McCalla, William Trevor (Trevor)
Lieutenant
His Majesty’s Trawler (HMT) Sisapon, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Killed in action on Wednesday 12 June 1940 (aged 35)
Buried:
Royal Navy Cemetery, Shotley (St Mary) Churchyard, Ipswich, England (Section P Grave 13B)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club Memorial Plaque
Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, Co. Down
Family Grave Headstone Kilmore Church of Ireland Graveyard
BIOGRAPHY
The trawler Sisapon was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1939. During the Second World War many trawlers were requisitioned for minesweeping and anti-submarine duties.
William Trevor McCalla was born on 16 November 1904 at Redburn, Bloomfield, Belfast, and he was a son of William and Mabel Mary McCalla (nee Douglas) who were married on 20 September 1899 in St Columba’s Church of Ireland Church, Knock, Belfast. William McCalla, a Shipping Agent from 12 Cyprus Gardens, Belfast was a son of Robert McCalla, a carpenter. Mabel Mary Douglas from Holmwood, Belmont Park, Belfast was a daughter of Samuel Douglas, a merchant (deceased).
William and Mabel Mary McCalla (nee Douglas) had three children:
Daphne Winifred Douglas (born 21 August 1900 at 12 Cyprus Gardens, Belfast)
Sarah Adelaide (born around 1901/1902 in Belfast)
William Trevor (born 16 November 1904 at Redburn, Bloomfield, Belfast)
William Trevor McCalla was educated at Campbell College, Belfast; he was a Director in W. McCalla & Co. Belfast, and he was Proprietor of the Ulster Steam Tender Company.
William Trevor McCalla was a keen motorist, and he was a frequent competitor in the Ulster Tourist Trophy (TT) races. In 1934, driving a 2-litre, supercharged Sunbeam, he was winner of the County Down Trophy Race.
Lieutenant William Trevor McCalla was the husband of Pamela McCalla (nee Cooper) of Amesbury, Wiltshire. Trevor McCalla and Pamela Cooper were married on 29 October 1935 in St Mark’s Church of Ireland Church, Dundela, Strandtown, Belfast. Trevor’s address at that time was Tobar-Mhuire, Crossgar, Co Down. Pamela was a daughter of the late Captain G. S. Cooper and Mrs Heyland of Ballintemple, Garvagh Co Londonderry. A First World War casualty, Captain George Stanley Cooper of the 5th Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) was 34 when he died on 28 June 1915 and was buried in Jhansi Cantonment Cemetery India (Plot H. Grave 158).
During the Second World War he served aboard HMT Sisapon which was mined and sunk off Harwich on 12 June 1940. Eleven crew members were lost.
Lieutenant William Trevor McCalla is commemorated on the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club Memorial Plaque; in the Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, Co. Down, and on the McCalla Family Grave Headstone in Kilmore (Christ Church) Church of Ireland Graveyard.
His father, William McCalla, died on 24 February 1931 and his mother, Mabel Mary McCalla, died on 11 December 1961.