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Saturday, August 31, 2019

Dachau Concentration Camp Tales of Select Prisoners Part 1 of 2

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour photos and things learned- part 3. A tragic and heartbreaking time in history of the Holocaust and all those forced to take part.


Tragic Tales About Some of the Dachau Prisoners Part 1 of 2

Every prisoner of the Dachau Concentration Camp has a tragic and heartbreaking tale to tell. These are just a few of those documented stories. In some cases, the tale is accompanied by some of the "EFFECTS" that were forcibly taken from them.

In case you can't read the text on the pictures, I will type them below each picture.














"The effects shown here are loans from the International Tracing Service (ITS), Bad Arolsen, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, and the Ravensbruck Memorial Site. After liberation, the effects initially remained on the camp grounds. Until 1946, the 'International Information Office', run by the former prisoners, took responsibility for administering and returning them. This task was then transferred to a variety of state agencies until the ITS took over in 1963. A part of the effects were given to the 'Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone', a Jewish survivor organization founded in Munich. Between 1945 and 1948 the Committee collected documents commemorating the victims of Nazi terror. They took the collected material to Israel and later handed it over to the Yad Vashem memorial."






















Karl Heinrich Anderle (*1914 - unknown)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1942-1944

"Karl Heinrich Anderle worked as a fitter for a manufacturer of utility vehicles in Vienna. He was arrested in November 1942 for 'breaching the employment contract'. Under the National Socialists this was a criminal offence and the phrase was a euphemism for a work performance considered unsatisfactory or for absence from the workplace. Upon arrival at the Dachau concentration camp, the SS stigmatized him by assigning him the black patch of the 'asocials'. He was forced to work for the German State Railways at the Uttendorf-WeiBsee subcamp in the Alps. In December 1944 Anderle was transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The SS deployed him in an aircraft construction detail at the Leopoldshall subcamp."





















Paul Pilinski (*1921-unknown)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1944


"A cook from the Polish city of Poznan, Paul Pilinski began working in May 1943 as a forced laborer for the Alpen-Electrowerke-AG, a company operating hydroelectric stations, at Zell am See in Austria. He was arrested in March 1944. After being detained in prisons at Zell am See and in Salzburg, two months later he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp as a protective custody prisoner. In December 1944 the SS transferred him to the Buchenwald concentration camp, from where he was assigned to the Ohrdruf subcamp to perform extremely strenuous work in the construction of underground facilities."
















Hermann Peter Bohmer (*1923-unknown)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1945

:"Prior to this concentration camp imprisonment, the German Sinto Hermann Bohmer was detained at the 'gypsy camp' in Berlin-Marzahn where the living conditions were wretched. From 1936, Sinti and Roma from the Greater Berlin area were forcibly relocated to this camp. In 1941 Bohmer was committed to a police prison and then sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The SS transferred him to the subcamp complex Neckarelz attached to the Natzweiler concentration camp in May 1944 and then to the Dachau concentration camp in April 1945. From here he was detailed to the Munich-Riem subcamp where he was forced to clear debris at the airport."




















Marcel Fauriat (*1915-2002)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1944-1945

"Together with his wife Helene, Marcel Fauriat joined the French resistance organization 'Forces Francaises Combattantes' in 1943 and worked for the 'Gallia' spy network. Both were arrested by the Gestapo at the end of May 1944. While Helene Fauriat was sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp, Marcel Fauriat was deported to the Dachau concentration camp in July 1944. Soon after, the SS transferred him to the subcamp complex Neckarelz attached to the Natzweiler concentration camp. From March 1945 Marcel Fauriat performed forced labor at Munich-Riem, a subcamp of Dachau. After liberation, in June 1945 he was reunited with his wife in the city of Poitiers in western France."
















Alfred Elger (*1891-1945)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1945

"Alfred Elger lived in the Czech town of Cheb, which came under German occupation in 1938. He earned his living as a hairdresser. He moved to Munich in November 1941. Elger was sent to the Dachau concentration camp in January 1945 as a protective custody prisoner. He died shortly after liberation in May 1945 from the effects of his imprisonment and was buried at the Dachau woodlands cemetery."



















Picture: Passport, undated reproduction

Nikolaj Stadnitschenko (*1927-unknown)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1943-1944

"A tailor, Nikolaj Stadnitschenko lived in the small Ukrainian village of Kononiwka. In the spring of 1943, aged just 16, he was deported as a civilian worker to perform forced labor at a coal mine near Dortmund. After three weeks of enduring inhuman conditions, Stadnitschenko fled, only to be captured by the State Police soon after. In July 1943 he was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The SS transferred him to the Dachau concentration camp in September of the same year, and then to the Mauthausen concentration camp in August 1944."














Vaclav Eminger (*1925-unknown)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1942-1945

"Vaclav Eminger lived in Prague and was employed as a metal worker in the electrical factory of the Bohmisch-Mahrische Maschinenfabriken AG. In August 1942, aged 17, he was deported to the Dachau concentration camp as a protective custody prisoner. The SS deployed him as a forced laborer in the screw factory Prazifix GmbH, where he had to assemble special screws. Eminger was liberated on April 29, 1945, by US Army troops."














Picture: Fountain Pen

Viktor Ignac Malovrh (*1914-1975)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1945

"Viktor Ignac Malovrh lived with his family in the Slovenian town of Hrastnik, which came under German occupation in April 1941. He was arrested by the Security Police in January 1945 for unknown reasons and sent to the Dachau concentration camp as a protective custody prisoner shortly after."
















Ernesto Rodolfo Giusti (*1917-1944)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1944

"In 1944 Ernesto Rodolfo Giusti, an architecture student from Trieste, was working for the Karntner Elektrizitats-Aktiengesellschaft in Klagenfurt. There he was arrested by the State Police in September before arriving at the Dachau concentration camp a month later. Just two weeks later he was transferred to the Neuengamme concentration camp. At the Ladelund subcamp located on the German-Danish border, he was forced to dig antitank trenches for the Nazi regime in preparation for an anticipated Allied attack from the north. Ernesto Rodolfo Giusti died in Ladelund on December 8, 1944."



















Albert Frohn (**1919-unknown)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1944-1945

"The German driver and mechanic Albert Frohn lived in the city of Metz in Lorraine, which was occupied by the German Army during he invasion of France in 1940 and placed under a German civil administration. The Security Police arrested him on May 3, 1944 fro unknown reasons and sent him soon after to the Natzweiler concentration camp as a political prisoner. In July 1944 the SS then transferred Frohn to the Dachau concentration camp, where he was liberated by US Army troops on April 29, 1945."



















Imre Vidor (*1893-1945)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1944-1945

"Imre Vidor lived in Budapest and earned his living as a pianist and music teacher. As a Jew, Vidor's life was in acute danger once the German Army occupied Hungary in March 1944. Denounced, he was arrested in his apartment by the Gestapo in November 1944. Initially incarcerated in the city prison, the Gestapo then sent him to the Dachau concentration camp a month later. Imre Vidor died in the Dachau concentration camp on March 23, 1945."














Emile Polydoor Burm (*1919-unknown)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1943-1944

"As of February 1943, the Belgium Emile Polydoor Burm worked as a fitter for a manufacturer of steam ovens in Nuremberg. In May of the same year he was arrested by the State Police and detained in the Nuremberg police prison before he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp as a protective custody prisoner. The SS transferred Burm to the Neuengamme concentration camp in October 1944."















Photo: The pin with white peral and gold crown, before 1944

Gerhard Anton Korek (*1912-unknown)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1944-1945

"The mining engineer Gerhard Korek was the chief technology officer at a coal mine near Katowice. A member of a Polish underground organization and actively involved in the struggle against the German occupiers, he was arrested in 1943. Sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in February 1944, he was then transferred to the Dachau concentration camp two months later."






















Josef Unsinn (*1901-1945)
Prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp 1945

"After serving at the front, the German soldier Josef Unsinn was deployed as a guard in the collection camp VI of the armaments detail attached to the company Johann Hausler & Co. KG in Munich-Laim. In November 1944 he helped his despairing friend, Johann Bergmeier, who wanted to avoid military service and fighting in the war, to injure himself with a bandage soaked in acid. After doctors found out what had happened, Unsinn was sent to the Dachau concentration camp in January 1945, where he died of typhus three months later."













Photo of Sebastian Wefzger (1900-1933), who was murdered in the Dachau concentration camp

"Taken during the forensic post-mortem examination, May 30, 1933

Photo: Investigation Files

According to information from fellow-prisoners, the Munich salesman, Sebastian Nefzger, was a member of the NSDAP and arrested for embezzling SS funds. On May 25-26, 1933, he was murdered by SS men in his detention cell. The act was disguised as a suicide."
















Please visit these other blog posts about the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour. Here are the links. They will each open up in a new window.






Amazon Link to all children’s books by Debbie Dunn

Here is the link to the author’s page on Amazon of all paperback and kindle books by Debbie Dunn.. It will open up in a new window.


Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Perils of Lawn and Courtyard at Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour photos and things learned- part 2. A tragic and heartbreaking time in history of the Holocaust and all those forced to take part.



Photos of the Tragic History of the Grassy area and Grounds

Try to imagine that twice a day, rain, cold, snow, or shine, you and thousands of other prisoners were forced to stand out in the courtyard to be counted.

The courtyard looked like this:






























The tour guide explained that it was vital not to stand out in any way. Individuality was severely punished. If you were the tallest, the shortest, the broadest, you were at grave risk of being shot. At the entrance, if you were the only woman, you were handed an ill-fitting garment, you had a button unbuttoned, etc., you might be shot. Therefore, I imagine, people did their best to keep their head down.

Notice, in this next picture, the body language of this group of Jews and/or townspeople who had been gathered up in town - selected to be sent to Dachau. That first guy visibly shows his befuddlement and almost arrogance, as if to say, "What gives you the right to make me join this group!" It is tragic to think that his strong and proud spirit would later be beaten down once he was forced to march through Dachau's gates. Then, to his potential peril, he would realize that displaying that kind of defiance would be severely punished.





Within sight of the courtyard, there was lovely grassy areas. However, that grassy area was a trap, so to speak. If you stepped one foot on this grass, you would be shot and killed as a suspected escapee. It mattered not that there were electric fences near or far off on the other side of this grassy area.

If life got too unendurable for some, this was their way to commit suicide.

The Nazi solders were expected to shoot to kill. If a soldier decided on the more humane approach of only shooting should a prisoner attempt to breach the electrical fence, the soldier was at grave risk of becoming a prisoner himself. Should that happen, he would likely be dead in less than a minute, due to revenge. Eventually, I imagine, the Nazi soldier has to partially or fully shut off his own humanity as a matter of self-preservation.

Of course, there were those other Nazi soldiers who might decide to purposely shove a prisoner onto the grassy area so he had an excuse to finish him off without negative consequences to himself.

Here are some pictures of some of the grassy areas.

















There were also parts of the courtyard where prisoners were executed or placed in a guillotine.

In the photo below, you can see what happened to the Nazi soldiers who dared to defy the commanders by trying to exercise his own humanity to not be cruel. He would be forced to spend 24 or more hours standing underground in this brick kiln-like area with only a tiny area of ventilation.



The indoctrination by the Nazi regime was to view the prisoners as a sub-human. One soldier, who later was hung for his war crimes, was proud of his extreme torture measures. He viewed the prisoners like a bug under his foot.

Once liberation happened in 1945, at the end of nearly 12 years of Dachau operating as a concentration camp, the prisoners told the U.S. Army not to punish certain of the guards who managed to treat them and their fellow prisoners humanely.

In that case, I guess you could say, karma came into play. After all, not all Nazi soldiers were evil. There were a large number of them who were forced to join the ranks rather then volunteer. In that case, that "fear factor" thing came into play for prisoners and some soldiers alike.

This was truly a sad and tragic time. It tears at my heart that those millions of prisoners had to endure such unfair and inhumane practices.

















Please visit these other blog posts about the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour. Here are the links. They will each open up in a new window.






Amazon Link to all children’s books by Debbie Dunn

Here is the link to the author’s page on Amazon of all paperback and kindle books by Debbie Dunn.. It will open up in a new window.


Sunday, August 25, 2019

Entrance of Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour photos and things learned- part 1. A tragic and heartbreaking time in history of the Holocaust and all those forced to take part.


Photos of the entrance to the first of 140 Dachau Concentration Camp compounds

Did you know that there were not one, but 140 Dachau compounds that stretched across parts of Europe? Did you know that Auschwitz had 40 compounds? I never knew either of those facts until this tour. Here is the map that shows the various Dachau camps.






















































My two best friends and I took part in the four-hour Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour in June of 2019. It was heartrending and so sad!

One of the things that stood out to me was that if I felt dehydrated and tired and had sore feet by the end of this sunny-day 4-hour tour, multiply that by a lot to get even a tiny glimpse of what the Holocaust victims must have felt. I had free will to step away from the tour group or find a place to sit when really needed. By contrast, how tragic it was for Holocaust victims that were stripped of free will and forced to endure the unendurable.

Here are some photos of the Dachau entrance.

























The English version of the sign states:

"In honor of 42nd Rainbow Division and other U.S. 7th Army Liberators of Dachau Concentration Camp - April 29, 1945 and in Everlasting Memory of the Victims of Nazi Barbarism, this tablet is dedicated May 3, 1992."


























The English version of the sign states:

"In honor of 20th Armored Division (Liberators) U.S. 7th Army who participated in the Liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp April 29, 1945 and in Everlasting Memory of the Victims of Nazi Barbarism, this tablet is dedicated April 28, 1996."



























The entrance gate pictured below is a reproduction of 4 years ago, the original one was stolen. Eventually, it was found in some person's yard. It was damaged. It is now kept behind glass inside the museum.





















Here are some other buildings outside the walls of Dachau. The first one, as I understood it, was the original entrance to Dachau. You can see the indicators of where the original buildings stood. The next picture was the factory where many of the prisoners were forced to work.







































Pictured above:

The Business Enterprises in the Dachau Concentration Camp
Shows Prisoners at Work


"Here, in the still-preserved factory building, concentration camp prisoners were forced to work in a large bakery and different storerooms.
Today, the Bavarian Riot Police uses the building. Two larger factory buildings were demolished in the 1980s and the debris heaped into a wall to shield the police on the former SS grounds from the gaze of visitors to the Memorial Site.

All these buildings were erected during World War I. During the years of Nazi rule, scores of prisoner details were forced to work here in a variety of business enterprises, for example a saddlers, a shoemaking workshop, a tailoring workshop for uniforms, or building SS facilities and army barracks, in a butcher's, and a metalworking shop. ... "


Pictured below:

This building is now used as the home of the Riot Police. The tour guide explained that he occasionally has to call on them should a tourist get disruptive or violent. Sadly, not all the tourists who visit are there to learn and be respectful. Some are there to stir up trouble.

It was originally where the main officer of Dachau lived and worked.




















This is what the entrance looked like all those years ago.

























The text in the picture above states:

"From 1935 the main guardhouse was the entrance to the Dachau concentration camp. Prisoners, who were often harassed and beaten on their foot march from Dachau railway station to the camp grounds, had to pass through the guardhouse, so too the prisoner transports using buses and trucks.

Members of the SS also used the guardhouse to enter the camp grounds, including the men assigned to the commandment office who were mainly responsible for the crimes committed to the Dachau concentration camp and for the most part lived in SS apartments in the immediate vicinity of the camp.

The foundations of the SS main guardhouse were uncovered in 2008."




Please visit these other blog posts about the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Tour. Here are the links. They will each open up in a new window.






Amazon Link to all children’s books by Debbie Dunn

Here is the link to the author’s page on Amazon of all paperback and kindle books by Debbie Dunn.. It will open up in a new window.


Friday, August 23, 2019

Carrickfergus Castle in Belfast, Northern Ireland Part 4 of 4

This is part 4 of 4 blogs about Carrickfergus Castle in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was built in the late 1170s and has been in continuous use of the military until 1928. After that, it was used as an air raid shelter in World War II.


The Story of Carrickfergus Castle via Photos and Text - Part 4 of 4

Check out this final set of photos of Carrickfergus Castle in Northern Ireland. My two best friends and I visited this castle in June of 2019. Their names are Carrie Davis Marchant and her daughter, Maddy Marchant. Maddy is 21.




















The Intriguing History of Carrickfergus Castle:

“Carrickfergus Castle is a striking feature on the landscape from land, sea and air. Steeped in over 800 years of history, it is sure to impress its visitors with its strength and menace. The castle has survived attacks by Scots, Irish, English and French and even served as an air raid shelter for the people of Carrickfergus during World War II. In 1928, it was placed into State Care and is now cared for by the Department for Communities.”






















Discovering History Through Excavation

The Sea Tower:

“The Sea Tower at Lion’s Den was constructed in the early 13th Century by order of the crown. This was to protect the approach to the castle from the east which became exposed at low tide.

