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My Gran and Granda were living in Glasgow at the time that war broke out. My Uncle John had just been born and so as to avoid getting called up, my Granda moved his family back to Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland.

When Belfast was bombed in May 1941, there was mass confusion and fear in Ballymena — only 30 miles away. People were leaving their homes to go to public shelters. However, my Gran refused to leave, as by then she had three small children. The agnostic newsagent who lived next door was running around praying fervently as he clutched a set of rosary beads!

Gran and Granda ran a pub called “The Phoenix” in Ballymena and American soldiers based at the army barracks in Ballymena frequented it during the war. My grandparents made friends with lots of the soldiers, in particular, the three men in the photograph below: John Arnilander (?), James Carney and George Caranaugh. The soldiers used to enjoy coming, not only to have a relaxing drink, but especially to see the children because they missed their own families so much.

One of these men bought a huge doll for his young daughter back home in America. He stored it in a wood bench at my grandparents’ house and although the children were forbidden to go near it, they used to sneak down to have a look at it and wish it was theirs because toys were such a luxury at the time.

There was rationing in Northern Ireland even into the 1950’s and my family remembers it well. However, people in Ireland were well off for food (in comparison with the rest of Britain) as many people had relatives living on farms. My aunts remember my great grandmother coming to visit them from the country on a Saturday and she would bring fresh eggs, a chicken and butter to supplement the family’s rations. Sometimes my grandmother would exchange some of this country produce for other ingredients that she needed such as flour and sugar.

My mother, who was born after the war in 1950, remembers blackout blinds on the windows of the house. These were kept in place for many years after the war, as they couldn’t afford to buy new curtains and my mother as a child came to regard them as standard blinds!

National Identity Cards were issued to the whole population, including children, and had to be produced under conditions of national emergency. Again, my mother, born in 1950, was also issued with such a card. This is an example of one - it belonged to my aunt Mary, who was born in November 1941.

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