RICHHILL WAS A FERTILE RECRUITING GROUND FOR BARVE SOLDIERS, BIT IT BORE THE PRICE IN CASUALTIES.
RICHHILL has a long and proud history of service to the Crown and for many years men have served in all branches of the Armed Forces. For years the district was a fertile recruiting ground for the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the county regiment of Armagh now amalgamated with the other North Irish outfits into the Royal Irish Regiment.
One of those most prominent features of the main streets the much-admired memorial garden at the foot of the hill, in the centre of which is the permanent tribute to those who served in the two World Wars and did not return.
In particular, Richhill, like every village, town and city in Ulster, paid a heavy price in terms of the number of its sons slain in the Great War.
“I can remember many veterans of the 1914-18 – men who had experienced the horrors of the battles of the Western Front like the Somme,” said Teddy. Among those Great War veterans he remembers were George King, Albert King, Tommy King, Albert Smith, Jimmy Henderson, Jim Loney, Ossie Loney, Frank Hewitt, Tommy Richardson, Billy Shields, Bob Kelly, senior, Bill Clyesdale, Bob Halligan, Bob Buckley, Bob Johnston, Bill Rafferty, Doctor Hemmingway, Willie Nellins and Fred Pierson.
When the British Legion came into being after the 1914-18 War, Richhill promptly formed a branch. It has always been to the fore in looking after the interests of ex-servicemen and women and their families. Legion stalwart have included Cyril Kelly, Alfie and Patsy Halligan, Patsy Wallace. When the nation was plunged into war again in 1939, the men of Richhill responded with the same spirit of patriotic duty as before.
Those who served in the ’39-45 conflict included (all army unless otherwise stated) Gordon Nesbitt, Ned Reynolds, Tommy Kelly, Bob Rafferty, Bob Dodds, Redmond Campbell, Jack Clyesdale, Eddie McCready Christie Halligan (Merchant Navy), Victor Ross and Jack Rowntree (RAF), Frank Dale, George McMurray, Ivan Kelly (RAF), Cecil McCoo (RAF0, Jimmy McKee (Royal Navy), Jackie McKee (Raf), Sammy McCoo – whose brother Jackie was killed in Normandy – and Desmond Kelly, who served in the Korean War in the 1950s. The list goes on; Harry Glendinning (Fleet Air Arm), Ivy McCann, Kathleen Clyesdale, Sally Kelly, Cecil McNally, Tommy Flanigan, Jimmy Holmes (RAF), Tom Bradford, Ronnie Wooley, Billy Dodds (RAF), Eddie McNally, Noel Clyesdale (RAF), Johnny Halligan, Wilson Clyesdale and Robert Maguire – they also served in Korea – Jim Wilson, Sydney Henderson, Tommy Loney and Tommy Foster (all three RAF).
Teddy also mentioned Stanley Towell, an RAF squadron leader, Major John Kerr, who lived in the village for a number of years after the war, and was manly responsible for the erection of the war memorial, and Cecil McCoo who took such pride and care of the memorial garden for a long time. “I have probably left someone out, and if so I hope they or their relatives will accept my apology,” said Teddy.
Sadly, the two World Wars and Korea did not end the conflict this century and Richhill, like many other places in Northern Ireland, has suffered during the ‘Troubles’ of the past 30 years, with a number of young men being killed while serving in the RUC and UDR.
On a lighter note, Teddy recalls many of the boys of the village pretending to be soldiers during the Second World War. Field Marshall Montgomery was one of the great British commanders with Ulster blood in his veins and the boys formed an ‘army’ calling themselves ‘Montgomery’s Reserves’. At that time ‘Monty’ was leading the 8th Army to victory over ‘Desert Fox’, Rommel, in North Africa. “It was great fun. We had wooden home made rifles, Tommy guns and a wooden revolver,” he said. The revolver was used by their ‘captain’ Charlie Nellins. Other members of ‘Montgomery’s Reserves included Edwin Evans, Bevan Kerr, Derick Kerr, Wilfred Evans, Reggie Campbell, Jackie Flanigan, Billy and Eddie McNally, and George Ross. “We had make shift uniforms – rationing was in existence – which were made for us by Miss Ethel McNally, who had a small shop at the top of the street. “We even had two ‘nurses’ – Jean Bell and June Ross – who made their own uniforms and were very smart. As well as field exercises we went on parade, and were once introduced to Lady Montgomery, ‘Monty’s mother he said.
It is hardly surprising that the boys all joined the local Army Cadet Force, and had the war not ended in 1945, there is little doubt they would have joined HM Forces.
The people of Richhill certainly played their part in achieving victory, and they also contributed generously to the funds to provide comforts for the men at the front. There was also great parties to celebrate VE-Day and VJ-Day, and in later years the strong community spirit was again seen in the celebrations of the Festival of Britain and the Queen’s Coronation.
Taken from the Portadown Times May 1st 1998 and written by Brian Courtney
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