Paddy Byrne
My father Paddy Byrne was born in Gilford Co Down in1919 and joined the Royal Irish Rifles as a driver on 2nd September 1937 at Armagh. The following January he was sent to Malta where he remained for the following nine months. In October of that year he was sent to Palestine where he remained until March of 1939.
No record exists of his whereabouts after March 1939 until he was sent to the Egypt on 11th June 1943, remaining there until November of that year. Whilst there he was taken prisoner of war and was transported to a POW camp in Germany where he remained from November 1943 until the war ended May 1945. After his release he came back to England where he remained until he was finally demobbed in Perth Scotland on 20th June 1946.
My mother's sister Teresa Scullion married Andy Thompson from Scotland. He was one of the engineers who was in Gilford during the war.
| Story About |
Remembered By |
| Thomas Topping and William David Topping were brothers signed up to serve their country during WWII |
Graham Topping |
| My dad, Stan Jeynes, rescued on a little boat called ‘The Mooltan’ |
Linda Lyle (nee Jeynes) |
| My dad, Norman Greenfield, RIF taken prisoner at Leros |
Tom Greenfield |
| Remembering the Americans in Gilford |
Teresa Fitzpatrick (nee Reilly) |
| Memories of the dancing with the Yanks at Elmfield |
Lily Finnegan |
| Remembering my time in the WRNS |
Adeline Adamson |
| My husband, Jock Wallace came to Gilford with the RASC |
Eileen Wallace (nee Livingstone) |
| After the war my brother Victor Moore (Irish Guards), became President of Gilford British Legion |
Jean McCarthy (nee Moore) |
| After the war my father Eduard Gaillard, RE’s, became principal dancer in the famous film ‘The Red Shoes’ |
Armand Gaillard |
| Watching the Americans arrive in Gilford |
Ronnie Beattie |
| My husband Raymond was a trumpet player with the RE band |
Maria Griffiths (nee Adamson) |
| Memories of the picture house and swimming pool in wartime |
Tommy Harrison |
| Playing football with the Scuttlers and Bert Trautman |
Eddie Geoghegan |
| My dad Paddy Byrne served with the RIF |
Paul Byrne |
| My dad Baillie Eccles, RAF, captured by the Japanese, escaped on a Chinese boat |
Adela Metcalfe (nee Eccles) |
| The story of John Reilly, RUR, a Dunkirk veteran, later his unit held top German Officers for interrogation |
Jim Reilly |
| The war record of Francis Patrick Reilly, RCAF, who lost his life 28th January 1944 aged 21, in an air raid over Berlin |
Jim Reilly |
| My time in the ATS and RAMC |
Elsie Kerr |
| My father Joseph Conerney served in Belsen Bergen with the RAMC |
Joan Conerney |
| My husband Cyril Harley was based in Gilford, as a driver with the R.E.’s |
Olive Harley (nee Whitten) |