Canadian Army in Northern Ireland?

[Norm Cromie (RIP)]

Paul
I don't know whether my excursion to Ireland in 1941 counts as Canadians stationed in Ireland which leads me into an old soldiers tale which I am sure you have had more than your fill of but here goes anyway.
In 1941 I applied for a leave to Ireland which took some fast talking using the excuse I was trying to research some family relatives. Our company commander said he had grave reservations but he granted me my wish. You can see that I loved to travel. I took the ferry from Stranraer to Haishom on a God awful tug, I think they called it a ferry. It was carrying a cargo of cattle of whose aroma permiated the whole ferry. They had a bar where I decided to partake of a couple of shots of rum. The weather became rather severe half way over which relieved me of my rum. When I landed in Haishom the RTO Officer asked me what in the hell I was doing visiting Ireland. I gave him the same excuse, looking for lost relatives. He took one look at my privates uniform with a collar and tie and dress brown oxford shoes and must have wondered "what the hell kind of animal is this" He shook his head and said very well but, you keep the hell out of politics and stay of Falls road as we had a British officer shot there last week. On the following Sunday, typical Northern Ireland, everything was locked up tight. Bars, dance halls, etc. When I ran into two young Irish lassies who told me not to worry but for one shilling I could join a club that could legally have dancing. After the dance I invited them to have tea with me. Now during our conversation one of the young ladies made the remark that when Hitler wins the war, Ireland will be much different. When I politely informed her that that kind of talk was actually treason. I realized that this was the politics that the RTO Officer warned me about. As you can see our friendship rapidly disappeared and it was splitsville for this little tea party.
The attached photo was taken somewhere downtown Belfast. Can't remember exactly where after 66 years.