Bangor RFCC held its usual Act Of Remembrance at the clubhouse entrance, as it paid its respects to those from the Club and School who made the ultimate sacrifice in both WW1 and WW2.

The Club is grateful for the hard work that Gerry Drennan and Tony Heffernan put in to research the following details:

Shortly after the outbreak of WW1, Rugby Football was suspended by the Irish Rugby Football Union throughout the island of Ireland. It would not resume until the season 1919 -1920, when Bangor would win the Provincial Towns' Cup for the fourth time in its history.
In the last full season played prior to the beginning of hostilities, Bangor RFC 2nd XV had won the Harden Cup. Six of that team 'joined up' and three were 'killed in action' before the end of 1916 (see below):
• FJ.Brown: KIA: 1ST July 1916. Somme
• E.W.Hind : KIA: 1st July 1916. Somme
• T.G.Mahony: KIA; 13th July. France

In total fifteen members of the Club served in the Great War and seven made the supreme sacrifice. Of these were three more pals who had played for a very successful 1st XV in the Season 1910 -1911, when Bangor won the Ulster Junior League, the Past Players Cup and were beaten finalists (by Knock F.C.) in the Ulster Junior Cup Final.
• W.J Hewitt: KIA: 1st July 1916. Somme
• J.Mclaughlin: KIA: 27th February 1915. Belgium
• M.L.Weir: Died in a German POW Camp from wounds. 28th October 1918
The seventh to be killed was H.I.Mahaffy, on 22nd October 1917, in a plane crash on Salisbury Plain.

The following are recorded as having served in the Armed Forces during WW1 (there may of course be others). Five have been identified from team photographs currently on display in the Clubhouse.
• D.Atkinson
• F.W.Craig
• S.M.CIaney: 1908 - 09 Towns' Cup
• A.W.Corry: 1913 - 1914 Harden Cup
• W.J Meek: 1919-20 Towns' Cup
• J.Milliken
• H.F. Shepperd M.C. 1910 -11 Junior League and Past Players Cup
• R.Wright: 1910 - 04 First time winners of the Towns' Cup

Further to these original discoveries, we have been greatly assisted by various organisations and individuals in providing the additional details needed to create an accurate record of those who served.

This has now culminated in the unveiling of a Remembrance Memorial to recognise and honour the young men who left the rugby field to fight and die on the battlefields of France and beyond, over 100 years ago. A Roll of Honour was also produced, courtesy of Hugh Anderson, which includes not only those who were killed in action, but also served in the war. The Club is also in the process of engraving a brass plaque, marking those who made the ultimate sacrifice, which will eventually be mounted in the club pavilion. Special thanks to Jim Lacey for his help in organising this lasting memorial.

Killed in Action:
• Berkeley. W.L. – L/Corp South African Infantry (d) 24-04-1917, Age 24
• Brown. F.A.J. – Lt Royal Munster Fusiliers (d) 09-09-1916, Age 22, Harden Cup (1913-1914)
• Harper. A. – Lt Seaforth Highlanders (d) 09-04-1919, Age 31, Towns Cup (1903-1904)
• Hewitt. H.M. – Lt Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (d) 01-07-1916, Age 29, Junior League (1910-1911)
• Hind. E.W.G. – Lt Royal Irish Rifles (d) 01-07-1916, Age 22, Harden Cup (1913-1914)
• Mahaffy. H.I. – Lt Royal Flying Corps (d) 22-09-1917, Age 23
• Mahoney. T.G. – Lt Lancashire Fusiliers (d) 13-07-1916, Age 21, Harden Cup (1913-1914)
• Motherwell. J.E. – Lt Royal Irish Rifles (d) 21-10-1916, Age 29
• McLaughlin. J. – Pte Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (d) 27-02-1916, Age 26, Towns Cup (1908-1909), Junior League (1910-1911)
• Weir. H.L. – Lt Royal Irish Rifles (d) 28-10-1918, Age 30, Towns Cup (1908-1909), Junior League (1910-1911)

