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The Somme Councillor John Kyle

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It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Battle of the Somme to the loyalist community. The story of Edward Carson’s Ulster Volunteers, who became the 36th Ulster Division, is not only indivisibly linked to the foundation of the Northern I reland state b ut it helps define the i dentity of Loyalists and Unionists in the 21st Century.

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“Reflecting on the past can equip us to live in the present and provide wisdom for the future.”

The Ulster Volunteer Force was a legion of civilians banded together in 1913 to protect themselves from the consequences of legislation which, they believed, would lead to Home Rule in Ireland. Up to one hundred thousand men volunteered, each of whom had signed the Ulster Covenant. They were trained and drilled preparing to actively resist the implementation of the Home Rule Bill.

With the outbreak of the Great War, the Home Rule crisis passed but many volunteers, eager to join the war, enlisted with existing regiments including the 10th and 16th Irish Divisions. However, in August 1914 over 15,000 joined the newly formed 36th Ulster Division. It was these men who, at the Battle of the Somme, in the words of the annual Belfast City Council Motion, ‘by their glorious conduct in battle, made an imperishable name for themselves and their people and whose heroism will never be forgotten.’

On July 1, 1916 the Allied troops attacked the German lines, led by the 36th Ulster Division just

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north of Thiepval wood. Taking the heavily fortified German Schwaben Redoubt the Ulster Division advanced further than almost all other British units but, surrounded on three sides, it was eventually forced to withdraw. In the judgement of many historians the battle inflicted a significant defeat on the German army but at enormous cost. Over the 1st and 2nd of July the 36th Ulster Division sustained 5,500 casualties. In the course of the Great War over 32,000 men of the Ulster Division, many in their teens and early twenties were killed, wounded or recorded missing in action.

The core of the Ulster Division was working class men, many of whom were from Belfast. Its brigades were organised geographically so men from the same neighbourhood stood shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield. After the battle, newspapers reported that there was barely a street in large swathes of Belfast that had not suffered a loss in the battle.

Commemorations began before the war ended and have continued since, but over the past two decades there has been an explosion in Somme memorialisation in Northern Ireland. Somme memorials and memorial gardens, historic reenactments, commemorative parades, a new interest in collecting First World War memorabilia and artefacts are now a part of life in Northern Ireland, woven into the fabric of Loyalist culture.

The redeveloped Ulster Tower at Thiepval hosts tens of thousands of visitors each year and the Somme Heritage Centre in Conlig is a much valued educational resource visited by schools, community groups and tourists. Thiepval wood has been bought, preserved and excavated. As a conflict transformation strategy, the UVF has created Somme Associations and replaced paramilitary murals with murals paying homage to the original Ulster Volunteers who fought in the battle.

The Battle of the Somme has become part of a foundation narrative for the State of Northern Ireland providing both a noble historic lineage for

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the Ulster unionist and creating or affirming an identity for the Loyalist community. For some it represented a blood sacrifice to the Empire. It is a story of courage, heroism and sacrifice and ultimately success, securing the place of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. These ideas are captured in Captain Wilfrid Spender’s famous eyewitness account of the Battle;

deserves the gratitude of the British Empire. It is due to the memory of these brave fellows that their beloved province shall be fairly treated.’

‘The Ulster Division has lost more than half the men who attacked and, in doing so, has sacrificed itself for the Empire which has treated them none too well.

The much derided Ulster Volunteer Force has won a name which equals any in history. Their devotion, which no doubt has helped the advance elsewhere,

Professor Peter Shirlow wrote: ‘For the UVF, the Somme has been reborn as an unofficial ‘people’s history’, a part of the Ulster past that owes little to bourgeois official unionism. In symbolising the suffering and exploitation but also the pride of the Ulster working class, the Somme bears no shame.’

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Historian Keith Jeffrey noted that ‘the losses of the Ulster Division at the Somme came specifically to be associated with the freedom of Ulster Unionists to run their own polity.’

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Pocket sized Bible given to B itish soldie s on active se vice in Wo ld Wa I

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25th May 1914 I ask you to put your trust in God. He will watch over you and strengthen you.

You will find in this little book guidance when you are in health, comfort when you are in sickness, and strength when you are in adversity.

Lord Roberts

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Division of Ulstermen is the finest I have yet seen’, rose to the challenge of the hour.

“Whatever our views on the morality of the Great War, we have a calling to act today as peacemakers.

Peacemaking involves creating a society free from triumphalism and where all are treated with dignity and respect.”

Today the bandsmen, much vilified by the media, look to the Ulster Division as their cu ltural forbears. The drilling, the militaristic uniforms and the repertoire including first and second World War songs all acknowledge the influence of and debt owed to the original Volunteers.

What does this say to those of us not from a Loyalist tradition? And where does the valour and sacrifice of the 16th Irish Division fit into this narrative?

Reflecting on the past can equip us to live in the present and provide wisdom for the future. Was the Battle of the Somme a tragic loss of young life due to political and military arrogance and incompetence?

Was it the noble, courageous and sacrificial response of a generation called to stand in the defence of their nation against foreign imperialism? Or was it both?

Whatever our views on the morality of the Great War, we have a calling to act today as peacemakers.

Peacemaking involves creating a society free from triumphalism and where all are treated with dignity and respect. That often begins with listening, particularly to those with whom we disagree or whose world view or culture is different to ours.

Listening can be the prologue to healing and communicates respect.

It is a working class narrative embraced by the communities who suffered most in the recent conflict, carving out an identity that is explicitly British but distinct from ‘big house unionism’.

We also have a responsibility to act justly ensuring that when a society prospers, all its citizens share in that prosperity. That is patently not the case in Northern Ireland. Those who feel confident of their place in society are less intent on asserting their distinctiveness.

As Northern Ireland has changed and the Protestant working class has seen little reward for its sacrifice, the Somme gives it reason to be proud, a lineage to be part of, a history that is honourable and allows them to hold their heads high. This army of civilian volunteers, of whom Lord Kitchener said ‘this

Today the challenge is to create a society where particularly the young men who lack aspiration, purpose or hope can again dream dreams, enlist for a righteous cause, and belong to a band of brothers.

We can all help to create such a society and in so doing we will find hope for the future.