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This story is taken from an interview with Hetty English, and has been added to the site with their permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The interview was by Walter Love, and transcription was by Bruce Logan.
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Gallaghers’ underground air-raid shelter.
It was the Tuesday night blitz, and my daddy and my mummy. My daddy took us all up, me and my mummy and the children. He didn’t stay with us, of course, but when we came out the next morning it was just fire everywhere. They had packed up and taken to Ballycastle by train. We were evacuated to Ballycastle.

[Was that a big upset for the Family?]

It was. Because people had left their houses, and everything was all over the place. The shops and all were bombed and all the rest of it.

After about 6 weeks my daddy came down and got us up, because he was missing us. He couldn’t be with us. So he took us to Saintfield. A big barn, but it was converted into living quarters. And we had to go up a big ladder to get into the bedroom. And then somehow or other we came back to Belfast. And we used to go to the Cave Hill every night with a tent, and slept there ‘til the next morning, and came home with and arm-full of Bluebells.

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