Photos available of graves at Buncrana (Ireland)

[chris basey]

Photographs (digital via e-mail) of the following CWGC stones are available for the asking:

AB F.Neve d. 07/04/1918 HMS Nicator

AB A.W.S. Sherriff d. 30/04/1918 RFA Dapper

Greaser H. McGuffick d. 21/08/1917 HMS Virginian

Deck Hand W. Johnson d. 19/07/1917 HMTr Lobelia II

P.O. W.Burgess d. 27/10/1914 HMS Liverpool

S.J.Morris d. 27/06/1917 SS Haverford

AB E.W.Mutter d. 12/07/1919 HMS Delphinium

Deck Hand G. Fraser d.08/17/1918 HMTr William Biggs

Deck Hand R. Mac Cuish d. 17/12/1918 HMTr John Corwarder

Stoker P.O. J. Clucas d. 10/10/1918 HMS Michael

Stoker T.J. Harrison d. 08/10/1918 HMS Silene

Ch. Eng. W.H.Mattock D. 03/09/1918 HMS Hecla

[PhilB]

Chris, I have medals to A.E.Gamble RN, HMS Laurentic, KIA 25/1/17 and buried at Upper Fahan CofI Churchyard, near Buncrana. Is that the same graveyard? Phil B

[Terry Denham]

Phil

Chris' photos come from the following cemetery...

LOWER FAHAN (CHRIST CHURCH) CHURCHYARD

A different location but both in Donegal and probably very near to each other!

[chris basey]

Phil and Terry

The two Fahan (pronounced 'farn') locations caused a bit of confusion on our recent visit. Both are on the eastern shore of Lough Swilly.

The large memorial to those lost on the HMS Laurentic is in the churchyard that we thought was the parish church of Fahan. However, some two miles along the road you come to Buncrana where, in the High Street, is Christ Church, Lower Fahan! Just one of many bits of information that I gleaned about WW1 happenings at Lough Swilly, Co Donegal. (I refrain from any comment on Irish logic!)

Buncrana was a Naval Base known as HMS Hecla which must have been a centre of much WW1 activity on the 25 mile long lough which, I was told, has depth of 30 feet of water even at low tide, so it provided a marvellous haven for the Atlantic fleet.

Phil, do you have a report of the sinking of the Laurentic? If not, I can send you a copy of a paragraph from a local book 'Lough Swilly in the First World War'.

The object of our visit was my grandfather's grave on the opposite side of the lough at Rathmullan. He, and two others, were drowned in the lough on 7th April 1918 from HMS Nicator. Many years of research have failed to find the exact circumstances of the drownings but our visit helped me to understand the area and to realise that the Heclas was in fact a stone frigate.

Kind regards

Chris

[PhilB]

The details I have, Chris, are:-

HMS Laurentic, AMC, sunk by mine in L Swilly en route to New York with £5million in gold. 315 men died mainly of exposure. 4 officers and 64 of the men in graveyard . 200 tonnes of gold recovered since. That probably just about covers it? It has always surprised me that so manty could die of exposure so near a shore. Phil B

[chris basey]

Phil, A slight variation, and rather more detail, in this account:

"Another serious disaster, unfortunately accompanied by heavy loss of life, was that of the auxiliary cruiser Laurentic. This fine ship arrived at Lough Swilly about January 22nd 1917. The Laurentic was understood to be under direct wireless instructions from the Admiralty, Whitehall. After a few days’ visit, the Luarentic left Lough Swilly at 6pm on January 26th, 1917. The ship was not camouflaged in any way; her sides and upper works, being dazzling white, presented a beautiful sight steaming down the Lough. Three miles outside the mouth of Lough Swilly the Laurentic was torpedoed by a German submarine. It was a bitterly cold night with a strong south-eastern gale. The ship floated long enough to permit all on board to get away on the ship’s lifeboats. Scantily clad, and borne seawards by the force of the gale, 68 men succumbed to exposure before being picked up by patrol boats. All of the dead were buried in one large grave in Fahan churchyard. The funeral was unique in that the Roman Catholic, Episcopalian and Presbyterian clergymen all officiated at the one graveside. The Admiralty afterwards erected a handsome monument over the grave inscribed with the names of the officers and men interred there."