Biographical Details

SECOND-LIEUTENANT ALBERT WILLIAM BOURKE, Second-Lieutenant, was killed in action the 9th May, 1915, was the only son of Charles Edward and Sophia Bourke, Killala, Cyprus Avenue, Bloomfield, Belfast. [another address given is Kensington House, Kensington Road, Knock.] When the war broke out, he was a medical student at Queen’s University, and he obtained a commission in the 3rd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers on 15th August, through the University Contingent of the Officers Training Corps.  He was sent to the front in early 1915, and was attached to the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. Deceased was a member of Newtownards Road Methodist Church.

CRYMBLE, CECIL REGINALD, Lieutenant, Royal Irish Fusiliers, 3rd Bn. attd. 1st Bn. Date of Death: 20/11/1914. Son of George Gordon Crymble and Agnes Templeton Crymble, of Gordon House, Annandale. B.A., D.Sc., Queen’s University, Belfast.

Crymble, Cecil Reginald, Lieutenant, B.A., D.Sc., youngest son of the late Mr. George G. Crymble, Gordon House, Annadale, Belfast, was killed in action on Saturday 21st November, 1914, while serving at the front with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. The deceased received his earlier education at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where he manifested those admirable qualities which afterwards distinguished him at Queen’s University. One of the most popular Queensmen, Mr. Crymble won the highest opinions of the members of staff, as well as the affectionate regard of his fellow students, and those in a position to judge had no hesitation in predicting that he would have a brilliant career.  He graduated in 1906, and was senior scholar in chemistry in 1906-07, winning the Andrews Scholarship in 1907, and taking the degree of Bachelor of Science in the following year. He afterwards passed the D.Sc., examination, and held the Research Scholarship in 1910. He was the students’ representative on the Senate, 1910, and for some time acted as demonstrator in chemistry. With a penchant for military life, he was actively identified with the Queen’s University contingent of the Officer’ Training Corps, and was one of the first members of that body to join the special reserve, being posted to the 3^rd Battalion (Princess Victoria’s) Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 22^nd August, 1912, and on the outbreak of war was transferred to the 1^st Battalion, proceeding to the front about the beginning of September. Deceased, who was about 28 years of age, was a brother of Mr. Norman G. Crymble, Shanghai, and Dr. Percival T. Crymble, F.R.C.S. 7, Upper Crescent, Belfast.

GREGG, WILLIAM HENRY, Second Lieutenant, Royal Irish Rifles, 5th Bn. attd. 1st Bn. died on 01/07/1916. He was a son of John and Margaret Wynne Gregg, of 10, Deramore Park South, Belfast.

HILL BARRY, Captain Royal Irish Rifles, (South Belfast Volunteers), was reported missing during the early stages of the Battle of the Somme. He was a son of the late Squire Hill, J.P., Ballyclare, a brother of Surgeon Rowland Hill, R.N., formally of University Street, Belfast, and Mr. Stanley Hill, paper agent, Donegal Street, Belfast. Before the war Captain Hill was in practice as a dentist in University Street. He was a company commander in the South Belfast Regiment U.V.F., and joined the South Belfast Regiment on its foundation. An unofficial report states that Captain Hill was seen at a dressing station, but his relatives have so far ascertained nothing definite as to his fate. 

HOOTON, H. H. Lieutenant, Royal Irish Rifles, (Young Citizen Volunteers), was reported missing during the early stage of the Battle of the Somme and subsequently reported as having died on 5^th August, 1916. He received his commission in the Y.C.V. on 17^th September, 1914, and was promoted to his present rank in April, 1915. He was the son of Edmund and Eliza Hooton, of 22, Baker Street, Nottingham. 

JOHNSTON W. H., Second-Lieutenant, The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) wounded on 30^th July, 1916, is a son of Mr. J. G. Johnston, Brookslands, Annadale, Belfast. He enlisted in a Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers after the war began, from which he received a commission in the King’s (Liverpool Regiment) in March, 1915.

LEONARD, FRANCIS PATRICK MAPLETOFT, Lieutenant, 8^th Bn., Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who was killed in action on the 29^th April, 1916, was a son of the late Mr. Francis M. Leonard, chief clerk in the Customs at Belfast, and Mrs. Leonard, 2, Charnwood Terrace, Salisbury Avenue, Belfast. He was educated at Campbell College and Bellmere, (Salop), and matriculated at London University. He served his apprenticeship as an engineer at Combe Barbour’s, North Street, Belfast. When the war broke out he offered his services to Queen’s O.T.C., but finally decided to enlist in the ranks, and on the day he left home to join a Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers at Aldershot he was appointed to a commission in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, whom he accompanied to the front in February 1915.  He was fatally gassed on the morning of 29^th April, in a German attack which inflicted a number of casualties on the regiment. Deceased was a member of St. Peter’s Church, Antrim Road, Belfast. Two of his brothers are in the Army, one of them, Mr. W.B. Leonard, of the Y.C.V.’s having joined from the photographic department of the “Belfast Telegraph.”

MARTIN, SIDNEY TODD, Lieutenant, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, was reported missing during the early stages of the Battle of the Somme. He is a son of the late Rev. Dr. Todd Martin, of Belfast, and Mrs. Martin, who is now living in South Devon.

McCAMMON, CHARLES DUNCAN, Second-Lieutenant, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was killed in action on 2^nd July, 1916. He was the youngest son of Mr. Andrew McCammon, Drumgooland, Seaforde, County Down, and was 23 years of age. He joined immediately on the outbreak of war and had been eleven months in France. Very recently he received a congratulatory letter from the General Officer Commanding his division for conspicuous bravery in leading a party through barbed-wire entanglements and bombing the enemy out of the trenches. His two brothers are in the services, one in the Inniskilling Dragoons and the other in the Royal Garrison Artillery.

McCLINTON, JOHN STUART, Captain, South Lancashire Regiment, killed in action on 5^th July, 1916, was the son of Mr. John McClinton, Rosaville, Windsor Park, Belfast, and before joining the army was in worked in the family business of McClinton & Co., wholesale seed merchants, 48, Victoria Street, Belfast. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, and for some years was an active member of the North of Ireland Football Club, also appearing on one occasion for the province of Ulster. He has two brothers serving-Captain F. H. McClinton, and Lieutenant A. N. McClinton, both in the South Belfast battalion, Royal Irish Rifles.

McERVEL, JOHN HAROLD, Major, The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) 1st Bn. attd. Manchester Regiment. He was the only son of the late Mr. E. J. M’Ervel and Mrs. Ervel, and brother of Anna McErvel, of 110, Eglantine Avenue, Belfast. He was educated at the Masonic Boys’ School, Dublin, and after leaving school served his apprenticeship to the linen business, in which he held a responsible position till the outbreak of war. He joined the Officers’ Training Corps, Queen’s University, Belfast in 1910, where his aptitude for military matters soon became apparent. He obtained a commission in the Royal Irish Fusiliers (Special Reserve) in 1911, and upon the outbreak of war in August 1914, was immediately called up for duty, going to France in the following month, where he was attached to the King’s (Liverpool Regiment). He was gazetted captain in April, 1916, and obtained his majority on the 25^th May, 1916, and was twice mentioned in dispatches for gallantry on the field. There fell to his lot an unusual share of fighting, as besides many minor engagements he took part in the battles of Ypres, Neuve Chapelle, Richebourg, Loos, and during the last three weeks he had been heavily engaged in the operations now proceeding in the region of the Somme. Major M’Ervel was for many years a member of the North of Ireland Football Club and played on the 1^st XI. He was also a well know member of the Belfast Boat Club, and of Masonic Lodge No. 36. He was engaged to be married to Miss Olive Green, daughter of Mr. William Green, of Myrtlefield Park, Belfast. He was killed on 8^th August, 1916.

MacILWAINE, JULIAN MACKAY, Captain, Royal Flying Corps, 12th Sqdn. and 5th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles, who was officially reported missing since 20^th inst., is a son of the late Edward N. MacIlwaine, and Mrs. MacIlwaine, 69, Eglantine Avenue, Belfast, and a grandson of the late Rev. Canon W. MacIlwaine, D.D., of St. George’s, Belfast. He received his commission originally in the South Down’s. He was wounded on 26^th April, 1915, while serving with the 1^st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, and subsequently succeeded the late Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable A. E. Hill-Trevor as Assistant Provost Marshal in Belfast. Later he was seconded for service with the Royal Flying Corps.

PETTIGREW, ROBERT MCCALMONT, Second Lieutenant, Royal Irish Rifles “C” Coy. 8th Bn., was killed on 22^nd March, 1918, aged 20 years. He was the only son of the late John Graham Pettigrew and Matilda Pettigrew, of 19, Eglantine Avenue, Belfast. He was educated at Belfast Royal Academical Institution. Before the outbreak of war, he was engaged in the offices of the York Street Spinning Company. When hostilities broke out, he enlisted in the 10^th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, and received his commission on March 1, 1915 being transferred to the East Belfast Battalion. He was a member of Balmoral Golf Club, and was the second of their members to pay the supreme sacrifice, the other being the late Sergeant N. Beattie, the well-known Cliftonville footballer.

SHAW, WILLIAM LINDSAY. M.C., Major, Royal Engineers, 228th Field Coy., was officially reported killed in action on the 16^th April, 1918. He was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Shaw, Chlorine Gardens, Belfast, and husband of Beatrice Margaret Shaw, of 32, Milton Park, Highgate, London. He was educated at Methodist College and Queen’s University of Belfast, graduating in arts and engineering. He was a well-known rugby player, figuring in matches for Methodist College Belfast, Collegians, and Queen’s University, Belfast and gained his inter-provincial cap. He joined the army at the beginning of the war, and won the Military Cross last year. His brother, Second-Lieutenant M. W. Shaw, Royal Irish Rifles, is wounded and is at present in hospital in Ireland.

STEWART, ERIC HILTON, Corporal, was killed in action in France on July 17th, 1916, while serving with the 20th Royal Fusiliers (Public Schools Battalion) aged 21 years.  He was the eldest surviving son of Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Stewart, Knockavon, Donegall Park, Belfast.

UNSWORTH, W. HUBERT, Engineer Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Navy, H.M.S. “Invincible.” He was about 26 years of age, and the elder son of Mr. William Thomas Unsworth, ‘Taymount’ Kirkliston Drive, Bloomfield, Belfast. He received his earlier education at Belfast Mercantile College, subsequently graduating in engineering at London University. He served his apprenticeship as an engineer with Messrs. Workman, Clark, & Co., Ltd., and for some time he held an appointment in connection with Portadown Technical School. On joining the Royal Navy some months ago, he was posted to H.M.S. Invincible, and was on board that ship when she was sunk in the great naval battle off the coast of Jutland on May 31, 1916. His brother, Victor, holds a commission as a second-lieutenant in the Royal Irish Rifles, and is at present stationed at Ballykinlar.

WALKER, CLAUD ARTHUR LEONARD, Second-Lieutenant, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, killed in action 10^th July, 1916, aged 21 years. He was the son of the Rev. Robert Walker, LL.D., St. Matthew’s Rectory, Ballygomartin Road, Shankill Rectory, Belfast. He joined a Public Schools Battalion in September, 1914, and was subsequently nominated for a cadetship in the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, obtaining his commission in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on 17^th April, 1915, and two months afterwards, on July 12, left Belfast to join his regiment in France.

A letter from his Commanding Officer, Captain Charles H. Daniels, to his father states that “Claud was in charge of two platoons in the front line of the attack on the night of Monday, 10^th July. At 8p.m. we attacked. He was with the rest of the company in the front trench, which we took from the enemy. My last words to him were: -Well done, Walker; you are doing splendidly.”  At 9.30 he left with the first line to attack the second trench. On reaching the second trench with the second line of attack I was told that Claud was killed just outside the second German trench.  He led his platoon well and bravely, and did all that was acquired of him. He fell at the head of his men just at the moment of victory. He was shot in the head, and died instantly.  We took him into the captured trench, and managed to send him down on Tuesday.   He was buried on Wednesday morning in the cemetery next to poor young Tottenham, whose grave he had taken me to see on the previous Sunday. Our pioneers have placed a cross there inscribed-“To the loving memory of Second-Lieutenant C. A. L. Walker, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, killed in action 10-7-’16.”

WALKINGTON, CHARLES EDWARD, Captain, Royal Irish Rifles, of Tievederg, Osborne Gardens, Belfast, was killed in action on the 10^th (14^th) July, 1916. He was a son of the late Mr. Dolway B. Walkingston, Thornhill, Malone. In civil life he was a member of the firm of Stephens & Walkington, Shipping and General Commission Agents and Timber Brokers, 8 Victoria Street, Belfast. He was actively identified with the Ulster Volunteer Force, and obtained a commission in the South Belfast regiment of the Ulster Division on 16^th September, 1914. He got his step up on the 23^rd November following, and was promoted to the rank of Captain on 1^st February, 1915. During the present year he was attached to another battalion of the Rifles, in which his nephew, Lieutenant Dolway B. Walkington, M.C., is serving. The late Captain Walkington was a member of the Royal North of Ireland Yatch Club, and of the Union Club, and was associated with Masonic Lodge No. 36. He was a brother of Mr. George B. Walkington, Grace Court, Malone Park, solicitor to the Ulster bank; of Mr. Dolway B. Walkington, of the firm of Johnstone a Walkington, solicitors, and of the late Mr. R. B. Walkington.

WATSON, THE REV. JOHN EDMUND MALONE. M.C., Chaplain 4th Class, 10/04/1918, Age: 31, Army Chaplains’ Department, attd. 21st Bn Middlesex Regiment. Son of The Rev. John Watson, of Charlemont Rectory, Co. Tyrone; husband of Mary K. Watson, of “Ard-Stratha,” Antrim Rd., Belfast. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where he was a Hebrew prizeman, and was ordained to the curacy of St. James’s Parish, Belfast, in 1910, and laboured there with Rev. T. G. G. Collins, B.D., until he left the parish in December, 1915, when he was appointed a Chaplain to the Forces. He was recently mentioned in dispatches by Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. He married Miss Mary Kathleen Atkinson, second daughter of Mr. John Atkinson, Ardstratha, Antrim Road, Belfast, in July last. Two of his brothers are serving in the R.A.M.C., Major Frank Watson and Captain Herbert Watson, the latter being stationed at Victoria Barracks, Belfast. He had been Mentioned in Dispatches shortly before his death.