They also served:
• Atkinson. D. – Corp Royal Irish Rifles, Harden Cup (1913-1914)
• Brewer. H.H. – Lt Durham Light Infantry, Harden Cup (1913-1914), Towns Cup (1919-1920 & 1923)
• Claney. S.McK. – Lt West Yorkshire Regiment, Towns Cup (1908-1909 & 1919-1920)
• Corry. A.W. – Pte Cheshire Regiment, Harden Cup (1913-1914)
• Craig. F.W. – Capt Royal Army Medical Corps, Mentioned in Despatches
• Currie. P.J. – Lt Cheshire Regiment, Towns Cup (1903-1904)
• Meek. W.J. – Capt Royal Army Service Corps, Towns Cup (1919-1920)
• Milliken. J – Lt Royal Irish Rifles, Harden Cup (1913-1914)
• McDonagh. F.M. – Chief Petty Officer Royal Naval Air Service, Towns Cup (1903-1904 & 1908-1909), Junior League & Past Players Cup (1910-1911)
• Sheppard. H.F. – Major Royal Irish Rifles, Military Cross 1916, Towns Cup (1980-1909), Junior League (1910-1911)
• Wright. R. – New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Towns Cup (1903-1904)

The following is the result of much research into the number of players from Bangor RFC and Bangor Grammarians RFC who died in WW2 (1939-45).

At the outset of WW2 all official rugby football games were cancelled. However, during the course of the war a number of clubs reformed and continued to arrange fixtures for the duration, until officially organised rugby resumed post-war.

According to a Spectator article Bangor Grammarians RFC was formed on 27th September 1939. Twenty eight members joined the club at the first meeting and expressions of interest were recorded by about fifty.

The Grammarians first match was played against Queens on Saturday 3rd October 1939, which they won by 11pts to 5pts. By November 1939 the club was fielding two teams with regular fixtures against opposition from established clubs in the greater Belfast area. This continued for the duration of the war and by the end of 1939, the names of twelve members whose deaths were discovered have been recorded in the Spectator columns of the period, details from Club AGMs as reported, death notices, obituaries and from a list of Old Boys of Bangor Grammar School killed in WW2, provided by the current school Principal, Mr Stephen Gilmore.

List of deaths:
20/10/40 G Baird (civilian), Killed at sea, SS Rutland, Age 39
4/4/41 W F E Gault, Pilot RAF, Age 18
10/4/41 D F Henderson, Sgt RAF, Age 36
5/5/41 J N Hamilton, 2nd Lt Pioneer Corps, Age 36
21/6/41 H Hannay, Pilot RAF, Age 21
28/8/41 W M MacDonald, Pilot RAF, Age 20
27/7/42 T A McCann, Pilot RAF, Age 23
30/9/42 D A Morrow, 2nd Lt Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Age 29
22/7/43 R H Rutherford, F O RAFVR, Age 20
26/7/43 J S Smyth, Pilot RAFVR, Age 29
15/9/43 D F A Hollywood, Sub Lt RNVR, Age 20
22/2/45 W M Millar DFC, F O RAF Age 21

I should like to record my sincere thanks to the manager and staff of the North Down Heritage Centre & Museum, and Jonathan Magee in particular, for access to the original Spectator newspapers for the period 1939-1945; to the Principal of Bangor Grammar School, Mr Stephen Gilmore, for access to school records of the period and especially for the obituaries of past pupils killed provided by the then Headmaster, Mr Maurice Wilkins; also Barry Niblock’s excellent book on the War Dead of North Down and Ards in the Second World War.

The Club would like to express its thanks to these sources of information:
• North Down Museum (Ards & North Down Borough Council)
• Royal British Legion, Bangor Branch
• Barry Niblock (Remembering Their Sacrifice in the Great War: The War Dead of North Down)
• Ken Switzer
• Hugh Anderson (Graphics and design)
• Barry Greenaway (Archivist, Bangor Grammar School)
• Gerry Drennan & Tony Heffernan (Bangor Rugby Football & Cricket Club)

[with thanks to Gerry Drennan]