Issue 9 Page 1

Brave Record

Belfast distiller’s hobby enabled early naval aviation John Dunville whose family owned the well-known distillery, was an early pioneer of competitive ballooning who took leave of absence from the family company of which he was chairman to join the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). One of his sons was awarded the VC posthumously.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 2 John Dunville in the “Banshee”

John Dunville was born in Holywood, County Down and was educated at Cambridge University. He became chairman of his father’s whisky distillery ‘Dunville & Company’ in Belfast. He became interested in aeronautics. In his balloons “La Mascotte” and the “Banshee,” he twice won the Northcliffe Cup for the greatest distance travelled in a balloon. In 1908 he held the record for the longest time in the air and flew from Holyhead to Dublin in one hour and fifty minutes.

The sport of ballooning was popular among the wealthy from the turn of the century until the outbreak of the First World War. The Aero Club, which was founded in 1901

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 3

Redburn House, Holywood - the family residence

and renamed the Royal Aero Club in 1910, organised competitions from the polo grounds at Hurlingham in Fulham and Ranelagh in Barnes.

John Dunville's first flight in a balloon was in 1906 or 1907. Flights were being offered in a War Office balloon at Aldershot for the cost of five pounds. John Dunville's flight there, with an officer of the Army Balloon Corps, ended in a tree. The balloon was badly torn and the aeronauts climbed down from the tree with great difficulty. This did not deter John Dunville from taking up ballooning and entering competitions, several of which he won. His first balloon was 'La Mascotte', named after John Dunville's pet name for his wife Violet.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 4

The Dunville family donated Dunville Park and the Dunville fountain to the City of Belfast and sponsored the sports club which founded Distillery Football Club

In September 1907 he won the Northcliffe Cup, which had been presented by Lord Northcliffe to the Aero Club in 1906. It was awarded to the Briton who had made the longest flight during the year. John Dunville won the cup by flying 'La Mascotte' nearly two hundred miles from London to Wales. In June 1908 he won a Hare and Hounds race from Hurlingham. In this type of race the winner was the balloon which landed closest to the quarry balloon.

An attempt by John Dunville to win the Northcliffe Cup in November 1908 became the first crossing of the English Channel by a balloon carrying four people: himself, his wife Violet, Mr. C.F. Pollock and Philip Gardner. This flight of his balloon 'Banshee' from London to Baelen, in the north of Belgium, covered a distance of two hundred and sixty miles in eleven hours and five minutes. John Dunville won the cup in December 1908 by flying from Chelsea Gas Works to Crailsheim near Stuttgart in Germany, once again accompanied by C.F. Pollock and

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 5

Numbered from left to right: (2) Andy Moore, the Head Gardener, (3) Sam Farrar, the Head Groom, (5) Stanley Baldwin, Chauffeur and Secretary, (7) Mrs. John Dunville, (8) Bobby Dunville, (10) Ernest Maggs. The words on Bobby Dunville's pullover are 'Banshee R.U.Y.C.' (Royal Yacht Club). Banshee was the name of the Dunvilles' boat, as well as some of their balloons. The car on the right is a Hotchkiss. These were made in France.

Philip Gardner, in thirteen hours. One of the rules of the Northcliffe Cup was that if it was won by the same person in two consecutive years it became the property of the holder, and thus it became the property of John Dunville.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 6 John Dunville and C.F. Pollock crossed the Irish Sea in the balloon 'St. Louis' in February 1910. Mr. Short, of Short & Co. of Battersea, assisted with the launch from the Gas Works in Dublin. Violet Dunville had hoped to travel in the balloon, but the weight of the balloon had to be reduced before the launch. She said afterwards, 'I knew I displaced three bags of ballast, which they would require to throw out, and you know they could not throw me out.' The five-hour flight reached an altitude of ten thousand feet and covered one hundred and sixty miles. They landed in Birtles, near Macclesfield in Cheshire.

The Irish Sea had been crossed in a balloon only twice before, forty years previously and earlier by Windham Sadler in 1817.

