War memorial missing from HQ

The oak, bronze and brass statue stood outside the former Co-op store on York Street for 70 years until 1990.

According to elected member of the Co-operative NI Member’s Council, Erskine Holmes, the monument vanished five years ago from the Co-op’s Carrick headquarters on the Belfast Road after being moved outside during a store reorganisation.

Mr Holmes, a former teacher in Carrick whose grandfather James and uncle Alexander are honoured on Carrick War Memorial, stated: “It’s difficult to see how it would be used by the thieves as it is in several sections and is eight foot tall on a four foot square base. The panels could be stored in a private home and it could have been of interest to people who collect archaeological salvage. There have been war memorials taken for scrap but this one only had a small statuette and was mainly made of wood.”

The monument, unveiled on September 22 1920, bore the names of 12 Co-op employees who died and 64 survivors. The dead were John Alexander, Robert J Ball, Joseph Donnelly, Charles Elder, Arnold Hayden, Thomas Magowan, Alexander Morrow, Thomas Moore, James Ruddick, Robert Wallace, Thomas Wardlow and Thomas Watson.

The soldiers’ names were lost with the monument until being rediscovered by a war memorial expert. Mr Holmes revealed that new plaques would now be created to mark the men’s sacrifice. He continued: “We want to put up the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Co-op Funeral Care will help with the restoration of the panels.”

A Co-operative Group spokesperson confirmed that the war memorial is missing, and said that they are considering the best course of action going forward.