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Intro:
During July 2001 while
researching another project in the Irish military archives, a query was made
in order to locate any documents relating to the
26 Irish Shot at Dawn during WW1 that might
be extant in their records. Although there was no information available on
the Shot at Dawn, a file containing a document with a list of Irish defence
forces personnel recorded as dismissed for desertion post WW2 compiled by
the de Valera Government was discovered, and which one had never seen
before. This document included a reference to the Irish army number, name,
last recorded address, date of birth, declared occupation prior to
enlistment in the defence forces, and the date of dismissal from the defence
forces of nearly 5000 alleged deserters. When the issue of pardons for Irish
born British soldiers
Shot at Dawn during WW1 was raised, it was mentioned that something
should also be done to obtain redress for the men recorded in the blacklist.
At the time, one had been under the impression that all former Irish defence
forces personnel blacklisted by the
de Valera Government
on the 08th of August 1945 pursuant to
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order, 1945 had
been tried before an Irish military tribunal and as such the matter had been
settled. However, it was due to the incisive article by Kevin Myers,
Irish Independent 24 May 2011,
Irish-Independent-24_May_2011.pdf that one
finally understood the full background, thereby prompting concerns that the
political process used by the de Valera Government to dismiss personnel post
WW2 had subverted the jurisdiction of the military courts and was legally
flawed. Further research revealed a notice published in the Irish Press 09th
August 1945 which also confirmed there was no court-martial process involved
in their dismissal: See Army Deserters Dismissal Order: Irish Press 09th
August 1945
Dismissal.Order-IrishPress.09.August.1945.pdf.
On the 06th June 2011, the Irish Soldiers
Pardons Campaign (WW2) was initiated to try and obtain some form of redress
from the Irish government for the survivors and their families.
Please NOTE: As it is likely some of the context for the desertion
issue will be drawn by authors etc from "Spitting on a Soldier’s Grave" a
book by Robert Widders (Pub Matador, 1 Nov 2010), all concerned should be
aware that this books subtitle ‘Court Martialed After Death”
has contributed to a misunderstanding as to the POLITICAL PROCESS
that was introduced by the de Valera Government to dismiss blacklisted
personnel in 1945. For the record: There was no court-martial,
military tribunal et al involved in adjudicating on military personnel
recorded in the blacklist. Indeed, "THE ABSENCE OF A MILITARY TRIBUNAL WHICH
HAS SOLE JURISDICTION IN ADJUDICATING ON SERVICE PERSONNEL ACCUSED OF THE
MILITARY OFFENCE OF DESERTION WAS THE
REASON FOR THE
INITIATION OF THE IRISH SOLDIERS PARDONS CAMPAIGN (WW2) ON THE O6TH JUNE
2011". To reiterate, Irish Defence Forces Personnel listed in the blacklist
were never “Court Martialed After Death” as asserted by this author.
In consequence, the index page of the
Irish Soldiers Pardons Campaign WW2 has been
re-published to include a clarification re the affect of the passing of the
Amnesty and Immunity Bill by Dail and Seanad Eireann, and its signing into
Irish Law on the 14 May 2013 by the President of Ireland along with other
background information:
Note 1:
With regard to persons subject to Irish military law, an Irish military
court has sole jurisdiction to adjudicate on members of the Irish defence
forces accused of the military offence of desertion, and upon conviction, a
court-martial/military tribunal has sole jurisdiction to award punishments
upon accused person's, who are subject to Irish military law, and who have
been found guilty by a court-martial/military tribunal of a breach of Irish
military law. The military offence of desertion as reflected in
Section 42 (1) of the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions Act), 1923
and successor Acts clearly states inter-alia
that..."PERSONS SUBJECT TO MILITARY LAW.... SHALL, ON CONVICTION BY
COURT-MARTIAL....BE LIABLE TO SUFFER"...which affirms the legal
position that an Irish military court is the final arbiter of the guilt or
innocence of persons subject to Irish military law, and political cabals,
aspiring historians, commentators et al, do not have jurisdiction to award
punishments or make determinations of fact upon persons who are subject to
Irish military law.
Note 2:
It beggars belief that some Irish authors who purport to be writers of
record continue to rewrite the effects of the legislation introduced by
Minister for Defence Alan Shatter TD in 2012 to resolve the
desertion issue in the Irish Defence Forces, following WW2, and requires
comment:
●
To Restate:
The
Amnesty and Immunity Act
initiated by Minister for Defence Mr Alan Shatter
TD, on behalf of the Irish government in 2012;
●
was supported UNANIMOUSLY by Dail Eireann
(The Irish Parliament) in 2013;
●
signed into Irish law on the 14 May 2013
by the President of Ireland;
●
is an unprecedented, and historically
significant piece of legislation, which EXONERATES members of the Irish
Defence Forces who went AWOL (absent without leave) and joined UK or
allied forces during world war two, and at the same time provides
immunity from prosecution for others;
●
Accompanied by an apology, this
legislation comprehensively and unambiguously obliterates the imputation
of guilt imposed by the post war Irish government on former blacklisted
Irish Defence Forces personnel;
●
For the information of all concerned, the Government decided NOT to go
down a Pardon legislation route, as such a Pardon
instrument/legislation, if introduced, would have encroached on the
remit of the President of Ireland as defined pursuant to the
Constitution;
●
The issue of pardons has also been raised on many other occasions
including by Lara Marlowe in her Irish Woman’s Diary Irish Times 04 June
2019 when she referred to a new book “The Irish at D-Day” by retired
Lieutenant-Colonel in the Defence forces Dan Harvey. The writer recorded
“In 2012 then Minister Alan Shatter pardoned 4983 soldiers who deserted
the Irish Defence Forces “. That
is untrue. The
Amnesty and Immunity Act/legislation is again being misrepresented,
perhaps to suit another narrative.
A rebuttal letter
was subsequently published in the
Irish Times, letters page, dated 06th June 2019 entitled “D-Day and
Ireland”;
●
For the information
of Irish Historians/Writers of record etc, the
Amnesty and Immunity Act
is now embedded in IRISH LAW and settles the
issue, IN PERPETUITY;
●
“Have We Finally Figured Out Who The Real Traitors Were”:
an article by Gerry Gregg, Herald,
Dublin, 10 May 2013, provides additional background;
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel - Legal issues
●
NOTE:
Although the Emergency
period ended on the 01st April 1946, and despite occasional protests at
the absurdity of keeping the Irish state in a condition of emergency, the
resolutions passed in 1939 were rescinded in 1976, and replaced by fresh
resolutions because of the Northern Ireland conflict. HOWEVER A
CITIZEN'S RIGHT OF ACCESS TO THE COURTS WAS NOT RESCINDED;
(See section
"Citizens Right of Access to the Courts" below):
●
In September 1939, The
Emergency Powers Act duly expressed to be for securing public safety and
the preservation of the Irish state during a time of war or armed
rebellion was passed and signed into Irish Law.
Mr Justice Gavan Duffy in a personal view opined: Quote
"The constitution has placed in the hands of
The Oireachtas, as law-giver, special authority to suspend judicial
control over the other organs of Government during any such emergency;
that is the simple explanation of Article 28.3.3, a permanent provision,
but available only in time of war or armed rebellion. The plain
intention of article 28.3.3 is that the natural guardian of the
citizen's constitutional guarantees, the High Court of Justice in this
state, shall for the time being relinquish its guardianship ....(Its)
inescapable effect is to deny the protection of the High Court to the
citizen, when these rights, or any of them, are invaded under emergency
law, or by, or under colour of, an executive act done in pursuance of
that law" Unquote: (See
Page 163,
Page 166,
Page 167, The Irish Constitution, by J. M. Kelly, Second Edition,
Jurist Publishing Co. Ltd, University College Dublin 4, Published 1984):
●
The opinion of
Mr Justice Gavan Duffy
as
to when an Emergency Powers Order is available to the Irish Government
is legally significant. He stated;
"The constitution has placed in the hands of
The Oireachtas, as law-giver, special authority to suspend judicial
control over the other organs of Government during any such emergency;
that is the simple explanation of Article 28.3.3, "A PERMANENT
PROVISION, BUT AVAILABLE ONLY IN TIME OF WAR OR ARMED REBELLION"
Unquote: ( See
Page 163,
Page 166,
Page 167;
The Irish Constitution by J. M. Kelly, Second Edition, Jurist
Publishing Co. Ltd, University College, Dublin 4, Published 1984):
●
NOTE:
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
introduced by the
de Valera Government
on the 08th of August 1945 and scheduled to be effective from
01st day
of April 1946, a date which marks the end of the Emergency in Ireland, is
also the date from which the Irish High Court of Justice regained its
guardianship/legal oversight over the laws in Ireland following the
ending of the Emergency on the 01st of April 1946:
●
The retrospective effect of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
from the date of its planned activation on the 01st April 1946, back to
when it was first signed on the 08th August 1945, illustrates a determination by the
de Valera Government
to enable continuity of the effects of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
on
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel
post the 01st of April 1946, the date on which the Emergency Period was
officially concluded.
