A lot of our national papers are carrying stories about Adolf Hitler and his plans to invade Ireland. Time to look a little closer and find out what the Fuhrer’s intentions were.
By Brian Moss
So what’s all this about the Nazis invading Ireland then?
Well it’s something that’s been rumoured for years that there were plans for Nazi Germany to invade us back in the days of World War II, apparently called Operation Green. Not very original, but true none the less.
Why invade us? Did Hitler not have bigger fish to fry?
Well it was more our geographic position than anything else. Ireland would have provided the perfect launch pad to attack Britain. It was supposed to back up their operations at sea. Victory over England was seen as key to winning the war.
Was it seriously considered?
Well it was certainly considered an option at the highest levels and Hitler himself expored the option in some detail. It would definitely have benefitted the Germans but they had so many other operations at the same time that it was put on the back burner. Otherwise we could have been under the control of the Germans……oh wait a minute……
Why is it in the news?
Well the actual plans and documents that were developed for the operation are going up for auction today in the UK.
According to my Leaving Cert history, we stayed out of the World War II, didn’t we?
We did officially, we allowed both German and British boats into Irish waters, which really pissed off Winston Churchill. He made repeated calls to De Velera to officially join with the British forces, but Dev was having none of it and re-affirmed our ‘neutrality’.
Sounds like a good idea.
Yeah it does, but experts say our neutrality wouldn’t have mattered if Germany had won the war. We would have most likely been invaded anyway as according to Irish sources, Hitler did not consider us Ayrians.
My mate said his grand-dad was in the war. Could that actually be true?
He could have, but I don’t know your grand-dad so I can’t confirm anything. Over 70,000 Irish men fought in the war along with about 50,000 from Northern Ireland. About 5,000 members of the Irish army deserted and went and fought for the British army during the war. They were considered defectors which was extremely harsh and when (or if) they returned home they were shunned. Only this year did those fighters receive an official pardon by the Government for how they were treated.
Didn’t Ireland get bombed at some point in the war?
Yeah we got hit a few times actually. Campile in Wexford was hit in August 1940 with three fatalities, while in December that year Dun Laoghaire and Monaghan experienced bombing. In January 1941 bombs were dropped in Meath, Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford, with three people killed in Carlow. The worst bombings came in May 1941 on Dublin’s North Strand with 28 people losing their lives.
Why were we bombed?
Well that’s still a bit of controversy; most say it was pilot error that they landed in the wrong place
So how much are these documents then?
You’ll be able to pick them up for about €900.
Anything else?
Well the fact that Eamon De Velera , the Taoiseach at the time was one of the only European leaders to sign the official book of condolence in Germany for Hitler after his death is quite interesting.
Sucking up to the Germans eh…
Yep sounds all too familiar doesn’t it?
