大象传媒

EILEEN STARRAT PART TWO
Eileen came from Belfast - after the bombing raid on Belfast she joined the wrens and was sent to Derry for a time where she lived in Boom Hall before going overseas.

[What was a day in the life of a WREN at Magee College ops room?]
I can鈥檛 remember whether it was 4 hrs or 8 hrs. All the watches had names the Dog watch was 4-8, I remember that. 8-midnight, and sometimes you were on all night. Which I didn鈥檛 like at all, and I鈥檓 sure nobody else did. We would just go into the Ops room and announce ourselves. Or say to the WREN in charge. I was a Leading WREN, but that wasn鈥檛 very high up the scale. Who we were and how long we were there for. Or else she had it all written down. Probably it was all of the 鈥� well-organised. I鈥檓 sure it was.

[On Night watch, what did you do?]
There was a time for sleeping, and possibly kind of a room for that where you could rest a while. You sat with other operators, and you took whatever calls were assigned to you. Whatever space was assigned to you. That鈥檚 about all I can tell you.
I suppose I knew it was a very interesting things.

[Were the calls from land-lines or ships?]
They were probably from land-lines to us. Probably if they were from ships they would go to someone of higher authority.

[2 years in Belfast, 1 year in Derry?]
No. I was here about 6 months when the draft came through that I was to go back to Belfast, because this had come through and I was expected to go on to go abroad. I think that鈥檚 what happened. And I know that my mother probably wouldn鈥檛, she had to sign the agreement because I was only 21, and I know she wouldn鈥檛 have done it if I鈥檇 been at home. She probably thought 鈥渙h well鈥�. So there you are.

[did you have any idea where you were being posted to?]
Absolutely none. Nor did anybody else.
It was 1st April 1943, and I was told to report to somewhere in Liverpool. I was with another WREN who originally lived in Malta, and we were going together. We went to Liverpool and from there to London. And the place in London where we stayed for a week was called Golden Square. It was beautiful, beautiful place. It was old Victorian houses in a square, and a lovely park area in the middle. I must just go ahead, I don鈥檛 know how many years, my daughter was in London, and when I went to see her first she had an A-Z map of London. She brought me to Golden Square to see it. I couldn鈥檛 believe it. I was so sorry neither of us had a camera. That鈥檚 where we went, to Golden Square for a week. It was somewhere near Picadilly. We weren鈥檛 allowed to bring cameras with us. We weren鈥檛 allowed to keep diaries, although I think it was done. And we were able to go out in London, but in a limited sort of way, and we had to report back quite early in the evening I think.
We went back to Liverpool, and on in Liverpool was the troopship. And it was HMT, T for troop-ship, Orangi. It was thought to be of Dutch origin, and it was thought to be 23k tons. I鈥檓 not too sure about that, that鈥檚 from memory. Now, we sailed Liverpool up the Irish Sea. And there were 4 engines onboard. First of all I remember going on board, and a young soldier jumped from the top deck. He didn鈥檛 want to go. But that鈥檚 the only time I ever heard of any such thing happened. That鈥檚 the only time we were ever aware of it.
There were 4 engines, and one of them broke down, so the ship had to go to the Clyde. You can picture that, up the Irish Sea to the Clyde, to a place called Gurrock, and we lay off there as they called it for week. Now 鈥� we didn鈥檛 [know where we were going] but we could write letters, and we wrote letters to HMS Assegai. We weren鈥檛 really sure where that was, but we wrote these letters. These letters were posted in Gurrock, when we were only a short spell of the journey, and my mother and my sisters got these letters and knew where we were going before we did. They were able to consult my, one of my sisters was in the WRNS and she was able to ask where that was and found out we were going to South Africa, we were going to Durban. So we missed the convoy going. The first convoy, and we had 2 destroyers as escort to take us round the north coast of Ireland, right down 鈥� to Freetown, West Africa. The first glimpse of Africa we had was Casablanca. We could see the white minarets, and somebody told us that was Casablanca. And we got to Freetown. The thing I remember about it was young boys fishing for pennies. In the sea, swimming about.
We were in Freetown for just a day, just stayed there of course. And then down the coast of Africa, past Cape Town which we didn鈥檛 see at all, to Durban.

We stayed in Durban for all 鈥� there were dances on board every afternoon. And they formed a sort of a team of people who took part in converts and gave us concerts. People who could sing and that sort of thing.
There was no 鈥� it was lovely.

[How many people were on the troopship?]
There were about 4 dozen WRENS, and Air Force and different people. It was a big ship, very big. I鈥檝e often wondered that, we were never told.
Another thing you wouldn鈥檛 expect, the food was dreadful. Whether that was because we were on the Clyde for a week, and the food was, I don鈥檛 know. Nowadays it would be reported, but it wasn鈥檛.
Then we went up the coast of the Indian Ocean to Mombassa. And it was a very deep place. The water鈥檚 very deep in the harbour there. And I was there for 2 1/2 years. We went on leave to Nairobi in Kenya once. Every 6 months. And we were supposed to go there when we had malaria. But there were so many people with malaria that they stopped doing that. I slept in a hut called a Banda, and there weren鈥檛 any windows, just shutters, and we slept under mosquito nets. At the naval base. So times I was on duty from 8-4, and if I were on duty at 8 I would try to walk to this naval base because it was cool. And we, actually I worked 8-4 every other day. In between we went sailing, which was wonderful. And kept us healthy, as well.

