unable to attend for health reasons was deputised by the District Chairman, Rep. of Ireland RBL). The Bench was Dedicated by the two Archbishops to the sacrifice of those of the 16th (Irish) Division.
A Piper’s Lament was played, followed by an unaccompanied choral piece by the Military Wives Choir. After the choral piece a poem was read by Cadet L/Cpl Rebecca Pinkerton, CCF. The poem, entitled “Forgotten Heroes” had been written by WO1 (Ret’d) Barbara N Wilson, R. Irish as a tribute to the role of women in the Services. This had been commissioned especially for this Service in recognition of the Centenary of Women being officially integrated into the Services since 1917.
It was then left for me to pay a word or two of thanks to everyone involved in assisting to organise this event, and also to those who participated, before the Service was ended with the playing of The National Anthem.
Unfortunately we had to divide the reception after the Service, with it being split between our function room and the Royal School, Armagh. This was most unsatisfactory. We would have preferred to have everyone in the same place, but remember when our funding was only offered on 30th May? – well we had by then feared we were not receiving any financial assistance and had begun preparations tailored to suit what we could afford without funding. It would have been very bad manners to have cancelled these arrangements at the last minute.
Looking back, it was particularly fitting that women played a number of roles throughout this Commemoration Service. Female Branch Members acted as stewards throughout the Service. The bugler was Julie-Ann Stevenson. The Military Wives Choir played an important part of the proceedings. The Piper’s Lament was played by Cadet Faith Hoy, CCF. L/Cpl R Pinkerton, CCF read the poem, which had been written by a retired female WO1, R. Irish. In effect our Branch managed to pay more than a passing acknowledgement to this second Centenary!
Throughout all the planning and preparation we were conscious that there were two things that we could not control – the weather and the number of people who would support the event. On the day the weather remained mostly dry, if a little cool. We were prepared for the worst, and our ‘brolly dollies’ (both male and female) ensured that those taking part in the proceedings were protected from the worst of any rain that fell. We had an excellent number of people who joined in the Parade, and I would thank everyone for their support which was very welcome, especially the large number of Cadets and Youth (some of whom had travelled from Castlerock!). The number of people who attended to watch the proceedings on The Mall was a bit disappointing, only around 300 - which is not as many as there would have been at a normal Armistice Day
Service. Thank you to everyone who did attend, however – your presence was very much appreciated.
So – did we achieve all we set out to do? I would say that we far exceeded what we planned at the start. We had a broad representation of our local community, across both the religious and ethnic divides. There was a good representation from both the NI District and Republic of Ireland District. Thank you to every Member of the RBL in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland who supported this Service. We enjoyed good comradeship and craic with most of those members who made the long journey to support us and as a result new friendships have been formed and old ones re-acquainted.
Most importantly, those who went to war in the name of Ireland to fight for the right of freedom of small nations 100 years ago were remembered in a respectful and fitting manner. We had also honoured the broad representation of all of those from across the whole of Ireland who, despite all their different backgrounds, creeds and politics, had joined as one to fight a common enemy for that common cause. I have every belief that their descendants would be proud of how we marked their sacrifice.
Thank you to everyone who contributed in any small way to help us mark this Centenary. We received so much assistance from across the community and outside agencies that was vital in delivering our plans. A BIG thank you also must go to each and every member of the Committee who contributed in no small way to ensure that this event went off without a hitch. There were many rehearsals and discussions to ensure no detail had been forgotten or overlooked and all of this was done with a willing heart and a cheerful determination. Finally thank you to all those Branch Members who are not on the Committee, but who willingly offered their services to complete many tasks that could not be done by the Committee alone.
David Hammerton President
