Remembering the Northern Ireland Sailors of the Yangtze Incident
For the proud sons of two Royal Navy sailors involved in one of the most infamous episodes of the Chinese Civil War, the mission was clear: to ensure those who served were publicly honoured.
After an eight-year campaign, Andrew Bannister and Raymond McCullough have succeeded in paying tribute to the Northern Ireland sailors caught up in the 1949 Yangtze incident.
During this event, eight sailors from Northern Ireland, including their fathers Sammy Bannister and Raymond McCullough Snr, and their crewmates aboard HMS Amethyst were captured after being attacked by Communist forces while navigating the Yangtze River.
The ship was tasked with evacuating British citizens from Nanking during the closing months of the civil war. The attack resulted in the deaths of 20 men and injuries to 30 others.
The crew were held captive for several months. The incident was later depicted in the 1957 film Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S Amethyst.
A memorial plaque has now been unveiled in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, bearing the names of those involved, including the eight sailors from Northern Ireland.
The memorial, located in Hazelbank Park, honours all eight Northern Ireland sailors who served on board.
Raymond McCullough Jnr described the plaque as a
"fitting tribute"to the two men, allowing
"generations coming after us"to remember them.
"I can't emphasise enough, even though we're doing this for our dads, that there were young crew members of the other ships involved who never returned home."
Bannister expressed that they were
"still in a bit of shock"and added,
"there were a lot of heroes in this country and I think we need to recognise that".
What was the Yangtze Incident?
HMS Amethyst became embroiled in the conflict between nationalist and communist forces on the Yangtze River in April 1949.
Communist Chinese forces shelled the ship and vessels that came to its aid, resulting in the deaths of 46 British sailors.
Over the following months, wounded sailors managed to escape and return to Shanghai.
On the night of 30 and 31 July, the vessel slipped anchor and its crew navigated the 140-mile journey to open sea.
Bannister recounted that his father Sammy, a 21-year-old stoker mechanic at the time, sustained shrapnel wounds to his chest during the attack.
He followed the captain’s orders to abandon ship.
"My dad and one of his shipmates were on the shore and tried to escape. But because they were both injured, they were easily captured by the Communist faction,"Bannister said.
"They treated them for their injuries, but my dad needed an operation to remove the shrapnel. Ultimately they did save his life.
"But then the two guys realised that they were now being held as pawns."
His father returned to the ship before the crew and vessel made their escape to Shanghai.
Raymond McCullough Snr was 17 at the time. He was ordered to go overboard but was then called back to assist the wounded and secure the flooding ship.
However, his name was not removed from the overboard list, and his family received a telegram stating he was missing in action.
Regarding the other ships that attempted to rescue HMS Amethyst, McCullough Jnr said:
"My dad and Andrew's dad had to watch as these three ships, one after the other, left and said: 'We can't help you.'"
McCullough Jnr described the aftermath, noting the extensive injuries, deaths, and blood his father had to clean, which caused
"nightmares for years".
The attack was immortalised in the 1957 film, and both sons noted that it was only later in life that they fully understood its impact.
"I innocently thought he [dad] had been an actor,"Bannister told NI.
"And then, later on in life, he showed me the scars and told me the story that his part was being portrayed by Ian Bannon, an actor, but he was one of the sailors involved in this incident."
McCullough Jnr added:
"We didn't understand, even then, the trauma and the hurt that they went through and what they had to sacrifice when they not only served... but when they came home."
The Search for Medals
Bannister explained that his father did not see himself as a hero and, during financial difficulties, sold his medals.
He made it his mission to recover them.
After years of research, in 2012 he located a collector in East Asia who possessed his father's medals and was willing to sell them for a substantial sum.
Bannister sold his car and obtained a bank loan to repurchase the medals.
"Unfortunately, my dad had died in 1996, but it was still nice to have them back in the family where they belong,"he said.
Bannister's appearance on the Antiques Roadshow at Stormont in 2018 connected the two men.
McCullough Jnr reached out to inform him that his father was also on the ship.
"We just joined forces and we have never looked back since, and it was great to have a kindred spirit on this journey,"Bannister said.
Their paths had crossed previously without their knowledge.
Bannister discovered a photograph of his grandmother with another woman, who was McCullough Jnr's grandmother.
The photo was taken while they waited at the docks for their sons' return from the Yangtze incident.
"When they were both down at the docks waiting on their sons coming back from the Yangtze incident, the newspaper had taken their photo,"Bannister said.
The installation of the memorial marked the fulfillment of a long-held aspiration, though the journey included setbacks.
Bannister noted they faced
"a lot of doors slammed on our faces", and while some organisations supported the idea, they were unable to assist.
Eventually, a meeting with DUP councillor Alison Bennington provided crucial support.
McCullough Jnr emphasized that their campaign honoured all sailors on the ship, as
"any one of those explosives could have killed our dads and we wouldn't be here to tell their story."
"Their story is that important to us and this memorial, it means so much."
"Since 2012, we've been fighting for this and... we still can't believe that we've achieved it,"he added.