●
NOTE:
On the 01st of April 1946, (the conclusion of the Emergency Period
declared in September 1939) there was no armed rebellion or world war
threatening the Irish state to cause activation of an Emergency Powers
Order, indeed
the
de Valera Government
had already decided to release IRA prisoners from the
K-Lines No 1 Internment Camp-Curragh Camp
post WW2 such was the peace dividend and lack of threats to the
state post war.
●
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
introduced by the
de Valera Government on
the 08th of August 1945, and scheduled to take effect from the 01st of
April 1946, post the declared Emergency Period, was a political decision
that intentionally subverted the jurisdiction of the Irish military
courts, and by depriving
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel of their legal
right to challenge allegations of desertion within a military court,
breached the constitutional
guarantee that entitles citizens a right of access to the courts:
●
NOTE:
The failure by the
de Valera Government to include a notification within the text of
Emergency Powers (362) Order 1945 that a
blacklisted defence force member
had a right of recourse to the courts to challenge the effects of the Order, invalidates Emergency Powers (362) Order
1945
from the 01st of April 1946, the date upon which the Emergency Period
ended, and the date when the Irish High Court of Justice regained its
guardianship/legal oversight over the laws in Ireland: ●
NOTE:
If a
blacklisted defence forces member does not know of his right, he
cannot exercise it; if he cannot exercise it, HIS RIGHT IS VIOLATED.
●
An unspecified right pursuant to the
Irish Constitution also guarantees the citizen the right to work and
earn a livelihood. ●
NOTE:
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
breaches that constitutional guarantee:
●
In a blatant act of class bias,
serving
officers of the Irish defence forces who deserted or went absent without
leave (AWOL)
during the Emergency 1939-1946
were deliberately excluded by the
deValera Government from the effects of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
and avoided being named and shamed, unlike lower rank and file members
of the Defence Forces who were recorded in the
Blacklist.
●
British Government Concerns:
●
In 1945, The British Government communicated their concerns regarding
the effect of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
(The Starvation Order) on
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel who had served with UK Forces
during WW2 and its collateral effect on their families.
On the 14th November 1945
Joseph Walshe Secretary of the Department of External Affairs, sent a
letter to all Irish missions regarding
"Irish Defence Force Deserters"
in which he was critical of a (British) report about the effects of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
on
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel who had served in UK forces
during world war two and
had returned to Ireland. In a rebuttal, Walshe accused the British of a
flagrant barefaced distortion.
●
However,
Joseph P. Walshe should have been corrected on his understanding of
Irish Military Law. To restate, the military offence of desertion is not
a criminal charge, but instead is one of a disciplinary nature, which is
far more serious in a military environment, and until such time as a
military court decides on whether a member is guilty, or not guilty, of
the military offence of desertion, the member concerned is considered
AWOL, Absent Without Leave. In the case of
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel
there
was no adjudication/ruling by a military court. That's the issue, and
whether a defence force member went absent to join allied forces or went
to work in the UK during the war is irrelevant.
●
It is also apparent that Walshe and de Valera's Government were unconcerned as
to the detrimental effect of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
on the families of those
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel.
●
In his letter Walshe also asserts
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945 signed by de Valera was "A
mere routine measure of Army administration". On the contrary there was
nothing routine about
this
legislation
introduced by An Taoiseach Eamon de Valera, a politician. Mr Walshe was
attempting to deflect criticism of de Valera by describing this
legislation as "A
mere routine measure of Army administration". In fact Emergency Powers
(No.362) Order was constructed and implemented by politicians (The de
Valera Government), which subverted the jurisdiction of a military
court, and apart from confirming the period of
absence of a member who was absent without leave, AWOL, the Irish Defence
Forces had nothing whatsoever to do with the implementation of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
to dismiss
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel
post WW2.
●
The
Collateral Effect of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
on families post WW2:
●
Paddy Reid
whose father fought the Japanese during the Burma Campaign and was
blacklisted on his return to Ireland, recalls his families experience
post war:
Irish Times Letter-Paddy
Reid-29June 2011:
●
Paddy Reid recalls
his families experience post war: TV Interview
BBC News-Europe 07 May 2013:
●
Paddy Reid recalls his families
experience post war: Radio Interview
Voice of Russia UK 08 May 2013:
● Citizens Right of Access to the Courts:
●
In the State (Quinn) v Ryan, 1965 Irish Reports, Page 70, Chief Justice
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
(Supreme
Court) stated; Quote; "No one can with impunity set [the
citizen's rights] at nought or circumvent them [by depriving him of
access to the courts] and...the court's powers in this regard are as
ample as the defence of the Constitution requires;
Unquote.
●
Irish case law shows a citizen's right to have recourse to the Irish
High Court to defend and vindicate a legal right, is one of the
personal rights of the citizen guaranteed in
Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution
●
On Tuesday 31st August 1976 during a
Dáil Éireann Debate,
on a National Emergency Motion,
An Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, addressed concerns re the potential
suspension of the constitution thereby impacting on the rights of
citizens guaranteed by the Irish Constitution, in the event a
National Emergency Motion was supported and subsequently given legal
effect. He said in clarification:
Quote: “There have been comments and headlines which suggested that the
Oireachtas was to be asked to suspend the Constitution. Deputies will
appreciate, I am sure, that this is not so. If it were true, the
Constitution would have been suspended since 1939. The reality is that
it has not been so suspended and will not be so suspended by adoption of
the present resolution” Unquote:
(Statement also recorded at Page 161 Irish Law Reports, Supreme Court
15th October 1976; In Re Article 26 and the Emergency Powers Bill,
1976).
●
In 1976
President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh exercised one of the discretions left
to him under the constitution by referring the
Emergency Powers Bill, 1976 to the supreme court after he had taken
the advice, as he was required to do, of the council of state. The Bill
was introduced by the government in response to a worsening in the
security position, both north and south of the border, arising from the
continual political unrest in Northern Ireland, which had culminated in
the assassination of the British ambassador. The bill provided for the
detention, for up to seven days, of persons suspected of subversive
activity, and was passed in pursuance of a resolution of the two houses
that a state of emergency existed, thus effectively shielding the bill,
once it became an act, from scrutiny by the courts.
●
President
Ó Dálaigh who had served as Attorney General from 30th April 1946
to 18th February 1948 would have been aware of the detrimental effect of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945
on
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel and their families post war. In
1976, as
President of Ireland his reference of the
Emergency Powers Bill 1976 to the supreme court, may have been
prompted by his post war experience as Attorney General, and a concern
that this Bill, if enacted, could breach the constitutional guarantee
that entitles citizens a right of access to the courts. The supreme
court in due course upheld the constitutionality of the bill.
●
In
Re The Emergency Powers Bill, 1976, Irish Supreme Court, Chief
Justice O'Higgins on the 15th day of October 1976, in his judgement
concluded: "The act may not be read as an abnegation (a denial) of
the arrested person's constitutional rights in respect of matters such
as rights to communicate and the right to legal and medical assistance
and the right of access to the courts".
●
This judgement confirms that a citizens
constitutional right of access to the courts is
extant within the
Irish Constitution.
●
22nd February 1949 -
Emergency Powers (362) Order 1945 - Repealed:
●
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945 provided for
automatic dismissal from the Defence Forces, for desertion in a time of
national emergency, of any member of the Defence Forces who deserted or
absented himself without leave during the emergency period and remained
absent for 180 days or more. The Order also disqualified, for a period
of seven years, any person so dismissed from holding—
●
(i) any office or employment remunerated out of the Central Fund or
moneys provided by the Oireachtas or moneys raised by local taxation, or
●
(ii) any office or employment under any board or body established by or
under statutory authority, or
●
(iii) office as a paid member of any such board or body. Furthermore,
the payment of any pension, gratuity or allowance under the Army
Pensions Acts or the Defence Forces (Pensions) Acts was prohibited in
such cases. Persons so dismissed were also debarred from the benefits to
which, under the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1945, members of the
Defence Forces were eligible in respect of army service after the 2nd
September, 1939. These disqualifications were continued in permanent
legislation under
Section 13 of the Defence Forces ((Temporary Provisions) Act, 1946.
●
In 1949 the
Irish Government introduced
Section 8
of the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Act (22nd February
1949) to remove the disqualifications mentioned with regard to the
holding of office or employment which also indicates the Government were
aware of the legal flaws extant in Emergency Powers (No, 362) 1945. However,
the removal of the barring section does not repair the legal effect of
Emergency Powers (No. 362 Order) 1945 on the 4983
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel who were denied a constitutional
right to defend themselves in the courts.
●
To restate, the military offence of desertion is not a criminal charge,
but instead is one of a disciplinary nature, which is far more serious
in a military environment, and until such time as a military court
decides on whether a member is guilty, or not guilty, of the military
offence of desertion, the member concerned is considered AWOL, Absent
Without Leave. In the case of
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel;
●
there
was no adjudication/ruling by a military court;
●
a right of appeal was not enshrined in the text of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945;
●
personnel or their legal representatives were not informed of a
constitutional right of appeal;
●
If a
Blacklisted Defence Forces Member (or his next of kin) does not know of his right
to appeal to the courts, he
cannot exercise it; if he cannot exercise it; HIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT IS VIOLATED.
●
The
deValera Government of 1945 by their introduction of
Emergency Powers (No.362) Order 1945, shows Irish Politicians
determining the guilt of
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel, and by acting as a
Kangaroo court, subverted the jurisdiction of the Irish military courts, thereby
breaching the separation of powers as defined by
Article 34.1 of the Irish Constitution,
See also
Separation of Powers-Irish Court Service.
Emergency Powers
(No.362) Order 1945
in whole and in part was legally defective from the outset.
●
The Attorney General of Ireland
1942-1946:
●
NOTE:
Mr Justice Kevin Dixon,
See also:
Kevin Dixon Biography, who served as Attorney General of Ireland
from 10th October 1942 to 30th April 1946, was the legal advisor to the
de Valera Government on matters of law,
and would have been closely involved
in the construction of
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945 which effected
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel following the end of the second
world war.
●
NOTE:
Nearly all the Ministers in
12th Dail/4thGovernment of Ireland (9th June 1944 – 18th February
1948) led by
Éamon de Valera, who decided to introduce
Emergency Powers (No.362) Order 1945 had previously served as IRA
Volunteers.
Oscar Traynor TD, then Minister for Defence and former brigadier of
the Dublin Brigade of the Irish Republican Army, opined during passage
of the Emergency Powers (No.362) Order of 1945 through Dail Eireann
(Irish Parliament),
that
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel, both survivors and those who
had lost their lives, "were worthy of very little consideration",
and yet, some years later when
SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny
wanted to come to Ireland the same Oscar Traynor TD had no difficulty in
permitting this committed Nazi to legally enter Ireland.
Overview
During world war two approximately 5000
service personnel from the Irish defence forces who (allegedly) deserted,
including those who had joined the allied war effort to fight fascism, were
subsequently dismissed from the defence forces on the 8th of August 1945, en
masse, unheard, and in absentia by
Irish government decree.
It is a basic tenet of
Irish constitutional law that citizens have a right to defend themselves,
and defendants subject to military law, even when on active service, have
the same rights to adduce a defence in any proceedings. The Emergency Powers
Order introduced by the post war Irish government to deal with alleged
deserters was a vindictive political act of injustice, arbitrary in application, and
by disregarding their fundamental rights as citizens denied Irish defence
force personnel the right to defend themselves before an Irish military
tribunal. Irish defence force personnel accused of desertion were treated
differently depending on whether they stayed in Ireland or went abroad to
fight with the allies. The exclusion of officers from the Order’s terms of
reference should have raised concerns as to class bias. By August 1945, the
Irish government had constructed a unique political instrument to deal with
the military offence of desertion in such a way that the rights of
individuals were abrogated for the sake of political expediency. Oscar Traynor TD, then Minister for Defence, opined during passage of the Order
through Dail Eireann (Irish Parliament), that these men, both survivors and
those who had lost their lives, were worthy of very little consideration,
and yet some years later when SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny wanted to
come to Ireland the same Oscar Traynor TD had no difficulty in permitting
this committed Nazi to legally enter Ireland. Former
SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny was the coordinator of ODESSA, the
Organization of Former SS Members (‘Organization
Der Ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen’), in Spain, and it was ODESSA, and their
sympathisers who managed to route Dr Josef Mengele to South America and away
from the Nazi Hunters, thus evading justice for his war crimes. In contrast,
Irish defence force personnel some of whom rest in eternal silence on the
various battlefields throughout the world were still regarded with dishonour
by the Irish government. Post 1945, one of the most repugnant instruments of
printed injustice directed at service personnel,
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945,
was placed on the Irish statute book which resulted in the compilation of a
list of those who had (allegedly) deserted the Irish defence force during
the Emergency which included men who had lost their lives fighting against
the Nazis and the Japanese during world war two. The blacklist was
then distributed on a confidential basis by the Irish government to all
state authorities barring their employment and various entitlements from
state sources for seven years. On the 6th June 2011, this argument
formed part of our campaign submission to the Irish government. To resolve
the issue, the Defence Forces
(Second World War Amnesty and Immunity) Act (No 12) 2013, was initiated
by the Minister for Defence Mr Alan Shatter TD, on behalf of the Irish
government, and is an unprecedented, and historically significant piece of
legislation, which exonerates members of the Irish defence forces who went
AWOL (absent without leave) and joined UK or allied forces during world war
two, and at the same time provides immunity from prosecution for others.
Accompanied by an apology, this legislation comprehensively and
unambiguously obliterates the imputation of guilt imposed by the post war
Irish government on former blacklisted Irish defence force personnel. On
Saturday the 15th June 2013, a private family
commemorative event
was held at the Irish National War Memorial,
Islandbridge, Dublin, to mark the passing of the Amnesty and Immunity Bill,
and it’s signing into Irish law on the 14th May 2013 by the President of
Ireland. Simultaneously with the Dublin event, wreaths/crosses/flowers were
placed in remembrance at the war graves of known former Irish defence force
personnel and at war memorials in various countries worldwide.
Although the Irish
Amnesty and Immunity Act will address and resolve insofar as possible
historical issues, the memory of family experience will always be in the
background and will take time to heal. At least this generation of Irish
politicians are making an honourable attempt to rectify questionable past
political decisions and have conducted their debates constructively and
sympathetically with due regard for all concerns. Some have said the Amnesty
legislation is perhaps too little to late. However, there were political
obstacles which bedevilled British Irish relationships over the years and
which arguably would have made it very difficult for any Irish government to
act on the issue prior to the Royal visit to Ireland in May 2011.
Irrespective, the
Amnesty accompanied by an apology will remove the stigma
from those who were blacklisted and should also be seen as an act of
reconciliation. Yes, 68 years on from the end of world war two might seem to
little to late…but better late than never. Irish Minister for Defence Mr
Alan Shatter TD supported by his staff and members of Dail and Seanad
Eireann (Irish Parliament and Irish Senate) are to be congratulated for
having the political courage and integrity in bringing the Amnesty and
Immunity Act to a successful conclusion, and is an occasion of historical
significance. In the full knowledge that they have now been formally
recognised and honoured as part of the collective remembrance of the island
of Ireland, the last of our old soldiers, and their families, can live out
the rest of their lives with some semblance of honour restored.
Consequently, the Irish Soldiers Pardons Campaign (WW2) was stood down on
the 15th June 2013.
Defence Forces (Second World War Amnesty
and Immunity) Act (No 12) 2013
●
Sean O’Riordan in
his article
published Irish Examiner, 05 November 2022
“Number of personnel going AWOL in Defence Forces to hit 10-year high"
concluded;
"They were officially pardoned in 2012 by then defence minister Alan
Shatter”.
●
Mr O'Riordan in his article published Irish
Examiner,
Thursday,
06th June 2024,
"D-Day, 'Private Ryan, and the Irish soldiers who fought in 'hell on
Earth"
concluded,
"It was only 12 years ago that they were granted an official pardon by
then minister for defence, Alan Shatter".
●
For the sake of clarity,
the
Defence Forces (Second World War Amnesty and Immunity) Act (No 12) 2013
is an Amnesty and not a Pardon. A Pardon is the forgiveness of an
offence, whereas the construct and effect of this amnesty and immunity
legislation is to exculpate all concerned from allegations of desertion
thereby removing the stigma of dishonour associated with being
blacklisted. To reiterate, the introduction of the Defence Forces
(Second World War Amnesty and Immunity) Act (No 12) 2013 initiated by
then Minister for Defence Mr Allan Shatter TD on behalf of the Irish
Government, comprehensively and unambiguously obliterated the imputation
of guilt imposed by the introduction of Emergency Powers Order 362 on
the 8th of August 1945.
●
The
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945 introduced on the 08th of August 1945 by the
Irish Government led by
Éamon de Valera to dismiss and
punish former Irish defence force personnel
was NOT an
adjudication by a military tribunal. In fact the Irish Government for
the sake of political expediency had subverted the jurisdiction of the
Irish military courts to deal with allegations of desertion which
effectively denied former Irish defence force personnel their
constitutional right to due process in a military court.
IRA
Prisoners "K-Lines" (No.1 Internment camp) Curragh Camp 1939-45
In contrast to the harsh treatment meted out to blacklisted defence
force personnel who were barred from working in state companies for 7
years pursuant to
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945, the following is an example of how the
de Valera government dealth with former members of the IRA post war:
●
James O'Donovan was a leading Republican who collaborated with the
Nazis during world war two. Mr O'Donovan worked with the Irish
Electricity Supply Board and despite his IRA activity, which included
three years imprisonment in the
K-Lines No 1 Internment Camp-Curragh Camp, O'Donovan remained with
the state run ESB until his retirement in 1961.
●
The writer Francis Stuart collaborated with the Nazis in Berlin and
made radio broadcasts to Ireland to stir up animosity against the
Allies. Stuart also acted as a recruiting official involved in the
preliminary selection of captured Irish born British prisoners of war
encouraging them to work for Nazi Germany. He, too, was able to resume
respectability when he returned to Ireland. In October 1996,
President Mary Robinson invested Francis Stuart as an Irish
SAOI
to great fanfare from a glittering gathering of Irish artists
and writers. Neither Stuart nor O'Donovan ever repudiated their
treasonable war record. They had powerful friends and were anti-British.
