Happy 100th to Arthur Squires, Royal Navy WW II Vet

From April 17, 2021, North Norfolk News  "Happy Birthday, Arthur!  100 up for Second World War naval hero" by Kate Wolstenholme.

At age 19, he was on track to work in the building industry, but then the war broke out.  In 1940, he enlisted in the Royal Navy to be a signalman.

"It was from my scouting days, I always like semaphore ... and I saw a signalman, he was up on the bridge ...and I thought,  it's healthier up there, but it meant reading Morse Code and semaphore at a very fast rate," he said.

Beginning his naval career on the North Atlantic convoys, Arthur went on to win honors  in Minesweepers on operations at Dieppe, North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio and South France.

He was then promoted to leading signalman and joined C in C Mediterranean in Naples.  Once back in the UK to the Naval Air Station Belfast.

--GreGen

Irish Lighthouses in World War II: Lusitania Survivor Also Survived a WWII Attack

Albert Bestie was a junior officer on board the Lusitania in World War I and was swept overboard by the inrushing water when the ship sank

Later, during World War II, he survived an attack by German aircraft on the Irish lightship Isolda off the Irish coast.

--GreGen

The Bombing of Belfast, Northern Ireland: "Things Like That You Never Forget"

From the March 21, 2011, BBC News.

The German Blitz came to Belfast on the night of April 15, 1941 when bombers attacked the city, killing 1,000 and destroying or damaging half the homes and left 100,000 homeless.

The city was a legitimate target because of its ahipyard and aircraft factory.  The sirens went on at 10:45 PM and the attack continued for six hours.  Hundreds of tons of high explosive bombs and incendiaries were dropped around the docks where many worker homes were located.

The dead were stacked in the emptied pool of the Falls Church public baths.  Many of them were unidentified and there were many body parts.  If they had a rosary, they were determined to be Catholic.

One survivor remembers seeing a  big dog running down the street with a dead baby in its mouth: "I took off my metal helmet and threw it on the ground.  The rattle scared the dog and he dropped the baby.  I remember wrapping the baby's body in some old  net curtains from one of the bombed houses.  I left the baby with some soldiers, having attached a note to say that the body was found on York Street.  Things like that you never forget."Today, there are two monuments at mass graves of the unidentified.

A Sad Aspect of the War.  --GreGen