Troops stationed in NI took part in African and European landings

Warren Nicely was a motorcycle dispatch rider with the 1st Armoured Division of the US army.

He is making the trip with his daughter Janet. She said it had been helping her imagine what her father went through.

"This is an exciting time and a great opportunity to be able to come," she said.

"I'm very proud of what he did and I have children, sons that are older than he was then and it is real hard to see when they were 17 and 18 even thinking about them going off to war, which they fortunately did not have to do."

For a time there were 120,000 American troops stationed in Northern Ireland.

Warren has fond memories of the warm welcome he received after his troop ship arrived in Northern Ireland.

"I was stationed here in 1942. When we first got off the ships the Irish Red Cross ladies greeted us and they had tea and cookies, and the cookies of course were free of sugar," he said.

I was always scared... you know we had no air supremacy in North Africa Warren Nicely 1st Armoured Division

"I found that kind of odd and also the tea was about half milk and half tea. I was not used to that kind of tea, but still and all we enjoyed it, the hospitality was absolutely great.

"We found them to be wonderful people, they was happy to have us here, and that was good because we had a good relationship and we knew that trouble was lying ahead for all of us."

Warren left the verdant countryside of County Down for the invasions of north Africa and Italy. He said that he was thankful just to have survived.

"Originally I was on a tank crew and my tank was wiped out. The only survivor was the tank commander and so he being in the top of the tank was able to dive out," he said.

"I was always scared... you know we had no air supremacy in north Africa. I was always a bit nervous to say the least."

Local man Harvey Bicker, who helped organise the reunion, said that it had been a moving experience.

"It's very poignant that a lot of these men now are over 80 years of age, so they probably wanted to come back to the places they had been as young men and some of them were fit enough to come," he said.

The US troops took part in the invasion of Europe

"Recently I asked someone about all the American veterans of the World War II and someone told me that there's over a thousand of them per week now dying because of old age.

"So it shows you this is a time that will not be repeated, this journey, so it is wonderful to see them."

There are some memories which can bring back a smile to the veterans.

Robert Dowell was among a battalion who found themselves billeted in Downpatrick Gaol.

"Well it didn't make any difference - I've been in worse places," he said.

He also found a little time for some romance with the locals.

"She worked at a little fish and chip place down here. Her name was Margaret," he said.