大象传媒

GEORGIE
We all smuggled. There used to be 2 ladies down our way, every thursday. It was like going shopping! And they would have got butter and whatever else was rationed. They wore then a crossover apron. It was the fashion. The butter was put in there. You鈥檇 have bought a pound for her neighbour as well. By the time she was at the Buncrana road the grease was running down her! They were that excited to get away

We used to take the pram and borrow the wee child. There was a well in the bottom of the pram. We would put the fags for me father and her father. Then we got to the Customs. They knew rightly. He stopped me - I see him in Derry yet.
鈥淵ou lift him out!鈥�
So I lifted her out, and he looked 鈥� I got away with it!

I was 15-6, going with Navy men and everything. You could have 3 dates in 1 night. One at the Strand Picture House, one at the Guildhall and one somewhere else. If 1 didn鈥檛 turn up, you had 2 more. But funny enough they always turned up.

The Yanks came in and they were based out in Ardmore. And we had a date with 2 yankee soldiers. I was never that fussed about the Yanks. They never were that nice, I thought.
We went to the Rialto 鈥� the OLD Rialto. We were scared there would be anybody from out street. You didn鈥檛 enjoy it when the lights went up. We were watching to see 鈥� and there were 2 girls out of our street. And they were sitting in the front. And the Yank, anyway, had a bag with him. We thought 鈥渢his is candy or nylons鈥� 鈥� they always brought candy. He passed the bag round. And what had he in it? Cream buns out of Stevensons! They thought they were lovely. We nearly died. I wouldn鈥檛 ...
We left them sitting in the picture house. We pretended to go to the toilet, and we cleared!
I cannae tell you it all, I鈥檇 be lifted.

We fell for them all. They were all so nice. They were glad to get people for company. They were only there for a couple of days, then they were off. The navy came in 鈥� there was 1 weekend there were 54 destroyers at Derry Quay.
You could have walked from Derry to Waterside across the decks.
That was the build-up to D-day, the invasion.
We all done it. I was in the ARP, an air warden. You had to go out and do your night rounds and see that there was nobody had a light burning. And then they had an exercise at the weekend, where you had to stay out all night.
We had Austrian people over from Germany. They got away before they were put into them camps. There was a mister Pallock and his wife, and Mr Shankill had a factory in Ford Street. They were all Jews. There was quite a lot of them. They were all nice. They came down to live in the City, in St Patricks Terrace and that. There were plenty of wee houses there, and they stayed there.
Madam Beck had a hat shop in Sakra Street. She was a French lady. But the men joined the ARP with us to help. And that night we were out on exercises, all up where the Belmont Housing Estate is now, out walking round nearly all night. And at the end of it you had to evacuate, you had to come in. I got them 2, and I was their mother 鈥� supposed to be, anyway.
They all stayed. They didn鈥檛 go back. Mr Beck and all, they died here.
He opened a factory.

And we saw the German sub that had to surrender. We saw all the sailors being brought up off the boat. Put on a train, taken to Belfast. We were on a train going to Belfast, they got on it. That was the only Germans I saw.

3 on our street never came back. 1 was in the Arnhem landing 鈥� you know, the para-gliders. Lovely boy he was, Dick Rogers. He never came back. And young Beardy Boardman was drowned 鈥� he served on the Glorious. They were sunk. The Glorious and the Duke of York. Know what age he was? He was 17!

A lady on our street, her husband was on the Hood and he was lost too. And then there was the young boy Bailey up at the top of the street. He was on the Russian Convoys, and that was hard going then. There was some sad losses.

We didn鈥檛 go round the streets, because there was blackout. You daren鈥檛 have had a light on or nothing. If you saw a light in someone鈥檚 house, you had to go up and knock. You got a summons if the light was on. That鈥檚 the law.
But we didn鈥檛 get out round the streets. We were young. The men done that. We were inside, and if you were needed you went out. You had to have a wee bit of first aid, in case anybody went out. They would get hit by a bottle in Derry in those days!

They uised to bring different bands to play. Glenn Miller was out in the American camp beside us in Springtown. We had that beside us, and we had Belmont camp beside us, and we had Shantallow Army base up there too. And if there were anything flying over, them guns went off. It was busy!
They didn鈥檛 have any dances, but the Yanks used to have dances. I once went to it, and I was gonna be killed when it was found out where I was. Shouldn鈥檛 be out there, I was far too young. But they were all right. There was pit-busses to bring you out, you didn鈥檛 walk in the roads.

They gave a lot of parties for the kids. They entertained the kids quite a lot.
There was no dance halls in the Waterside, was there?
We didn鈥檛 really feel the effects of the war that much. We weren鈥檛 restricted.

I enjoyed the war, because we had so much to do. With the canteens and all. There was a canteen in every building, to feed the folk.
Like a caf茅 now. We volunteered.
They gave mostly fry-up.
In some of them it was just a plate of something.
You wouldn鈥檛 be getting food you do now, because of the rationing.

The Derry boys that was at home, they would have stood and watched all the girls dance in their uniforms.
They weren鈥檛 too happy at their girls going with these foreigners, as they saw it. It鈥檚 the same today. They wouldn鈥檛 want their girls going with foreigners. A whole lot of them broke up over it. Och well, that鈥檚 life.

When you worked in a factory you were making army stuff. You wouldn鈥檛 have done it every week, but you鈥檇 put a wee note in his pocket. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e married never mind. If you鈥檙e single, drop a line.鈥� That was written on a wee bit of brown paper.
We done the RAF shirts too, and I got a letter from an RAF fellow. I think he was in Malta at the time. But I didn鈥檛 keep it going. But I done one that went to Burma, where the 8th Army was.
[transcriber鈥檚 note 鈥� it was actually the 14th Army]
And I got an answer from a soldier because of that wee slip. And we kept writing. Once a month, not every day or week. He was from outside Norfolk.
We corresponded for about 4 yrs while he was in Burma.
You know the way with your first letter, 鈥渁ny time you come to Derry, visit鈥�. Big mouth me!
He was sent back to England on Leave, and he was coming over to see me. He was going to stay in our house, nowhere else to stay. I was going to be killed! And I had to go and meet that bloke at the station, the Midland station. And I never seen him. Only a photo. And my brother said to me 鈥淭hat鈥檒l not be him in that photo. You鈥檙e going to get a big shock when you go over to the midland station!鈥�
But it was him. And he stayed in our house for that week. Then he went back to the Army, for he had to finish his time. My father says 鈥渂ring no more of them boys to this house!鈥�
Nothing came out of it. Just being friendly.
But his mother sent me a lovely scarf and a signet ring. I still have it upstairs.

There was a lot of women married servicemen, went away. There were GI brides. Canada. Australia.
The ones I knew were married on the boat as they went out.
We weren鈥檛 really interested in that at our age.

鈥済et your curlers in, they鈥檙e all in tonight!鈥�
The girls all had a great time.
There was girls never would have been married got married. Met someone that was interesting. Good fun.

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