Sir David Callender Campbell P.C., K.B.E., C.M.G., M.P.

David Campbell was born in India on 29th January 1891, the third of four sons born to Rev. William Howard Campbell and his wife Elizabeth. Rev. Campbell was a Presbyterian missionary working in India under the auspices of the London Missionary Society. The youngest son, William, was to die of malaria during a voyage back to the United Kingdom in 1894.

David along with his two elder brothers received his secondary education at Foyle College before attending Edinburgh University. During the Great War he was to be interned in Hungary where he had gone as a tutor. Both of his surviving brothers served during the War. Thomas who had emigrated to Canada returned home at the outbreak of hostilities and enlisted in the Royal Engineers. An engineer by profession he was granted a commission shortly after joining up. Initially he served with the B.E.F. His unit was then transferred to Gallipoli where he was severely wounded on 5th October 1915. He died three days later. His name appears on Foyle's roll of honour and that of First Ballymoney Presbyterian Church and also the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli. His other brother, Samuel Burnside Boyd Campbell, (known as Boyd), joined the R.A.M.C on the outbreak of war and was to be awarded the MC. He played rugby for Ireland on twelve occasions, (1911-13).

In 1919 David entered the Colonial Service. For seventeen years he served in Tanganyika before being appointed Deputy Chief Secretary, Uganda. He subsequently became Colonial Secretary, Gibralter and in quick succession acting Lieutenant Governor of Malta. Upon his retirement from the Colonial Service he returned to Northern Ireland in 1952 and entered upon a career in politics. He was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Belfast South in the 1952 elections, succeeding Connolly Gage, and continued in this role until his death.

Sources

Foyle College Times Vol 33 No 2

www.36thulster.com

www.mairi-campbell.com

 

 

Robert Quigg VC.

 

After I had finished walking around the garden at Billy Old Rectory a couple of weeks past I went into the adjoining graveyard to view the grave of Robert Quigg.

 

Quigg had enlisted in the 12th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles at the outbreak of the Great War. Fate and the, "Red Tabs" resulted in him being in the forward trenches near the village of Hamel on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. Having heard that his platoon commander was lying wounded in no-mans land he attempted to locate him on seven separate occasions, braving the shell and raking gun fire. On each occasion he brought back a wounded soldier. His efforts resulted in him being awarded the Victoria Cross. The award was gazetted on 9th September 1916 and he was presented with his medal at Sandringham by King George V in January 1917. Quigg was one nine soldiers from the Ulster Division who won the VC during the Great War.

 

 

Londonderry City Cemetery and the Great War.

The Imperial War Graves Commission, (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission), was established by Royal Charter in May 1917. Its first president was the Prince of Wales. The person who can be said to be responsible for its establishment was Sir Fabian Ware, the commander of a mobile unit of the Red Cross. He wished to ensure that the final resting places of the combatants of the Great War would not be lost forever. His initial work was recognised by the War Office and referred to as the Graves Registration Commission. By 1918 some 587,000 graves had been identified although 559,000 casualties were registered as having no grave. Sir Edwin Lutyens was one of the architects chosen to design the cemeteries and memorials. Rudyard Kipling was appointed to advise on inscriptions.

 

The Commission applied in the 1920's to the Londonderry Corporation as the Burial Authority for the County Borough of Londonderry for permission to erect a memorial in the City Cemetery, "in permanent commemoration of members of his Majesty's Forces fallen in the late War and buried in the Cemetery." The drawings of the intended memorial were approved and the appropriate grant in perpetuity was granted to the Commission in 1927. The memorial is situated on the grass banking to the right of the main entrance driveway. I suspect that most people who drive or walk past this imposing cross are unaware of its significance. On 28th November 1928 the Corporation granted the Commission a perpetual right of burial and for the maintenance of the graves of those servicemen who had died in during the War.

 

 

One hundred years on yet we remember them.

 

 

A few weeks ago I espied a small black and white poster in a shop window. It was more of a photograph than a poster. The subject was of a young man posing proudly in his new uniform. Like countless thousands of his contempories he had attended a local photographic studio in the weeks before he marched off to what would become the blood soaked ground of the Somme, his ephemeral image left balanced on the family mantelpiece.

These black and white or sepia toned portrait photgraphs are instantly recognisable. Their style evinces so many emotions. Pride yes but also diffidence. With the benefit of the intervening century we can see the naievity that sheltered these youths and young men as they followed the fife and drum on the march that so many would not return from.

 

The poster was advertising an exhibition of Great War artefacts. I went along to the official opening last night. It was well put together and well lit. I found one exhibit particularly poignant. It was a letter from the War Office to a Mrs Wilson who resided at Wapping Lane, Londonderry. Her sergeant husband had been killed at Arras. She was being sent arrears of pay and allowances together with a gratuity. The pay and allowances amounted to £3-16-6. The gratuity was for the magnificent sum of £4 -0-0. Another photograph showed the survivors of C Company of the Royal Irish Rifles after the Battle of the Somme. Four men.

