WWII

Blair “Paddy” Mayne

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Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne was a rugby player, boxer, golfer, and solicitor, and in WWII a commando and one of the first members of the SAS (Special Air Service), participating in raids behind enemy lines in Egypt and Libya (depicted in the board above), and later, as SAS commander, in France, Belgium and other countries. His many decorations, including the DSO (four times) and French Croix De Guerre and Legion D’Honneur, are pictured below. His WP page includes an explanation of the ribbon bars.
Mayne was born in Newtownards and returned there at the end of the war. His statue stands in the town’s Conway Square and this board can be found in Queen Street.

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Copyright © 2010 Peter Moloney

Peace Cannot Be Kept By Force

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The theme “Remember the fallen from war” is illustrated by a bombed-out Ballymacarret library on Templemore Avenue and St. Patrick’s church, which is just across the street from the mural, both of which were hit during the blitz in 1942, a police land rover, Cuchulainn, and (representing peace??) Stormont. We are supposed to remember the dead because (perhaps) their deaths were, while necessary, misguided as means to peace, at least according to the saying along the bottom (sometimes attributed to Einstein): “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” If you have a better interpretation, please leave a comment.

The mural was imitated on the hoarding around the Cultúrlann on the Falls Road during its renovation – see X01279.

Lendrick Street, Belfast.

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Copyright © 2010 Peter Moloney

Fathers And Sons Of The Shankill

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“The area suffered immense loss of life during the Blitz of the Second World War. Having given so much in the fight for liberty during World Wars I and II, these digital artworks by Steven Tunley commemorate experience and history from enlistment in World War I to the Blitz and to the celebration of VE Day. The project was funded by the Re-Imaging Communities programme of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and delivered by Belfast City Council with the support of the Lower Shankill Community Association. This project would not have been possible without the support and participation of the local community.” Dover Place, Belfast.

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Copyright © 2009 Peter Moloney