Critical Research Journal

This week I thought I would research Northern Ireland and their role in WW2 to give greater context to my practice. This could possibly widen my perspective on social and political issues which could identify elements to capture within these WW2 airfield landscapes.

I purchased the book Northern Ireland in the Second World War by Brain Barton, 1995.

This gave an interesting insight to the issues that came to Northern Ireland with the outbreak of WW2. The increased number of military personnel (UK & American) coming to Northern Ireland, what it meant for local communities. It also looks at the issues of conscription, rationing and its benefits of not being mainland UK.

I will list relevant facts that I think could give me an over view of the peoples feeling towards the war and also if any elements to a photographic perspective.

 

• p7, “Major disruptive impact of the war was the military invasion by allied forces which gathered pace from the early summer of 1940.” “In Londonderry, the number of military personnel rose from 1,000 in 1939 to a peak of 40,000 in 1943” “All in the north the military presence inflated the trade of shops, public houses, cafes and cinemas.”

The book suggests that with this increase of personnel that there was a greater amount of money in circulation that the local population profited on. With the increase of military population also comes with its cons and the local infrastructure was stretched. Limited in accommodation, road surfaces crumbling and food becoming scarce. Food was still more readily available than Britain (p9).

 

• p10, “Those living on the boarder (Eire) areas could easily cross to the south to do their shopping.” “Smuggling was rife, as it had been even before the war, and southern officials generally not overly officious.”

With this going on this helped to fuel a black market within Northern Ireland.

 

• p11 “The strains of war were also eased for many living in Northern Ireland by weekends and holidays spent in Eire. It provided a convenient escape from the deprivations of rationing, the inconvenience of the blackout, the profusion of military uniforms and the heavily censored, war-obsessed media”

 

• p16, “There is no lack of evidence to corroborate these observations. An embarrassing symptom of local apathy from the viewpoint of the unionist cabinet was the relatively low recruitment level of volunteers for military service. In April 1939, Craig had urged that conscription be applied to Northern Ireland. The proposal immediately raised a storm.

Conscription came up twice for Northern Ireland but never was applied.

 

• p87, “Undoubtedly the cumulative contribution of both men and munitions from the province to the war effort and the shared experience of war, especially the blitz, helped draw both governments and peoples of Northern Ireland and Great Britain more closely together. It was, however, above all the facts of geography which made Ulster’s role in allied victory a much more vital one and which most earned Westminster’s gratitude”.

These facts are just a snippet of what is featured in this book but in general I can grasp an idea of what local communities thought. Which probably depended quite a bit where you were (politically) placed in Northern Ireland. This will help me in capturing the sites, it will give me greater understanding of the ideas around preservation and identifying these sites.

I also acquired a book called Action Stations, David Smith, 1989. Which lists all the airfields of Scotland, the North-East and Northern Ireland. Each section lists what was there (squadrons, aircraft and personnel) and also photographs of buildings that are still standing. Being published in 1989 it is also interesting when the book mentions ‘currently’ and then comparing that to my findings of today, in some cases it has changed considerably. This book has helped me identify some of the sites through its factual information and I think it could be interesting to use some of this text with my images.