大象传媒

This story was given to me by Mrs J Ballagh. She is willing to have her story submitted onto the People's War website and agrees to abide by the house rules.

My name is Mrs Ballagh and I am 75 years old.

I was evacuated in 1939 when I was nine years old. My sister was seven, and my big brother was eleven. We were taken from Templemore Avenue School on buses: we headed to Derry, then on to Dungiven, and we stayed in a place called Boveva outside Dungiven.

My sister and I were in one house, and my brother was up the road a bit. The people we stayed with were builders, so we were welcomed into their home.

Our family name was Totton, and we lived in Cable Street on the Newtownards Road in Belfast. My father was in the army: he was stationed in Magilligan. He came to see us and some of the soldiers gave him sweet coupons to bring us sweets.

We were away for three and a half years. When we came home, the children used to come to our door to get us to come out as we were talking country! We spent some happy times together.

My mother was left at home, but came to see us. My younger brother was born during the war.

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