216541 Frmn. David William McNeilly Merchant Navy SS Corbet (d.4th May 1941) Having served with the 12th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles during the Great War, David William McNeilly was already in the Merchant Navy and serving on board the coal ship Corbet when the Second World War broke out. On the 4th May 1941 as the Corbet was leaving Liverpool Harbour under a heavy air raid, the ship was hit by an explosion. The ship had hit a mine which had been laid previously in another air raid. Unfortunately his luck finally ran out. On watch that night,in the panic of the getting under way, he left the ship's glasses below deck and went down to get them, leaving another seaman on watch. That man was the only one to survive the sinking ship.
Update: Fireman David McNeilly was born in Larne c1898 and was the husband of Catherine (Craig). He is commemorated at The Tower Hill Memorial Part X Mcll-Miz.
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