In post war Ireland Nazi collaborators (and there were others) got a
free pass.
In contrast
Blacklisted Defence Force Personnel
including those killed in action fighting the Nazis and Japanese
were treated differently.
●
Paddy
Reid
whose
father fought the Japanese during the Burma Campaign and was
blacklisted on his return to Ireland, recalls his families
experience post war:
Irish Times Letter-Paddy Reid-29June 2011:
●
Paddy Reid recalls
his families experience post war: TV
Interview
BBC News-Europe 07 May 2013:
●
Paddy Reid recalls
his families experience post war:
Voice of Russia UK 08 May 2013:
●
Facebook page:
09th September 1951: Statue commemorating
IRA Chief of Staff Sean Russell
Dublin:
●
Facebook page: 19th September 2024:
Letter Dublin People - IRA Chief of Staff Sean
Russell:
●
Máirtín Ó Cadhain
who became an IRA Recruiting Officer in
Dublin and is said to have recruited
Brendan Behan,
was appointed to the IRA Army Council in 1938 and later interned in the
K-Lines No 1 Internment Camp-Curragh Camp
from 1940-1945. Released in June 1945 many
former
IRA Internees
had the opportunity of seeking work in
Bord Na Mona,
the
ESB
and other Irish semi state organisations, (Blacklisted
Defence Force Personnel many of whom had fought the Nazis and
Japanese during the war were barred from working in state employment for
7 years, while IRA volunteers and Nazi collaborators were given a free
pass by the
deValera Government). Mr Ó Cadhain who described
himself as a "civil servant" was subsequently employed as a translator
on the staff of
Leinster House/Dail
Eireann
from 1949 to 1956 when he became a lecturer in Modern Irish in
Trinity
College Dublin:
●
In
Ireland's Nazis a 2007 RTE TV1 Hidden History (Tile Film
Production), see also (●
Ireland's Nazis-Youtube-Video-Part One
and
Ireland's Nazis-Youtube-Video-Part Two): Ex Royal Air Force veteran Cathal O'Shannon showed how
official Ireland turned a blind eye as Nazis and their collaborators who
came to Ireland after world war two made a new life for themselves.
Prior to the transmission of the programme
Mrs Elizabeth Clissmann made
a
complaint about this documentary which was upheld in June 2007 by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission
in relation to impartiality.
Helmut Clissmann was assisted by
Sean McBride, then Irish Minister for External affairs
to travel to Ireland in June 1948, despite the fact that British
intelligence did not want him to leave Germany, indeed they also advised
that
Helmut Clissmann
should not have been denazified into category
V
which was the category of least politically involved Nazis. Germans
placed in that category were allowed to leave Germany provided their
applications came within the approved category of travel. See:
British Foreign Office File Helmut Clissmann 11
June 1948
and
Helmut Clissmann Recategorisation of Status 13
July 1948:
Helmut Clissman joined the Nazi Party on the 1 May 1934 and during
world war two was inter-alia attached to the
Brandenburg Regiment.
The Clissman's
are also known to have worked with
SS-Brigadeführer Edmund Vessenmeyer.
While appointed
German Plenipotentiary delegate in Hungary,
Vessenmeyer
reported in a
Telegram
dated
11th July 1944
to the
German Foreign Ministry that 437,402 Jews have been deported -
Auschwitz
was
their final destination:
●
Helmut Clissman and Irish Republican Contacts
1940/41:
Extract interrogation report Dr. Kurt HALLER,
alias VOGE: Head of Abwehr Abteiling II [sabotage] section dealing with Ireland:
●
British Archives
Reveal IRA Invasion Plan:
Aljazeera News 14 November 2003:
●
Irish Independent Letters: 02
January 2025:
History Shows Defence Personnel Wrongly Treated After WW11
● Denazification and Helmut
Clissman:
From 1945, the hunt for war
criminals was accompanied by a campaign to rid German and Austrian
politics, industry, media, arts, and the judiciary of Nazis. Former
party and SS members were removed from positions of power and influence,
and Nazi organisations were abolished. At the same time, hundreds of
thousands of Germans were detained in internment camps while their
backgrounds were investigated. There were nine such camps in the British
zone, all guarded by British troops. By late 1946, growing tensions with
the Soviet Union, the economic importance of Western Germany and a lack
of Allied manpower to run the denazification effort, saw the campaign
wind down. The
British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), handed over the denazification
panels to the German authorities who were more sympathetic to former
nazi party members. In June 1948, just weeks before his nazi status was
to be
Recategorised on the 13th July 1948,
Helmut Clissmann travelled to Ireland, which suggests he had been
forewarned that his denazification status V was about to change,
and advised to leave Germany with due haste.
NOTE:
Following the end of the war, German citizens and others had to fill in
a background form and were given over to justice under an
Arbitration/Denazification panel which assigned them to one of five
following categories:
● V.
Persons Exonerated. No sanctions.
●
IV.
Followers. Possible restrictions on travel, employment, political
rights, plus fines.
●
III.
Lesser Offenders. Placed on probation for two–three years with a list of
restrictions. No internment.
●
II.
Offenders: Activists, Militants, and Profiteers, or Incriminated
Persons. Subject to immediate arrest and imprisonment up to ten years
performing reparation or reconstruction work plus a list of other
restrictions.
● I.
Major Offenders. Subject to immediate arrest, death, imprisonment with
or without hard labour, plus a list of lesser sanctions.
●
Nazi Protocol of January 20, 1942 - Final
Solution on the Jewish Question - Irish Citizens:
On the 20 January 1942 at the
Berlin-Wannsee Conference High
Third Reich officials including the Chief of the Sicherheitspolizei
Reinhard Heydrich and
Adolf Eichmann Reichssicherhauptamt (RHSA), took
the executive decisions for conducting the Final Solution of the Jewish
Question. Page 6 of this document contains a precise number of Jews
scheduled for extermination with a breakdown of the specific regions
involved. Although the overwhelming majority lived in Eastern Europe,
Ireland's Jewish population calculated at 4000 were listed.
The accuracy of the numbers shown in this
document would indicate that members of the Nazi party and their
collaborators based in Ireland before the War are
responsible for its compilation and that it was also the intention of
the Nazis to exterminate Irish citizens.
List
of Nazi Party Members in Ireland Pre-War:
Uk/Northern
Ireland Newspaper Reports
●
"Eire Army Deserters
who joined British Forces: Thousands afraid to go home":
The Londonderry Sentinel-23 June 1945:
Captain Peadar Cowan defending Paratrooper and DDay veteran Private
Patrick Mortimer of Dublin:
●
"Cannot Go Home: Eire
Army Men in British Forces":
Belfast Newsletter-Friday 22 October 1945:
Captain Peadar Cowan defending Paratrooper and DDay veteran Private
Patrick Mortimer of Dublin:
● "Eire Army Deserters: Government’s new order":
The Londonderry Sentinel- Saturday 11 August 1945:
● "DESERTERS":
The Daily Mirror-Saturday 20 October 1945:
● "The Desertions Order": Annulment Call by Dr O’Higgins TD":
Ballymena Weekly Telegraph-Friday 26 October 1945:
●
"EIRE FORGIVES "deserters" Who Fought Germans":
Captain Peadar Cowan defended Private Patrick Kehoe/Irish Defence
Forces: (Flight Sergeant/Royal Air Force) and Private
Patrick Shannon/Irish Defence Forces (Corporal British Army):
Northern Daily Mail-16 June 1945:
●
See also article by Kevin Myers, Irish
Independent 24 May 2011,
Irish-Independent-24_May_2011.pdf:
Irish
Defence Force Strength/Numbers 1939-1945
●
In
analysing the desertion rate to overall strength for the Irish defence
forces during the period 1939 to 1945, a figure of 10% desertion is
mentioned by some Irish commentators. However a closer examination of
the Confidential
List of Irish Defence Force Personnel dismissed for alleged
desertion pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362 of 1945,
shows a COMBINATION of several categories of enlisted defence force
personnel, e.g. regulars, reservists and those who had signed up as
volunteers for the duration of the Emergency. This record includes the
names of 756 regular army personnel who had left the Colours and 1313
personnel of the 1st and 2nd line reserves, the remainder were
volunteers which includes members of the construction corps. The figure
of 42,000 personnel serving in the Irish Army being quoted by Irish
Examiner Journalist Sean O'Riordan relates to regulars + reservists, and
does not include those who volunteered for the Local Defence Force which
was approx 98,000, who were later absorbed into the Defence Forces. A
calculation of the total strength of the Irish Defence Forces e.g.
40,000 (which is a combination of regular army + reservists) + the
estimated 98,000 personnel serving in the Local Defence Forces =
138,000. Consequently the 4983 personnel recorded in the blacklist
represents 3.61% of the total of those alleged to be deserters.