To go to Nairobi we went by train, and Nairobi was a place I never really liked because I didn鈥檛 know it. But the atmosphere, the air up there was not conducive. It was high, very very high, and we were living on the coast. And it was hard to adjust to that.
But we stayed with people in a sort of Bed & Breakfast situation. On farms in Kenya. It was wonderful.
When the time came to go home we came a way up by train to a place called Inchmalaya in the desert. We were near Cairo, we were able to visit Cairo, and then further up was Alexandria, and we sailed home from there. Through the med. And we heard about the German ships scuttling. The U-boats scuttling.
Incidentally, on the troopship some nights we had to sleep in full clothes and we never slept without a lifejacket beside us. And at times we were called up on deck, and we knew there had been something, because we looked next morning at the wash of the ship, off the stern, it was all zig鈥攝ag. It wasn鈥檛 straight. It was sort of a detective system to see if there had been anything the night before. But we were young, and it was all an adventure.

[Did you feel in danger?]
No. But coming home, yes. We knew that the U-Boats were scuttling themselves. So, I got home then. That was that.

It changed me totally. I can remember the inspectors in teaching telling me 鈥測ou鈥檙e very good at taking the children outside鈥�, meaning out of the classroom. And I think that鈥檚 part of what I inherited, as it were. And I鈥檇 tell them bits about it, when it was suitable. I never dwelt on it, but it changed me totally.
I went to Loughfield and enjoyed that very much. We had wonderful tutors there, and all the students were ex-service.

We haven鈥檛 been out for over a year, I suppose. But when we pass over the new bridge, there鈥檚 Broom Hall just below. And I always look at it and I think 鈥渢hey鈥檙e going to do something with that some of these days. And they鈥檙e going to spoil it.鈥�
Also going along the strand, I look at the gates of McGee. And incidentally, when I look at my children, 2 of my children went to McGee. And my husband, he took 2 degrees when he retired. And one of them was a 鈥淧eace Studies鈥�. He was the first student of Peace Studies. And I would say to them 鈥測ou weren鈥檛 the first person at McGee鈥�. This was the only reference I would make.

There鈥檚 also a place called Crawford鈥檚 Square. And the place there isn鈥檛 there any more. I think it was burned or else destroyed. And it was the Allied Officers鈥� club. It was a lovely place for just chatting and general conversation.
It was just at the side of the road, like a great big house. Crawford鈥檚 Square, great big houses on the left-hand side and then the right-hand side. It鈥檚 near [大象传媒 Radio Foyle].

[Who went there?]
WRENS 鈥� some of the Wrens I worked with asked me to come along. There were all nationalities there, mostly naval people. It was like a club, a social club.

[It sounds like the war was a good time]
I agree with you there. But an awful lot of people still talk about it as if it were the time of their lives. My husband would totally disagree. There are people who would still wear the uniform, if they had it. Who would talk about it. I think we just put it in a kind of place where we can enjoy it, not flaunt it at all. That鈥檚 not what it鈥檚 for.

[Did you have a sense of achievement?]
I think so. My husband, he talks about the war being a waste of time. Yet it was absolutely needed, what he did. When you saw what happened in Belfast 鈥� WE saw what happened in Belfast. The people who were killed. And the mind that Hitler had. And to me to this day I still can鈥檛 understand why we didn鈥檛 know more about the camps. The terrible places that Hitler 鈥�
I forget the Liam Neeson film. [Schindler鈥檚 List] I saw that with a young neighbour who married a German. And he came, I think he was with us to see it, and he was very impressed in the way that we were. I can鈥檛 understand the way it was. Maybe if we lived in a different place we would have known about it. It was shocking.

[Did you deal with Telecommunications info from naval points all over the world?]
Oh yes. But that would be specialised. It would be 鈥� something that just a few people would deal with. There certainly was such a sting as careless talk. We were very very aware of that, so there wasn鈥檛 that didn鈥檛 exist really or shouldn鈥檛 have. But yes, I think you did have a sense of achievement, of having done something. I told my children years ago that I joined up years ago, because of this, because of what had happened that night. And what I became aware of. It certainly affected me in that way, I joined up. I told them that whether it sounds romantic or not. It may have been, it probably was, but it鈥檚 totally and utterly because that is what I wanted to do.

[Was there no alcohol at social events? What refreshments were served at Crawford鈥檚 Square?]
Gin and tonic, I suppose. Or sherry, it wasn鈥檛 anything stronger than that. Oh yes there was, but my father was an alcoholic. So therefore I certainly might take an odd drink 鈥� but I never ever would have taken too much.
They were serving alcohol 鈥�

[Apparently at the Corinthian dance-hall there was lemonade, you wouldn鈥檛 go to the bar for a drink]
No, you wouldn鈥檛. And you would never have gone into a pub to buy anything. Women just wouldn鈥檛 go into the pubs. That鈥檚 not to say that they didn鈥檛, but some of them might have. Oh no, it was a different sort of atmosphere altogether in that respect.

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