The growing recognition of Irish world war heroes

John Hewitt, who is originally from Portadown, has written the book based on the experiences of 25 men from both sides of the Irish border who joined the battle against Hitler.

This work is another milestone in the growing recognition of southern Irishmen who fought for Britain when it faced an existential threat in both the First and Second World Wars.

The recent centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising has further highlighted that history, because it has shown how many Irish Catholics who were risking their lives for Britain on the frontline were outraged at the violent rebellion in Dublin at such a vulnerable moment for the nation.

The war against the Nazis was if anything more urgent. German flight capacity and its effortless invasions of numerous countries meant that by 1940 Britain, standing virtually alone against Hitler, seemed to be in an almost hopeless position.

Mr Hewitt found that many volunteers from south of the border joined up because they thought Hitler would invade Ireland.

Eamon de Valera did not join the Allies in the war, despite the efforts of the British and Americans to get him on board.

It would certainly have been a difficult move for him to make, given that he would have been asking a recently independent Ireland to join Britain in a war so soon after a violent war of independence.

However, Mr de Valera’s Second World War record is forever stained by his paying of condolences to the German legate on the death of Hitler, and his government’s mean handling of the Irish deserters who did the right thing and fought the Nazis.

They now have growing recognition on both sides of the border, as do the Irish of all backgrounds who died in the Great War. This book adds to that recognition.