Posted March 2005
Irish Neutrality: Sacred Cow or Pious Wish?
Given the current controversy surrounding Irish neutrality and the use of Shannon Airport by American troops we, as Irish citizens, have every right to be concerned about where we stand on the question of neutrality. After all it is a treasured ‘sacred cow’ of the Irish Constitution. Or is it?
A look at the record shows that, during World War II, Fianna Fail was not only a ‘slightly constitutional party’ but Ireland was also a slightly neutral country!
 |
Crashed "Liberator" aircraft, Co. Donegal, 1943 |
'The focal point of the war against England and the one possibility of bringing her to her knees is in attacking sea communications in the Atlantic ' , said Karl Donitz, Grand Admiral, German U-boats. For him, things were looking good. In December 1939, the opening year of World War 2, German submarines operating together with planes and surface raiders, accounted for 754,000 tons of Allied shipping losses. This represented 99.6 per cent of all shipping sunk in 1939. At this point in the war Britain had less than 3 weeks supply of wheat; stocks of many other commodities such as sugar had fallen to under 6 weeks supply. A solution had to be found, and quickly.
As Europe fell to the advancing German armies, the UK became more and more isolated and increasingly dependent on the Atlantic trade route for industrial raw materials and food. If this lifeline were broken England would starve both physically and financially. Following the successful conclusion of the 'Battle of Britain' in October 1940 England prepared immediately for what was to become known as the ' Battle of the Atlantic '.
Although some air cover was already provided, a 'black gap' existed in mid-Atlantic, a section that could not be reached from existing air bases. Both Germany and Britain realised the importance of this gap. If U-boats could operate in this area without fear of air attack then the allied convoys would be at the mercy of the German 'wolf packs'.
As a result of aerial surveys carried out late in 1940 and despite a less than favourable report, construction of an RAF base began almost immediately on the old Castle Archdale estate on the shores of Lough Erne with the intention of closing the gap. There was one snag. The extra 100 miles range possible from the new base would only become a reality if the aircraft could fly due west over neutral Ireland . Failing an agreement, planes would have to fly north over Lough Foyle before heading around Donegal’s northern shore for the Atlantic battleground. Britain was determined that despite De Valera's dogged insistence on neutrality they would bring 'the ungrateful Irish to heel'. The bombing of Belfast by the Luftwaffe in April 1941 in which 750 people were killed was a signal lesson to the Irish government then (and today!) of what might happen should they join the belligerents. In May, German planes bombed Dublin killing 34 people and destroying 300 houses in the North Strand . Churchill was to admit later that this may have been as a result of the distortion of Luftwaffe radio guidance beams by the British in an attempt to bring Ireland into the war .
While De Valera would not be coerced into joining the war, pragmatism demanded that, despite strained Anglo-Irish relations, an official blind eye be turned to what became known as the 'Donegal corridor', a route over south Donegal/north Leitrim/north Sligo , which led to the Atlantic . This concession was subject to the condition that flights be made at a good height and that the route over the military camp at Finner be avoided, both of which conditions subsequently received scant attention from the British.
No. 240 Squadron, equipped with Stranraer Flying Boats, carried out the first sorties from the newly established base on Lough Erne, styled No. 15 Group Coastal Command, on 21 st February 1941 thus bringing Fermanagh into the front line of the 'Battle of the Atlantic'. One of the earliest and most notable successes of planes based at Castle Archdale was the location and chase, which resulted in the sinking of the German battleship, Bismarck . She had sunk the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood, some days previously. An entry in Castle Archdale log of May 27 th 1941 reads: 'German battleship sunk at 1100 hrs. Aircraft of 209 and 240 squadrons operating from this station were responsible…'
The 'nod and a wink' policy of 'neutral Ireland ' quickly extended to more than just a shortcut to the Atlantic ! As the bombs rained down on Belfast on the night of 15-16 April 1941 a panic-stricken call from the Six County Security Minister, John Mc Dermott, brought a humanitarian dash by thirteen units of the Dublin Fire Brigade to the rescue of the devastated city.
Other concessions followed. The establishment in June 1941 of an armed air/sea rescue trawler, the 'Robert Hastie', manned by eleven British personnel, at Killybegs fishing port was shrouded in secrecy. Its purpose was to provide assistance to shipping casualties and to supply planes that had run out of fuel. The need for such a vessel was clearly illustrated the previous April when Pilot Officer Denis Briggs, returning from a routine U-boat patrol, was forced to ditch his Saro Lerwick sea-plane in the sea off Tullan Strand, Co. Donegal when he ran short of fuel. Watching the descent of the stricken plane Irish army observation posts shortly afterwards beheld the unusual sight of an airplane being towed to Bundoran by a passing fishing boat and immediately reported the incident to HQ.
This was a new dilemma for all involved. Local units of the Army, unaware of decisions made at higher levels, proceeded on the assumption that the crew would be interned for the duration of the war in neutral Ireland and the plane impounded. Following some hasty consultation and diplomatic manoeuvring a camouflaged air force lorry arrived from across the border in Castle Archdale with eighty gallons of aviation fuel. The plane was made ready and took off with its crew for their home base on Lough Erne.
Co-operation between the British and Irish authorities was soon commonplace, eventually becoming so close that in some instances HQ in Athlone could inform Castle Archdale of downed planes in Irish territory before the British even knew they were missing!
There were approximately 1,000 wartime crashes and forced landings in the Six Counties and 162 in southern Ireland during the war years. One of the first crashes, in March 1941, was a Catalina Flying Boat from 240 Squadron, Castle Archdale. Crashing into the mountain near Glenade, Co. Leitrim, nine bodies were later recovered from wreckage that was strewn all over the mountainside. There were no survivors. In December 1943 a Flying Fortress B-24 bomber crashed into the side of Truskmore Mtn. in nearby Ballintrillick, Co. Sligo . Three men died on impact. Locals and the L.D.F carried seven injured survivors down the mountain to safety.
On the evening of December 5 th 1942 people from all over North Sligo looked up into a lowering winter sky, watching fearfully as a huge Flying Fortress circled noisily overhead looking for a safe place to land. 'The Devil Himself' created a sensation when it dropped safely out of the sky on to Mullaghmore beach. The crew of American officers and airmen were feted in accommodation at the Beach Hotel, Mullaghmore and at Finner camp for 17 days while a replacement engine was supplied from Northern Ireland and fitted to the plane. An enterprising local man did well when he received two pounds compensation from the Irish Air Corps for damage to land he claimed was his but was actually a commonage!
In February 1945 Privates Herrity and Gilmartin watched from their L.O.P. on Mullaghmore Head as a British Halifax four engine bomber, carrying a Canadian and British crew, circled looking for a suitable landing place. They contacted Killybegs lifeboat station when the plane fell like a stone into the sea one mile East of their position. Locals watched helplessly from the shore as the men clambered from the cockpit onto the wing as the plane sank under them. Two men drowned and four were saved.
The struggle was a desperate one but eventually, thanks to Ireland ’s part in the Battle of the Atlantic , Germany ’s stranglehold on British shipping was broken.
Is our present stance on neutrality still just a bluster and a pose? By our co-operation at Shannon are we leaving ourselves open to attacks by Arab terrorists? Escaping with a ‘slightly neutral’ stance in the past is no guarantee of safe passage with such a policy in the future!