Hanna, Archibald McMillan (Archibald)
Rifleman
No. 12892, 15th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action in France on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 19)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 15 A and 15 B)
Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church Bangor
Journey of Remembering Belfast Book of Honour
St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Nottingham Memorial Window
BIOGRAPHY
Archibald McMillan Hanna was born on 1 February 1897 in Belfast and he was a son of Henry and Sarah Lyttle (sometimes Little) Hanna (nee McMillan, sometimes McMillen) who were married on 2 April 1896 in St Enoch’s Presbyterian Church Belfast. Henry Hanna from Belfast was a son of William George Hanna, a labourer. Sarah Lyttle McMillan from Belfast was a daughter of William John McMillen, a painter.
The Hanna family lived in Belfast at 43 Howe Street, at 38 Southport Street, at 45 Avonbeg Street, at 21 Strandview Street and at 27 Court Street.
Henry Hanna (born in Scotland) was a confectioner and he and Sarah had at least five children:
Archibald McMillan (born 1 February 1897 at 87 Bristol Street, Belfast; baptised in St Enoch’s Presbyterian Church Belfast)
Henry Raymond (Harry, born 16 September 1899 at 38 Southport Street, Belfast)
Eleanor Logan (born 25 October 1904 at 45 Avonbeg Street, Belfast)
Elizabeth Phoebe (born 15 April 1911 at 21 Strandview Street, Belfast)
William Shipcott (born 15 June 1915 at 27 Court Street, Belfast)
Archibald McMillan Hanna worked as a clerk and lived for a time in Nottingham before the outbreak of the Great War. He enlisted in Belfast and served with the 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 107th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division.
Rifleman Archibald McMillan Hanna was 19 when he was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and he has no known grave.
Rifleman Archibald McMillan Hanna (No. 12892) is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France; on the Memorial Plaque in Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church Bangor and in the Belfast Book of Honour (Page 249). He is also commemorated in St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Nottingham.
[In 1972 St Andrew’s joined the United Reformed Church and merged with Castle Gate Congregational Church in 1975. The church is now known as St Andrew with Castle Gate United Reformed Church. The memorial to the members of the Presbyterian congregation who died in the Great War is a three light stained-glass window. The centre light has a border of the national emblems of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland surrounding the image of a warrior protecting two small children beneath which is the dedication, ‘In affectionate remembrance of the young men of this church who made the supreme sacrifice 1914-1918.’ The two lights either side list the names of the 13 men who died.]
Rifleman Archibald McMillan Hanna’s father Henry died in June 1938 (aged 63) in Dublin and his mother Sarah died in March 1974 (aged 96) in Dunmurry. Both were buried in an unmarked grave (3 L) in Bangor Cemetery, Newtownards Road, Bangor.