´óÏó´«Ã½

I was working in Stewarts Cash Stores in Finaghy, Belfast and travelled each day from Lurgan to my work. I worked along with a girl called Ruby Watterson from Lisburn, and she and I got ‘fed up’ with people trying to bribe us to get more rations than what their Ration Book entitled them to. Ruby suggested to me one day that we should join the services and I agreed. Initially I wanted to join the WRENS, but my papers went adrift so the both of us went down to Clifton Street, Belfast and signed on together. We remained together while we were doing our initial training and square bashing and then received separate postings. I only saw Ruby once since then, when she arrived at RAF Ballykelly. Mr Stewart, the owner of Stewarts Cash Stores, paid any of his employees who ‘joined up’ a sum of money while they were in the forces, on which you could have drawn once a month or left it until the end of the year. Mr Stewart was a very nice man to work for.

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