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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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Destroyer Escort

by Researcher 237629

Contributed by 
Researcher 237629
People in story: 
Peter Matthews
Location of story: 
Between Belfast and Liverpool
Article ID: 
A1135054
Contributed on: 
05 August 2003

On 1st September 1939,I was not quite 3 years old,my mother took myself and my 3 month old sisterto join the long queue for the Liverpool to Belfast ferry. She believed that she was taking us to the safety of our Aunt's farm in Armagh.Whatever was said in the newspapers at the time my Father believed that he needed to stay at home working on the docks. After what seemed like many months of tranquility in Ireland, and despite the protestations of my aunts, and with very little happening on the war front as far as Mother was concerned, she thought she would return to her home and husband. On the return journey from Belfast we had a destroyer escort crossing the Irish Sea to Liverpool. I still have the images of my Aunts waving to us as we left Belfast, and of the rough crossing as we sat up all night. Also images of getting a horse and cab from the train to the boat in Belfast.

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