For a number of years now Historic Environment Division (HED) has been monitoring the condition of the exterior surface of the sea tower and has noted water ingress into the floors below. Structural engineering advice has been sought to assess the overall condition of the Sea Tower and these recommendations will inform a conservation scheme for this part of the castle complex.”




















The Officers’ Quarters:

“The Officers’ Quarters were built in 1802 on the site of earlier soldier barracks. The Vaults below this building are earlier still, possibly built in the 16th century, along with the Grand Battery. Issues with damp within the Officers’ Quarters have resulted in the need for the timber floor boards to be replaced. Upon lifting the flooring within the room to the far southern end of the block, some features of archaeological interest were identified. This includes the remains of a fireplace which could potentially date to the earlier soldier barracks. The timber flooring within all remaining rooms will also be lifted and any surviving archaeological deposits scientifically recorded.

This is part of a wider conservation project for the Grand Battery, which will also involve works to manage damage issues in this area. These works are vital for ongoing preservation of the historic fabric at this location, its significance revealed during previous excavations which uncovered several phrases of activity dating from late 1500s to the 19th century.”




















Vaults:


CAPTION BELOW PICTURE: “In the 1940s this window would have been bricked up to prevent against bomb blasts from air strikes.”

“Records show that the vaults may have been built in the later 16th century and according to various historic accounts, were used for the storage of food and other items.

In 1941 most were converted into air raid shelters,. Baffle walls were built to protect the exterior doorways, windows were bricked up and walls plastered to help prevent water getting in. The ventilation shafts in the roofs had to be widened to serve as emergency exits and ladders were provided for escape. Temporary seating along the edges, electric lighting and heating were installed to increase comfort and preserve the morale of the sheltering occupants. At the rear end of the vaults, brick walls were built to provide laboratories. These toilet walls can still be seen in Vault No. 2 due to the government’s decision in 1949 to preserve this part of the wartime configuration as the continuing story of the castle’s history.

Currently it is difficult to provide assess into this area of the castle, but HED hopes to undertake some work in the future to increase access for the public to this area.”




















Vaults (continued):

“This Vault containing the original uneven dirt floor remains largely unchanged since its construction in the late 1500s.”




















Vaults (continued):

“Documents tell us that these vaults were also used as dungeons in the 18th century.”





















Vaults (continued):

“This Vault was adapted as an air raid shelter in the 1940s. The ventilation shafts were converted into escape hatches.”






















Top Left Photo Caption:

“Built in 1951, this access ramp caused a division of opinion, well documented by the contemporary press.”

Bottom Left Photo Caption:

“1950s excavations of the entrance showing the original bridge pit, constructed by De Lacey.”

Right-Hand Photo Caption:

“In addition to the wooden ramp, stone steps were provided as an alternative access to the castle.”

























Carrickfergus Castle: Great Tower Roof Replacement:

“Carrickfergus Castle is getting a new roof!

The work, which will cost 1 million pounds sterling, started in March 2019 and will replace the existing flat roof which has been in place for the past 80 years.

The new roof will be in keeping with the late-medieval architecture of the Castle. It will be made from Irish Oak used ‘green’ and oak-pegged without the use of nails or metal fixings. The Irish Oak has been sourced from oak trees which came down in Wicklow during Storm Ophelia in October 2017. The new roof will be a series of open trusses and rafters carrying oak boards. Externally the roof will be finished in Cumbrian stone slates and lead.

The new roof will be in keeping with the late-medieval architecture of the Castle. It will be made from Irish Oak used ‘green’ and oak-pegged without the use of nails or metal fixings. The Irish Oak has been sourced from oak trees which came down in Wicklow during Storm Ophelia in October 2017. The new roof will be a series of open trusses and rafters carrying oak boards. Externally the roof will be finished in Cumbrian stone slates and lead.

The project is being managed by the Department for Communities Historic Environment Division.

Most of the castle complex will remain open as usual during the project. There is a video feed of the construction to view in the castle complex as well as a Project Information Area.

Keep up to date with the project at
www.jpm-contracts.com/carrickferguscastle
www.communities-ni.gov.uk/carrick-castle-roof
Facebook: @LoveHeritageNI
Twitter: @CommunitiesNI

● Carrickfergus Castle is one of Northern Ireland’s best-known historic monuments. It has been in State Care since 1928, and is now managed by the Historic Environment Division of the Department for Communities.

● The castle was founded in the late twelfth century by John de Courcy, a young Anglo-Norman knight who led a military expedition into Ulster.

