Shane's Castle was a 'secret weapon' during WW2

SHANE’S Castle is famed for the row of cannon mounting the battlements, but during World War Two it secretly housed a formidable arsenal of much more sophisticated weaponry.

The estate hosted the largest ammunition assembly dump in Ulster during the war - and would have been a prime target for the Germans if they had an inkling what was going on in the woods by the shores of Lough Neagh.

People often asked why the trees were not cut down at the castle during the war to help address the shortage of timber, but the secret remained just that until the 1950s.

You see, the trees provided splendid camouflage for the shanty town of huts and ammo dumps. Some was also secreted in the bowels of the old castle.

On the Army and Air Force records it was known simply as ‘125 D A D’.

Security was never relaxed around the clock, and ferocious dogs patrolled the grounds night and day.

Military vehicles came and went routinely, and the drivers were warned to keep their speed down as they passed the vast ammunition dumps.

In time it was all moved on, but the shanty town of buildings remained until 1956 when Antrim auctioneer George Clarke put it all under the hammer.

For most in attendance - and many of them were simply sightseers - it was their first peep behind the walls.

In all, 58 Nissen huts, 14 steel ammunition shelters and a light railway used to carry explosives of varying size and power, were sold that day.

And when it was done, Shane’s Castle finally was taken off the Army and RAF’s list - and the estate returned to farming and forestry.

Within days, six men got to work in the woods, cutting thinnings and the roar of a sawmill was heard for the first time in years.

The return to normality was undoubtedly welcomed by Lord O’Neill, who was just 22 at the time and was studying at the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester.