大象传媒

After the terrible Japanese raid on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the United States lost no time in entering the war and sending troops to the European theatre.

On january 26th, 1942, the vanguard of the US Army arrived in Belfast docks. Private Millburn Henke was reputed to be the first GI to disembark on Ulster soil. However, for weeks beforehand men with American accents, but wearing civilian suits, were seen on the streets of Belfast and Londonderry.

In all over 300,000 US troops were stationed in Ulster during the Second World War. Being in Northern Ireland (Ulster of only six counties. The other three were in, and stiil are, Eire.), the US troops had a handbook "A pocket Guide to Northern Ireland". As well as mundane topics about driving on the left, working in 拢.s.d. money, travelling on double deker street cars called trams, there were two other very important instructions:
"You will find the Irish very friendly. Do not assuke you are the most wonderful guy in the world if and Irish girl smiles and talks with you. It means only Irish friedliness."

The second instruction was even more important: "When out socially there are two topics of conversation about which you must not comment: politics and religion."

Unfrotunately, as in all conflicts, service personnel lost there lives and the US troops in Ulster were no exception: natural causes, suicides, fights and brawls, road traffic accidents, aircraft crashes and misuse of weapons whilst training were the main causes.

At first the bodies were taken to the US cemetery at Brookwood in England. Then bodies were laid to rest in the City Cemetery in Belfast. However, in 1943 a US military cemetery was opened at Lisnabreeney in the Castlereagh hills. There the Stars and Stripes flew and the deceased were given a full military burial service according to their faith.

The facilities for preparing the bodies were provided by a Belfast funeral firm. Members of the US Graves Registration Service (Nortehern Ireland Section), who wer billited in buildings of the old City Hoispital (long since demolished and rebuilt as a very modern hospital, performed the duty of body preparation at the premises of the funeral firm..after the end of the war, Lisnabreeney Cemetery was deactivated and the bodies were transferred either to Brooklands Cemetery or to the United States.

The four US Graves Registration Service personnel who were based in Belfast moved on to Europe and cared for the bodies of both Allied and German dead from the Normandy beaches to Berlin, including the 84 young US servicemen who were massacred by the SS at Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge December 1944 - February 1945.

All four survuved the war and returned to the US to open their own funeral homes. Sadly today only one remains but his memory of his time in Ulster and Europe ius as clear as if it were only yesterday.

In May 1944 the greatest gathering of US ships ever seeen in a British port assembled in Belfast Lough and sailed for the Normandy landings 6th June 1944, after inspection by General Eiesenhower.

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