Rising Sons of the Somme F.B

Carrickfergus.

Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force Band's Association.

Rising Sons of the Somme flute band was founded in 1994, to perpetuate the memory of the 36th Ulster Division, which made a monumental sacrifice at the battle of the Somme in 1916. The Division was formed from the men of the Ulster Volunteer Force, which had been established in 1912 by Sir Edward Carson to fight against the proposed introduction of a Home Rule Bill which would have pushed Ulster Protestants into a country dominated by the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The conflict which seemed inevitable was avoided by the onslaught of the First World War. The Ulster Volunteer's answered Britians call to arms and joined the British army on mass in the ranks of the Ulster Division. On the 1st of July 1916 the Ulster men joined with other divisions on Flanders fields to launch a major offencive against the German lines, tragety was to befall the division however, as 5,500 men in the division were to lose their lives that fatefull day and many thousands more were injured. Barely a home in Ulster was not touched by a telagram arriving to tell of a son, father or brother who was injured or killed that day. The Rising sons of the Somme flute band wishes the memory of these brave men to live forever as they gave their tomorrow for our today.

The band also rembers the men of the present day Ulster Volunteer Force and the sacrifices they have made. Many volunteers have served years of their young lives in Ulsters prisions and sadly many have payed the ultimate sacrifice being killed at the hands of Irish republican murder squads. The members of the Rising Sons of the Somme band are proud to carry the colours of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando and they rest easy knowing such men will be ever ready should the armed threat of Irish republicanism rear its ugly head again.

For God and Ulster.

Lamh Dearg Abu.

Ask not what your country can do for you,

but what you can do for your country.

As the sun breaks through the mist and due,

on a graveyard on a hill, as a piper plays midst the lonely graves

and his notes are clear and shrill, as the air is rent with this sad lament,

we remember those held dear, men who gave their word

and took up the sword with the Ulster Volunteers,

as the bugler blows over the graves and rows and the last post fades away,

as reveille sounds over deaths parade ground, were our fallen comrades lie,

with our standards proud, once their death bed shrouds, we will come from far and near

to salute our dead and the roles they played with the Ulster Volunteers,

as the sun gets low and the shadows grow on the head stones row upon row,

as the night surrounds those hallowed grounds were our comrades lie below,

you can hear the beat of their marching feat you may even feel them near,

as they parade away at the end of day,

the Ulster Volunteers!

The Protestant Boys shall carry the day!