Somme Commemoration For Knockagh

The first of as series of commemorations to recall the thousands of WW1 Irish Soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division who died fighting between 1 July and 13 November 1916 in the Battle of the Somme will be held this Sunday.

Wreaths will be laid and the traditional two-minute silence observed by local councillors, members and friends from Whiteabbey Royal British Legion at a preliminary Remembrance Day ceremony at the Co Antrim War Memorial, Knockagh.

The solemn occasion at the imposing hill-top memorial will be in addition to the following weekend's Carrickfergus Borough Council-led civic occasion at the same venue.

Many others will also again travel to France on the actual anniversary to take part in services at the battle scene, in the footsteps of The Queen and the Irish President who jointly honoured the Irish dead on the 90th anniversary, in 2006.

The ceremony this Sunday, (at 11am) is important too because it will recall the previous decade of Legion-led commemorations following a revival of the Somme event by officers from Whiteabbey Royal British Legion - since incorporated into the neighbouring Carrickfergus remembrances.

Sunday's event at Knockagh - the Co Antrim War Memorial - will recall how the 36th sustained 5,500 casualties on the first day, with nearly 2,000 of those fatalities, on top of the many thousands from the 16th (Irish) Division.

During the battle - up to September - the 16th had 4,330 casualties, of whom 1,200 were killed.

The Battle of the Somme claimed the lives of 420,000 British soldiers in total and French casualties were estimated at 195,000 and the German loss of life was about 650,000.

Following the initiative by Whiteabbey Royal British legion over 10 years ago, not only has the annual ceremony been officially revived, but also all the Co Antrim councils united in funding a major refurbishment of the historic monument.

The Knockagh memorial is also the scene of annual November Remembrance Day services.

Meanwhile, recalling the same battle, Belfast's Sinn Fein Lord Mayor has called for an act of civic remembrance for those who have died in war and conflict.

Tom Hartley - a noted historian in his own right - said that he would lay a wreath at the city hall on 1 July in memory of the Somme fallen of WWI, but not at the military ceremony.

He said he would lay a wreath at 9am, then chair a council meeting.

"I believe this level of direct participation to mark the Somme anniversary is appropriate for me as mayor of Belfast," he said.

Mr Hartley said he believed the act would consolidate and build on initiatives taken by Sinn Féin's Alex Maskey during his term as mayor and by Joe O'Donnell as deputy mayor to reach out to the unionist and Protestant people of Belfast.

However, he said that nationalists have largely "felt alienated from these formal military events with all of the British symbolism involved" but that this has resulted in the almost "erasing from history of the sacrifices of tens of thousands of Irishmen".

"We should not shy away from the reality that the formal Somme commemoration here in this city will primarily appeal to only that section of the people of our city, who are from a unionist and Protestant background," he said.

Remembrance Day Device Explodes

(BMcC)