Fred Crawford and the UVF gun-running

1

CHLORINE AND METHODISM

Methodist 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!

Alexander 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.

Chlorine Gardens, in South Belfast, is

where the Crawford family originally lived,

and it is named after their chlorine bleach

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SIGNED IN BLOOD

The 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.

The 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.

Formed 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.

Prime Minister

3

Stills from the BBC Newsline report “Fred Crawford „blood

signature‟ legend challenged”

4

SPIRO AND RIFLES

Many 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.

Crawford 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

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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

6

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.

In 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.

To 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”.

William Bull

A police officer standing over the

arms seized in the Hammersmith

7

FROM HAMBURG TO LARNE

After 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.

In 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.

Edward Carson (left) and James Craig

(right) in 1922

8

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.

9

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). The 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

An 1890s photochrom of Bergen

NB The photochrom, or Aäc, process is a way of colourising black and white

photographs which was invented in Switzerland in the 1880s

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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.

Crawford 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.

At 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

A 1914 postcard showing Hamburg Hauptbahnhof

11

years afterwards. Either way, Crawford decided to go with the rifles up the Kiel

Canal with Fritz Schneider.

After 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.

From 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)

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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.

The 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.

Tuskar Rock and its iconic

lighthouse

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At 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).

The UVF Motor Car Corps badge

– they were formed by Spender

especially for the gun-running

14

Illustrations of the unloading of the Mountjoy II (top) and the

distribution of the guns in Bangor (bottom)

15

HOME RULE AND PARTITION

The 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.

Curragh Camp, County Kildare – British Army base during the early part Of the 20

th Century

The 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 was 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 (Óglaigh na hÉireann in Irish)

in November 1913, as a direct opponent to the UVF. The Irish Volunteers, later

16

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.

CONCLUSION

Fred 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

17

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.

-PRONI Documents-

Diary of Major Fred H Crawford (1914-1915) D1700/5/17/2/1-3

The Arming of Ulster – Fred Crawford‟s Account D1415/B/34