Belfast war memorial rediscovered but others are sadly still missing

Of 208 men from the congregation who enlisted for service in The Great War, 34 died. The names of the dead were engraved on the plaque.

The Rev. Dr Henry Montgomery of the Shankill Road Mission, a former minister of the Albert Street Church, conducted the re-opening service and dedicated the memorial plaque.

Rev. Montgomery said he’d baptised many of the men whose names were on the plaque when they were babies.

“All of them had gallantly responded to the call of duty,” he added. “And that was one of the noblest testimonies that could be offered to their patriotism as well as their Christianity.”

Rev. Montgomery stressed that there had been no conscription and “the young men of that congregation, and of Ulster generally, answered the call from within when they knew the homeland was in peril, and indeed not they alone, but Ulstermen all over the world.”

Following the congregation’s relocation and merging with other congregations the memorial plaque was lost. History Hub Ulster’s researcher, Nigel Henderson, a regular contributor to this page, has been researching Belfast Presbyterians in the Great War and “had been advised that this memorial had been lost in a fire” in the 1970s.

But militaria collector Mark Ramsey told Nigel he had “unearthed something” and wanted to meet him.

“When he opened the boot of his car and showed me the brass memorial plaque, I was astounded,” said Nigel.

“Many memorials and rolls of honour for the Great War were lost during the German air raids of 1941. Others were lost in fires.

“However, there are numerous memorial plaques and parchment rolls of honour whose current locations are not known to me. Many of these were in church buildings whose congregations have folded or merged with other congregations…. there are also memorials that are ‘missing’ from commercial concerns…I would love to have the opportunity to photograph these memorials.”

Nigel highlighted two of the 34 names on the rediscovered Albert Street memorial - brothers James and Robert Nugent.

Five sons of William Nugent and Sarah Nugent (nee McFerran) of Percy Street enlisted for military service in the Great War.

Three survived but James and Robert made the ultimate sacrifice.

James, born on May 19 1897, enlisted with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and joined the 2nd Battalion in France on December 19, 1914.

He was killed in action three days before his 18 th birthday on Sunday, May 16, 1915 during the Battle of Festubert in the Artois region in France.

James has no known grave but is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial in France.

Robert McFerran Nugent, born on October 4, 1892 enlisted with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 1909 and served in China.

He was a shipyard worker at Queen’s Island when he was recalled and posted to the 1st Battalion.

Robert fought in the Gallipoli campaign before his battalion was transferred to the Western Front with the 29th Division and was positioned on the Ulster Division’s left flank in the Somme attack on July 1 1916.

Robert was wounded at the Somme, but stayed on the front lines and was severely wounded at Carnoy on January 29, 1917. He died aged 24 at No 9 General Hospital Rouen on February 15, 1917 and is buried in the St. Sever Cemetery in Rouen.

He is commemorated on the Harland and Wolff memorial for the Queen’s Island shipyard.

Sarah Nugent received a dependant’s pension of ten shillings per week for the loss of two of her sons, and a further war gratuities single payment of fifteen pounds and ten shillings later in 1919.

By a quirk of fate, a son-in-law of William and Sarah Nugent died at Percy Street during the German air raids of 1941.

Samuel Stewart McComb Elliott married daughter Sarah Nugent on October 23, 1929 at St John’s Church of Ireland, Laganbank.

Samuel was 32 years old when he died and was buried in Belfast City Cemetery on April 21, 1941.

In 2015, Michael James Nugent, a great nephew of James and Robert Nugent and an Associate Member of History Hub Ulster, published a book about the Battle of Festubert entitled, “It Was An Awful Sunday”.

Welcoming the rediscovery of the memorial plaque, Michael said: “This means a lot to me. I hope the plaque regains a prominent position so that the sacrifice of my Great Uncles is always remembered.”

Nigel Henderson hopes that the plaque will find a new home in West Kirk Presbyterian Church.

Gavin Bamford, Chair of History Hub Ulster, wants other lost and missing war memorials to be located and photographed for posterity.

Mr Bamford explained: “A list of memorials and rolls of honour that we know existed but whose whereabouts are not known can be found at http://historyhubulster.co.uk/.

“This is not an exhaustive list and will be amended as further information comes to light.

“If anyone knows of a war memorial plaque or a parchment Roll of Honour that is not in the public domain, we would be interested in knowing the details.”

Gavin can be contacted via the website or the group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HistoryHubUlster/

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