WAR IN NORTHERN IRELAND.

I arrived in Larne, Northern Ireland from Stranraer after a fairly calm crossing to take up my posting as a Leading Wren Plotter in Londonderry.

Most of the WRNS were billeted in Elmington Barracks, and ex-Army barracks beside the River Foyle.

There were two Tactical Plots in Londonderry.  These plots were attended by the Captain and Navigator of the Escort Groups, comprised of frigates and corvettes.  They were held to instruct them in ways of avoiding U-boats while crossing the Atlantic, escorting convoys of merchant ships.

The first plot I was assigned to was madly theatrical and called a 'game'.  It was played out in the dark with simulated attacks and sinkings with flashes and bangs.  When the 'game' was over the Commander in charge discussed what had gone wrong and who had escaped a sinking!

After a short while I was sent to the other plot.  This was on the floor of a disused warehouse on the quay.  This 'game' was run by a delightful Commander Allan, with a seemingly retired, chain smoking Third Officer WRNS and five Leading Wrens.

On this plot the Captain and Navigator were behind screens surrounding a marked out floor.  A Wren was assigned to each ship.  The Captain played the size and bearing of the convoy and the positions of each escort; Commander Allan the position of one or more U-boats and from then on he manoeuvred them.   The Captain was told the bearing of the U-boat after which his assigned Wren took his commands and chalked them on the floor, then reported back on what was happening.

The 'game' being to manoeuvre his ships to safeguard the convoy.

In my time in Derry the worst of the war in the Atlantic was over.  Unlike one journalist with the friendly planes in the Falklands I did not have the harrowing task of counting out the escorts and then counting them back.  

The ships spending time in port were mainly Canadian and British frigates and corvettes.

In many ways Derry or HMS Ferret as it was known was a fairly relaxed posting despite the fact that it was so near the border with Southern Ireland with the suspected German spies.

I know the Wrens were welcomed aboard ships for parties in the wardroom, unlike the more pusser places like Plymouth and Portsmouth.

We had a cinema, shops and dances and for my part the Irish were friendly and charming.  If one couldn't find a taxi or naval transport after an outing there was always the 'jaunting car'.  These were horse drawn vehicles where one sat on bench seats along the sides of the car.

Another escape was to dress in civilian clothes and take the slow train north west, across the border to Lough Swilly.  There one could have a wonderful meal and buy cosmetics and alcohol, both cheaper and easier to find than in Derry.

Another time a friend and I crossed the border to be met by a farmer riding a horse with an extra one for each of us.  There were other such escapades…

At the end of the war in Europe the crews of the German U-boats surrendered and their boats were secured alongside at Morville, a town at the mouth of the River Foyle.  Because we had been involved in their defeat our Commander obtained permission for his WRNS to visit them - the boats were a squalid and sorry sight.

With the end of the war, our job was finished, and shortly afterwards I left Londonderry and was demobbed.