Ulster Division memorial at Thiepval unveiled
Thiepval, 21 November 1921 – An impressive memorial to the Ulster regiment that fought and died in such large numbers on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, has been unveiled in France.
The Ulster War Memorial Tower in Thiepval is the site of the already famous advance of the 36th (Ulster) Division and it was formally opened by Field-Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and dedicated by the Anglican Primate of All-Ireland, Charles D’Arcy on 19 November.
Due to illness neither Lord Carson nor the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Sir James Craig, could attend the ceremony, though a party of approximately 70 did travel from Ireland. However, as the Irish Times special correspondent observed of the occasion, the attendance did not matter. ‘The day belonged to the dead’ and it was ‘towards them that every mind was turned’.
The tower at Thiepval is built on the crest of a hill where the German trenches, many of which are still intact, were dug. The Thiepval tower is an exact replica of Helen’s Tower in Clandeboye, Co. Down.
In Craig’s absence, the honour of unlocking the door of the tower was given to Sir Henry Wilson as ‘one of Ulster’s most distinguished soldiers’. Addressing the gathering, Wilson stated:
‘If somebody only eight years ago had told us that we should be assembled here today on Irish soil to open a memorial to Irish dead, how we should have marvelled, how we would have smiled. You stand this morning on a sacred little bit of Ulster – that far distant land whose sons came running to help you – and you see a beautiful building, whose foundations we trust will go deep down into the heart of France. I often think that should clouds of suspicion and misunderstanding ever come between our two nations, a visit here to Thiepval and the sight of this memorial and all it means will quickly dispel them. Therefore, now and always, you are warmly welcomed to our Ulster home.’
Historian Philip Orr examines how the nature of the commemoration of the Battle of the Somme within Ulster has evolved
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
