Ian Carmichael was born on 11th October 1936 at his home at – Park, Belfast. He was born six weeks early, weighing only 3 lbs. 8 ozs. He was wrapped up in cotton wool, and it wasn’t sure whether he would survive. But survive he did! During the war the family moved to a rented house in Downshire Road in Bangor. He first attended Miss Rogers private school, then when he was ten he went to Regent House School for boys and girls. He was an Air Cadet while at Regent House. He left school suddenly in the middle of the summer term, at seventeen. This was just before he was due to take School Certificate, which he was expected to pass. His headmaster, Mr. MacDonald wrote:
“Ian L. Carmichael was a pupil at this school from September 1946 until March, 1953. During hs tim he worked willingly and conscientiously and made creditable progress in his studies. In th lat three years he followed a general course in all subjects elading to th Junior Certificate Examination, which he was to have taken in June and which he was expected to pass.
“He was a keen and interested member of the School Squadron of the Air Traiing Corps and also of the School Scientific Society.
“His conduct at school was always good and he showed himself to be a sound, reliable pupil. He s a pleasant and well-mannered boy and should get on well with his colleagues in any profession or occupation he takes up.”
Ian worked first in the Belfast department store Robinson & Cleaver as a trainee, first in window display, then selling textiles, then in the mens’ department where he sold suits. His apprenticeship being over, he then worked at the Bank Buildings, a department store and wholesale textile warehouse, where he sold mens’ wear.
Ian then joined the RNVR (Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, which met twice a week in Belfast, at the HMS Caroline which was not really a ship, but the dockside facility where the RNVR met. They would race up and down Belfast Loch in a minesweeper, learning how to operate the depth-charging equipment. During the summer of 1958 he went to see on HMS Ocean, an aircraft carrier. They set sail from Plymouth and sailed up to Lossiemouth, under the Forth Bridge in Scotland. Then they went out into the North Sea to a Review of the Fleet by H.M. Queen Elizabeth. Ships included American as well as other ships from the British Commonwealth. The night before the Queen’s arrival, the crew were painting the mast, when someone dropped a can of white paint onto the newly painted flight-deck. The cadets had to get up at 4 a.m. in order to clean the paint off the deck and make it all shipshape for the Her Majesty. While at sea on HMS Ocean, there was a problem with the ship’s compass, and some of the cadets had to go down to the hull at the bottom of the ship to repair it. Ian was Radio Artificer, so he had to assist in its repair.
On Ian’s 21st birthday, he sailed to Canada, and started working at Simpsons’ department store. Two years later, he met Liz. They got married, had four children and the rest is history.
