Northern Ireland

Yankee Tears in Portadown

John Ford is in his seventies now and works as a school Patrol warden in Portadown and he told me about his...

Growing Up in Carrickfergus during the War

One day one of my cousins called at our house in the street, they were there for my doll, I was devastated...

Memoirs of WW2

I started my first job as a 16 year old clerk - telegraphist at Warrenpoint Railway station in 1943. Very...

Ireland, North and South - Rationing

Tea and butter, 2 ounces a week of butter up north. You got 2 ounces of butter and 2 ounces of sugar...

The Belfast Blitz

The Luftwaffe's navigation was not what anyone expected for instead of hitting the centre of Belfast...

A Memory of the Blitz

I had a twenty one year old sister who was a nurse with the Civil Defence Ambulance and was stationed at...

THE AMERICANS IN MOURNE

Kilkeel, while my mother was raised in Banbridge, and even though they were very young at the time of World...

Bombing of the Shipyard

I remember a big raid on Belfast one night and they went for the shipyard again... Instead we would one...

A Wartime Salvage Story

I thought it better, at that moment, not to mention that a year, or so, earlier a Wellington bomber HAD...

US Army in Ulster

The four US Graves Registration Service personnel who were based in Belfast moved on to Europe and cared...

Counter-Invasion measures in Northern Ireland

The next thing I remember, the Army came to put demolition charges below Harryville bridge. One night in...

THE BLITZ — A CHILDHOOD PERSPECTIVE

It is the beginning of April 1941 and Maureen Wilson* is standing in a seemingly never-ending queue of...

Memories of World War II

My father was in the Merchant Navy at that time, working on the Belfast to Heysham ferry “Duke of...

Be Careful What you Pray For.

He was then moved to Singapore to HMS Sultan and captured by the Japanese and sent to Chaingi jail and...

ANNIE’S WAR TIME MEMORIES

Annie and her husband were living in Finaghy at that time and she supposed that they were lucky as their...

Andy's Black Memories of Wartime Fire Fighting

The Chief Officer of the fire station called out to me one night, and sent me to a doctor on the Antrim...

Merchant Navy/Torpedoed Four Times/From Northern Ireland

"William" joined the Merchant Navy in 1937, aged 16... William reamined with the Merchant Navy...

Evacuees: From Belfast to Maghera

Early in 1940 my brother George, sister May and my cousin Kenneth and myself were evacuated from Belfast to...

British Army in Ballymena

Two soldiers were billeted in the garage to man the pumps 24 hours a day for the convoys of army vehicles...

A Hero's Tragic Death

The then Prince of Wales, who became King George VI, also served at the battle of Jutland, and I have a...

A Belfast Blitz

It's not widely known today that Belfast was heavily bombed by the Germans during the war. said Sam...

LACW Molly Frost - Ballykelly Bereavement

The lady who ran the house was called Ma Hassan, she had two sons, one worked in the bank and eventually...

A Harrowing Account of the Belfast Blitz

All the mills were in that area, Edenderry Mill, Ewart's Mill and Brookfield Mill and a fortnight...

Hiding in the Coal Hole

I remember my husband telling me that over in England they were down at the railway and they were at a...

Ballymena in War Time

Commercial vehicles had a different type of petrol issued — it was known as “leaded”...

American Troops In Bessbrook 1940's

They came to train on the hills and mountains around the village.They were billeted in the Town Hall, the...