John Dunville and his wife Violet both competed in international ballooning competitions. In 'Banshee II' she won the Hedges Butler Challenge Cup three years running, in 1912, 1913 and 1914. The cup was awarded for the longest distance flight by any type of flying machine, starting from London on a specified day. If it was won by the same person three times in succession it became the property of the holder, and so this cup became the property of Violet Dunville.

John Dunville took part in the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett in October 1913, when it started from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. His balloon was 'Banshee' and his co-pilot was Captain Corbet. They were placed seventeenth out of twenty-one balloons, covering a distance of two hundred and twenty-six miles.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 7 John Dunville had previously gained an M.A. at Trinity College, Cambridge and had served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 5th Battalion of the Leinster Regiment (The Royal Meath Militia). As a young man he had been an enthusiastic cross-country rider and a skillful polo player. While he was at Cambridge he was Master of the Cambridge Staghounds for two seasons, 1886 and 1887.

John Dunville married in 1892 Violet Anne Blanche Lambart, the fifth daughter of Gustavus William Lambart, Deputy Lieutenant, of Beau Parc, County Meath. They had four children: Robert Lambart Dunville, John Spencer Dunville, William Gustavus Dunville and Una Dunville. The family lived at 46 Portland Place, London with twelve servants: a butler, two footmen, a lady's maid, a cook, two nurses, two house maids, two kitchen maids and a hall boy.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 8 The summer months and the Christmases were spent at Redburn House, the head of which was John's father, Robert Grimshaw Dunville. Redburn House was looked after by sixteen house staff and ten groundstaff. The stables housed sixty horses for hunting and four horses for drawing carriages, all tended by sixteen grooms.

The First World War

The demands of the First World War required John Dunville to leave more of the running of Dunville & Co. to the Directors and the Managers. He joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a Flight Lieutenant in March 1915. He was promoted to Flight Commander in January 1916 and Squadron Commander in June 1917. He was also a Commandant of the Special Constabulary Force during the Sinn Fein troubles in Belfast.

Eldest son shot by Sinn Fein

The Dunville’s sons were serving in the army. Both had been educated at Eton. Their eldest son, Robert Lambart Dunville (1893-1931),was commissioned into the 1st Life Guards as a Second Lieutenant. At the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914, he joined the Royal Bucks Hussars, still as a Second Lieutenant. This regiment suffered heavy casualties during the Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey, between April 1915 and January 1916. In that respect it was fortunate that Robert Dunville had just suffered an attack of acute appendicitis and was ordered back to the UK by a medical board. During the Irish Rising of April 1916, Robert Lambart Dunville was travelling by road from Belfast to Kingstown, now called Dun Laoghaire, to catch the ferry from there to England,

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 9 to return to his regiment. In Castlebellingham he encountered a large group of armed rebels. Robert Dunville and his chauffeur were ordered to leave their car and stand in front of some railings, next to four policemen (Sergeant M. Wymes, Acting Sergeant Patrick Kiernan, Constable Patrick Donovan and Constable Charles McGee). Shots were fired. Robert Dunville was shot in the chest and fell against the railings; Constable McGee, shot twice in his body and twice in his left arm, also fell. Robert Dunville and Constable McGee were both twenty- three years old. Robert Dunville was carried back to his car and taken to a military hospital, where he was found to have two wounds on his chest, probably from the same bullet. Constable McGee died within a few hours of being shot. Although Robert Dunville survived, he never fully recovered from his wounds and died fifteen years later at the age of thirty-eight.

Younger son awarded VC posthumously

John Dunville's second son, Second Lieutenant John Spencer Dunville VC (1896-1917), had been a member of the Officer Training Corps at Eton from May 1912 to July 1914. He passed matriculation for Trinity College, Cambridge, but joined the army instead, initially serving as a Second Lieutenant in the 5th Cavalry Reserve Regiment. In April 1915 he applied to join the

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 10 Royal Flying Corps and was accepted, but his course of instruction in aviation was cancelled a few days before he was due to start. He transferred to the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons and went to France in June 1915. There he took part in the Battle of Loos in September 1915, and transferred to the 1st (Royal) Dragoons in January 1916. In April he contracted trench fever and was invalided to England. He returned to France in December 1916.

