Fire watching duty in Derry

Another thing we had to do during the war was Fire Watch. And I had to take my turn at it. I worked in Robert’s Garage in Foyle St. I worked in the stores. Everyone had take their turn. The Fire Watching for that area, it was in John R Hastings. They wevre a very well-known wholesale grocers. And everyone had to take their turn. Everyone did their week and turn. My week, unfortunately … they had a permanent fire watcher. You were meant to stay up all night — you were supposed to go to sleep, he was supposed to stay awake, but if anything happened you were on-hand. But I was most unfortunate. Because the man I had was the Chief Fire-watcher had a bad stomach, and he belched all night.
“Aw, my stomach’s bad.”
I didn’t get to sleep at all.
You had to do a course on Fire Watching. When I say Fire Watching, say of putting out an incendiary bomb. And you had to put it out with one of these stirrup-pumps, as we called them. Did a course on that. And I got my certificate! My name is “E Gallagher, FG” — I’m a Fire Guard!
I remember one day they sent for a friend, did it together. And this old fellow went in, there was a fire, small fire lit in this shed. And it was supposed to be the incendiary bomb. My friend stood on the pipe. I always remember this man coming out, and I don’t know what country he was from, but he said “I vant vater! I vant vater!”

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