William Frederick McFadzean VC (9 October 1895 – 1 July 1916) was a British recipient of 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 ...

(VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

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forces. He was posthumously awarded the VC for his actions on the opening day of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

Early life

William Frederick McFadzean was born in Lurgan in

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 9 October 1895. His parents, William McFadzean and his wife Annie Pedlow , were from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and lived in the suburb of

Cregagh Cregagh () is an area southeast of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the name of a townland and has been adopted as the name of an electoral ward of Belfast City council. The townland dates back to medieval times, when it was part ...

. Known as "Billy", he was educated at Mountpottinger National School and then the Trade Preparatory School of the Municipal Technical Institute. A keen sportsman and standing tall, McFadzean played rugby union for

Collegians RFC Collegians was a sports club for former pupils of Methodist College Belfast. In the 109-year history of the club, it had rugby union, cricket, hockey, basketball, and athletics sections. The cricket section merged with Cooke Cricket Club in 1998 ...

. After completing his schooling, McFadzean worked for a manufacturer of linen. He was also interested in the military, and was a member of the East Belfast Regiment of the

Ulster Volunteers The Ulster Volunteers was an Irish unionist, loyalist paramilitary organisation founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government ("Home Rule") for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the ...

and the Young Citizens Volunteers.

First World War

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, members of the Ulster division were urged to join the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

to form an infantry division. McFadzean enlisted in the 14th Battalion of

The Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County D ...

as a

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. The regiment was to form part 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 ...

. After completing training, firstly at Finner Camp in Ireland and then Seaforth in England, McFadzean and his regiment embarked for the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

in October 1915. The 36th Division was stationed near Thiepval Wood from March 1916 and would be involved in the upcoming

, for which it was tasked with advancing to Grandcourt. In the early hours of 1 July 1916, McFadzean's battalion was assembled in Thiepval Wood in preparation for the advance. While an artillery barrage on the opposing German trenches was in progress, he was one of the bombardiers priming supplies of

hand grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

. In handling a box of grenades, the box fell into a crowded trench and two of the grenades' safety pins were dislodged. McFadzean threw himself on top of them before they exploded, killing him but injuring only one other. For his action, he was posthumously awarded the

(VC). The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest award for valour that could be bestowed on a soldier of the

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. The citation, published in the ''

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'' read: Letters of condolences were written to McFadzean's father by the commander of the Ulster Volunteers,

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Spencer Chichester, and

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F. O. Bowen, the commander of 14th Battalion.

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

also wrote to the family and provided train tickets to travel to the VC investiture at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

. McFadzean was buried in Thiepval Wood; his grave was later lost. He is remembered on the

Thiepval Memorial 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 ...

Medal and legacy

McFadzean's father was presented with his son's VC by the King in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 28 February 1917. The VC is held by the Royal Ulster Rifles Museum, in Belfast. There are a number of memorials and remembrances of McFadzean, who is the best known of the Ulster Division VC recipients. There is a plaque to him at Newtownbreda Presbyterian Church in Belfast, which also hosted his memorial service on the one year anniversary of his death, and at his parents' house in

. There is also a mural depicting him in Cregagh and several in Belfast. His name is one of those listed on the memorial stone at the Thiepval Memorial for the VC recipients of the Ulster Division and he is also listed on the memorial tablet for the Royal Irish Rifles at St. Anne's Cathedral at Belfast. On the 13th October 2018 the Ancre Somme Association Charity unveiled a bronze bust in Lurga

He is commemorated in t-shirts, mugs and death scrolls, while the ''Ballad of Billy McFadzean'' is a well-known Loyalism, Loyalist song which appears in '' Nothing Personal'', a 1995 film about

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

Notes

References

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External links

William McFadzean - War Hero
- BBC Northern Ireland with photos and some further information

The McFadzean family on the 1911 census
{{DEFAULTSORT:McFadzean, William 1895 births 1916 deaths People from Lurgan Royal Ulster Rifles soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Irish Battle of the Somme recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Ulster Volunteers Military personnel from County Armagh Deaths by hand grenade British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Irish World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross