A Story in Every Cemetery

I spend time in cemeteries when I travel. Who doesn't?

This past August I walked in the unassuming churchyard pictured below. It is the former Church of Ireland parish in Belmullet in northwestern Mayo, Ireland. The church is closed because "there are no more protestants." The small number of marked burials contrasts to the large catholic cemeteries around the coast of the Mullet peninsula.

Among the scattered monuments are a group of standard military stones from the World War II era. Closer observation shows that the majority are inscribed with dates of death on either 2 July or 7 August 1940. Those designated 2 July are:

Private Donald E.V. Domican, the Welch Regiment, age 21
Trooper Frank Sidney Carter, the Royal Dragoons, age 27
Private William Fredrick George Chick of the Dorsetshire Regiment, age 19
Gunner Wallace Goodwin, 153rd (Leicestershire) Regiment, age 22

Their story becomes clear in an article in History Ireland. Ireland had coastwatchers, scanning the horizon for an invasion force during WWII. They did not enter the war and maintained their neutrality, but they could not ignore what was going on around them. On 6 August 1940, a body washed ashore on Annagh Head, east of Belmullet. The man was identified as Donald Domican, determined to have drowned, and buried the next day. Frank Carter was found on the 7th and also identified by his personal effects. Reports confirmed that bodies had been appearing along the coast to the north for ten days. The men had all been on the Arandora Star which left Liverpool on the first of July.

American internment of those with Japanese heritage during WWII is a stain on our history. Citizens and immigrants of all ages were rounded up due to their heritage, which was deemed to be a threat during the war. Germans and Italians were also held at camps around our country. In England there was less room to warehouse these people. The Andora Star was a luxury liner designed for 500 passengers, but was filled with 1,300 German and Italian internees enclosed in barbed wire, and their military guards, when she was torpedoed by a U-boat on 2 July 1940. The ship sank within an hour, and 805 on board were drowned. An unidentified man, believed to be one of the internees, and found in this period, was buried in an unmarked grave at Termoncarragh near Belmullet.

The Andora Star tragedy marked the end of the overseas deportations by the British. Internment policy was relaxed after an inquiry. Some of the internees had escaped the Nazis, only to be whitewashed with anyone of German descent.

Those buried with the August 7th date were likely on board a troop ship, the SS Mohamed Ali El-Kebir, which also left from Bristol on the 5th of August 1940. The ship was torpedoed 250 miles west of Malin Head, County Donegal, on 7 August 1940. Many men were saved by its escort ship, HMS Griffin, but others were later found dead along the coast. 

Those buried in Belmullet are:

Driver Sydney George Betts, Royal Engineers, age 24
Private William Hulme, Pioneer Corps, age 27
Sapper James Jaffray, Royal Engineers, age 27
Sapper William Ewen Morrison, Royal Engineers, age 24
Private John Halliwell Warham, Pioneer Corps, age 25

Sydney G. Betts could be the man recorded born in the spring of 1916 in Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, married in the second quarter of 1937 to Annie Wass, who were recorded in 1939 in Leicester with a child, George, born that August. His wife personalized his grave stone and gave us his first name.

John Warham's stone contains family data: Husband of Alice; Daddy of Jeanne; and son of J.H. and M. Warham.

Chief Engineer Officer, Clifford Major Mackrow, age 48 (8 August) has his ship listed on the stone.

The MV Upway Grange was a cargo vessel, built in 1925. It was enroute from Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a cargo of frozen meat when it was torpedoed by U-37, approximately 150 miles west of Erris Head, near Belmullet. 36 of the 86 man crew were reported missing.

More men were found individually the following year. Lieutenant Thomas Elvin Mitchell, Carleton and York Regiment of the Canadian infantry, died 30 April 1941, age 20. He was aboard the SS Narissa bringing troops from New Brunswick.

Wing Commander Archibald Graham Weir, age 55, was not shot down out of the sky. He was also on the Narissa when it was sunk by the Germans on 30 April 1941. He had reportedly served in the Duke of Cornwell, Light Infantry Regiment during WWI.

Leading Seaman Jack Springett Johnson served on the SS Mashona and died 28 May 1841, age 37. The previous day the Mashona was involved in the sinking of the German Bismark. The Luftwaffe sunk her off the coast of Galway with a loss of 48 of 218 on board.



Notes:
1. See more at the History Ireland blog.
2. Photos of the graves were uploaded to Find a Grave.
3. Information was taken from the listing of the war dead at Grangegorman memorial in Cabra, county Dublin.
4. Betts records found on-line at Find My Past.
5. Wikipedia has good details on SS Mohamed Ali El-Kabir.