A simple ceremony
enacted in a canvass tent on the heath at Lüneburg in Germany in May 1945
marked the end of World War II in Europe where Germany formally surrendered to
the allied forces. The war which had
convulsed Europe for six years had left much of the continent destroyed in its
wake, having taken the lives of twelve million soldiers and civilians and
displaced millions more. Last month
commemorative events were held all across Europe to mark the 60th
anniversary of the end of the war. Many
of the commemorative events were simple and evocative affairs where those
elderly men and women marked, perhaps for the last time on such a large scale,
their contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany. I was struck that apart from the coverage in
our own national papers referring to the events abroad there were little
memorials of note held in this country.
It is characteristic of the schizophrenic attitude that we have to the
war in this country in that the war years are still referred to as “The
Emergency”, while in the rest of Europe it is still referred to as World War
II.
Without doubt the
neutral stance adopted by De Valera’s government in 1939 ensured that the south
was not exposed to the mass destruction and loss of life endured by those in
mainland Europe but at the same time during the course of the war there was a
grudging acceptance and awareness that there was a substantial contribution
made to the allied war effort by Irish men and women. I was reminded of this recently when I came
across a slim little booklet published by the British Government in March 1943,
titled “Volunteers from Eire who have won
Distinctions serving the British Forces”.
It was published to acknowledge the contribution of those Irish men
and women serving in the British forces, be it army, navy or air force. Undoubtedly the pamphlet was produced for
propaganda purposes, perhaps with a view to embarrassing the Irish Government
but at the same time it was a tacit acknowledgement of these brave Irish men
and womens’ service. Some of those
mentioned were from County Kildare. Col.
William James Fitzpatrick Easie, from Newbridge, serving with the Royal Army
Service Corps. was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and also
awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
He was a Deputy Director of
supplying transport for one of the larger British Army Units serving at the
famous Battle of El Alamein in the North African desert. The citation stated that “by his drive and energy he did magnificent work which had a direct and
powerful bearing on the success of operations”.
He was described as being imperturbable on all occasions, including
during enemy air bombings and machine gun attacks and he was an inspiration to
his officers and men with whom he worked.
“No amount of road strafing by
hostile aircraft ever deterred him from his frequent visits to all parts of the
battle area to encourage his troops to yet greater efforts.”
Acting squadron
leader T.M. Hunt, a native of Naas, received the Distinguished Flying Cross
while serving with the R.A.F. for gallantry and devotion to duty during air
operations. As did Flying Officer C.M.
Miller who received the award on two occasions. Born in the Curragh, Miller was the pilot of
an aircraft detailed to attack an enemy minefield. He carried out a number of attacks, despite
vigorous counterfire from German anti-aircraft guns. On returning to his base he had his plane
re-armed, despite the fact that he knew he would be encountering heavy
opposition and returned to make a further attack on the anti-aircraft
guns.
The Royal Air
Force seemed to have a particular attraction for Kildare men. Flying Officer J.W.W. Hurndall received a
Distinguished Flying Cross, as did Warrant Officer John Conleth Grehan, originally
from Naas, serving with 148 Squadron. He
had joined the R.A.F. in 1939, abandoning his law studies to do so. Another Kildare man who joined the R.A.F. and
awarded the Airforce Cross was pilot Flying Officer A.H. Tomkins.
Such devotion to
duty and willingness to expose themselves to danger in the allies cause was not
restricted to men. Elizabeth Scully, a
nurse originally from Laois, was working in her hospital ward when it was struck
by a high explosive bomb. The walls of
the ward collapsed and all the windows were blown out. Notwithstanding the danger to herself Nurse
Scully wrapped the patients who were under her care in blankets and in complete
darkness successfully brought her patients out through a window and pulled them
to safety over mounds of glass and rubble, having suffered numerous cuts and
bruises as a result of her exertions.
Notwithstanding
Ireland’s declaration of neutrality De Valera decided that at the start of the
war that the Irish Army and its reserve forces would have to be increased to
counter any threat be it from Germany or even from the Allies. The men of Athy responded enthusiastically to
De Valera’s call and in their hundreds joined both the regular Army and the
local Defence Forces. After the initial
surge of enthusiasm the reality of life in the war time Irish Army hit
home. It was a difficult period where
the government’s resources were taxed to the extreme and at times the rationing
and the equipping of a much extended Irish army was difficult. In those circumstances the more youthful and
adventurous of those who had joined the Irish Army decided that the prospect of
service in a peacetime Irish Army was not as glorious or exciting as it first
seemed. During the course of the war
almost 5,000 men, including 19 from Athy, deserted from the Irish Army but in
reality the desertion was a response to the frustrations they felt serving the
peacetime army and a willingness to be involved in the events across mainland
Europe. Many of those who deserted in
reality went north of the border or across the Irish Sea to join the British
armed forces. While I am not aware of
any sanctions which were suffered by men of Athy and from other parts of
Kildare for this act of desertion, it appears that the government took a
pragmatic view in the immediate years after the war in that a general amnesty
applied in respect of those who had been officially described as being “dismissed for desertion”.
The Irish
contribution to the war in general is difficult to estimate at this remove. The estimates of those Irish men and women
who served in the British armed forces varies widely between the numbers 40,000
to 300,000. Indeed the range of Irish
involvement from a neutral country is quite remarkable. I recently came across an article which
indicated that up to 161 Catholic priests from Irish dioceses served in British
forces, not taking into account those Irish priests who had previously worked
in Britain. The Church of Ireland itself
provided 61 chaplains from Irish dioceses, plus a number of others from English
dioceses.
The effect of the
war was not as marked upon Athy as the first World War was but it is difficult
now to imagine at this distance the sights, sounds and experiences of men like
Lowly Walsh from Barrack Street who landing on the shores of France travelled all
the way to Berlin. I wrote in detail
about Lowly’s experiences in the war in the Eye on the Past 180. It seems appropriate that with the 60th
anniversary of the end of the war just past, that a fitting memorial to those
men and women who experienced the war both here and abroad would be to have
their experiences recorded for future generations, and I would encourage
anybody to contact me with their reminiscences.
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