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My first ever interview was for employment as an apprentice fitter鈥檚 job with Harland and Wolff in 1944 at the age of 12. I started as a message boy in the engine works front gatehouse at fourteen shillings a week.

The interview was with a Scotsman, Mr Walter Brown who was the works manager. I later found Mr Brown to be a man with a wonderful memory. Many years after he retired another message boy called Jackie McClean said hello to him on the Newtownards Road. Mr Brown had failing sight but recognised the voice and told Jackie that he should always come over and say hello as Mr Brown could not see very well.

The Gatemen were Harry Law, Charlie Hughes and Robert Dixon (Nightshift). They had the power to send you home if you were late in or late back from lunch. One of them was responsible to record the managers and foreman鈥檚 time as they left the works at night. Two message boys were made to stay behind to help, one marked the time against their names on a slate, the other wrote them onto a piece of paper as the names were called out by the gateman.

This took about fifteen minutes after the boys should have finished and they were given a sixpence each. I remember once a boy volunteering to stay behind to get the sixpence, as he wanted to go to the pictures and it cost sixpence. After all had gone he said to the gateman there was no one left. The gateman told him to hold on and he went into the office of the gatehouse. On his return, he said to the boys that he had no money and gave them half an apple each. The one boy was so angry he threw the half apple at the foreman. The next morning the boy had his board taken off him and was sent home.

I started my Apprenticeship in 1949 and at the start of my second year, I was sent to the Abercorn works which had the nickname of Boys Town. I was sent to work with a fitter called Billy Swan assembling valves.

Other apprentices were working on their own, some riveting lids onto grating for the water service, tapping holes and pressing brackets for gas lamps. There was a slinger in the engine works nicknamed the major. He sold cigarettes and chocolates. He would give the apprentices whatever they wanted and allowed them to pay at the end of the week.

As the apprentices were moved to different departments every six months the major would always try and find out the date of the moves and no one would tell him. The result of this was he would come in on a Monday to collect the money owed to him but the apprentices had been moved and he lost his money.

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I was then transferred to the shipyards fitting department. It was certainly a change from working in the engine works exposed to all the elements to a workshop with heat. I remember when we went on board a ship in the mornings before starting time, men were standing around the riveter鈥檚 coke fires on the deck. The first man in would have made a large tin of tea and this was passed around each person to take a drink. No one complained about no sugar as they were glad just to get a warm drink or even just the chance of warming their hands on the warm tin.

The main means of transport were bicycles and tramcars. The tramcars were always packed and passengers even stood on the back bumper rail and held onto the back of the tram. A lot of the trams were open topped or opened at the front and when it snowed you would have seen some young men and apprentices stand at the side of the road and pelt the tramcars with snowballs as the tramcars passed.

I worked in the shipyard until I retired in January 1989. On retiring, I was a Safety Officer for the offices and engineering works. The years between 1953 and 1957, I was a marine engineer in the Merchant Navy finishing fourth engineer.

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YOUR RESPONSES

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Billy Hall - May '07
I am a third generation "Yard" boy, served my apprenticeship from 1980-84, worked in the engine works for 3 more years until getting let go in 87. My father and grandfather both worked in the yard as Joiners. I remember my grandfather talking about watching the "Titanic" leave the shipyard, he watched it from cavehill.

My dad remebers the day the yard got bombed during the war, he tells me how they towed a battle ship that was in for repairs out of the docks to defend Belfast

I remember scale medels of all the ships in the hallway of the training center, I am not sure what happened to those, they have to be worth a fortune.

I was on e-bay a while back and came across something that sent me into shock.... On e-bay for sale were "ORIGINAL" wooden blocks from the engine works floor...the price, a whopping $235 U.S. I wish I had pound for every one of those blocks I threw in the bin, we were always tripping over them.... Damn....

I live in Canada now, my dad is still alive and living here too

Billy Hall

Bill McNaughten - Mar '07
It was good to be reminded again of good days in the Yard. I started there as an office boy in MAY 1948 after leaving school at 14. I was in the main office block and eventually worked on the Mail Van. At 16 I started to learn the trade of Sheetmetalworking, and after many years I was made Foreman in the Sheetmetal Shop. Having worked in HARLAND'S for 42 wears I was forced to retire because of ill-health. My greatest claim to fame in the YARD is that I (when I was at the bench) made both sets of letters for the big cranes!.
I hae looked at my work many times over the years and thought of "the good old days".
Thanks for the memories.

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B Jackson - Feb '07
My Great Grandfather work on the Titanic. He allmost went on it to the U.S.A.

Barbara McMullan -Sep '06
Hi Josh,
Just read you article It brought back lots of memories, of both Dad & Ricky. Those Shipyard days were great ones. I know Dad told some stories of the war years. My husband was also a shipyard worker, before coming to Australia,so i'm still hearing ship yard stories !!!
Hope you are well
Best regards Barbara.

Monica Sweeney - Sep '06
A very good friend of mine, from sweden, an engeneer specialist for large cranesworked at Harland & Wolfe around 1972/3 approx. We lost touch, anyone who might know of him, his name is Bo Melin he worked there on several contracts from Sweden at different intervals. Would like to get in touch.

Jim Elder - April '06
My father worked in harlands all his life as a shipwright. his name was billy elder. he died of asbestosis in the early 80s.

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