PARTITION

For the first time in history there was a Land Boundary to be controlled by HM Customs, that required a new set of rules and regulations. At the outset these were:

LAND BOUNDARY CONTROLS . . . .

An excerpt from the novel 'PUCKOON' by Spike Milligan

'The funeral of Dan Doonan came treacle-slow from the church. 'Benedictus Deus, et pater Domini nostri Jesus Christi, Pater misericordium et deus'  chanted Father Rudden, walking on ahead. As long as he said something in the Latin they all thought they were getting value for money. As a young priest it bothered him that the faithful never took the trouble to learn the meaning of Latin prayers. As a test, and under the influence of an overdose of whisky he had intoned the whole of a dirty story in Latin, which concluded with a solemn 'Amen' from the congregation.

They approached the new Border Customs Post. From a hut, a-buttoning his coat came Barrington - (the Customs Officer). 'Good morning,' he said in those uneasy Civil Servants tones; not so much a greeting to the day as a farewell to personal liberty. A few formalities sir' he continued, thrusting the Customs card at the priest. 'Read that, will you?''

'We have nothing to declare, sir, this is a funeral.'

'What have you got in the coffin?'

'You must be joking' said the priest, his face going purple with anger, and his anger going white with rage.

'I'm not joking sir, I am merely doing my duty.' 'Very well. Inside the coffin is the body of a 98-year old Dan Doonan. Now let us pass! ''

'Not quite finished yet, sir. You intend to bury an Irish citizen in what is now British territory?''

'That is true.''

The delay brought cries from the procession. 'Hurry up, it's goin' ter rain', 'Get a move on before annuder of us passes on' and 'I got bad legs, mister.'

Barrington waited patiently, then continued. 'I presume the deceased will be staying this side permanently?' 'Unless someone invents a remarkable drug - yes' answered the priest. 'Then' went on Barrington, 'he will require the following: an Irish passport stamped with a visa, to be renewed annually for the rest of his . . . Barrington almost said 'life', stay', he concluded.

Everyone was seeing red except Foggerty who was colour blind.

The priest's dark eyes were fixed on the composed face of his tormentor. Vengeance belongs to God, he thought, but this fellow belongs to me. Still staring at Barrington, the priest addressed the mourners: 'Take him back to the church, lads - we'll have to postpone the burial.' The pall-bearers made a clumsy about turn and returned to the church. A wind was blowing up. The women held their black skirts and hats. The dust skirled along the road, looking for eyes to blink. Inside his box Dan Doonan was above it all.'

LAND BOUNDARY SPECIAL CUSTOMS UNIT

From 1923 to 1951 the Customs patrols along the Land Boundary were carried out by the Royal Ulster Constabulary- RUC. When the Waterguard took over the patrols in September 1951, a Special Customs Unit was formed in Belfast, staffed by ex-sergeants and higher grades from the RUC with former border patrol experience who transferred permanently to Customs and Excise. The unit worked under the general direction of the Collector, Belfast in close co-operation with Waterguard staff. It was led by a Chief Control Officer and his deputy with a staff of three Senior Control Officers and eleven Control Officers.

LAND BOUNDARY POSTS

The Border, although well defined politically, was not a physical barrier. Vehicles or people with controlled items or goods subject to a revenue charge were required to use the 'Approved Roads' and report to the Border Posts staffed by Land Preventive Men for Customs clearance - not popular and was often ignored by the local population! Border Posts were also set up where the railway crossed the border.

Management Structure

LAND BOUNDARY PATROLS

Management Structure

VEHICLES USED FOR BOUNDARY PATROL WORK

When the Force was formed in the early 1950's most new cars were destined for the Post War Export Drive. The inherited RUC fleet included motorcycles and an Austin Iver limousine, an A70 Hampshire, a Humber Hawk and a Hereford.

The first Customs & Excise 'official' Waterguard patrol cars were second hand 1946 16hp Austins which had seen service with the British Control Commission in Germany. They were replaced in 1952 with Ford Zephyr Mk 1s. These were replaced in 1956 by the Mk 2 and again in 1962 by the Mk 3. These Mk 3's were built to a special Police specification with a 135bhp engine and a specially geared rear differential.

Initially, the Humber Hawk was used to teach those who could not already drive a car. The driving lessons were held in Belfast over two weeks and included learning a bit about patrol duties. The instructors were serving HMCE officers who had to have 100,000 miles experience, but even after three years of driving in Ulster, officers had to take a driving test when they returned to the mainland.

