The Ulster Tower, located in

Thiepval Thiepval (; pcd, Tièbvo) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Thiepval is located north of Albert at the crossroads of the D73 and D151 and approximately northeast of Amiens. Population First World ...

, France, is Northern Ireland's National War Memorial. It was one of the first memorials to be erected on the Western Front and commemorates the men of the

36th (Ulster) Division The 36th (Ulster) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Lord Kitchener's New Army, formed in September 1914. Originally called the ''Ulster Division'', it was made up of mainly members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, wh ...

and all those from

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

who served in the First World War. The memorial was officially opened on 19 November 1921 and is a very close copy of

Helen's Tower Helen's Tower is a 19th-century folly and lookout tower near Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was built by the 5th Lord Dufferin and Claneboye and named for his mother, Helen. He intended it as a shrine for poems, first of all a poem b ...

which stands in the grounds of the

Clandeboye Estate The Clandeboye Estate is a country estate in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, outside Belfast. Covering , it contains woodlands, formal and walled gardens, lawns, a lake, and of farmland. Named after the former Gaelic territory of Cland ...

, near

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a city and seaside resort in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to which it is linked ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Many of the men of the Ulster Division trained in the estate before moving to England and then France early in 1916. The Tower (plus a small cafe nearby) is staffed by members of the Somme Association, which is based in Belfast.

1916 Battle

The Division attacked the

Schwaben Redoubt The Capture of Schwaben Redoubt () was a tactical incident in the Battle of the Somme, 1916 during the First World War. The redoubt was a German strong point long and wide, built in stages since 1915, near the village of Thiepval and overlooki ...

, which is near the Ulster Tower, on 1 July 1916. The Schwaben Redoubt was a little to the north-east of where the tower stands, and was a triangle of trenches with a frontage of 300 yards, a fearsome strongpoint with commanding views. It is also located close to the

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a war memorial to 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave. It is near the ...

. The front lines were at the edge of Thiepval Wood which lies to the south-west of the road between the Thiepval Memorial and the Ulster Tower. Troops of the 109th Brigade crossed about 400 yards of

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

, and kept on going. They entered the Schwaben Redoubt, and advanced on towards Stuff Redoubt, gaining in all around a mile, though not without losses. To their left, the 108th Brigade were successful in advancing near

, but less so nearer the River

Ancre The Ancre (; ) is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, Somme, Albert, it flows into the Somme (river), Somme at Corbie. It is long. For most of its length it flows through the departments of France, ...

. The 107th Brigade supported them, but although men of the 36th Division held out for the day the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

mounted counterattacks, and as their stocks of bombs and ammunition dwindled, many fell back with small parties remaining in the German front lines. The casualties suffered by the 36th Division on 1 July totalled over 5,000.

Memorial

At the entrance to the tower is a plaque commemorating the names of the nine men of the Division who won the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

during the Somme. There is also a memorial here commemorating the part played by members of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

during the battle. The inscription on this memorial reads: :''"This Memorial is Dedicated to the Men and Women of the Orange Institution Worldwide, who at the call of King and country, left all that was dear to them, endured hardness, faced danger, and finally passed out of the sight of man by the path of duty and self sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live in Freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten."'' The memorial tower was designed by architects

Albert Leigh Abbott Lieutenant Colonel Albert Leigh Abbott MC TD FRIBA (1890 - 1952) was an architect based in London. Architectural career He won a travelling studentship in 1913. He was Inspector of Housing for the Ministry of Health from 1920-21. He worked for ...

and J.A. Bowden.

1916 Battle

Memorial

See also

References

Further reading