Lislap House

The arrival of US troops was a huge culture shock. Especially having coloured troops as most locals had never met a coloured person. However folk adapt quickly. According to my mother-in-law (aged 16 in 1942 and who lived in Co. Fermanagh) the young women found it very interesting having loads of well paid men paying attention to them. Well they would, wouldn’t they? The local men took a slightly different view, and there were occasional difficulties as a consequence. The famous description at the time (taken from a song) was “Overpaid, oversexed and over here.” But of course the US presence was much appreciated in a wider context.

My mother-in-law said they were welcomed into local homes and the chocolate, nylons and extra food they had was very much appreciated. They had much better uniforms than the British troops and always looked smarter. They struggled with narrow Irish roads (and driving on the wrong side) and there were numerous road accidents. Most of the US army and air force personnel only stayed a few weeks before being moved on to bases in England and in due course Europe, so it wasn’t always easy to maintain a friendship in those circumstances. The US Navy was slightly different in that its shore personnel stayed for most of the war. They had a big base at Lisahally outside Derry and many long term friendships were made through their presence. At the end of the war there were several batches of GI brides that sailed from Belfast to the US. That probably speaks for itself.

This was the guidance given to US troops being sent to Northern Ireland in 1942. A marvellous historical document.

https://archive.org/stream/APocketGuideToNorthernIreland_781/w0051#page/n4/mode/1up

There are some quite interesting stories about US personnel in Northern Ireland during the war. One was the spotting of the Bismarck. As most people probably know, the Bismarck was a key German battleship which had been damaged and was trying to avoid detection whilst steaming from Norway down the Irish coast to Brest in France, to take shelter. A Royal Air Force Catalina from Castle Archdale, Lough Erne in Co. Fermanagh was on patrol off the north west coast of France. The visibility was dreadful but the spotter on the Catalina managed to identify and accurately position the Bismarck, which information soon led to its sinking. The spotter on that RAF flight was a US Air Force observer. So the credit for this major success was down to him. The snag for both the US and British forces was that this was 6 months before Pearl Harbor. So at that time the US was neutral, and definitely not involved in the war. So the USAF observer shouldn’t officially have been there. (He was on “liaison duties” along with several hundred other US personnel, who also weren’t there, if you follow me). And thus he couldn’t be given the credit for spotting the Bismarck (at least not at the time). A copy of that US air force observer’s log book with the relevant entries relating to the Bismarck is now in the museum at Castle Archdale for all to see.

US military personnel also remained in Northern Ireland for many years after the war. There were certainly small numbers here in the 1960s manning NATO communications stations in Co. Derry. 

Thank you for that information. There is no doubt that the overall concern in Europe ran quite strong. I don't believe that Americans could fully understand the threat that was looming in Europe, since we had an ocean between us. In the case of my father, he left for Ireland in February of 1942 and was a part of the invasion of North Africa in November of that year. Ironically, he went on to the invasion of Italy, where his father was from. That's the thing with us Americans, we're of multiple backgrounds, With his mother being Irish and his father being Italian, he had a familiarity with both cultures. Being in a recon unit, part of his duties was to act as an interpreter in Italy, since he was fluent in the language. I wasn't even born until 1947. I myself was a Sergeant in the US Marines in the Vietnam War, but at the time that I was in, there were still many WW2 veterans, but being Marines, their experience was against the Japanese on the islands in the Pacific. It's interesting to note how many Irishmen were a part of American military culture. Particularly in our Civil War 1861-1865. there were all Irish Regiments on both sides. There are still today many traditions that were given to us by the many Irishmen that served in the US Military. Again, thanks for the information.....John P