Other unpublicised vehicles used were seized cars and vans and, on one occasion, a borrowed Post Office phones van. These vehicles could be used for observation and passed unnoticed for longer than black polished saloon cars.

In 1968 the last of the Zephyrs, the Mk 4, became the Waterguard's patrol car. These were augmented in 1969 by the Austin 1800S and in 1971 with Ford Cortinas - 1600's and GT's.

 

A VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE

Residents of the Border area had a very different perspective of the Waterguard's role on the border. Here are a few of their anecdotes . . . . .

 

Water Rats . . . . . . .

'There has always been smuggling between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland since 1922. Today it is petrol, diesel fuel and cigarettes. Over the years the goods smuggled changed but for many, many years it was cattle from the south to the north. In the early 1950's Eileen, James Watt and I were at a cinema in Armagh.  On our way home we had to travel through Caledon and Aughnacloy both in Co. Tyrone before we reached Ballygawley. The road between Caledon and Aughnacloy ran along the border of the two parts of Ireland and was a favourite cattle smuggling area. We had a pre-war Austin 12 horse powered car. The head lights on it were not too good but Dad got the local garage to fit two spot lights. I don't think they would be legal today. What Dad did not know was that this type of car fitted with two spotlights was regularly used by cattle smugglers. Shortly after leaving Caledon it suddenly dawned on me that there was a cattle lorry without any lights driving immediately behind me. With my spot lights the driver was able to drive without his lights being on. The next thing we saw in the distance was a customs patrol - known locally as the 'Water Rats' - that was stopping cars or anything on wheels travelling at night. I looked in my mirror but the cattle lorry had gone. It had disappeared down a side road. The customs men had seen the cattle lorry and assumed that we were part of the smuggling gang. We were on the point of being arrested, but fortunately one of the policemen who was accompanying the 'Water Rats' spoke up, “They’re alright. They are not smugglers” he said. Great sighs of relief all round.' - Colin McCallum

 

Swimming across

'A farmer in the north of Ireland had a farm which ran down to the Blackwater River, which was the border between the north and south, and he just happened to have a farm in the south of Ireland opposite his northern farm. This fellow only dealt in Aberdeen Angus cattle, which are black in colour. There were black cattle in his southern farm and the same in his northern farm. It is well known that the cattle frequently swam across the river.' - Colin McCallum

Bog Oak

'One of the wealthy fellows in Ballygawley was in Dublin with his girlfriend just before they were to get married. The young lady saw a 'very' expensive bog oak dinning room suit in a furniture shop window. 'I would like that for my dining room' she said to the boyfriend.'“But how are we going to get it over the border?' 'We can float it over the Blackwater river' he replied with a wink. This was duly done for a very happy future bride. Bog oak was oak timber that had been in a turf or peat bog for hundreds of years.' - Colin McCallum

 

The Dog . . . . .

'Our neighbour’s in Queensfort Park Carryduff - Ralph and June Wilson - had a rather fierce looking dog, but really it was a big softy. They were returning late at night from a dinner dance  after the last bus had gone into town. They gave a chap a lift from the Newtownards Road to the centre of  Belfast. Some time later the Wilson’s went to Dublin to, shall we say to do a little smuggling.  When they arrived at the customs post in Belfast railway station, the Custom’s man said to Ralph 'I don’t recognise you, but I recognise your dog. You gave me a lift into town one night. I remember that I was scared stiff of that dog. On you go' June was delighted for the simple reason that she had bought some expensive items and she was very pleased to get through so easily.' - Colin McCallum

 

Eggs & Bacon

'Trough Lane, Aughnacloy led to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and is about half way between the St. James, Church of Ireland Church and the Roman Catholic Church on the southern side of Moore St, sometimes called Main St. In the 1940/50's there was a grocers shop at the corner of  Moore St, and Trough Lane which bought eggs from farmers. This included farmers from the Republic of Ireland. The price paid to farmers for their eggs was much higher in the North than in the South of Ireland so the southern farmers' wives would hide the eggs about their body and walk up Trough Lane to the grocer's shop. Sometimes the southern customs men would appear at the bridge over the river Blackwater, which was the border between the two countries. These fellows had a nasty habit of carrying a very light cattle cane which was about quarter of an inch thick. They would tap the women where they thought the woman had hidden the eggs about their bodies and needless to say some if not all of the eggs would be broken. I was in the grocer’s shop when one of these women arrived to sell the eggs. The yoke and white of the broken eggs was running down her legs but fortunately not all of her eggs were broken although she went home with much less money that she had expected.' - Colin McCallum