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This story is taken from an interview with Leah McConnell at the Ballymena Servicemen’s Association, and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The interviewer was David Reid, and the transcription was by Bruce Logan.
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[GIs]
We had some. Now, they weren’t on our camp. But sometimes we would meet up or see them or something like that.

We were grateful for them, coming over to help in the war when they were needed. We mustn’t forget that part of it.

They were all very nice to us. I must admit. Most of them were very polite and very nice to us. The girls always like to have company, I suppose.

They would bring us things, you know, sometimes. Men don’t always have, they’re not always near enough our camp. They’re good with their chewing gum and other things.

[rationing]
Well, when the war was over?
In our camp you only got your rations too, and then with us only being a small wee lot, we had to take turn about cooking in the wee Nissan hut that we did the cooking in. And you cooked for the party, and you had to make that butter and that sugar run out for a whole week. You never got anything more, and if it run down you had to do without. Mind you, they brought us a piece of cheese and a piece of butter and a piece of Bacon. And we managed all right. It’s wonderful what you can do when you have to.

I can’t remember what we got as luxuries. It was a while rough going, and that was it. Whether you could cook or not cook, you just had to make it do with whatever you had.

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