Scheduled Saturday Tour Dates from March to June 2023 (inclusive) are now available to book online.
Private Tours can be arranged on other days and times by getting in touch with me.
Tag: Guided Tour
The Yanks Are Coming!
During 2022, I plan to share a few posts on my Facebook Page about what was happening in Northern Ireland 80 years ago, specifically in relation to the arrival of the US military.
#OTD1942
By way of background:
Plans had been developed as early as April 1941 for the United States of America to send troops to the UK, should the USA enter the Second World War.
In June of that year, 350 civilian workers from G.A. Fuller-Merritt Chapman Corporation (an American firm) arrived in Northern Ireland to begin building naval bases at Londonderry (Base No.1) for the refueling and repair of destroyers and submarines, and Lough Erne for PBY Catalina flying boats.
in July, members of the Special Observer Group made a first visit to Northern Ireland, looking at existing infrastructure and making recommendations about potential sites for US military sites. The Group submitted its first report in September, recommending that a depot be established at Langford Lodge to carry out maintenance repairs for American aircraft.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, and the subsequent declaration of war on the USA by Germany a few days later, brought America into the war.
On 17 Dec, Major General James E. Chaney submitted a report on his review of the situation following American entry into the war, and specifically referenced a plan to send 33,421 American troops to Northern Ireland.
This cohort of troops will be designated by the codename MAGNET Force.
The friendly “invasion” of Northern Ireland is imminent!
Follow the Tour’s Facebook Page for regular updates on the 80th anniversary of key events.
Image: Washington County Free Library Photo WCRH018. Part of the General Russell P Hartle Collection. American troops from 34th Infantry Division en route to Northern Ireland on board the British troop ship HMTS Strathaid. Photo taken in February 1942. Copyright United States Signal Corps.
YouTube Channel
As well as reading a small mountain of books and innumerable pages on the internet while researching content for the tour, I have come across quite a few interesting and useful videos on YouTube.
I thought I would put these together in a collection, so here’s a link to my YouTube Channel: Lead The Way Tour YouTube Channel
The Channel has only 1 video specific to the Tour, at the minute, but if you visit the associated playlist there’s a lot there of interest. Please feel free to subscribe to the Channel to view any more videos I add to it.
If I had to recommend a particular video on the playlist to start you off, it would be A Letter from Ulster (1942).
Enjoy the nostalgia.
Always looking for more…..
If you come across any more videos that you think could be added to that playlist, please contact me with the details.
Recent Reviews (taken from the Tour’s Facebook Page)
As the Tour season moves towards a slowdown over the winter, I would like to thank those who have already gone on a Tour with me. I have been delighted with the feedback so far.
Here are some examples of what recent guests on my Tour have had to say:
“Just completed the Lead the Way tour…. absolutely brilliant and very informative. Great to learn so much about the wee town where I live and its involvement in the war effort! Couldn’t recommend it highly enough!”
“A fantastic tour around my home town and learnt a lot that I didn’t know in my 28 years living there. Adrian’s knowledge of Carrickfergus as a whole was excellent as well. Highly recommended.”
”Great presentation at a steady pace and very informative. Highly recommended.”
”Did the tour this morning excellent and well worth the wee walk great presentation and delivery I highly recommend it what a wealth of history around this great town .”
Please note that from the end of October until the Spring (exact date will be published closer to the time) there will be no “Just Turn Up” Tours planned.
However, Tours can be offered during this period on request – just get in touch.
Eighty Years Ago
Before dawn on the 1 September 1939, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler sent his armed forces into Poland.
At 04:45, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish port of Danzig on the Baltic Sea. The Luftwaffe attacked Wieluń around the same time, and at 08:00, German ground troops attacked the village of Mokra.
The World held its breath…….
On the 3 September, just eleven months after he declared “Peace for our time” on his return from Munich, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave a live radio broadcast:
“This morning the British ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.
“You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed.
“Hitler’s actions, show convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force.
“We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to establish peace.
“But the situation in which no word given by Germany’s ruler could be trusted, and no people or country could feel itself safe, had become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your part with calmness and courage.”
British armed forces had already been mobilised following the invasion of Poland; but it wasn’t until the declaration of war that the National Service Act was enacted, immediately enforcing full conscription for all men between 18 and 41.
Chamberlain also restructured his existing Conservative government to create a War Cabinet, with Winston Churchill returning as First Lord of the Admiralty.
The same day, King George VI addressed those in Britain and across the Empire. Speaking in a live broadcast from Buckingham Palace, he called upon “my people at home and my peoples across the seas” asking them “to stand calm, firm and united in this time of trial.
“The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield. But we can only do the right as we see the right and reverently commit our cause to God.
“If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready for whatever service or sacrifice it may demand, then with God’s help, we shall prevail.”
This was the start of a conflict that would eventually engulf every Continent on the planet and affect countless millions of people.
Join my Walking Tour around Carrickfergus, and discover how this small town in Northern Ireland rose to the challenge, and made a significant contribution to the eventual Allied victory.
Hear how Matilda, Rupert and Franklin all departed from Carrickfergus to leave their mark on the outcome of WW2.