During World War Two, troops from the United States Army's 6th Cavalry had a base in the Gilford Orange Hall on Stramore Road, Gilford, Co. Down. An advance detachment of 6th Cavalry arrived in 1943.
This was a segregated unit of black soldiers. Many of the men came from the Southern States; Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. They marched through Gilford, Co. Down on arrival 6 weeks before the main body of the unit. When the rest of the regiment arrived, this segregated unit moved to Stramore Farm, Gilford, Co. Down.