In June 1917, while he was serving in the 1st (Royal) Dragoons, he died from wounds he received at Epehy in France. He was protecting an NCO of the Royal Engineers who was cutting wire which had been laid by the enemy. Although he was wounded by the enemy's fire, he continued to direct his men until the wire-cutting operation had been successfully completed. He remained conscious but died from his wounds the next day. The which he was posthumously awarded was received by his father John Dunville from King George V at Buckingham Palace in August 1917. He was also awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal 1914-20 and the Victory Medal 1914-19. A magnificent stained glass window in the grand entrance hall of Redburn House was one of several memorials dedicated to him.

In the same year his father John Dunville was promoted to Wing Commander, with four hundred and fifty officers and two thousand men under his command at the No. 1 Balloon Training Wing, Roehampton. He transferred as a Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel, Kite Balloon Officer, to the Royal Air Force in April 1918 and was demobilised in 1919. He was made a Commander of the British Empire for his services during the war. He used the title 'Colonel' from his earlier service in the Leinster Regiment.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 11 Remembrance

The Priory Churchyard in Holywood has the Dunville family grave and a memorial stone to John erected there (Grave 178/188). In Redburn Square in the town is the local war memorial and the area was laid out in John Dunville's honour. Dunville's name is one of those listed on this memorial. John also is commemorated with a plaque and memorial window in St Mary's and St Philip’s Parish Church, Hollywood.

After the war, Violet Dunville arranged for a wreath to be laid every Remembrance Day in memory of her son on the family grave in the cemetery. On her death she left £196,569 and part of that sum is used to pay for this annual event, and, in addition, £500 was also left to Hollywood Parish Church to establish a trust to provide

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 12 gifts to the needy on Armistice Day. A further £500 was left to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

Dunville's VC and medals are kept with the Household Cavalry Museum in Windsor.

Holywood, Glencraig, Craigavad, Crawfordsburn and RNIYC

Roll of Honour - World War 1

DINGLEY, Thomas A Crawfordsburn. Masonic RH

MILLS, Frederick James Greer RMLI. Private. PLY/16454. Plymouth Btn. RND. Died 15/09/1915. Age 22. Son of John and Annie Mills, Marino, Holywood. Pink Farm Cemetery, Helles. Holy Trinity, Glencraig Parish, WM

MITCHELL, Robert R RNR. Engineer Lieutenant. HMS Laurentic. Died 25/01/1917. Age 32. Son of Mrs Jane Mitchell, Church Avenue, Holywood. Holywood cemetery. Holy Trinity, Glencraig Parish, WM

ROBINSON, Samuel RNR. Sub-Lieutenant. HMS Paxton. Died 20/05/1917. Submarine action. Craigavad. Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 27. Holywood WM

SMITH, George S Crawfordsburn. Masonic RH

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 13 VANCE, Patrick Hugo Gerald Irving RN. Sub-Lieutenant. HMS Shark. Died 31/04/1916. Age 19. Son of James Gerald Irving Vance and Clare Irving Vance, Carrickreagh, Helen's Bay. B County Fermanagh. archives. Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 11. Enniskillen WM. Glencraig WM. Trinity Presbyterian Church, Bangor WM

World War 1 - They served

BROWN, William RN. Surgeon. Holywood. High Street - PCI RH

DUNN, Hubert RN. Surgeon. Holywood. High Street - PCI RH

FITZSIMMONS, Henry First Holywood - PCI RH

GRAHAM, Sam Leading Seaman. HMS Leander. Spencer Street. First Holywood - PCI RH

HOLMES, William RN. Chief E.R.A. Downshire Road, Holywood. First Bangor - PCI RH

KEMP, William F. RNAS. Lieutenant. Holywood. High Street - PCI RH

MAGEE, Frederick Engineer. Holywood Lodge, Masonic Order

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 14 MAGILL, Joseph Petty Officer. HMS Colossus. Marino. First Holywood - PCI RH

MAGILL, Thomas S Gunner. HMS Q26. Marino. First Holywood - PCI RH

MAGILL, William Stoker. HMS Sutlej. Marino. First Holywood - PCI RH

McGRILLEN, Leo Alphonsus RMLI. 19567. Chatham Division. During part of his enlistment he served in HMS Cyclops. Enlisted 31/12/1914. Born Holywood, 09/12/1896. Died 12/10/1956

McKIBBIN, William Gunner. HMS Emperor of India. Spencer Street. First Holywood - PCI RH

MURRAY, James RNAS. Chief Petty Officer. Russian Armoured Car Division. Glenside. First Holywood - PCI RH

NELSON, James RMLI. Gunner. Wounded. Stewart’s Place, Holywood

PARKHURST, Peter Crawfordsburn Masonic Lodge

PAYNE, Reuban Woodland RN. Surgeon - Lieutenant. b 02/10/1892, son of R. F. Payne, Holywood. Campbell College

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 15 PRAEGAR, Egmond Apjohn RN. Died shortly after his discharge at the end of the war with a heart attack. Brother of well-known sculptress, Rosamund Praegar. B Woodburn 14/05/1892. Holywood WM

REA, Thomas RN. Private. PoW. Ballykeel. First Holywood - PCI RH

ROBB, John RNR. Private. Cultra, Holywood. High Street - PCI RH

SKELTON, John Crawfordsburn Masonic Lodge

SMITH, George S RN. Crawfordsburn Masonic Lodge

WATERFIELD, James Acting Bombardier. HMS Dreadnought. Spencer Street. First Holywood - PCI RH

WHITE, Alexander RN. Stoker. Bath Terrace. First Holywood - PCI RH

WHITE, W Brownlow RNR. Holywood. High Street - PCI RH

WOODS, John RNVR. Lieutenant. Churchfield, Holywood. Argyll Place - PCI RH

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 16

Holywood, Glencraig, Craigavad, Crawfordsburn and RNIYC

Roll of Honour - World War 2

CARR, John RNVR. Lieutenant (A) Died 17/01/1941. Age 33. HMS Goshawk. Son of Thomas J and Mary Carr, Belfast. Lee-on- Solent Naval Memorial, Panel 6. RNIYC WM

COLE, Hugh Douglas RN. Convoy Signalman. C/JX 234034. SS Benalbanach. Died 07/01/1943. Age 20. Son of Samuel Douglas and Madeline Margaret Cole, Holywood. Chatham Naval Memorial, Panel 70

EDMENSON, Walter Alexander HMS Caroline. RNVR. Sub. Lieut. Mentioned in despatches. Died 26/12/1940. b. 23rd July, 1919, son of W. A. Edmenson, Castlehill Road, Knock, Belfast. Campbell College. RNIYC WM. QUB WM.

ERSKINE, John Gordon Morrison RN. Lt Commander (E). Died 24/05/1941. Age 33. HMS Hood. Son of Robert M Erskine and Eleanor Erskine. Husband to Nancy Erskine, Holywood. Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 45

McCALLA, William Trevor RNVR. Lieutenant. Frequent Competitor in Ulster T.T. Races. "E" Class Lap Record, 1935. Winner of Co. Down Trophy Race, 1934. Director, W. McCalla and Co., Belfast, and Proprietor, Ulster Steam Tender Co. Member, Belfast Local Marine Board. B 16/11/1904. Son of William McCalla,

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 17 Greenoge, Strandtown, Belfast. Campbell College. RNIYC WM

POLLOCK, Herbert Mercer RNVR. Lieutenant (A). Served WW1. Died 10/08/1942. Age 42. HMS Condor. Entered Royal School Dungannon 1900. Son of James and Annie Olivia Pollock. Husband to Iris Isobel Pollock, Malone, Belfast. Arbroath Western Cemetery. RNIYC WM

TEDFORD, Alfred Robert Hetherington HMS Caroline. RNVR. Lieutenant. In September, 1939 appointed to HMS Revenge, being promoted Acting Sub- Lieutenant on appointment to HMS Westminster (destroyer) in February, 1941 and thence in July, 1942 to Lieutenant when appointed to HMS Urania (destroyer), in which ship he was drowned through accidentally falling overboard. Son of Alfred and Mary Winifred Tedford, Belfast. Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 90. RNIYC WM

