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The 36th (Ulster) Division

Written by Mike
36th (Ulster) Division Memorial. The memorial is situated in a small park on the north side of the road from Hamel to Auchonvillers. The monument is a replica of Helen’s Tower at Clandeboye in County Down. October 5, 2002. (0203682) 36th (Ulster) Division Memorial. The memorial is situated in a small park on the north side of the road from Hamel to Auchonvillers. The monument is a replica of Helen’s Tower at Clandeboye in County Down. October 5, 2002. (0203682)

Kitchener realised early on that the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was an obvious source of recruits for the New Army, but in view of the situation with the Irish at the time there were a number of political problems. 

The original aim was to get the UVF men to enlist, not as units in their own right, but scattered throughout other units.

Irish pressure forced this view to change and they were recruited into Ulster Battalions.  This move caused concern in Parliament – delaying recruiting starting in full swing until September 1914. 

Within a month an entire Division was raised with five Battalions from Belfast, two from County Down, two from Antrim and one each from Tyron and Derry.  The result was the 36th (Ulster) Division.

The 36th (Ulster) Division were to play a key role in the action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and sustained huge losses as they did.

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Mike

Mike

Mike McCormac has been a photographer since about ten years old.  He's a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and lives in a village in the hills near Paphos in Cyprus.

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