Chance to buy film on Killyleagh’s wartime

Chance to buy film on Killyleagh’s wartime

22 December 2020

THE Poppy Appeal in Killyleagh is to benefit from a unique community-inspired documentary film.

A limited number of surplus DVD copies of the story of Killyleagh and Shrigley are to be made available in the run up to Christmas.

There is no charge for the DVDs, but those picking one up are being encouraged to make a suggested donation of £4, which will benefit the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal after a difficult year due to the Covid restrictions. 

Residents of the villages of Killyleagh and Shrigley, who lived through the Second World War, have been recalling events 80 years’ ago that shaped the neighbouring villages in the unique community-driven project.

The film is dedicated to, and features, 99 year-old Martin `Tina’ Charters, who was born in Shrigley and is one of the last surviving Northern Ireland veterans of the war. 

It is narrated by TV news anchor Paul Clark and features drone work of Killyleagh in the snow plus its streets today by Darren Brown of Soaring Productions.

The 32 minute broadcast-quality documentary, produced by Doug Beattie, tells the long forgotten stories of Jewish families, fleeing Hitler, who brought much-needed work to the Shrigley community and the arrival of a prison ship to house republican prisoners, the Al Rawdah, which was moored just off Killyleagh in Strangford Lough.

The documentary also ends with a musical tribute to the men and women who went to war, composed and sung by Shrigley-born Ian Singleton, in tribute to his soldier father, Johnny. 

In it he recalls how his father 

wrote home to Ian’s mother to tell her that he cherished and carried with him a lock of his new born child’s hair.

Ian now lives in Ballygowan but he gave permission for the producers of the documentary to use the unique song.

A spokesman for the Killyleagh Remembers the War group explained: “The documentary will be shared online in the New Year. It is a fascinating insight into stories from the period which are in danger of being lost.

“We are grateful to those who took part and those who have shared photos and family memories as part of the overall community project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We have been able to feature many of these on our Facebook page. Hopefully when we return to normal times, we can stage a special exhibition of the collection.”

The spokesman added: “One of the great successes was gathering wedding photos of the soldiers who came here and married local girls during the war.”

Copies of the DVD are available from Billy Croskery ,of Killyleagh RBL, from Beth Barrett’s shop in Cross Street, or by sending a message via the war group’s Facebook page.