Boyd, Samuel McMaster (Samuel)
Sub-Lieutenant (E)
No. R145084, HMRT Advantage, Royal Naval Reserve
Died on active service on Sunday 30 April 1944 (aged 24)
Buried:
Bermuda Royal Naval Cemetery, Bermuda (Grave 427)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
McClement family grave headstone in Ballyhalbert Cemetery
BIOGRAPHY
Samuel McMaster Boyd was born on 18 March 1920 and he was a son of William and Margaret (Maggie) Boyd (nee McMaster) of 3 Clementine Terrace, Ballyhalbert. William and Maggie were married on 16 May 1919 in Ballyhemlin Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church and at that time William described himself as a Private in the Machine Gun Corps (Reserve). William Boyd (aged 26) from Ballyhalbert was a son of David Boyd, a motor car driver. Maggie McMaster (aged 27) from Ballyhalbert was a daughter of Samuel McMaster, deceased.
Maggie Boyd died on 23 January 1973.
Samuel McMaster Boyd served aboard His Majesty’s Rescue Tug (HMRT) Advantage. The function of such ships was to escort convoys and then tow to the nearest point of land any ships that were attacked by U-boats and severely damaged but not sunk. Launched in September 1942 and commissioned in April 1943, HMRT Advantage was a Favourite Class tug built by the Levingston Shipbuilding Company, Orange, Texas, USA and supplied to the Admiralty under the Lend-Lease Agreement. Samuel was 24 years old when he died on 30 April 1944 and he was buried in Bermuda Royal Naval Cemetery. There is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:
AT THE GOING DOWN
OF THE SUN
AND IN THE MORNING
WE REMEMBER HIM
There were three Died on Active Service notices in the 6 May 1944 edition of the County Down Spectator: one from his mother and sister, grandmother, aunt Minnie and uncle John in the USA and his uncle John Whitla; one from his aunt Christina and uncle Robert Bailie of 3 Clementine Terrace, Ballyhalbert and one from the Merchant Navy Club. Two weeks later there was a notice from Shamrock Masonic Lodge 354 in Kircubbin of which Samuel had been a member.
Sub-Lieutenant (E) Samuel McMaster Boyd is commemorated on the McClement family grave headstone in Ballyhalbert Cemetery:
In loving memory of Margaret McClement died 18 November 1915
Also her son John Whitla died 15th May 1952
Also his niece Margaret Boyd born 22 December 1891 died 23 January 1973 Also her son Samuel Boyd (RNR) born 18 March 1920 died 30 April 1944
Margaret McClement (sometimes McClements), a spinster from Ballyhalbert, died as a result of a cerebral haemorrhage on 18 November 1915 (aged 73). Maggie McMaster, her granddaughter, was with her when she died.