| William Charles (Billy) Irvine was the son of William and Ethel Victoria Irvine (nee Appelby) of Doorless, Tullyhogue. Billy mother Ethel came from Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. His parents met there. His father was a Wold War One veteran and poet.
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| Billy’s parents returned to Tullyhogue where they ran a cobblers shop and raised seven children.
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| Known family: William Irvine, Ethel Irvine, William Charles Irvine (born about 1921), Jack Irvine, Albert Irvine, Victor Irvine, Percy Irvine, Margaret Irvine, Violet Irvine.
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| Aircraftman 1st Class (Wireless Operator) William Charles (Billy) Irvine served with 220 Squadron of the Royal Air Force in World War Two.
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| On 11th June 1940 Aircraftman Irvine’s Hudson aircraft (serial no P5127) took off from Thornaby airfield near Middlesbrough at 3.20 in the morning with a crew of four. It left the ground normally and climbed away to around two hundred feet after which a turn to the right was made which increased in steepness until it stalled and flew into the ground.
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| The crash site is believed to have been near to Quarry Farm, Ingleby Barwick. The crash caused the bomb load to explode which resulted in the deaths of all four airmen. The crewmen were:
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525413 Sergeant James Richard Butterworth
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564819 Sergeant Dennis Robert Holbeche
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625299 Aircraftman 1st Class William Charles Irvine
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700305 Sergeant Eric Morgan
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 22nd June 1940:
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| Mrs W Irvine, of ex-Soldier’s Cottages, Tullyhogue, has been notified by the Air Ministry that her eldest son, Aircraftman (1st Class) William C Irvine, was killed on 11th June when the aircraft, of which he was wireless operator, crashed at the aerodrome when taking off. He was 19 years of age.
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| The investigation into the incident and the Court of Inquiry returned verdicts of ‘cause obscure’. This would be the first of two Hudson crashes at Quarry Farm.
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 13th June 1942:
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| IRVINE - In loving memory of my dear son Billy, Royal Air Force, killed in action 11th June 1940.
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‘Not a day do we forget him,
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In our hearts he is always near;
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Loved, remembered, longed for always,
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Bringing many a silent tear.’
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| Ever remembered by his mother, brothers and sisters, Doorless, Tullyhogue, Cookstown
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 12th June 1943:
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| IRVINE - In loving memory of dear Billy, Royal Air Force, killed in action 11th June 1940. ‘Greater love hath no man than this.’ Ever remembered by his loving mother, brothers and sisters, Doorless, Tullyhogue, Cookstown.
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 10th June 1944:
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| IRVINE - In loving memory of my dear son Billy, Royal Air Force, killed in action 11th June 1940.
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‘Not a day do we forget him,
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In our hearts he is always near;
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Loved, remembered, longed for always,
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Bringing many a silent tear.’
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| Ever remembered by his mother, brothers and sisters, Doorless, Tullyhogue, Cookstown
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 16th June 1945:
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| IRVINE - In loving memory of my dear Billy, Royal Air Force, killed in action 11th June 1940. Memories will ever remain. Ever remembered by his loving mother, brothers and sisters, Doorless, Tullyhogue.
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| Aircraftman, 1st Class (Wireless Operator) William Charles (Billy) Irvine was buried in Thornaby-On-Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire, England. His inscription reads ‘PEACE, PERFECT PEACE’. All four crew members are buried together in this cemetery
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| The CWGC record Aircraftman 1st Class William Charles Irvine as the son of William and Ethel Irvine, of Tullyhogue, County Tyrone.
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