During the month of remembrance, we return to the names on the War Memorial in the old Donegal Street Congregational Church. In the time since we last looked at soldiers memorialised on the War Organ Plaque, we have had the pleasure of welcoming family members of James Alexander Graham to the church, and we have told their story to tour groups who have been fortunate enough to gather beneath the pipe organ and rose window. Whilst their stories represent promising young lives that were tragically cut short, the retelling of their stories brought us opportunities to reconnect with their living relatives, and connect them with buildings that were once so important in their ancestors lives. The story of Corporal Andrew Clugston is sadly much harder to draw solace from, as his was a life that became dogged by tragedy in the 1910’s.
Born in Whiteabbey in 1896, to Andrew Arthur Clugston and Mary Clugston Nee Whiteford of Carrickfergus, Andrew Clugston was the youngest of 5 children. The family relocated to Skegoneil Avenue by 1901 before moving again to York Row in the Duncairn Ward of the City.
Shortly before the outbreak of the war, Andrew lost both his parents within a week, as his mother died of Cardiac Disease at 58 on the 7th July 1913, before his father passed away from cancer aged 68 on the 14th July. Both died in their home at 64 Duncairn Gardens with their family present. Andrew was only 17.
After his parents’ death, Andrew found work at the Harbour Electricity Department before joining the war effort, sometime around 1915. He would join the 5th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. During his time on the Western Front he would be gassed and wounded in April 1916, before returning to active duty. He served in the Salonika, Egypt and Palestine. The Battalion had returned to fight in France in July 1918 in preparation for one of the last significant offensives of the First World War.
On the 8th October 1918, Andrew’s battalion was involved in the Second Battle of Cambrai, where 750,000 men from combined forces from Britain, Canada and New Zealand engaged with 180,000 German troops, as part of the ‘Hundred Days Offensive’.
The 5th Battalion was involved in the advance from Le Catelet, a small settlement to the south of Cambrai, towards Bellevue Farm. The subsequent report on operations stated:
“At 0100 an attack on VILLERS OUTREAUX resulted in a heavy hostile barrage being put down on our positions of deployment.
The 6th R. Dublin Fus. were lining up on their tapes and the 5th R. Inniskilling Fus. were just nearing them when the barrage came down.
Both Battalions suffered considerable casualties and were correspondingly disorganised.”
During the 4 day period (8-12th October) the 5th Battalion Royal Inniskinning Fusiliers suffered immense casualties: 75 men killed and over 600 wounded. In World War 1, a Batallion would typically consist of 1000 men. Over half of the Battalion had been injured in the 4 day assault. Andrew died on 8th October 1918, the first day of the fighting. It is therefore likely he was one of those killed in the initial barrage and the subsequent confusion. He is remembered in Beaurevoir British Cemetery in Northern France. He was 22 years old.
The news of his death was first received in Belfast by his oldest sister, Jane Boyd (Nee Clugston), who then passed the information onto various newspapers such as the Larne Times. Andrew Clugston was one of many young men who appeared in the 9th November papers, informing friends and loved ones of their passing. Tragically, Jane’s husband (Andrew’s brother-in-law,) Alexander Boyd had also been killed in action a year prior in 1917. In the span of 5 years, Jane lost both parents, husband, youngest brother and youngest child. Sadly, based on the sheer number of names memorialised in the annals of the local papers, Jane would not be the only resident of Belfast left to grieve and mourn the loss of parents, brothers and husbands, even in the waning days of the war.
This account may appear quite blunt and matter-of-fact when compared to the stories of James Alexander Graham or David Sloan. Those histories retained an immense amount of personable information, be it from the picture of the soldier himself, or the emotive words of a widow etched into the gravestone. The story of Corporal Clugston represents the struggle that faced so many families, not only of the “War Years” but for the decades after.
About the archivist:
James Cromey is the Archive Coordinator for the North Belfast Heritage Cluster. He has a background in Victorian, Industrial and Medical History and has received degrees from the University of Glasgow and Queens University Belfast. All research has been conducted to a high academic standard and has been fully referenced. If you would like to know more about a story or piece of research, or if you wish to tell us about your own story, email us at: archiveproject@nbheritagecluster.org
