The help Ireland gave to the allies during WWII

[Steamy Window]

do you mean rathduff, in tipperary, which was built by the irish?

there was a small airfield in fermoy.

[yellowjacket]

Sure didn't the soviets block our membership of the UN because of our neutrality

They blocked us because they didn't see us as neutral at all. They felt we were in fact closely aligned to the USA. They were right - the only thing that kept us out of NATO was partition. The Irish Govt. of the time offered a bilateral defence pact with the US, but this was turned down by the Americans.

[combatlogo]

They blocked us because they didn't see us as neutral at all. They felt we were in fact closely aligned to the USA. They were right - the only thing that kept us out of NATO was partition. The Irish Govt. of the time offered a bilateral defence pact with the US, but this was turned down by the Americans.

So much for our "constitutionally guaranteed neutrality" so beloved by AFRI, PANA, SF etc then, eh?

[FMolloy]

My "facts" reflect about ten minutes skimming through a book on espionage in Ireland by MI5 during WW2 last week- deceptively titled "MI5 and Ireland" or something. I haven't actually read it, but it's supposedly based on official documents. It implies that imformal assistance only being given, but as I say, I only skimmed it.

What a surprise, JAG goes off at half-cock again.

[DeV]

There is absolutely no mention of neutrality in the Constitution, except to say that the country will not participate in a war without the consent of the Dail.

[Silver]

It really would be great if a book was published about all the 'behind the scenes activities in official Ireland' during WWII !
......a tv documentary would be a bonus !!

While there may be only a few 'ill-informed' UK contributors to the thread on Keypublishing.co.uk, many other non-contributors will be reading it - so input from you guys would be welcome.

[moonstomper]

I don't think the posts here reflect just how strongly the American government and particularly Roosevelt despised the stance adopted by Ireland during WW2. Particularly when they thought the D Day landings might have been compromised via German or Japanese diplomats in Dublin whom De Valera refused to expel. Far from handing out medals Roosevelt is said to have strongly considered an invasion of Ireland. Only domestic political considerations ruled it out.

[pym]

Eh, at least two Irish soldiers were going to be awarded medals by the US, this is a historical fact. Yes an invasion was called for by the American (minister) ambassador, David Gray because of our neutrality but like you say - political considerations ruled it out.

Also I was under the impression the only reason the Soviet Union blocked our membership of the UN was our lack of diplomatic relations with them at the time.

[yellowjacket]

By all accounts David Gray was a grade A gimp, who got the job through family contacts, and had the diplomatic ability of a particularly oafish donkey.

Oh yeah, the stance Ireland took in 1939 differed how exactly to that taken by the US? Up to 1942, I'd guess there were more Irishmen fighting in the war than Americans...

[JAG]

What a surprise, JAG goes off at half-cock again.

What a surprise. FMolloy takes the time and effort to get his dig in.

You don't like what I post, moderate me or ban me. You seem to have mistaken me for someone who gives a fcuk.

[Big Al]

its no fun if eveyone agrees with everyone.... now back on to the topic..

[yooklid]

Far from handing out medals Roosevelt is said to have strongly considered an invasion of Ireland...

No. Gray, as has been pointed out by other people, was a complete moron. He actually consulted a medium on how he should relay his information back to the US. Roosevelt was more likely to listen to Churchill, whose stated policy was coercion to be superceded by invasion at a time he deemed it necessary.

[yooklid]

Can we please accede to his wishes?

Or at least have a poll...

[ICUN]

Thought you could only get banned/moderated if you deliberately insulted people or posted offensivee stuff?

You shouldn't ban someone just because you don't like what they say.

[FMolloy]

You seem to have mistaken me for someone who gives a fcuk.

There's no way I could mistake you for someone who knows what they're talking about anyway.

As for Allied-Irish co-operation, it was quite extensive and useful. On the naval side of things G2 facilitated a RN's officer's inspection of the southern coast in 1939 to check for U-boats (which he didn't find), from then on it forwarded info gained from Irish coast watchers to the Admiralty. In 1941 the Admiralty were provided, on government orders, with detailed info on various Irish ports. As has been already stated, crashed Allied craft were recovered where possible & returned to their owners. Although initially interred alongside their Axis counterparts, Allied servicemen were subsequently sent back to the UK. The Allies were also in constant receipt of weather reports. The army co-ordinated planning with their UK counterparts, several army officers were sent to Britain for further training.

The biggest area of co-operation was intelligence. Both Garda Special Branch and G2 provided MI5 with intellegence gathered from intercepted communications of Axis legations, notes on the movements of Axis nationals and details of the interrogations of captured agents. One such interrogation gave up vital information on German cyphers that proved very useful to the Allies towards the end of the war.*


(*=private papers of Dr. Michael Hayes, National Library)