Letter: Article about Irish exceptionalism does not mention that Ireland in fact helped the UK in World War II

With regard to Ben Lowry’s article last Saturday (‘Irish exceptionalism means that it can be so unfriendly towards Israel,’ October 21):

While absolutely valid in what it says, especially about Israel, the article does not mention the very close but completely covert wartime collaboration between the South and UK – in many vital fields – in Intel [codes of all 12 Nazi spies captured in the South were broken and then shared with MI-5 in UK, and Irish Dir G-2 Military Intel Col Dan Bryan was a Royal Navy guest at Lishally on Lough Foyle when Nazi subs surrendered in 1945], early release of crashed allied air-crew, return to NI of crashed allied aircraft, a search and rescue trawler in Killybegs, a fuel dump for 224,000 gallons at Carton House, Maynooth, numbered ID signs at all 83 Coast Lookout Posts given only to the Allies, vital D-Day weather report sent to UK from Blacksod Bay, Co Mayo, RAF and RCAF anti-sub aircraft from Lough Erne, overflights over south Donegal.

Above all the top secret W-Plan for three British brigades in Northern Ireland and one Royal Marine brigade from South Wales, plus RAF fighters to fight alongside the expanded Irish army of eight brigades, if the Nazis invaded the South. British General Officer Commanding in NI Gen Franklyn toured the Irish coast with Irish Chiefs of Staff [Lt general Dan McKenna – from Tyrone ] and the top secret Inter-Army liaison involved the two most politically-trusted senior officers in the entire Irish Army – both Lt colonels – de Valera’s own son Vivion de Valera, and Bobby Childers, brother of the Fianna Fail cabinet minister Erskine, and also a Church of Ireland member.

And Dev also ruthlessly crushed the Nazi-aligned IRA gangs – 1,500 jailed or interned, north and south, and Dev even executed six of them, and also let three die on hunger strike, while another, Barney Casey, an internee in the Curragh Camp, was shot dead by military police, as was an IRA gangster, Jackie Griffiths by Garda special branch on a street in Dublin ]. RUC special branch also had covert liaison with the Gardai. The UK also had defence attaches in Dublin but never the Nazis, and all Irish military equipment was from UK [except for one squadron of Swedish Ar Cars and 20,000 Springfield 0.30 Rifles from USA]

Defence was taken very seriously during WW 2 [but never since then] and the Irish army had at peak 40,000 full time in eight brigades, and two divisions, plus 106,000 part time local defence force reserve battalions, while I estimate that [by land or sea or air] 87,111 from the South served in UK services – Merchant Navy and three armed forces [slightly more than from NI].

​I now strongly suspect that Dev expressed formal condolences when Hitler killed himself in 1945 only in order to cover up his covert non-neutrality from the two very sinister TDs in his own ranks – both also 1919-1923 republican veterans – Dan Breen in South Tipperary and Martin Corry in East Cork.

It was the final part of Dev’s very successful Strategy of Strategic Deception, which completely fooled both the Nazis, and their traitorous IRA allies, as well as the Irish public.

​And did the 1952 secret Post-War Irish understanding with RAF re air defence not start very soon after Dev came back to power in June 1951?

​Tom Carew,

Ranelagh, Dublin