World War 2 - They served

BABINGTON, Robert

RNAS/ Fleet Air Arm. Sub Lieutenant. DSC. During the course of the war he had at least two near death experiences. His first wartime posting was flying Fairy Fulmars from the Harland and Wolff-built carrier HMS Formidable. He arrived in Egypt just as his ship was about to take part in the evacuation of Crete. After the Crete evacuation he flew Swordfish torpedo bombers during the invasion of Syria and once spent three days in a dingy, without food or water, after being forced to ditch at sea. Robert was awarded a DSC. The citation reads: "The Distinguished Service Cross has been awarded to Sub Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 18 Lieutenant Babington for his skill, bravery and sustained resolution in many air attacks against enemy submarines and E- boats in the Mediterranean."He had another brush with death when the carrier HMS Dasher was sunk on 27/03/1943 while sailing in the Clyde with the loss of 379 men. As the ship was sinking, he was forced to jump overboard and swim to safety. A massive explosion took the ship under a short time later. Dublin born. St Columba’s College and Trinity College, Dublin. Called to the Northern Ireland Bar 1947. Queen’s Counsel 1965. An Ulster Unionist member. He resigned from the ’66 Committee of Unionist backbenchers in October 1970. Sat for North Down from the 1969 general election until the prorogation of the Parliament in 1972. County Court Judge for Fermanagh and Tyrone from 1974.

BOWDEN, Patrick George RN. OBE. Paymaster Cadet, RN, 1931. Paymaster Lieut.1946. Staff of Admiral Commanding Orkneys and Shetlands, 1939-41. Secretary to Admiral Sir Clement Moody, KCB., in successive appointments as Rear Admiral Naval Sir Stations, 1941-43; Rear Admiral, Aircraft Carriers Home, Mediterranean and Eastern Fleets, 1943-44; Flag Officer Air, East Indies, 1945 and Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, 1946. Commander (S), 1949. b. 11/08/1914. Son of E. Bowden, Marino. Campbell College

DONNAN, Laurence Frederick HMS Caroline. RNVR. Surgeon - Lieutenant. In 1939 appointed medical officer to HMS Fox where, as SMO to the Shetland Islands he organised the local school into a hospital and his duties included care of the crews of the trawlers 1939-40. Released to civilian practice in Holywood 1940. b. 26/02/1907. Son of William D. Donnan, Holywood. Campbell College

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 9 Page 19 NELSON, Hugh RNVR. Lieutenant. HMS Barrymore (boom defence vessel) 04/41 - 10/43; First Lt. HMS Preventer (boom defence) 07/44 - 10/44; HMS William Hannam (trawler) 01/45 - 07/45. B Holywood 02/06/1916. M, three daughters.

POLLOCK, John Stuart RM. Major. MiD. International Cricket, 1939-52; Several times Captain of Gentlemen of Ireland XI; Squash, 1951-53. b. 05/06/1920, son of Wm. Pollock, Malone Park, Belfast. Laneside, Craigavad. Campbell College

Acknowledgments - Masonic Order Roll of Honour; Presbyterian Church in Ireland Roll of Honour; Ulster Medical Journal; Lennox Wylie’s archive of Campbellians; RNIYC; QUB Roll of Honour; Allison’s history of HMS Caroline; Bangor Grammar School archives; Dunville family archives

HELP REQUESTED Please send names of Ex RN/RM/WRNS who served in either of the world wars. Details also appreciated.

CIRCULATION - Please share ‘Brave Report’ with your former service colleagues - and we will post direct to them if they simply send an e-mail to: [email protected], placing Brave Report in the message bar, and give their name and former arm of service, and if they are members of the RNA or RBL, having knowledge of their branch would be appreciated. There are specific areas where we need information from!

PUBLICATION NOTES Please note all the material in Brave Report is copyright.

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Brave Report is collated and published by The Very Rev. Dr Houston McKelvey, OBE QVRM TD.

Dr McKelvey served as chaplain for 29 years with 102/105 (Ulster & Scottish) Regiment, Royal Artillery TA; for 20 years as Chaplain to the RBL - Northern Ireland Area, and for a period as chaplain to the Belfast Branch of the Burma Star Association. He was involved in the life of HMS Caroline and HMS Hibernia.He was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the RNR. He is a Past President of QUB Combined Services Club.

Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance