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centercenterTitle of project: Fred Crawford and the UVF GunrunningName individual student submitting the project:Jack O’Dwyer-HenrySchool roll number:n/aSchool address: Methodist College Belfast1 Malone RoadBelfastBT9 6BYNorthern IrelandTeacher’s name:Stewart RoulstonContact phone number: 028 9020 5205Contact email address:sroulston210@mcb.belfast.ni.sch.uk1000000Title of project: Fred Crawford and the UVF GunrunningName individual student submitting the project:Jack O’Dwyer-HenrySchool roll number:n/aSchool address: Methodist College Belfast1 Malone RoadBelfastBT9 6BYNorthern IrelandTeacher’s name:Stewart RoulstonContact phone number: 028 9020 5205Contact email address:sroulston210@mcb.belfast.ni.sch.uk-1699391-1387366-Fred Crawford--and the UVF Gunrunning--645160-661670Cover – A 1932 photograph of Fred Crawford00Cover – A 1932 photograph of Fred CrawfordContentsChlorine and Methodism2Signed in Blood3Spiro and Rifles5From Hamburg to Larne8Home Rule and Partition16Conclusion19Bibliography & Sources20Chlorine and MethodismMethodist College Belfast (MCB) has had many famous former pupils, including a Nobel Laureate and several successful actors. But no Collegian has been as divisive and controversial as Frederick Hugh Crawford. In many ways, his family history mirrors that of the typical Ulster Protestant. An ancestor of his, Reverend Thomas Crawford, came to Ireland in 1670, during the Ulster Plantation. The Plantation was an attempt by King James I and his successors to give Ulster a Protestant majority by encouraging British landowners to settle there. It may seem surprising, but Fred Crawford’s great-grandfather, Alexander Crawford, was a United Irishman!-3853180145415Chlorine Gardens, in South Belfast, is where the Crawford family originally lived, and it is named after their chlorine bleach business00Chlorine Gardens, in South Belfast, is where the Crawford family originally lived, and it is named after their chlorine bleach business8255144780Alexander Crawford discovered a new formula for chlorine bleach, and he set up a small factory in Lisburn. His son, Fred’s grandfather, moved the business to Belfast in the 1830s, and became a Methodist. Fred was born in 1861, into a “solid Methodist” family, and he was one of the first pupils at MCB.Once he left MCB, Fred led a short, yet successful career in the shipping industry, with Harland & Wolff and the White Star Line. He travelled around the world, as far away as Australia. He returned to the family business in 1892, but he soon went to South Africa to serve in the army during the Boer War, and became a major. It was when he returned that he became interested in the Unionist movement.Signed in BloodThe Unionist movement was led by upper-class Ulstermen. In a historical paradox, they claimed to be patriotic, yet they armed themselves against their own country in 1914. I believe that the Unionist leaders were more concerned about their businesses than their national allegiances. 40017702154555Prime Minister Asquith00Prime Minister Asquith3976370170815The Liberal government, led by Herbert Henry Asquith from 1908, wished to give Ireland Home Rule, a form of autonomy. Home Rule scared Fred Crawford. If Ireland was granted autonomy, then he believed that the Catholics would oppress the Protestants. If trade ties were cut with Britain, then many industries in Ulster would have lost a lot of business, negatively affecting the families whose wealth originated in these companies. The Crawford family business would undoubtedly lose a lot of money, as would Fred Crawford himself.82551068070Formed in 1905, the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) was the first united Unionist front against Home Rule. Crawford was an active member, and became a member of an inner committee, which “was formed to consider the question of force”. The UUC employed two main methods to resist Home Rule. Firstly, there was the Ulster Covenant, a petition signed by thousands of Unionists in September 1912. It declared that “Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster”, and that if Parliament passed Home Rule, they would “refuse to recognise its authority”. Along with almost 500,000 people, Crawford was a signatory of it. At the time, it was claimed that Fred Crawford signed the Covenant in his own blood, but recent scientific tests have disproved these claims.The second method of Home Rule opposition was the 1913 formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), the UUC’s paramilitary wing. With his aforementioned UUC committee, Fred Crawford masterminded the arming of the UVF.27215241471450852423160Stills from the BBC Newsline report “Fred Crawford ‘blood signature’ legend challenged”00Stills from the BBC Newsline report “Fred Crawford ‘blood signature’ legend challenged”41172400300-120015-114300The pen with which Crawford purportedly signed the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant Ulster Museum catalogue number: BELUM.O216.195300The pen with which Crawford purportedly signed the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant Ulster Museum catalogue number: BELUM.O216.195338100Spiro and RiflesMany accounts of the 1914 UVF gunrunning exist. The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland holds Crawford’s diaries from the time as well as an account called “The Arming of Ulster”. In 1947, Fred Crawford published the short book “Guns for Ulster”, a more concise account of the gunrunning. Malcolm, Fred’s son claims that he wrote it himself, but “considered it was wise to publish this little book as my father being the author”. Nevertheless, all of these sources tell the same story – of how one man, despite numerous mistakes and mishaps successfully armed Ulster Unionism. -21170901825625The Ulster Reform Club’s emblem00The Ulster Reform Club’s emblem-116840137795Crawford placed advertisements in French, Belgian, German and Austrian newspapers, “asking for 10,000 second-hand rifles and two million rounds of ammunition”. He gave his name as H. Matthews (his middle name was Hugh and his mother’s maiden name Matthews) of the Ulster Reform Club (a Unionist gentlemen’s club of which he was Honourable Secretary). Some other members of the club “demurred” at his action, so he promptly resigned. Crawford claimed that this happened in 1906, but historian Keith Haines claims in his book “Fred Crawford – Carson’s Gunrunner” that the advertisements were most likely to have been placed in 1910. In fact, Crawford had admitted that “those days were so crowded with excitement and incidents that I can only remember some of them, and not always in the order in which they happened”.From about 1910, Crawford began to obtain specimen rifles and bayonets, but when he showed them to the UUC committee, some members were shocked, being unaware that Crawford had been so serious about arming the unionist movement. Many committee members stopped coming to meetings, and some resigned, but Crawford dismissed them as “only a hindrance”. This is not the only time he appears annoyed with the committee members. Throughout his accounts of the gunrunning, he seems irritated that he needed their agreement before he could progress with his plans.The remaining committee members agreed on a particular model of the rifles from the ones that Crawford had shown them, and they put in an order with a German firm. After a few months and no delivery, Crawford travelled to Germany to speak to the firm. At the Hamburg offices, he learnt that the head of the firm had leaked information to the British Government, and that the deal was now off. The firm would not hand over the money that the UUC had paid. On inquiry, he discovered that the head of the firm was in Austria. Crawford travelled to him, just to tell him how “he and his firm were a pack of swindlers”. In Crawford’s report of the gunrunning, he mentioned how the head of the firm had acted in a similar way on making a deal with Central American rebels, and how he had in fact ended up selling the arms to the government of that country, which was probably Mexico. Apparently the rebel leader had words with the dealer much in the same way that Crawford had reacted, except this time the arms dealer was shot dead!From Austria, Crawford travelled back to Hamburg, where he made contact with Bruno Spiro, a Jewish arms dealer. Crawford always refers to Spiro as ‘Benny’ in his writings, the name of Bruno’s father, and the founder of the business. Crawford probably made this confusion because the business was called ‘Benny Spiro’.In his account, Crawford speaks very highly of Spiro, saying “his name Ulster ought never to forget”. Crawford told Spiro about his treatment by the other arms company, so Spiro took over the contract, recovering their weapons. In fact, the UUC only lost ?20 thanks to Spiro’s quick actions, and they recovered all of their arms. An arrangement for a shipment of the arms was made, and in 1911, crates designated as “zinc plate” started to arrive in Belfast for the fictitious John Ferguson & Co. One crate was intercepted by customs, but Spiro was able to retrieve it under the pretence of a clerical error. The rest of the rifles were then smuggled to Belfast via West Hartlepool in Northeast England. Soon after, however, Crawford began to smuggle the arms through Edinburgh as “questions were being asked”. It