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Message 1 - Northern Ireland's Only V.C.

Posted on: 23 January 2004 by Aquitania

Thanks for an excellent article that portrays a naval hero who should have had greater recognition.

It is also sad to recall the divisive situation that prevailed in Northern Ireland during that period, resulting in Jimmy Magennis being shunned by both Protestants and Catholics.

My interest in this story comes from the time in June 1945 when I spent part of my foreign service leave in Northern Ireland prior to being sent out to the Far East.

I was the only sailor leaving the ferry at Larne and was greeted by several women and girls carrying flowers all shouting "Jimmy, Jimmy !"
Then one woman said you are not Jimmy Magennis, and they all turned away. Obiviously someone had been of the opinion that he was due to arrive at that particular time.

Message 1 - Honour not Geography or Politics....

Posted on: 25 May 2004 by rocketeer

I agree that James Magennis' story is one of bravery and he should quite rightly be honoured, but I think your title is a little misleading.

I know this is a WW2 site but I could`nt help reminding people of another Northern Ireland soldier who also gained the VC - during The Great War.

In March 1916 the sector of the front held by the Ulster Division was extended to cover an area south of called Thiepval Wood. This wood, the name of which would become indelibly linked to the province of Ulster, served as a base until the commencement of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916.

Thiepval comprised an area of some 100 acres of deciduous forest and was criss-crossed with deep communication trenches leading to the front line. Dugouts were excavated from the chalky earth and provided some shelter from the German artillery. Food stores and ammunition dumps were also constructed in the wood. It was near one of these dumps, on the morning of the 1st July, that Rifleman William McFadzean, 14th Rifles won immortal fame when was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for an act of courageous self-sacrifice.

He jumped on a box of grenades after seeing a live one roll into the trench and onto the pile, killing himself but saving a number of his comrades.

It shouldn`t matter whether it was during the first or second world wars, or when or where a border was drawn.

Both of these Ulstermen deserve to be honoured, as recipients of the VC.