 

 

 

 

 

Foyle College and the Great War

Foyle College's contribution to the Great War was not unusual. As with many schools the faces that stare down from the team photographs of the early twentieth century would volunteer to swap the mud of the rugby field for the clogging mire of the trenches. A total of four hundred and ninety Old Boys would answer the call to arms. To some this may not seem a particularly large number but at that time, long before the Education Act of 1947, the cadre of the school was comfortably under two hundred. Seventy two of their number would not return. Reading through their names and ranks one cannot but notice the percentage who held the rank of Subaltern. It is reported that the average life expectancy for a junior officer at the Front was only six weeks, even less than that of the , "other ranks."

Trooper R. S. Bailey - North Irish Horse

Captain J Ballentine - 11th Batt R. Inniskilling Fusiliers

Lieut. J. H. Barr - Royal Irish Rifles

Lieut. J. J. Beasley - 6th Batt. Royal Irish Fusiliers

Corporal C. H. Binions - Royal Engineers

F. P. Blacklay - 79th Canadian Cameron Highlanders

2nd Lieut W. G. Boyd - Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

2nd Lieut W. K. M. Britton - Royal Flying Corps

Captain B. Brown, M.C. - R.A.M.C.

Lieut. D. Buchanan - 2nd Batt. Seaforth Highlanders

Lieut. R. B. Buchanan - R. Irish Regiment

R. Burgess - South African Field Force

Lieut. T. C. Campbell - Royal Engineers

Private A. G. Cathcart - 5th Canadian Infantry

J. Clarke - 26th Batt. Royal Fusiliers

2nd Lieut. J. N. Corscaden - Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

2nd Lieut. E. E. Craig - 20th Batt. Royal Irish Rifles

Cadet S. W. Craig - Royal Irish Rifles

2nd Lieut. C. L. Crockett - 12th Batt. Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

Captain W. R. Cronyn - Royal Army Veterinary Corps

Lieut. A. J. S. Dick - Royal Inskilling Fuisiliers

Assistant Paymaster J. Diver - Royal Navy

2nd Lieut. J. W. Drennan - 10th Batt. Royal Inskilling Fuisiliers

Flight Sub- Lieut. M. English - Royal Naval Air Service

2nd Lieut. R. R. Gallagher - Attached 4th Worcester Regiment

Captain V. Gilliland - Attached 2nd Batt. Royal Irish Rifles

Lieut. G. Given - Royal Navy

Lieut. V. A. Gransden - Royal Irish Rifles

F. J. Guy - Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

2nd Lieut. J. H. M. Hadden - Royal Irish Rifles

Flt - Commander E G. Harvey - Royal Flying Corps

2nd Lieut. T. S. Haslett MC. - 17th Batt Royal Irish Rifles

S. Irvine - South African Field Force

J. Kennedy - Canadian Contingent

2nd Lieut. D. L. Kyle - Royal Engineers

F. Lawson

2nd Lieut. J. W. McCarter - Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

2nd Lieut. T. F. McCay - Royal Irish Rifles

Lieut. E. McClure - 10th Batt. Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

2nd Lieut. D. McConnell - Royal Flying Corps

Lieut. J. McCurdy - 9th Batt. Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

W. McLurg - Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

2nd Lieut. W. Maultseed - Royal Irish Rifles

2nd Lieut. E. C. Mee - 11th Batt. West Yorkshire Regiment

Lieut. Bruce Millar - 5th Batt. Royal Irish Rifles

Captain R. W. Mitchell - 2nd Batt. Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

2nd Lieut J. W. Montgomery - Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

Lieut. J. R. Moore - Connaught Rangers

D. Morgan - Royal Naval Division

Major H. Morrison - Machine Gun Corps

Private H. A. Mulholland - 75th Canadians

Captain H. D. S. O'Brien - Attached Royal Air Force

Trooper J. A. Pinkerton - North Irish Horse

Flt.- Commander L. Porter - Royal Flying Corps

J. L. Quigley - 9th Batt. Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

Lieut. R. Shannon - Canadian Infantry

2nd Lieut. W. M. Sheridan - 17th Batt. Royal Irish Rifles

2nd Lieut G. D. L. Smyth - Royal Irish Rifles

2nd Lieut. L. G. Stewart - 15th Royal Welsh Fuisiliers

Lieut. A. Stuart - 2nd Batt. Royal Munster Fuisiliers

2nd Lieut L. W. H. Stevenson M.C. - 9th Batt. Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

Captain C. G. Tillie - 1st Batt. Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

Corporal J. A. Walker - Royal Engineers

2nd Lieut. James Watson - 23rd Batt. Manchester Regiment

Lieut. G. C. Wedgewood - Machine Gun Corps

G. White - Grenadier Guards

Captain C. B. Williams - 3rd Batt. Royal Irish Rifles

Captain E. J. Williams - 3rd Batt. Royal Irish Rifles

Lieut. J. A. Williams - 3rd Batt. Royal Irish Rifles

G. Wilson - Canadian Contingent

2nd Lieut. V. J. E. Wilson - Royal Inniskilling Fuisiliers

 

Source: Our School Times Supplement, February 1919