After 8 weeks +4M views revealing the huge contribution from Éire🇮🇪 to the Allies in WW2 & exposing the myths as lies, it’s time to remember the Irish🇮🇪men & women that participated in nearly every war/battle worth fighting in & for every cause/country worth dying for. Thank you.
No 1 Contribution to the Allies: In WW2 48K mainly Allied military & diplomats flew through Foynes Co Limerick Éire🇮🇪 (& cargo & mail) run by USN & RN. Long-range Airbases were the real strategic facilities the Allies needed in WW2 & they got one from Europe to the US & N Africa.
No 2 Contribution by Éire🇮🇪 to UK/US: Rineanna Aerodrome was a vital link for UK VIPs to get to Foynes (en-route to USA, Portugal & N Africa). It was also a Irish Air Corps Coastal Patrol Base & USAAF refuel & repair Base for planes in trouble, coming from the US or North Africa.
No 3 Contribution by Éire🇮🇪to US/UK in WW2: Exclusive intelligence from Look Out Posts & Air Corps Coastal Patrols on German air/sea incursions & daily weather reports, flight forecasts, upper-air values including pressure, temperature, & humidity & RAF west coast surveillance.
No 4 Contribution by Éire🇮🇪to US/UK: Wireless Stations at Malin Head & Valentia providing ship to shore contact, Radar Stations at Schull/Malin Head, mining of St Georges Channel to Waterford, routing of submarine cables through UK & 83 EIRE signs along coast, to guide US pilots.
No 5 Contribution by Éire🇮🇪: The Donegal Corridor giving direct RAF access to Convoys, Search & Rescue boats at Killybegs & Cobh, a tanker off Moville Co Donegal to refuel escort ships, access to Irish ports for ships in trouble & RN pursuit & attack of U-boats in Irish waters.
No 6 Contribution by Éire🇮🇪: At least 150K men & women joined the British Forces in WW2 (according to Gough, Harris & Churchill) & 700 awarded decorations, including 8 VC's. With rampant emigration in the 1920’s & 30’s due to Partition, possible 150K+ in US & other Allied Forces.
No 7 Contribution by Éire🇮🇪: In WW2 all Irish food exports (3M+ tons Beef & 4M+ cattle) went to the UK in Irish ships which also supplied them with millions of tons of food from Spain, Portugal & the US shipped through Portugal by Irish Seamen. Éire also gave 7 Oil Tankers to UK.
No 8 Contribution in WW2: Full cooperation on Plan W to counter a possible German invasion of Éire🇮🇪, with the UK providing armaments, wireless equipment, radar systems, transmitters, anti-aircraft defences & Hurricanes. Rathduff Aerodrome for the RAF as a Base if the UK invaded.
No 9 Contribution to the US/UK: All US air crews that came down in Éire🇮🇪were repatriated, 225 other Allied airmen (& all Seamen) were let go & 46 interned for a time. All German flying crew & sailors were interned for the war. Crashed planes were loaded on trucks for the border.
No 10 Contribution by Éire🇮🇪: G2 intelligence, phone-tapping postal censorship, capture of spies, IRA crackdown, feeding MI5 misinformation to German Legation & seizure of their wireless forcing them to use UK cables, cracking Nazi codes & the use of Irish Diplomats by OSS (CIA).
No 1 UK/US WW2 Myth/Lie: “Éire🇮🇪 was MORALLY obliged to enter WW2”. With what? Partition had destroyed our economy (& War Machine), as the 6 Counties had 80% of the Island’s output (now 15%). After the Anglo-Irish Trade War 1932-38 we were bankrupt & defenceless, with a 6K Army.
No 2 US/UK WW2 propaganda Myth/Lie: “Éire🇮🇪 was not allowed to be Neutral in WW2”. Every Dominion could choose to enter WW2 or be Neutral. Churchill refused to recognise this fact forcing Éire🇮🇪 to waste resources defending against a possible UK invasion.
No 3 US/UK WW2 propaganda Myth/Lie: was that “The Éire🇮🇪 Treaty Ports were vital in WW2”. The British gave them back just before WW2 as they did not want to waste limited resources trying to defend them & after the fall of France they were irrelevant when the convoys moved North.
No 4 US/UK Propaganda Myth/Lie: “De Valera refused Irish unity” when the UK offered to end partition & protect Éire🇮🇪 if it entered WW2 immediately. However the minor detail was the NI Parliament would have to ratify the deal, Dunkirk was over & Battle of Britain about to start.
No 5 US/UK WW2 propaganda Myth was that “Nazi spies & infiltrators were everywhere, helped by the IRA in Éire🇮🇪.” All but one of the German spies were arrested immediately, 1,130 Republicans were interned without trial, 800 were jailed, 5 were executed & 2 died on hunger strike.
No 6 US/UK WW2 propaganda Myth/Lie was that “U-Boats had bases along the West coast of Éire🇮🇪”, from fabricated reports/lies by MI5 & MI6. The RAF had a plane based at Foynes Air Base flying regularly along the west coast that found nothing.
No 7 US/UK WW2 propaganda Myth/Lie: “The lights in Dublin Éire🇮🇪helped the German’s bomb Liverpool”. It was as if US/UK Bombers took a 180 km detour to lit up Basel when bombing Stuttgart. They didn’t. Were the Germans simply avoiding the UK Radar & RAF Bases on the South coast?
No 8 US/UK Myth/Lie: “The German Legation in Dublin was a security threat to the Allies & D-Day”. They were in fact being fed false information by MI5 unknown to Roosevelt who threatened an invasion of Éire🇮🇪 in the infamous “American Note”. The OSS eventually told the President.
No 9 US/UK WW2 propaganda Myth/Lie: was that “The Irish in the British Forces who returned to Éire🇮🇪were treated badly”. The 5K Irish Army deserters, lost any benefits & could not work in the Public Service for 8 years & were not jailed. British deserters were jailed until 1953.
No 10 US/UK WW2 propaganda Myth/Lie: “De Valera called to the German Legation & signed a book of condolences after Hitler’s death.” He didn’t. He called to Hempel’s home & offered him asylum which he accepted until 1949 & then joined the German Foreign Service. (Karen Devine DCU)
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.