Irrespective, a forensic comparative study of extant documentation would
prove useful in establishing the facts. While it is obvious the debate
surrounding the desertion issue will continue nevertheless in the
interests of establishing some semblance of historical accuracy aspiring
Irish historians/writers/academics would be better advised to step down
from their ivory towers and do more research before making further
assertions...and the subject matter does require more objective
scrutiny.
● NOTE:
The primary focus of the
Irish Soldiers Pardons Campaign (WW2) was seeking a redress for 4983
defence force personnel recorded in the
Confidential Blacklist who were dismissed for desertion pursuant to
Emergency Powers (No. 362) Order 1945. As the
Confidential Blacklist is the only available published record of
desertions in the defence forces during the emergency period 1939-1946,
the higher figure of an estimated 7000 desertions and upwards suggested
by some Irish sources is speculative until proven by documentary
evidence.
Irish Times Letter-Thursday
16th February 2023
●
In his excellent contribution (“Ireland’s
defence in second World War, Army’s capability was formidable” Irish
Times, February 16th 2023), Donal O’Carroll (Colonel Rtd) asserts
“During the war, the Army had two divisions, two independent brigades and
three command (ie garrison) battalions – 40,000 in all, and probably
100,000 in the Local Defence Force”. The writer is spot on with his
figures a conclusion we had reached some years ago during the Irish
Soldiers Pardons Campaign (WW2). However, during the Campaign some Irish
sources sought to rewrite the effects of any potential outcome to the
desertion issue envisaged by Minister for Defence Alan Shatter TD by
engaging in misinformation re the desertion rate to support their own
agenda. They asserted the desertion rate to overall strength for the Irish
defence forces during the period 1939 to 1945 was 10% to support their own
narrative, and
THEY WERE WRONG.
The
Blacklist which records those dismissed for desertion on the 08th of
August 1945, is a combination of several categories of enlisted defence
force personnel, e.g. regulars, reservists and those who had signed up as
volunteers for the duration of the Emergency. In the years since the
resolution introduced by Minister for Defence Allan Shatter in 2012
the letter in the Irish Times 16th February 2023, by Donal O’Carroll
(Colonel Rtd), is the first time that I am aware, of anyone asserting the
correct figures for those who had served in the Defence Forces during the
emergency, and I thank the Colonel for his EXPERT contribution.
Peter Mulvany BCL, HDip Arts Admin,
Coordinator
Irish Soldiers Pardons Campaign (WW2)
https://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie
Notes/Comments/Chief of
Staff/Irish Defence Forces 1941-1943
●
For the period 01st April 1941 to
31st March 1942: Chief of
Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieut-General Daniel (Dan) McKenna remarked
“the wide-spread feeling in the country that there is no immediate danger
of invasion”; "It may be said has largely removed the patriotic urge to
join the Army, which undoubtedly existed in June, 1940 and young men of
adventurous spirit may thus be tempted to join the British Army in the
hope they may see active service”.
●
For the period 01st April 1942 to 31st March 1943:
The Chief of Staff observed “The course of the war in Europe has convinced
most people that there is little danger to this country of immediate
invasion and the patriotic urge to join the Army which was so noticeable
during the summer of 1940 has almost completely disappeared. Any threat of
renewed danger would almost assuredly result in a further burst of
enthusiastic recruiting, but as things stand at present, there are so many
openings elsewhere that few men have any desire to join the Army (Irish),
while those who have a natural taste for military life are more inclined
to join the British Services, where a more exciting career is expected”.
●
For the period 01st April 1942 to 31st March 1943:
The Chief of Staff concluded: “The
factors which still tend to lower morale of the Defence Forces are largely
outside Army control. The most important are considered to be:
(a)
Lack of equipment;
(b)
Inadequate allowances for dependents;
(c)
Boredom due to waiting for something to happen coupled with the knowledge
that a more ‘adventurous service’ can be found abroad. (A reference to
British services); It is thought that the high rate of desertion was
largely due to these causes”.
Appeals for men to defend Neutral Ireland 1940-1941
Following various
appeals (Join
The Volunteers) during 1940-1941 by Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister)
Eamon DeValera
for men to sign up to defend neutral Ireland,
blacklisted defence force personnel did respond to DeValera's appeal
and enlisted in the defence forces to defend the state against a German
invasion, although a small number were already serving soldiers. The Irish
Government had also put a bar on anyone wanting to leave the Army or had
concluded their contract which includes those who had signed a 12 month
contact with the
Non Combatant Construction Corps
for the duration of the emergency. Following the
Battle of Britain
the threat of a German invasion against neutral Ireland
was believed to have receded. Consequently, Irish defence forces personnel
who had been training intensely to fight against a Nazi invasion, and with
no Nazi invasion of neutral Ireland imminent, the majority of those that
were blacklisted on the 08th of August 1945 would have sought to join
British/allied forces to engage in the fight against the Nazi's and the
Japanese.
●Thousands
of Irishmen join British Army: Eire ready to DEFEND Neutrality:
UK Leicester Evening Mail - 22 June 1940:
The following extracts from PATHE NEWS might
also be of interest.
●Irish
Troops Prepare to Defend Ireland 1940:
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/136602/
●Irish
Army Manoeuvres 1940:
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/47614/
●Irish
Army parade in
Dublin. 29th April 1941: Thousands of Irish citizens who had joined the
Irish defence forces to protect neutral Ireland following the call to
defend the Irish State filmed on parade in O’Connell Street, Dublin. As
the threat of a Nazi invasion of neutral Ireland receded, many of those
marching would later join British/allied forces to fight the Nazis and
Japanese:
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/66461/
Southern Irishmen and Irishwomen in UK Forces - Enlistment Figures - 03rd
September 1939 - 31st August 1945
The only figures which can be given in the case of the Royal Navy are
based on information supplied to UK authorities as to the address at the
time of entry into the Service with UK Forces. The figures for those who
had enlisted in the British Army and the Royal Air Force are based on
information supplied as to place of birth, and in the case of the Army
some of the men and women may have enlisted before the war. A number would
undoubtedly have given false names and addresses particularly those who
went AWOL (Absent Without Leave) from the Irish Army. Others would have
given accommodation addresses rather than home addresses and they would
appear in the records as recruited from Northern Ireland instead of from
the South. It was thought that the only real test in order to ascertain as
to who was who, would be the addresses which personnel gave when they
first enlisted for their next of kin in case they fell in battle or were
disabled, and that information would probably be genuine as service
personnel with obligations would more than likely want their own people to
benefit from remittances sent home and would hardly give false addresses
for a recipient beneficiary. On this basis the number of men and women who
joined British Forces from Southern Ireland from 03rd September 1939, to
the 31st of August 1945, under the headings of the Royal Navy, British
Army and Royal Air Force which includes former defence force personnel are
as follows:
Royal Navy and Royal Marines:
●
Total numbers enlisted between 03rd
September 1939, and 31st December 1944: Men: 483
●
Total numbers enlisted between 15th
December 1943, and 31st August 1945: Women: 34
British Army:
●
Total serving at 31st December 1944: Men:
28,645
●
Total serving at 31st December 1944: Women:
4,133
Royal Air Force
●
Total numbers enlisted at Belfast between
January, 1943, and 31st August 1945: Men: 9,426
●
Total numbers enlisted at Belfast between
January, 1943, and 31st August 1945: Women: 528
Total: 03rd September 1939 - 31st
August 1945: 43,249
As
regards such enlistments before 01st January 1943, no distinction was
drawn in the records between Northern Ireland and Eire. These statistics
also do not include enlistments in Great Britain of men and women of Eire
origin as to which no figures are available. (Michael Kennedy and Victor
Laing (eds.), The Irish Defence Forces 1940-1949: The Chief of Staff’s
Reports (Dublin, 2011), published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission,
estimates that during the second world war approximately 150000 Irish
citizens joined British forces, a statistic which is at odds with figures
in official UK records.
On the
19th March 1946 in the House of Lords,
Admiral of the Fleet William Henry Dudley Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork,
mentioned the contribution of Irish born service personnel who served in
UK forces during world war two, and stated; "I am sure all your Lordships
will agree that this country owes those men and women a great debt which
must be honourably discharged, and I have not the least doubt that the
Government intend to discharge it honourably, because their views on that
point were given only last month in another place, where it was said that
His Majesty's Government took the view that when men had fought with us
and stood by us it was against our religion to let them down.
Citizens of Northern Ireland who served in His Majesty's Forces during the
1939–45 War
No complete statistics are available of the total number of residents or
citizens of Northern Ireland who served in His Majesty's Forces during the
war. In the case of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines the figures
available are based on information supplied as to the address at the time
of entry into the Service and do not include those who joined the Navy
before 3rd September, 1939. Those for the British Army and Royal Air Force
are based on information supplied as to place of birth. In the case of the
British Army those who left before the end of 1944 or joined after that
date are not included. On this basis the figures are as follows:
Royal Navy and Royal Marines:
●
Men entered and enlisted between 3rd
September 1939, and 31st August 1945: 4,623
●
Women—no figures available: -
British Army:
●
Total numbers serving at 31st December
1944: Men: 27,462
●
Total numbers serving at 31st December
1944: Women: 2,087
Royal Air Force:
●
Total numbers serving at 31st December 1944: Men: 2,619
●
Total numbers serving at 31st December
1944: Women: 491
Total: 03rd September 1939 - 31st
August 1945: 37,282
As
regards Royal Air Force and Women's Auxiliary Air Force enlistments before
01st January, 1943, no distinction was drawn in the records between
Northern Ireland and Eire. The R.A.F. and W.A.A.F. statistics also do not
include enlistments in Great Britain of men and women of Northern Ireland
origin as to which no figures are available. It is estimated that the
approximate strengths in the Royal Air Force at the end of August, 1945,
were probably much the same both for men and women coming from Northern
Ireland as for those coming from Eire. The basis on which the above
information is given was stated in 1946 to be not altogether satisfactory,
as it was deemed not possible to supply more accurate figures without the
expenditure of a disproportionate amount of time and labour.
