´óÏó´«Ã½

This story was submitted to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ peoples war with the permission of George McKee. The interviewer was Brian Morgan. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

My first memory of WW2 was when I was about two years old. I was taken out of my house in Ogle Street Armagh to the Cannal River Road in the middle of the night and could hear the German bombers over head. You could hear the droning of their engines.
Next when I was about three or four years old I was taken to the dentist by my mother. It was beside the town hall and was called Blackwoods. The dentist just pulled my tooth out without freezing it, he just pulled it out.
On the way home I was hanging over my mothers shoulder with the blood running out of my mouth. We turned into Thomas Street from English S and at the corner stood two American service men laughing at me. I can remember it as if it was yesterday and they had on their shoulders a circle with a Red Indian and his feathered head dress.
Next was of my Father ‘Paddy McKee’ , a well known barber on Ogle Street Armagh. In those days there was very little money so the people farmers would mostly come in with goods ie butter, veg, milk, eggs and batter in return for a hair cut or shave. One day my Father ran out of the shop to a low loader that had stopped in the street with a crashed plane on the back. I can remember him reaching up and taking a piece as a souvenier. I was told it had crashed up in the fermanagh lakes. I still have the gas mask.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.