大象传媒

This story is taken from an interview with James Doherty, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The interviewer was Anita Cochrane, and the transcription was by Bruce Logan.
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The war came, perhaps maybe we knew it was coming, but nevertheless it did come suddenly. Friday night, 3 days before the war was declared, Blackout was declared. Some people don鈥檛 know that. We had an enforced blackout from Friday, but war wasn鈥檛 declared until Sunday, round about 11 o鈥檆lock, or whatever time it was. Civil defence had been established. It was more a thing on paper. They knew what they wanted to do, but nobody really thought they鈥檇 ever have to do it. I suppose in my own personal thing I heard the civil defence didn鈥檛 have any contacts. A lot of it was actually paperwork as I say, and a few volunteers - Civil service people and welfare people, stuff like that. But at any rate, things maybe did look a little bit dim round about the 40s.

And there was a group of us started the Civil Defence in the Area. We got permission to do it, we were recognised, god blessy style, but nothing contributed to it. We met in one of the houses down in Henry place, down at the back of Victoria Barracks. And we met there and studied pamphlets and stuff like that, and still nothing. As I say, the chaps I was with were called the ARP in those days. Air Raid Precautions. I was with them about 6 months. We didn鈥檛 even have an arm-band. But nevertheless we thought we were, some job somewhere along the line was going to be given to us. Then one night someone produced 6 or 7 helmets, some armbands and I can assume we were all dressed in our own wee clothes. That was our uniform, and I suppose we looked a motley sight. All these young men sitting with these tin hats and an armband. But I do, looking back, I think it was a landmark.

I was 19, I was nearly 20. But then, that was our first night. And then we went out on patrol, blackout patrol. Well, as they say, we weren鈥檛 too well-received. And nothing that anybody did to us, but there was cat-calls and they called us the 鈥淭in Brigade鈥� and things like that. Well, maybe we expected it and maybe we didn鈥檛, but nevertheless we took it. There was about 12 of us, and things went on. Then, I thing with the way the war was going, maybe The Powers That Be thought that something would definitely have to be done. They stepped up the recruitment, stuff like that. Opened up posts. Our first post was an old dilapidated shop down in Newtownards road, the corner of Trenty Street. There was only an old dilapidated place, but we fixed it up a bit, and that was our first wardens鈥� post. But they did designate numbers. I think the first number in the designation was mainly more for office-work. Our post was 381. Post 381. I don鈥檛 think there was 300, because there wouldn鈥檛 have been 300 posts in the district, but nevertheless we became known as post 381. Quite a famous post before it was all over.

So that was the start. We still patrolled, and did little exercise, lit fires and tried to put them out with stirrup-pumps. Bigger exhibitions, gas things were let out and the people were warned to carry their gas mask with them, and still to a certain extent everything was make-believe. Numbers inflated, we did this, the Govt would have released notes that we did this, we did that, but nevertheless it was all kind of a comic cut army. And actually right up to the first raid on the city was round about early April. There was some damage done on the east side of the city, down round by the shipyards and the aircraft factory, but perhaps it was a warning. But nevertheless the warning came too late.

You see, the idea is, 鈥淕ermans are too far away. They鈥檒l never come over here; they鈥檝e got to travel over Britain, the AA guns and what would happen to them coming to us鈥�. So the idea was, the German planes could never come here. It would have meant if they were coming from Germany, a 500-mile round journey which was a thousand miles carrying bombs 鈥� at that time planes weren鈥檛 so well-equipped. But it wasn鈥檛 taken seriously. The evacuation of Dunkirk was more in the headlines. But people didn鈥檛 really realise the enemy hadn鈥檛 to come from German now; he鈥檇 just to come the 18 miles across the English channel. Cause all those French airfields which they were left, the Germans just took them over. So their planes, so the planes that we got for our raid here in Belfast didn鈥檛 come from Germany, they came from France. Just a few miles away. A hop! You could have swam across the channel and brought a bomb in your pocket. And at any rate, the 15th, 16th of April was the big night.

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