大象传媒

When I was 16 my Uncle Jim taught me to drive in his beautiful Riley with pre-selecting gears - that was an early development stage on the way towards automatic transmission. He had a petrol allowance because his line of work was deemed necessary for the war effort. Petrol was strictly rationed of course so driving with my Uncle was the only way I would ever have been out for a drive during the years of the war.

In 1943, armed with my driver's licence as soon as I turned 17, I became a volunteer ambulance driver with the Air Raid Precaution (ARP) in Belfast. Our depot was on the Ormeau Road, across from the Annadale Embankment opening. We went out on driving and first aid exercises, often overnight, which was quite an adventure to me, but thankfully without real incident because by my time the Belfast Blitzes were over.

There was disaster planning in those days too. Various ports all across the UK were designated to accept casualties in the event of the Invasion of Normandy failing. Ambulances were detailed to these ports - mine was Larne - so that we could ferry the wounded to hospital - Carrick, Larne and Ballymena in my case. Fortunately of course the invasion was a success and we weren't needed.

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