A selected
number of former
Irish Defence Forces personnel killed in action during WW2
Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for desertion 08
August 1945 by
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
TEXT -
Amnestied 14 May 2013
1:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2138464/patrick-moran/
● Trooper PATRICK MORAN 3865276,
18th (5th Bn. The Loyal Regt.) Regt., Reconnaissance Corps, who died
age 21 on the 15th February 1942. Son of John and Mary J. Moran, of
Clonmoyle, Co. Westmeath, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour,
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL. Paddy Moran was serving with the 18th battalion
reconnaissance regiment in Bombay and received orders to proceed to
Singapore. While on the ship
Empress of Asia in Singapore Harbour Japanese Bombers attacked and the
Regiment relocated. Paddy fell sick and during the afternoon the Japanese
entered the undefended British Military Hospital and ran amok bayoneting
patients where Trooper Moran was located. Gathered together in an outer
building at least 150 men were bayoneted before the Japanese were
interrupted by artillery fire. Trooper Moran is believed to have died in
this location. (This incident is known as the
Alexandra Road Hospital Massacre).
A
Commemorative Plaque
located in the hospital gardens honours the hospitalized soldiers and
staff massacred by Japanese forces in 1942:
● (On the 08th August 1945, PATRICK MORAN was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
2:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2210536/owen-mills/
● Private OWEN MILLS 5960934, 5th Bn., East Yorkshire Regiment, who died
age 23 on the 25th July 1942. Son of Owen and Elizabeth Mills, of Seatown,
Dundalk, Co. Louth, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour, EL ALAMEIN WAR
CEMETERY:
The Battles of Alamein:
● (On the 08th August 1945, OWEN MILLS was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
3:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2117405/james-mckenna/
● Private JAMES McKENNA 4279454, 1/7th Bn., Middlesex Regiment, who died
age 24 on the 24th October 1942. Son of James and Catherine McKenna, of
Scotstown, Co. Monaghan, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour, EL
ALAMEIN WAR CEMETERY: 1/7th Bn Middlesex Regiment while moving forward
advanced through a German minefield under heavy military barrage. By the
end of the day the battalion had fought its way up to the enemy forward
defence lines as planned. The battalion suffered 20 men killed in action
including James McKenna:
The Battles of Alamein:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JAMES McKENNA was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
4:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2183865/james-mcdaid/
● Gunner JAMES McDAID 1779631, 43 Bty., 61 Lt. A.A. Regt., Royal
Artillery, who died age 21 on the 14th November 1942. Son of Joseph and
Susan McDaid, of Inver, Co. Donegal, Irish Republic. Remembered with
honour, EL ALAMEIN MEMORIAL: James was wounded on the 26th October while
serving with the
61st Light AA regiment.
The enemy captured him, and he died a few weeks later, whilst still a
Prisoner of War:
The Battles of Alamein:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JAMES McDAID was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
5:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2621243/patrick-mcmahon/
● Rifleman PATRICK McMAHON 6921437, 10th (2nd Bn. The Tower Hamlets
Rifles) Bn., Rifle Brigade, who died age 27 on the 11th January 1943. Son
of John and Johanna McMahon, of Athea, Co. Limerick, Irish Republic.
Remembered with honour, MEDJEZ-EL-BAB WAR CEMETERY. Paddy McMahon a farm
labourer from Co Limerick was serving with the Rifles. On the 11th January
1943, supported by tanks from the 17th/21st Lancers the Rifles were tasked
to assault a German strong point on Two Tree Hill and clear the ridge of
the enemy. Paddy was killed as the Rifles advanced up the Hill:
The Tunisia Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, PATRICK McMAHON was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
6:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2196060/patrick-conway/
● Private PATRICK CONWAY 6409851, 1st Bn., The Parachute Regiment, A.A.C.,
(Army
Air Corps) who died age 24 on the 02nd March 1943. Son of Daniel and
Mary Anne Conway, of Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, Irish Republic.
Remembered with honour, MASSICAULT WAR CEMETERY. Tunisia. Patrick was
wounded while serving with 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment in the
Battle of El Mansour and subsequently died of his wounds sustained in
battle:
The Tunisia Campaign: (Djebel Alliliga is a battle honour of The
Parachute Regiment which took place in North Africa in February 1943,
during Operation Torch. It is also known as the Battle of Mansour -
Article: Djebel
Alliliga):
● (On the 08th August 1945, PATRICK CONWAY was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces
pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
7:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2632409/leonard-keating/
● Fusilier LEONARD KEATING 7043583,
1st Bn., Royal Irish Fusiliers, who died age 26 on the 25th April
1943. Son of Johanna-Keating McEnery, of Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary, Irish
Republic. Remembered with honour, MEDJEZ-EL-BAB MEMORIAL. Leonard fought
and died in North Africa while serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers at
Medjez-El-Bab.
The Tunisia Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, LEONARD KEATING was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
8:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2195924/james-brady/
● Guardsman JAMES BRADY 2719497, 1st Bn., Irish Guards, who died on the
29th April 1943. Son of Mr. and Mrs. P. Brady, of Ballyjamesduff, Co.
Cavan, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour, MASSICAULT WAR CEMETERY. On
the 27th April 1943 the Irish Guards supported by the Scots Guards
attacked the elite Herman Goering Division at Medjez-el-Bab. James was a
member of No 4 Company Irish Guards and they counter attacked using
Rifles, Grenades and even Bayonets. While defending their position
Guardsman James Brady was wounded and later died of wounds sustained in
Battle. General Alexander sent the following Message to the surviving
soldiers of the Irish Guards: ‘Congratulations to you for your magnificent
fight which has been of the utmost importance to the whole battle. I am
immensely proud of you all’:
The Tunisia Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JAMES BRADY was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
9:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2823770/stephen-mcmanus/
● Gunner STEPHEN McMANUS 1779858, 144 Bty., 35 Lt. A.A. Regt., Royal
Artillery, who died age 28 on the 27th July 1943. Son of Mr. and Mrs. John
McManus, of Sligo, Irish Republic; husband of Margaret McManus. Remembered
with honour, KANCHANABURI WAR CEMETERY. The town of Kanchanaburi is 129
kilometres North-West of Bangkok and is best reached by road, along the
National Highway which runs north from the capital. There are bus and
train services from Bangkok. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is situated
adjacent to Saeng Chuto Road which is the main road through the town. When
approaching from Bangkok, the cemetery is on the left side of the road,
towards the far (northern) end of the town. A Commission signpost faces
the cemetery on the opposite side of the road. Along with the rest of
British and Commonwealth forces 144 Battery surrendered to the Japanese on
the 15th February 1941. Conditions of the POW’s deteriorated and food
supplies ran low. Many men suffered from dysentery and vitamin deficiency,
disease became commonplace like Beriberi. On the 17th August 1941 Stephen
was sent with a party of men to work on the Burma Railway. In July 1943
Stephen was working from a
POW camp called Hindato near a Thai Village of the same name, (See
Background).
On Tuesday 20th July 1943 he was sent to the cholera hut and died later on
from his disease. Stephen’s remains were hastily cremated outside the
camp: (Map Location of
Hindato):
The Burma Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, STEPHEN McMANUS was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
● (15th
June 2013: Gunner Stephen
McManus, Remembered by the Royal British Legion in KANCHANABURI WAR
CEMETERY, Thailand): See Youtube:
https://youtu.be/oigmu7izH1I
10:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/208111/john-dorman/
● Private JOHN DORMAN 13040936, Pioneer Corps, who died age 27 on the 10th
September 1943. Son of James and Julia, of Morgans, Co. Limerick, Irish
Republic. Remembered with honour, SALERNO WAR CEMETERY. As the beachhead
at Salerno was attacked with artillery, mortar fire and aerial bombed by
the Luftwaffe. John was killed:
The Italian Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JOHN DORMAN was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
11:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2520606/james-oates/
● Fusilier JAMES OATES 14413172, 1st Bn., Lancashire Fusiliers who died
age 20 on the 11th April 1944. Son of Thomas Oates, and Catherine Oates,
Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour.
RANGOON MEMORIAL: The Rangoon Memorial is situated in Taukkyan War
Cemetery, which is about 35 kilometres north of Yangon (formerly Rangoon).
The cemetery is on PY1 Road , about 15 kilometres from the airport and can
be easily seen from the road. James from Carrick on Shannon was killed in
April 1944 while serving with the Lancashire Fusiliers in Burma:
The Burma Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JAMES OATES was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
● (15th
June 2013: Fusilier JAMES
OATES remembered by family members of a British Diplomat at The Rangoon
Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery, Yangon, Myanmar, (formerly Rangoon,
Burma): See Youtube
https://youtu.be/T1TrfSBKp9c
12:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2608467/felix-carpenter/
● Rifleman FELIX CARPENTER 6921648, 10th
(2nd Bn. The Tower Hamlets Rifles) Bn., Rifle Brigade died age 20 on the
29th May 1944. Son of Matthew and Alice Carpenter, of Dublin, Irish
Republic. Remembered with honour. CASSINO WAR CEMETERY. Felix was killed
in action in the
assault for Monte Cassino:
The Italian Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, FELIX CARPENTER was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
13:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2328387/joseph-mullally/
● Private JOSEPH MULLALLY 14438660, Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment)
died age 28 on the 06th June 1944. Son of Frederick and Maria Mullally, of
Moate, Co. Westmeath, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour. BAYEUX WAR
CEMETERY. Joseph was killed on
D-Day 06th June 1944 at Ver-Sur-Mer:
The Normandy Landings 1944:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JOSEPH MULLALLY was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
14:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2326828/john-hyland/
● Private JOHN HYLAND 14428419, 6th Bn., Duke of Wellington's (West Riding
Regiment) who died age 24 on the 18th June 1944. Son of Patrick Hyland,
and of Norah Hyland, of Waterford, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour.
BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY. John landed on the Normandy beaches on the 11th June
1944 less than a week later he was killed in action:
D-Day at Ver-Sur-Mer:
The Normandy Landings 1944:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JOHN HYLAND was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
15:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2326986/john-james-keating/
● Private JOHN JAMES KEATING 14441924, 1st Bn., Hampshire Regiment who
died age 24 on the 19th June 1944. Son of Patrick and Annie Keating, of
Kilmore, Co. Wexford, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour. BAYEUX WAR
CEMETERY: In the British Army for 7 Months - John James was killed in
Hottot-les-Bagues on the 19th June 1944. The battalion fought through
France and then led the advance into Belgium. Four months after landing in
Normandy, the Hampshire Regiment marched into the
newly-liberated-Brussels:
D-Day at Ver-Sur-Mer:
The Normandy Landings 1944:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JOHN JAMES KEATING was Dismissed "POST
MORTEM" for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
16:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2048529/maurice-cannon/
● Private MAURICE CANNON 14416967, 2nd Bn., The King's Regiment
(Liverpool) who died age 24 on the 26th June 1944. Son of Daniel and Anne
Cannon, of Downings Bay, Co. Donegal, Irish Republic. Remembered with
honour, ASSISI WAR CEMETERY. Maurice was killed in action on the 26th June
1944 while serving with the King’s at Assisi:
The Italian Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, MAURICE CANNON was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
17:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2635704/patrick-keane/
● Private PATRICK KEANE 3783108, 2nd Bn., The King's Regiment (Liverpool)
who died age 23 on the 17th September 1944. Son of John and Mary Keane, of
Ballydough, Rosbrien, Co. Limerick, Irish Republic. Remembered with
honour. CORIANO RIDGE WAR CEMETERY. Patrick was killed in action on the
17th September 1944 with the King’s Regiment on Coriano Ridge:The
Italian Campaign:
● (On the 08th August 1945, PATRICK KEANE was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
18:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2658824/edward-browne/
● Corporal EDWARD BROWNE M.M. 14400302, 2nd Bn., Royal Warwickshire
Regiment who died age 26 on the 30th September 1944. Son of John and
Margaret Browne, husband of Bridget Browne, of Achowry, Co. Sligo, Irish
Republic. Remembered with honour. GROESBEEK MEMORIAL. Corporal Edward
Browne was awarded the Military Medal and decorated for bravery when he
displayed exceptional courage in taking on a German machine gun post in Le
Bas Perrier, France, following the Normandy landings on the 6th June 1944
D-Day at Ver-Sur-Mer:
The Normandy Landings 1944:. He was killed in action 30th September
1944:
Cpl Edward Browne MM Military Medal Citation:
● (On the 08th August 1945, EDWARD BROWNE M.M. was Dismissed "POST
MORTEM" for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
19:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2663075/james-davis/
● Rifleman JAMES DAVIS 1835251, 9th Bn., Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) who
died age 24 on the 28th November 1944 Son of Patrick and Bridget Davis, of
Fethard, Co. Tipperary, Irish Republic. Remembered with honour. GROESBEEK
CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY. On the 28th November 1944, during the
Battle of Broekhuizen at Kasteel in Holland while engaged in a search
and destroy operation as they approached a moat surrounding a building a
German Spandau Machine fired on C Company killing 20 men of the
Cameronians including James Davis:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JAMES DAVIS was Dismissed "POST MORTEM" for
desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
20:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2235157/nicholas-mcnamara/
● Sergeant NICHOLAS McNAMARA 1798690, 582 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer
Reserve who died age 21 on the 17th January 1945. Son of Nicholas McNamara
and of Bridget McNamara (nee Liston), of Limerick, Irish Republic.
Remembered with honour. CLICHY NORTHERN CEMETERY: Nicholas volunteered for
Bomber crew following training with the RAF in September 1941 and trained
as an Air Gunner. On the 1st April 1944 McNamara’s crew was posted to
RAF Little Staughton to form a new Squadron 582 Pathfinder Squadron
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._582_Squadron_RAF
which usually served a tour of 40 missions before being rested. On the
16th January 1945 their target was the
Braunkohle-Benzin factory
in Zeitz Central Germany. Following the attack shrapnel burst
damaged the hydraulic lines on the aircraft as it headed for home. Later a
Junkers 88 attacked and Nicholas was badly wounded following a burst of
cannon fire which raked the fuselage. It was clear to the crew that they
would not make it home and their only option was to bale out of the
aircraft. Two crewmembers pulled the badly wounded Nicholas from his gun
turret and attached a line to his parachute ripcord in a desperate attempt
to save his life before the plane crashed. The line deployed the chute
which opened the canopy and Nicholas landed. However the badly wounded
Sergeant McNamara died of his wounds and was buried in the Clichy Northern
Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery Paris:
(In
memory of those members of 109 and 582
Pathfinder Squadrons, Royal Air Force from Great Britain and the
Commonwealth who gave their lives during the second world war on
operations from
RAF Little Staughton):
● (On the 08th August 1945, NICHOLAS McNAMARA was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
21:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2232323/michael-joseph-o-donnell/
● Corporal MICHAEL JOSEPH O'DONNELL, 14441868, 9th Bn Cameronians
(Scottish Rifles) aged 21 years, who died on the 15th February 1945. Son
of Patrick and Nora O'Donnell, of Bruff, Co. Limerick, Irish Republic.
Remembered with honour, GROESBEEK CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY. Michael was
killed in action during the Rhineland Offensive which was a series of
allied offensive operations by 21st Army Group commanded by Bernard
Montgomery from 8 February 1945 to 25 March 1945, at the end of the Second
World War. The operations were aimed at occupying the Rhineland and
securing a passage over the Rhine river.
https://www.liberationroute.com/stories/189/the-rhineland-offensive:
● (On the 08th August 1945, JOSEPH O'DONNELL was Dismissed "POST MORTEM"
for desertion from the Irish Defence Forces pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order 362
-
List of Dismissed Personnel + Irish Press Notice -
Amnestied on the 14th May 2013):
IN DECEMBER 2013,
STUDENTS IN THE USA EMAILED THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
1:
What was the Irish Soldiers Pardon Campaign?
ANS:
The Irish Soldiers
Pardons Campaign (WW2) was a campaign effort put together to obtain some
form of redress for servicemen who allegedly deserted the Irish Defence
forces during world war two to fight against the Nazis and Japanese, and
whom in August 1945 were dismissed en masse and in absentia by the Irish
government pursuant to
Emergency Powers Order (No 362) 1945,
which included dismissing those who had already been
killed in action.
2:
What was your involvement in the 2013 Irish Soldiers Pardon Campaign?
ANS:
I initiated the campaign in May 2011 and managed the campaign effort as a
team project from the outset until its conclusion in June 2013.
3:
Why did you initiate 2013 Irish Soldiers Pardon Campaign?
ANS:
It was the right thing to do. The cordial response
from the Irish public to the
Queens visit to Ireland in May 2011, suggested that there would be a
chance of success to seek redress from the Irish government for these
blacklisted soldiers and their families. There was a legacy of hurt within
family history which was still extant and needed to be resolved. One had
previous experience organising a campaign for pardons for
executed Irish born British world war one soldiers
and was confident that the current Irish Government
(Fine Gael/Labour coalition) would be open to resolving historical and
sensitive issues within the context of the ongoing peace process. (See:
Irish Examiner 16 March 2021: President Michael D Higgins has told
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth that her visit to Ireland in 2011 was “a moment
of healing":
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40245236.html) (See: Irish
Independent Letters 10 September 2022
'Young Republicans In UCD were the first to suggest the Queen's visit to
the Garden of Remembrance' See also
KBC UCD Students Motion adopted November 09, 1994).
