大象传媒

This story has been entered on the site by Sean on behalf of Sarah Agnew Grant and they fully understand the conditions.

I remember the 鈥楢ck-Acks鈥� which were guns used to shoot down German bombers attacking the shipyards in Belfast. They were supposed to attack the shipyards, but, they mistook the Belfast Water Works for them, a very built up area, resulting in many casualties. I was 6 years old in 1941. I thought it was thunder and lightning at first, I didn鈥檛 understand the theory of big guns. I used to recite this rhyme when the planes flew over and the guns were in action: 鈥淭he lightning flashed, the thunder crashed, and all the world was shaking, a little pig turned up its tail and ran to save its bacon.鈥� I recited this to distract myself from the 鈥榣ightning鈥�. This was the closest I got to the war because Belfast was only ever bombed twice.

My father was an Air Raid Warden. When the air raid warning was signalled, my father placed his gas mask on and checked the blackout curtains. He also checked to see if any lights were showing, and so knocked on the windows and shut them. Below my house was an air raid shelter which I attended twice. My friends and I played in these shelters many a time during the day.

I was then evacuated to the country, Fermanagh to be precise. I was evacuated from my house, in the outskirts of Belfast, too close to the bombings. One special day stands out in memory most.

My mother and father took me by car to Fermanagh. It鈥檚 hard to describe the emotions of being separated from my parents. Simply, it was hard to see them go for the first time.

The thing that stands out in my memory apart from the separation, was meeting the farmer, Mr Evans. He then took me for a walk down the lane to pick wild strawberries. Several of my cousins lived at the farm next to me and through the war I kept a strong friendship with them. The school I attended was very poor. The children attended barefoot, I wanted to join them, but, my sister (Barbara Hodgen) prevented me from doing so. I lived there for just two or three months, these months were the best months of my childhood. My short stay was due to air raids in Belfast not lasting long. I loved the country and Mr and Mrs Evans. Even though I was so deep in desire to meet my parents again, I did not wish to leave Fermanagh as my love of country life there was so great. Every holiday, my sister and I visited Mr and Mrs Evans and continued the activities we had done while we were there.

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