World War II began, compulsory tillage affected a percentage of tilled land in the area. The only cars in the parish at the outbreak of war, belonged to the priest, the minister, Dinny John L O'Sullivan and Barry. The train took four hours to reach Cork. Coal was unavailable. The train stopped at each station to take on timber and turf. The Luftwaffe flew weather reconnaissance aircraft over the area and used the lighthouse at Dursey Island as a landmark. The keepers got used to a Junkers plane that used to fly from Merignac near Bordeaux. A German plane was hit by the Royal Navy's SS Major C and crashed into Cashelane Hill, Dunbeacon on 5 February 1941, killing five of its crew while one was taken prisoner. A German plane crash-landed on Mount Gabriel on 3 March 1942 killing all aboard. They were interred in Bentry Abbey. On 23 July 1943 another aircraft crashed on the island killing its crew of four. The National Library's Photographic Archive includes photographs taken by the Luftwaffe's aerial photographic wing of military barracks, the airport, railway stations and Dublin city centre. Post-war Emigration continued amid widespread poverty and stagnation, apart from a brief uplift in the late 1940s. As John Crowley and the then chairman of Drinagh Co-Op drove west passing ruined houses, the chairman remarked that it was only a matter of time before no one was left on the Peninsula. Political excitement was provided by a new political party Clann na Poblachta. Bottled gas, yellow for Kosangas and silver and red for Calor gas became available for cooking and lighting using a silk mantle. Some continued to use paraffin and Tilley lamps. In the late 1950s rural electrification brought electricity. Some residents distrusted electricity and insisted that poles and meters be removed. The Land Project aimed to increase farm productivity by reclamation, drainage and better animal husbandry. Lorries carrying lime, sea sand, pipes and machinery supplied reclamation assisted by grants. Tractors appeared and older cattle breeds were replaced over with black Anglias became common. 1960s In the early 1960s, old cowhalachts (old houses/ruins) began to be rebuilt. Englishwoman Mrs. Burton redeveloped the cottage at Ahagouna Bridge, Tom Mahony's house, the O'Sullivan house both in Coomkeen and The Old Mill. In the mid-1960s, Gulf Oil built an oil storage complex on Whiddy Island. The complex started a boom, attracting workers to settle