4:
How did you participate?
ANS: Made the
submission, funded the project throughout, designed the website, the
leaflets, constructed the legal arguments and organised the petition online
and on the streets outside the general post office in Dublin etc. Managing
the campaign from the outset in May 2011, until its successful conclusion in
June 2013.
5:
Did you meet any resistance in the campaign?
ANS: Yes.
Initially there were vociferous objections through the letters page of the
press and argument was proffered that the defence of the state and loyalty
to their oath was paramount. Some of these contributors who objected to any
resolution to the pardons issue lacked an understanding of Irish military
law. Irrespective of various moral force arguments being promulgated as to
whether individuals joined UK forces or not Irish defence force personnel
alleged to be deserters post war were subject to Irish military law and as
such a court-martial had jurisdiction in which to try and punish any person
for an offence against military law, committed by such person while subject
to military law, and was the appropriate legal forum to adjudicate in each
case. Dail Eireann/Irish Parliament cannot stand as judge, jury and
executioner, is not a military court of law and no amount of side stepping
or obfuscation of the English language on the part of these objectors could
have changed that fact. The enactment of an Emergency Powers Order on the 8
August 1945 by the de Valera government to deal with the military offence of
desertion was a cynical political exercise which deprived a military court
of its jurisdiction, demonstrating an utter contempt for any rights that
defence force personnel may have had pursuant to the Irish constitution. The
issue has always been about political interference in dealing with the
military offence of desertion which inevitably led to an injustice because
the due process inherent in a court-martial and which is a distinct feature
and judicial attribute of an Irish military court of law was not observed by
the de Valera government post war. There were on street threats during the
petition signing but they were only made by a handful of individuals. The
majority of people were in support.
6:
What was the outcome?
ANS:
The
introduction of the Irish Defence Forces (Second
World War Amnesty and Immunity) Act (No 12) 2013 initiated by Minister
for Defence Mr Alan Shatter TD on behalf of the Irish Government is an
unprecedented and historically significant legislative act which
exonerates members of the Irish defence forces who went AWOL (absent
without leave) and joined UK or allied forces during world war two, and
vindicates the campaign strategy.
7:
What were the attitudes towards the soldiers during World War II?
ANS:
There was a general anti-British view in Ireland and those that joined UK
forces would have been viewed by many as traitors.
8:
What were the attitudes towards the
soldiers after World War II?
ANS: They would have been regarded as traitors. Survivors
and their families post war would have kept a low profile and got on as best
they could. Many had to emigrate back to the UK and other parts of the
commonwealth as they could not get a job in post war Ireland because of the
barring order.
9:
Have the attitudes of Irish citizens changed since the campaign?
ANS: Yes. The campaign prompted a debate which contributed
to a better understanding of the history of these men and their families and
the conditions they had to undergo in post war Ireland.
10:
In your opinion, were the soldiers justified in joining the British Army?
ANS: The legal issues as to the rights or responsibilities
of defence force personnel who went absent without leave to join allied
forces in the fight against the axis powers should have been adjudicated by
the military courts and not by politicians. However desertion in any army is
a serious offence and such offences are determined by the military
courts/tribunals. During world war two, the threats to international peace
presented by the Nazis and Japanese would suggest that a greater good was
served by men joining UK or allied forces in the fight against fascism.
Although these men went absent without leave to join in the fight they did
not go absent to run away.
11:
In your opinion, was Ireland justified in its desire to remain neutral?
ANS: Yes, absolutely. De Valera had no choice. However
Irish neutrality was benevolent in support of the allied war effort.
12:
In your opinion, was the government justified in its treatment of these
soldiers?
ANS:
No it was not justified. There were other constitutional ways to deal with
the issue. Irrespective of the emergency legislation that was introduced
in 1939, those accused of desertion had a right in law to adduce evidence
in their defence. The
Emergency Powers Order
introduced by the Irish Government in 1945 to dismiss
and punish personnel was
NOT an adjudication by military
tribunal. In fact the post war Irish Government had for the sake of
political expediency subverted the function of the military courts to deal
with allegations of desertion which denied servicemen their constitutional
right to due process in a military court.
13:
Is there anything else you feel is important for us to know about this
topic?
ANS:
Please Note: In
1977 President Jimmy Carter, issued a broad amnesty to draft evaders and
argued that their crimes were forgotten, not forgiven. This qualification
made clear that the purpose of his amnesty was not to erase a criminal
act, nor to condone or forgive it, but simply to facilitate political
reconciliation. In contrast, the Irish Defence Forces
(Second
World War Amnesty and Immunity) Act (No 12) 2013
initiated by Minister for Defence Mr Allan Shatter TD
on behalf of the Irish Government, is an unprecedented and historically
significant legislative act which exonerates members of the Irish defence
forces who went AWOL (absent without leave) and joined UK or allied forces
during world war two, and at the same time provides immunity from
prosecution for others. By excluding compensation the Act also alleviates
any financial burden that might have been levied upon the state, and
accompanied by an apology, comprehensively and unambiguously obliterates
the imputation of guilt imposed by the introduction of Emergency Powers
Order 362 on the 8th of August 1945. The Defence Forces (Second
World War Amnesty and Immunity) Act (No 12) 2013
is an Amnesty and not a Pardon. A Pardon is the
forgiveness of an offence, whereas the construct and effect of this
amnesty and immunity legislation is to exculpate all concerned from
allegations of desertion thereby removing the stigma of dishonour
associated with being blacklisted. The Minister for Defence, Mr Alan
Shatter TD, supported by his staff and members of Dail and Seanad Eireann,
are to be congratulated for having the political courage and integrity in
bringing the Amnesty and Immunity Act to a successful conclusion and is an
occasion of historical significance. In the full knowledge that they have
now been formally recognised and honoured as part of the collective
remembrance of the island of Ireland the last of our old soldiers and
their families can live out the rest of their lives with some semblance of
honour restored.
IRISH SOLDIERS
PARDONS CAMPAIGN (WW2) - TELEVISION/RADIO BROADCASTS: 2011-2013:
● Pardon For The Disowned Army - BBC Radio 4
- August 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBS0mM-tryA&feature=youtu.be
● BBC One Show - 28 August 2012 - Britain's
Irish Soldiers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUHLBfy04Vw&feature=youtu.be
● NDR Fernsehen Hamburg: The Long Road
To Rehabilitation: November 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVBNIgo6kHQ&feature=youtu.be
● British Forces TV: Pardon for Irish Troops
Dubbed Deserters 07.05.13:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJeZ1I-Vc40
● TV News Compilation - 7 May 2013:
Announcement of Amnesty and Immunity Legislation re Irish Defence Force
Personnel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBttXQETqIA&feature=youtu.be
● Voice of Russia UK: 08 May 2013: Irish
Deserters Finally Forgiven:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnNdiF5IAIg&feature=youtu.be
● BBC News-Europe: 07 May 2013: WWII Irish
'deserters' finally get pardons:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-22425684
● CBS TV: Forgotten Irish Soldiers - 24 May
2013:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cspyo4Zju-U
● RTE News: Saturday 15 June 2013: Conclusion
of the Irish Soldiers Pardons Campaign (WW2):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A4azvahxpw&feature=youtu.be
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES:
●
23 March 2012: Irish Medical Times:
Process was legally flawed from the outset:
●
12 June 2012:
REUTERS: Ireland pardons soldiers who deserted to fight Hitler:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ireland-wwii-idUSBRE85B1AB20120612
●
13 June 2012:
Belfast Telegraph: Republic to officially pardon 4,500 soldiers who
deserted:
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/republic-to-officially-pardon-4500-soldiers-who-deserted-28759918.html
●
07 May 2013:
The Guardian: Unionists welcome pardon for Irish who joined British army to
fight Nazis:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/07/ireland-pardon-soldiers-british-army
●
07 May 2013:
Irish Mirror: Irish soldiers who joined the British Army in World War II
have received a State apology:
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/thousands-irish-soldiers-who-joined-1874528
●
08 May 2013:
The Times-London: Pardon for Irish troops who fought the Nazis:
http://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.com/The-Times-London-08May2013.pdf
●
08 May 2013:
ABC News Australia: Ireland pardons World War II 'deserters':
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-08/ireland-pardons-world-war-ii-deserters/4677408
●
08 May 2013:
News.com Australia: Ireland pardons WWII soldiers who deserted:
https://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/ireland-pardons-wwii-soldiers-who-deserted/news-story/20d9233cf15ee91d94fe0604e28abf35
●
10 May 2013:
The Herald: Deserters Honoured:
“HAVE WE FINALLY FIGURED OUT WHO THE REAL TRAITORS WERE”:
by Gerry Gregg:
●
15 June 2013:
Irish Examiner: Pardoned soldier attends memorial:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30597589.html
●
15 June 2013:
Commemorations:
●
16 June 2013:
Sunday Independent:
Wreath-laying marks end of Irish pardon campaign:
●
17 June 2013:
New Zealand:
Napier Ceremony for Irish Soldiers who Fought in WW11: Hawkes Bay Today:
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