Mementoes of a civilian driver

Pass book showing Jim Pattons photograph."Images courtesy of the US National Archives and Records and the Beech Hill Association"

Published on 06/02/2013 09:34

Retired school teacher Philomena Doherty (nee Patton) treasures her father’s official pass book from the time he worked as a civilian driver for the US Navy and Marine Corps.

James Patton enjoyed his work and continued in the employment of the US Navy until 1973.

His pass book is of interest because it names the various camps that made up the US Naval Operating Base including Beech Hill. The stamps are countersigned by JJ Dugan and JS Hudson, two of the senior Marine Corps Officers based in Derry in WWII and whose children have provided much material for the museum at the Beech Hill Country  House Hotel.

A wooden toy tank in Derry

Jim Duff, retired security officer from Du Pont and a former policeman, prizes his mementoes of December 19, 1944, the day when a large truck with US Navy written on its canvas sides arrived to collect him and his friends to take them to a Christmas Party at the US Navy’s Camp at Lisahally, organised by the American Red Cross.

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Treasured war time memories of an ‘Irish bride’

Maureen Allen, who works at Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre, has fond memories of the stories she was told of her aunt Mary (May) Stone, formerly of Bentley Street in the Waterside.

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Remembering the ‘Yanks’ in Derry in WWII

Seventy-one years ago today, on February 5, 1942, the US Naval Operating Base in Derry was formally commissioned for service.

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Mementoes of a civilian driver

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