The Second World War
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By 1939, the city had endured twenty years of depression, but the loss of France was to change all that as the convoys from America to Britain had to divert to the North Atlantic route making the city the first port at the end of a hazardous crossing. It was quickly upgraded to become a major repair and supply base. American technicians, housed initially at Ebrington Barracks, constructed new wharves at Lisahally and helped construct a string of new airfields along the eastern edge of Lough Foyle. This small machine gun emplacement located opposite Lisahally is an artefact frozen in time. Made of sandbags filled with concrete it is much as it was in the 1940s.
Dill House in the grounds of Magee College became the military headquarters in the city. Led by the Navy, the base was known as HMS Ferret and was reputed to have a secret bunker under the lawns, which could command the 'Western Approaches' should Liverpool be put out of action. |
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