大象传媒

This story was submitted by William Logan, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.
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My first memory of the war was on 1st September 1939 when my teacher in primary school announced with great solemnity that Germany had invaded Poland. Two days later the whole family sat round the 'wireless' at 11 o'clock on a Sunday morning to hear Neville Chamberlain tell us that Germany had refused to withdraw from Poland and as a result we were at war with Germany; Although I was only aged nine I could feel the gravity of the situation from the adults. They could so well remember the vast losses from the previous war which had ended only twenty one years before.
In the early days we had the introduction of gas masks and instructions about how to wear them at school. Some boys joked about their appearance being like a pig's snout but the instructor was rather cross about this. We had the introduction of the black-out regulations early on.
All windows had to be fitted with heavy curtains, and car headlights had to be fitted with shades so that no light was visible from above. All shop windows were covered with rows of tape to reduce flying glass if there was a bomb. Several types of air raid shelter were built. Some of these were underground and some were just built on the street. Search lights were set in place and cast roving beams of light across the sky when in action. We also got used to the noise of repeated air raid warnings.
Food rationing was soon introduced but the effects of this were not so severe for those like myself who lived in the country. For us there was no shortage of eggs or dairy products. Clothes rationing was also a feature of wartime.
There was no conscription during the war in N Ireland but there were frequent recruitment drives with marches by army personnel and youth organizations and military equipment on display. These were often followed by many more people joining the forces.
We had a few children evacuated to our area from the city. They probably thought we were backward but when we heard them say things like' there are a lot of cows in that field and they are all bulls' we felt rather superior.
We probably did not realize how serious the situation was at Dunkirk or how tragic it could have been. By the following year the war news was all very depressing. In North Africa the German Army had almost reached Cairo, Germany was advancing to the East, Britain was being heavily bombed and shipping losses were severe. I had a trip to Belfast shortly after the bombing there in the spring of 1941 and this really brought home how destructive war could be. There were large craters in the ground and rows of houses reduced to rubble especially on the Antrim and Shore Roads.

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