大象传媒

My mother died a few weeks ago. One of the things I will always remember about her is the way she described growing up during the war in Northern Ireland, on the Boa Island on Loche Erne.

Because of the location, she and her brothers and sisters, who lived on a farm, would feed, look after and play with the aircrews of flying boats that landed on the Loch. My Mum would have been in her early teens and I think she and her siblings were all surrogate brothers and sisters to the young American and Canadian airmen, who also used to work on the farm on their days off.

A few years ago I was taking my kids and my parents on a tour of the RAF museum in Hendon. My kids were shocked and amazed when their granny climbed into a Sunderland flying boat and gave them a guided tour - their eyes lit up with glee as she decribed how she and her brothers and sisters had spent their days playing on these wonderfully ungainly beasts during World War Two.

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