The Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest battle in European history that lasted for four and a half months. It is remember for its horrific loss of life, with over a million men killed or wounded. For Ireland, it was a tragedy that united everyone in grief. Before the war, Unionists and Republicans were on the brink of civil war over Ireland’s constitutional status, however, when the Great War began, both sides paused their fight at home to enlist in the British Army.
14th YCV (Young Citizen Volunteers) Battalion
The 14th YCV Battalion was raised in Belfast in September 1914 from the Young Citizen Volunteers of Ireland. They started in Belfast as a civic youth group, similar to the Boys Scouts, for young middle class men, they were focused on discipline, sports, and community pride. They wore a distinctive grey uniform with a red hand badge. When the First World War broke out, the British Army needed thousands of new soldiers quickly, and the YCV volunteered to enlist together as a single unit so they wouldn’t be separated. The British Army accepted them and officially named them the 14th Battalion, The Royal Ulster Rifles. The young men were sent to military camps in Ireland and England to begin combat training. The entire battalion boarded ships and landed on France in late 1915, ready to face the frontline trenches of the Western Front.
Over The Top…
This whistle was originally owned by Lieutenant Gilbert Colclough Wedgewood. He was born in Sandymount, Dublin, and in 1893, he attended the Methodist College Belfast with his brother Philip. After finishing school, he worked at the Ulster Bank head office in Belfast, before leaving in October 1914 to enlist. By 1916, and at 22 years of age, he served as a Lieutenant attached to the Machine Guns Corps with the 14th battalion.
On the first day of July 1916, at the start of the Battle of the Somme, Gilbert used this whistle to signal to his men to advance from their trenches towards the German held Schwaben Redoubt. Moments before going over the top, Lieutenant Wedgewood passed this whistle to Sergeant Jim Maultsaid for safekeeping. Just 15 minutes later, he was Wedgewood was killed in action. His younger brother Philip. was also killed on the same day at the Somme.
Following his death, Sergeant Jim Maultsaid kept his promise and carried the whistle right through the end of the Great War as a personal memento of his fallen officer. He brought it home with him, along with the tragic story. The whistle was donated to the The Royal Ulster Rifles Museum prior to 1968 to ensure it would be looked after for the future.
In Loving Memory
When news of the causalities at the Somme reached Belfast, Lieutenant Wedgewood’s mother, Elizabeth. heartbrokenly placed a joint memorial that read