大象传媒

Evacuee in Gortin, Co. Tyrone

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Eileen Parker of SEELB staff on behalf of Andree and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

I was born in 1928 in Belfast where my parents had a shop on the Limestone Road. I was evacuated to Gortin: we were collected at Mountcollyer School and travelled by train to Omagh - a very long journey in those days. Then we were taken to a school or hall and various adults came in and shouted out the names of children. The children then went off with the adult.
Eventually a doctor appeared and called out: 鈥淭wo girls for Mrs McFarland鈥� 鈥� that was me and another girl. He took us by car to Gortin: it seemed a long way, all down hill through green fields and narrow roads. Mrs McFarland had a daughter and two sons, all older than me. They had a farm and I loved it but the other girl couldn鈥檛 settle and went home after a short time. Another girl came in her place.
I remember getting up in the morning and coming down to the warm farmhouse kitchen: for breakfast we had hot porridge with fresh cream skimmed from the milk in the dairy. I learnt to milk cows, feed pigs and gather potatoes which was hard on the back.
I could even deworm baby chicks! We walked two miles to school and on the way home we collected the cows and brought them back for milking. I wasn鈥檛 homesick; Mum came down every Wednesday by bus and brought sweets. She took me home for Christmas and didn鈥檛 let me go back. I think she was worried because Mrs McFarland wanted to keep me. We kept in touch for some time; Mrs McFarland came up to Belfast a couple of times in connection with an elderly aunt and she called to see me. Many years later my husband drove me to Gortin and we found the farm but I couldn鈥檛 bring myself to go to the door.
A few months after I came back to Belfast, we had the blitz. We walked to Aunt Annie鈥檚 on the Woodstock Road 鈥� it was a long way and no safer really than the Limestone Road. The second time we went to an air raid shelter and my mother refused to leave it when my sister and her husband came by car to fetch us. Incendiary bombs were bouncing all round the car as we drove
out to Glengormley, the Capitol picture house was on fire and roads were closed so we were diverted all over the place. A fire bomb came through the roof of our shop and set it on fire but my father and brothers got it out. One night a parachute was seen descending and everyone thought it was a man but it was a land mine which came down in Alexandra Park.
The young people coming home from a dance in the Floral Hall were directed to an air raid shelter: it took a direct hit with a
terrible loss of life.
I was 17 when the war ended: everyone went down town and Royal Avenue was packed with people cheering. The men were kissing all the girls 鈥� I remember there were a lot of Polish servicemen.
When I got married in 1953 there was still rationing: we went to
London for our honeymoon and we had to leave our ration books with the hotel management during our stay. The flight cost 拢12.

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