wasn’t long before shipments were moved again, this time to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Small shipments continued to be made for the next few years.In February 1913, Charles Clements, the 5th Earl of Leitrim started his own minor gunrunning campaign. Clements, also known as Lord Leitrim, was commander of the of the UVF’s Donegal branch. Every week small amounts of weaponry were transported from Birmingham to Portrush, Londonderry and Mulroy Bay in Donegal by the Earl’s chauffeur. As well as getting guns from Germany, Crawford purchased a number of machine guns in London. Assuming the name ‘John Washington Graham’, he spoke in an American accent as he purportedly bought the Maxim guns for use in the ongoing Mexican Civil War. 01584960William Bull MP00William Bull MP3810060960In early June 1913, around seven thousand rifles, which Crawford was storing in Hammersmith, London were seized by the police. Crawford was storing the guns in a disused inn, rented out to him by the brother-in-law of Conservative MP William Bull, who was a staunch critic of Home Rule. It is thought that Bull’s alcoholic brother-in-law had informed the police. Later on, this became known as the Hammersmith Incident.However, Crawford believed that the government were ignoring “any organised attempt to import arms in large quantities to Ulster”. One week after the Hammersmith Incident, he sent rifles to Belfast from Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Fleetwood in Lancashire. They were all seized by customs officials because little precaution had been made to conceal them. 27139903556027158952029460A police officer standing over the arms seized in the Hammersmith Incident00A police officer standing over the arms seized in the Hammersmith IncidentTo the public, it was becoming clear that there was a very large gunrunning operation, with two major attempts being discovered in the space of one week. Crawford had succeeded in his aim of making the Liberal government admit that there was “a real and great danger of serious trouble in Ulster if the Home Rule Bill were passed”.From Hamburg to Larne-444501543050After the Hammersmith Incident, Crawford said that “the only thing to do was to run the guns into Ulster in one large consignment”. Crawford proposed this idea to leading Unionists James Craig and Edward Carson. At that time, the Ulster Volunteer Force was a few thousand strong, and there weren’t enough guns for them all. Crawford’s mission now was to smuggle enough guns into Ulster to arm the whole UVF.-196853361690Edward Carson (left) and James Craig (right) in 192200Edward Carson (left) and James Craig (right) in 1922In early 1914, Crawford went to Hamburg to discuss the possibility of a large shipment with Bruno Spiro. At this time, Spiro already had 10,000 Vetteli rifles and one million rounds of ammunition that Crawford had previously bought, but which hadn’t yet been shipped.Crawford chose to buy 15,000 new Austrian rifles and 5,000 German Army rifles. He liked these rifles the best because they were the most similar to the British Army’s, and therefore their ammunition was readily available.The UUC committee were at first reluctant to accept the third option, as it was the most expensive, at over ?60,000 (over ?6 million in today’s money). However, Crawford was able to convince Craig of its benefits, who in turn persuaded the committee to approve the plan. In February 1914, Crawford spoke with Carson in his London home: “Once I cross to Hamburg there is no turning back for me ... I shall carry out the attempt if I lose by life in the attempt ... It is for Ulster and her freedom I am working, and that alone”. Carson recognised the danger Crawford was putting himself in, saying, “I’ll see you through this business even if I should go to prison for it. You are the bravest man I have ever met.”The next day, in Hamburg, Crawford made the final arrangements with Spiro. As well as the third option’s 20,000 guns, the 10,000 Vettelis, that had been bought previously, were also to be part of the shipment. All the guns were to be carefully packaged, with 6,000 bundles which were 75 lbs (34 kg) each. It took about seven week for all of the weapons to be securely packaged, and in Crawford’s words, “the police made inquiries more than once”.All the crates were labelled to either Texas or Mexico. At that time, the Mexican Civil War was entering its last few months, and Crawford believed that it would provide the perfect cover for such a large shipment of arms. This also fitted in with his alias of John Washington Graham, which he was using to sign all paperwork. During the weeks that the guns were being prepared, Crawford made several trips between the UUC in Belfast and Spiro in Hamburg. Soon the time came for a boat to be bought to carry the guns across the North Sea. Crawford placed advertisements in Scandinavian and German newspapers requesting a ship. In early March 1914, Crawford once again went to Hamburg, except this time he was accompanied by Captain Andy Agnew, an experienced sailor. The two most promising replies to the advertisements were both from Norway, so they quickly made their way to Kristiania, the capital of Norway (it was renamed ‘Oslo’ in 1925). 869951230630An 1890s photochrom of BergenNB The photochrom, or A?c, process is a way of colourising black and white photographs which was invented in Switzerland in the 1880s 00An 1890s photochrom of BergenNB The photochrom, or A?c, process is a way of colourising black and white photographs which was invented in Switzerland in the 1880s 419101207135The first ship was located in Bergen, a fishing town on Norway’s south-western coast. The boat was called the SS (steamship) Fanny. She was a small cargo ship, and wasn’t very fast, at only 8 knots, but Crawford deemed her “the proper thing for what I wanted”. Worried that the police would stop a British-flagged ship going to Ulster, Crawford took out a loan to buy the ship, in the Fanny’s previous owner’s name, a Norwegian named Marthin Falck. In this way, she retained her Norwegian flag. Crawford thought it would be too conspicuous if the Fanny sailed into Hamburg, so he arranged that Agnew, with the Fanny, would meet him at Langeland, a Danish island just north of Hamburg, on 30 March. Crawford returned to Hamburg in order to organise a way of shipping the guns to Langeland.In his final Belfast meeting, Larne Harbour was decided upon as the place where the guns were to be landed. There were lots of roads going out of Larne, so even if the police and army got wind of the plan, it would be very difficult for them to block off all access points. It would be easy to transport the guns to Belfast, only 23 miles (37 km) away. However, the Fanny was not to ship the guns all the way; the Fanny was to sail to Scotland, where other boats would take her cargo.419101640840Crawford arrived in Hamburg Hauptbahnhof for the final time, on 28 March 1914. He met Bruno Spiro, Elsa Kanzi, Spiro’s “manageress”, and Fritz Schneider, Spiro’s shipping agent. The plan was for the guns to be transported through the Kiel Canal, which connects Hamburg to the western side of the Jutland peninsula. Crawford was to take a train to the end of the canal, and from then on, he would take charge of the operation.107952839085A 1914 postcard showing Hamburg Hauptbahnhof00A 1914 postcard showing Hamburg HauptbahnhofAt 11.30 p.m., an hour before the guns were due to leave, Crawford was having dinner with Spiro, Kanzi and Schneider. Then, Crawford heard a voice, which three times said “Go with the guns tonight, and don’t lose sight of the rifles till you have handed them over in Ulster”. If this really happened, we can’t say, because Crawford’s diary doesn’t mention it, the hallucination is first recorded years afterwards. Either way, Crawford decided to go with the rifles up the Kiel Canal with Fritz Schneider.158752565400From left to right: (standing) Fred Crawford, Agnew, Spiro, (sitting) Falck and Helen Crawford (Fred’s wife), onboard the SS Fanny in the Kiel Canal (taken in May 1914, after the gunrunning)Ulster Museum catalogue number: BELUM.Y8255 00From left to right: (standing) Fred Crawford, Agnew, Spiro, (sitting) Falck and Helen Crawford (Fred’s wife), onboard the SS Fanny in the Kiel Canal (taken in May 1914, after the gunrunning)Ulster Museum catalogue number: BELUM.Y8255 6159540640After a night-time journey up the canal, the lighters arrived at Kiel. An inquisitive German official stopped their progress, but a 100 mark bribe let them pass without being searched. It was only a short journey to Langeland and the Fanny the next morning. All the rifles were quickly loaded off the lighters and onto the Fanny. Falck, who was to be the vessel’s skipper, was convinced that there would be no questions from the Danish authorities. However, at 2 o’clock that afternoon, a small tug pulled up alongside the Fanny. Onboard was a Danish Port Officer, with what Crawford described as “a face like a ferret”. The ship’s manifest said that the Fanny’s “general cargo” was headed for Iceland. This was a major flaw in the Unionists’ plan, because at that time, Iceland was part of Denmark, and it had its own Home Rule crisis. The officials returned to the mainland for the paperwork to be inspected, while the loading of the guns continued. One day later, the officials had not yet reappeared. The weather was poor, and mist restricted visibility to about 300 metres. Crawford took the decision to leave Langeland under the cover of the fog, and begin to make their way for Ulster. Crawford gave Schneider letters for Belfast which finalised the location in Scotland where the Fanny would land.Crawford was very irritated to learn that the boat had only 40 hour’s worth of fuel and they had to stop off at a small Swedish town to refuel. Here, Crawford made a drastic change of plan, deciding to take a southerly course when they entered the North Sea. He believed that going to Scotland was what the British government expected him to do, so Britain’s north-western coast would be monitored. He quickly sent off a letter changing the rendezvous location to Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel. They stopped at both Great Yarmouth and Dunkirk before arriving at Lundy Island. At Great Yarmouth, Agnew got off; he was tasked with contacting Carson, Craig and the UUC to inform them of the route change. When they arrived at Lundy Island, there was no sign of the relief steamer. They gave the chosen signal (‘X’ in Morse Code) to every ship they saw, but none responded. After over a day in the Bristol Channel, a ship began to approach them. It was the SS Balmarino, which Crawford recognised as his fellow gunrunner, Lord Leitrim’s boat. Onboard was Agnew, who informed him of the UUC’s request for the gunrunning to be postponed as tensions in Ulster had recently escalated. Crawford, adamant that the gunrunning would go ahead, left the Fanny in Agnew’s hands, and travelled to Dublin, via Wales. From there, he travelled to Craigavon, the residence of James Craig (at that time the town of Craigavon didn’t exist). With their help, he persuaded the UUC committee to give him permission to buy another steamer, which would bring the guns directly to Larne. He went to Glasgow to buy the boat, called the Clydevalley, and then waited for it in Llandudno, northern Wales. When the Clydevalley arrived, Crawford took her charge and they sailed to Tuskar Rock, off the south-eastern coast of Ireland. 647701745615Tuskar Rock and its iconic lighthouse00Tuskar Rock and its iconic lighthouse7112062230The Fanny was scheduled to meet them there, but there was no sign of her. Crawford believed that there had been a mistake and that the Fanny had gone to Great Yarmouth to meet the Clydevalley. He hurriedly made his way to Great Yarmouth, but upon arrival, he received a telegram saying that the Fanny had in fact arrived at Tuskar, and that the fully-loaded Clydevalley would meet him at Holyhead. Despite the numerous mix-ups, everything seemed to have now worked out eventually. All that had to be done now was for the boat to go to Larne. During the final leg of the journey, the Clydevalley was renamed the Mountjoy II, after the ship that broke the Siege of Derry in 1689.43592756440805The UVF Motor Car Corps’ badge, they were formed by Spender especially for the gunrunning00The UVF Motor Car Corps’ badge, they were formed by Spender especially for the gunrunning42716454699000-7258054298950A map of the gunrunning from A. T. Q. Stewart’s “The Ulster Crisis”00A map of the gunrunning from A. T. Q. Stewart’s “The Ulster Crisis”-869315-680085At around 10.30 p.m. on 25 April 1914, the Mountjoy II arrived at Larne Harbour. Immediately, cranes went into action, loading other vessels with the arms which were to be transported all over Ulster. Wilfred Spender, a retired soldier and leading Unionist, organised the distribution of the weapons. He also spearheaded the use of motorcars to distribute the weapons to UVF branches. The whole process was over by about 5 a.m. the next morning (26 April 1914).0114300Illustrations of the unloading of the Mountjoy II (top) and the distribution of the guns in Bangor (bottom)Pictures from NMNI00Illustrations of the unloading of the Mountjoy II (top) and the distribution of the guns in Bangor (bottom)Pictures from NMNI1270319151012703175Home Rule and PartitionThe Unionist and anti-Home Rule movements were now as strong as they had ever been; the gunrunning had given them a strong military and moral boost. More important than the military benefits the Unionists gained from the gunrunning was the message that it sent out. They showed that they would not respect the House of Commons’ decisions. The Unionist movement had shown that they were not constitutionalists, and that they would take arms against Parliament if its decisions didn’t suit them.The June 1913 gunrunning made the Liberals “admit” to there being a threat, whereas the April 1914 gunrunning forced them to accept that there would be a violent uprising if Home Rule passed. The political system was being undermined, and in fact the gunrunning was in part organised by an MP, James Craig. 239903076835The Curragh Camp in County Kildare, a major British Army base in Ireland during the early 20th Century00The Curragh Camp in County Kildare, a major British Army base in Ireland during the early 20th Century242760550800The political system had also been destabilised by the 20 March 1914 Curragh Incident, where 57 army officers threatened to resign, believing that they were going to be ordered to implement Home Rule in Ulster. The Curragh Incident is also referred to as the Curragh Mutiny, but it technically wasn’t a mutiny as the officers didn’t disobey orders, but were to resign before the orders were given. It now seemed impossible for the Liberals to implement Home Rule. The UVF would spring into action, and, as proved by the Curragh Incident, the army would probably not stop them.There had always been an armed republican faction in Ireland, but as the Home Rule bills got nearer to becoming law, there seemed to be less need for one, so it scaled down. After Larne, however, the republicans were facing an armed unionist front, so they began to arm themselves as well. The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) created the Irish Volunteers (?glaigh na h?ireann in Irish) in November 1913, as a direct opponent to the UVF. The Irish Volunteers, later to be known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA), had reached a membership of 180,000 by June 1914, the month of the Howth gunrunning. In much the same way as the Larne gunrunning, arms were shipped from Germany to Ireland, but this time to Howth, North Dublin. Paradoxically, due to the threat of a large-scale war in Ireland, the Home Rule debate became more peaceful. The UVF were now focusing on preventing their arms being seized by either law-enforcement authorities or the Republican movement. A temporary stalemate had formed, but despite this, an outbreak of violence would probably have taken place were it not for the First World War. On 18 September 1914, the Home Rule Act became law. Due to the ongoing war, it wasn’t planned to be implemented immediately. The majority of the UVF, and some Irish Volunteers were fighting in the trenches, so it looked like there would be no violence in Ireland until the war was over. At the time of the Bill passing, many people still believed that the war would be over by Christmas, so it is understandable why over a year later, the Republican movement had become frustrated that Ireland was no closer to becoming independent. The guns imported at Howth were put to use during the 1916 Easter Rising, which increased Irish support for Republicanism.The longest lasting impact of the arming of the UVF is the partition of Ireland. Craig was able to convince Parliament to leave 6 Irish counties out of Home Rule, and these counties were to become Northern Ireland. The threat of the UVF rebelling against a decision that they didn’t agree with was integral to Parliament’s choice.ConclusionFred Crawford is a hero to some, but a troublemaker to others. He is lauded by the Unionist community and his memory lives on, as do the resounding impacts of his exploits. It could be argued that his actions had a key role in the partition of Ireland and the formation of Northern Ireland.He can be considered a successful man, who stood up for what he believed in. He took on the British Government, and eventually stopped Home Rule from being implemented in Ulster.Others would say that his actions instilled a distrust of democracy in the Unionist community in Northern Ireland. It could be said that the sectarian attitudes still present in Northern Irish society today are partly due to the success of the gunrunning.Despite his actions, Crawford became a CBE in 1922. He died on 5 November 1952 and is buried in Belfast City Cemetery on the Falls Road.0150111698503187700The Major Fred Crawford Memorial Flute Band, Ballymena, at the Apprentice Boys’ Relief of Derry Parade in August 200900The Major Fred Crawford Memorial Flute Band, Ballymena, at the Apprentice Boys’ Relief of Derry Parade in August 2009Bibliography & Sources-Books-Guns for UlsterFred H CrawfordFred Crawford-Carson’s Gunrunner Keith HainesThe Ulster CrisisA.T.Q. StewartA History of Ulster Jonathan BardonA Pocket History of Ulster Brian Barton-PRONI Documents-Diary of Major Fred H Crawford (1914-1915)D1700/5/17/2/1-3The Arming of Ulster – Fred Crawford’s AccountD1415/B/34WebsitesUlster umFred Crawford, by his son Malcombuckalecrobinson.fredcrawfordgunrunne.htmlIrish ColCrawford.htmlUnionist dynamic_content.php?id=113 ................
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