A Southerner in the Belfast Blitz

This story is taken from an interview with Miss Lil Davis, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The interviewer was David Reid, and the transcription was by Bruce Logan.
------

There was no blitz. There was in 41, there was one at least and there could have been 2. Because a chap that I knew, in the, turned to me in the … it was some organisation. Anyway, he said “You must come. You must come to help”. He was coming up to help because of the blitz. What did they call it now? I’m getting very forgetful. I should know it. The Red Cross, that was what it was. He was coming up with others to help, and I remember when he did and the next day when I saw him he said “It was terrible, just terrible”. But after I came to Belfast there was signal went if they thought that they were coming in. There was a signal. The sirens. Well, twice the sirens went off in 42. Twice. And everybody of course ran out of their buildings. And there were Air raid shelters.
I didn’t, my first couple of years I wasn’t on the Falls Road. I was in the stores. I went into the Falls Road, to the college on the Falls road, in January of 46.
I was in digs in a house on Donegal Pass, quite opposite the Police Station. And that house was full. There was only 4 girls, and I was one of the 4. And other than that there was 21 men. It was an immense big house and she was a lovely, and she was very good to us. It was an immense big house when it had 21 men in it. What made me laugh was, they all ran out, you see? And it was a shelter about 300 yards from the digs. And they all ran towards that. But I stood back, and I thought “are they Irish?” Not one looked around to see, are the girls safe? Not one of them! That’s one memory that stuck with me. Not one of them looked round to see were the girls safe! I though, “praise be to lord god, what will you people get for wives?” I never got over that. And the age I am today, don’t you think I’d have forgot about it? No. I would never forget that. But everybody, I didn’t go. I walked up and down. And they said “You must go. But you must go to the shelter!” wild horses couldn’t get me to the shelter. I thought it was the most stupid thing of all to go to it. If the bomb hits the street, yes. Said to me, there were timber and rocks and everything else flying around, and you were very likely to be hit. But if it hits the shelter, you’re finished. I thought it was the most stupid thing of all to build shelters and have people crowd into them. The thing is this, you see? Why are they so sure that the shelter will not be hit? Why are they so sure that the shelter will not be hit? They’re determined to hit something, it could be anything. Anyway, there could be 2 things I say, sirens, and then one shortly after. But thanks be to god, for all that there were warnings they didn’t come. I don’t quite know what happened in these cases. Possibly, they would be coming in by plane, and possibly some of the other planes could interfere and get them before they had time to get to us.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.