● Carrickfergus Castle has been enlarged and enforced over the centuries, and remained a military site until 1928, when it was passed into State Care. It is one of the most complete examples of Norman architecture in Northern Ireland, and one of the most complete castles of its type in Britain or Ireland.

● The works are being led by the Historic Environment Division, and are intended to secure the integrity of the Great Tower against leaks for several generations and allow a programme of further interpretive and conservation works to take place.”

Department for Communities
www.communities-ni.gov.uk























An Important Fortress:

“John de Councy and his barons built many small motte and bailey castles, including one at Clough, near Downpatrick, as well as great fortresses like Dundrum Castle. Carrickfergus, however, was de Courcy’s strongest and most important castle.”

“It was here that King John of England stayed after capturing the castle from de Lacy, de Courcy’s successor. Occupied for a while by Edward Bruce, the brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, it also welcomed William III before he journeyed south to the Boyne. It suffered one siege after another – at the hands of the Bruces, in the days of Cromwell, later by Schomberg and later still by Captain Thurot, an 18th century French Privateer.”



























Robert the Bruce:

“In 1315 Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, sent an army commanded by his brother Edward to Ireland to expand their war with the English. In July 1315 he besieged Carrickfergus Castle, the powerbase of the Anglo-Norman Earl of Ulster, and burned the town. The siege became a stalemate with the Scots unable to breach the strong defenses and the rescue forces unable to reach the castle. By the summer of 1316, the starving garrison were reduced to eating animal hides and it was even rumored that they ate eight Scottish prisoners. In September 1316 the castle finally surrendered, possibly following the intervention of Robert the Bruce himself. Edward Bruce used the castle as a base for further campaigns against the Anglo-Normans in Ireland until his death in battle in 1318.”

The growth of Carrickfergus:


“The building of the castle was soon followed by the growth of a small town outside its walls, with houses, workshops, a Friary and a parish church – St. Nicholas. Traders and merchants saw the castle as a good source of business. They also knew that they could find shelter behind its walls if they were attacked. However, it was a dangerous place to live. Each time the castle was attacked, the town outside was burned. The Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century brought great changes to Carrickfergus. In 1608 Sir Arthur Chichester, Lord Deputy of Ireland, ordered strong walls to be built around the town. Later, in 1610, he began work on a new mansion called Joymount for his family.”























Edward Bruce / King of Ireland / 1315 ~ 1318
Robert Bruce / King of Scotland / 1306 ~ 1329
26 May 1315 to 14 Oct 1318
Edward Bruce 700

“On 26 May 1315, Edward Bruce landed near Larne with a 6,000 strong Scottish army. A year earlier, his elder brother, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, had defeated the Anglo-Normans at the Battle of Bannockburn in Scotland. Their relatives, the O’Neills of Ulster, invited Robert and Edward to cross the narrow sea to forge an alliance and achieve the same in Ireland.

With the support of local chiefs, Edward Bruce was crowned King of Ireland at Carrickfergus and quickly took control of Ulster. The town served as Bruce’s headquarters throughout his three and a half year campaign. When the Anglo-Normans surrendered Carrickfergus Castle to the Scots, King Robert brought reinforcements from Scotland and the brothers marched south. The campaign ended in defeat when Edward was killed at the Battle of Faughart, near Dundarlk, on 14 October 1318.”

Carrickfergus Castle
Edward Bruce’s Siege – The Arrival of Robert Bruce


“When the Scottish army arrived in May 1315, they took the town of Carrickfergus and besieged the castle, then the stronghold of Anglo-Norman Ulster. After almost a year, the Anglo-Normans used an Easter truce to launch a surprise breakout from the castle. In the bloody street battle which followed, many knights were killed, including Anglo-Norman leader Sir Thomas Mandeville and Scottish commander Neil Fleming. The Anglo-Normans surrendered the castle to Edward Bruce in September 1316. Soon afterwards, King Robert arrived from Scotland with fresh troops to begin the next phase of the campaign – an attempt to take control of the whole of Ireland.”

www.DiscoverUlsterScots.com




























Please visit Parts 1 and 2 and 3 to see more pictures of Carrickfergus Castle. Here are the links. They will open up in a new window.




Amazon Link to all children’s books by Debbie Dunn

Here is the link to the author’s page on Amazon of all paperback and kindle books by Debbie Dunn.. It will open up in a new window.