An Ocean Apart

The citizens of Belfast, Northern Ireland were keenly aware of the war raging in Europe and elsewhere. They duly put up their blackout curtain, formed fire-watch patrols and stood patiently in endless queues with their ration booklets. But they never expected that the German Luftwaffe would bother to attack their remote island. That complacency was shattered early in April of 1941. Just over a week later, Elizabeth Fleming was caught away from home during the second and most lethal attack to hit the island. In April of 1942, Richard Harrison, a laboratory technician with the U. S. Army Medical Corps, boarded an army transport ship in-route to Northern Ireland. Six weeks later he and Elizabeth meet at a dance in a Belfast ballroom. This is their story.