Egg on Leggs
LE
This is now a well known secret agreement, this ist has additional "bending of the rules" information
This is now a well known secret agreement, this ist has additional "bending of the rules" information
I didn't think it would be long before you turned up Mike. Has Michael Collins returned home yet ?Ireland's neutrality in the War is often a bone of contention with many people in Britain but curiously other neutral states never seem to evoke the same hostility, thus you will never hear people mention Sweden's neutrality or Swiss neutrality or the neutrality of Turkey or Spain in the same way.
This is odd given that of all the neutral countries only Ireland was a "pro-Allied" neutral, the only country from which tens of thousands of citizens went to join Allied forces (just for the record, as I am sure it will be brought up, the only Irish servicemen who suffered penalties for joining Allied forces were men who had deserted the Irish Defence Forces, desertion in a time of national emergency is regarded as a pretty serious offence in the UK too, the last time I checked), one of the few neutral countries (not sure about Sweden) that returned downed Allied airmen, the only neutral country to provide active aid to the Allies through the Donegal corridor and through weather forecasts, the only neutral country that provided a pleasant base for R'n'R for Allied service personnel and unlike Sweden and Spain (who shipped goods to the Nazis) Ireland exported all the commodities it could send to the Allies.
Meanwhile the same tired old lies about U boats being succoured in Ireland, which is nonsense, will be trotted out while people will happily laud Sweden's "progressive" system, which saw them export iron ore to the Nazis, go on holiday in Spain, a genuinely fascist state and don't get me started on what favours the Swiss were doing Hitler.
A few of the boyos went on Atlantic cruises though didn't they. And anyway it was a good story. And anyway wasn't the McKenzie Break filmed in Ireland with the IDF dressed as evil british tommies. That involved a U-Boat.Meanwhile the same tired old lies about U boats being succoured in Ireland,
Er....I don't think they were in position to export them to the Germans.and unlike Sweden and Spain (who shipped goods to the Nazis) Ireland exported all the commodities it could send to the Allies.
None of which addresses the point I raised in my opening sentence PA. Why single out Ireland, alone of the neutrals, for the vitriol that Sweden, Spain or Switzerland deserve far more and never get?
Because with Ireland perceptions can change irrevocably due to one small event. For example, executing a handful of rebels following the Easter Rising, or conversely de Valera signing the condolence book at the German embassy after Hitler died. Both may have been the "correct" thing to do, but in terms of perception and public relations in that they overturned the good work of thousands of people they were certainly not the "right" thing to do.None of which addresses the point I raised in my opening sentence PA. Why single out Ireland, alone of the neutrals, for the vitriol that Sweden, Spain or Switzerland deserve far more and never get?
I was once stationed at 'St Angelo' a small one time air station on Lough Erne, it was during the lovely summer of 1976, there was a plaque on a wall there regarding a young pilot who took off on his first operational flight and sunk a German submarine. Flying over the lough in choppers one could see the remains of one or two aircraft at the bottom of the lough.This is now a well known secret agreement, this ist has additional "bending of the rules" information
There was a WW2 P51 Mustang or some such single engined fighter in the hoggin off the coast in Shakelton Barracks, Ballykelly.I was once stationed at 'St Angelo' a small one time air station on Lough Erne, it was during the lovely summer of 1976, there was a plaque on a wall there regarding a young pilot who took off on his first operational flight and sunk a German submarine. Flying over the lough in choppers one could see the remains of one or two aircraft at the bottom of the lough.