Irish volunteers with Axis forces

[Viktor.S]

Hello everyone,

The story of the Irishmen who volunteered to serve with the Allies (primarily the British) is reasonably well-known I think. Knowing this story, I am now curious to learn about any Irishmen who volunteered to serve with any of the Axis forces. Is anyone here familiar with the subject and could share some information?

I have read that Eoin O'Duffy offered Berlin an "Irish Volunteer Legion" to fight the Soviets at some point during the war, but this offer does not seem to have been taken up. However, I am aware of at least two Irishmen who served in the Waffen SS: https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/th ... ler/78944/

I know that O'Duffy and the National Corporate Party took some inspiration from Fascist Italy during the pre-war years, but I have no idea if any Irishmen served with Italy during the war.

Thanks.

[zaptiè]

four Irish served in Italy both on radio broadcasting and also, for short time, in "Azad Hindustan" italian indian btg.

[Waleed Y. Majeed]

There’s a few names worth looking at in these articles.
http://www.csn.ul.ie/~dan/war/ssvols.htm
https://www.google.dk/amp/s/amp.indepen ... 31832.html

Waleed

[Viktor.S]

four Irish served in Italy both on radio broadcasting and also, for short time, in "Azad Hindustan" italian indian btg.

That's interesting. Is there any information about why they were assigned to the Indian unit? Did they volunteer themselves, or was it simply because the soldiers in this unit also spoke English? Has any record of their combat service with this unit survived?

There’s a few names worth looking at in these articles.
http://www.csn.ul.ie/~dan/war/ssvols.htm
https://www.google.dk/amp/s/amp.indepen ... 31832.html

Waleed

Two very interesting articles, thank you. It does appear that the Irish involvement with the Nazi military was smaller even than that of the British (e.g. no Irish equivalent to the British Free Corps).

[Sid Guttridge]

From memory, I recall that three Irish aircrew tried to defect to Germany in their aircraft (a Supermarine Walrus?) But came down in Cornwall

Cheers,

Sid

[Sid Guttridge]

Yup, it was four Irish aircrew in a Walrus on 9 January 1942. They were heading for Cherbourg to join the Luftwaffe but were intercepted by RAF Spitfires and escorted to St. Eval. Crew and aircraft were returned to Ireland. The Walrus is now on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.

Sid.

[Viktor.S]

Yup, it was four Irish aircrew in a Walrus on 9 January 1942. They were heading for Cherbourg to join the Luftwaffe but were intercepted by RAF Spitfires and escorted to St. Eval. Crew and aircraft were returned to Ireland. The Walrus is now on display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.

Sid.

Thank you for sharing. Sorry for the confusion, but were these men RAF personnel, or flying a neutral Irish aircraft? Your mention of them being "returned to Ireland" makes me think they weren't RAF, since otherwise I would expect them to have been tried as deserters by the British.

[Virginian]

There's a thread about this on the RAF commands forum thread with much more information. It was indeed an Irish Air Corps Walrus.

[Waleed Y. Majeed]

No, irish nationals as the plane was based in the republic as part of the Irish Army Air Corps. The four men were returned to Ireland under guard. The plane was also returned and used by the 1 Sqdn. IAAC on west coast near Limerick.
https://sluggerotoole.com/2012/06/13/th ... rus-l2301/

Waleed

[Waleed Y. Majeed]

The pilot, Alphonsus J. Thornton was tried by courtmartial and sentenced to 18 months inprisonment.
The story and newspaper article from 1943 can be seen in attached link (go to document page 26-27). The rest is also interesting as it mentions the LDF formed in 1941 and also a few foreign planes that landed in the republic, but were allowed to leave again instead of the usual internment.
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... tories.pdf

Waleed

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Guys,

The minute number of Irishmen who volunteered to serve with the Axis contrasts strongly with the 7,000 who volunteered to serve with the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. The fact that the Nationalists had the overwhelming support of the Roman Catholic Church gave service with them the aura of a crusade. 700 were selected from the volunteers and formed a battalion in Spain. However, there was friction with the Nationalists, they did not perform well and were soon withdrawn.

Only half as many Irishmen served with the Republicans, but their 25% fatalities implies that they were better motivated.

Service with the Axis had no comparable religious attractions and seems not to have attracted mass interest.

By contrast, some 66,000 Irishmen volunteered for the British armed forces in WWII, 8,000 reportedly as officers! At the outbreak of war the Irish Army had 10,000 men and grew to 40,000 during it. Some 5,000 of them deserted to join the British.

Eire may have been neutral, but it appears that much of its population was not.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Viktor.S]

Service with the Axis had no comparable religious attractions and seems not to have attracted mass interest.

The Axis did however have the attraction of anti-Communism (at least after the German invasion of the Soviet Union), which was still a factor in Ireland at the time. It's probably the main reason O'Duffy offered Berlin a volunteer unit to fight the Soviets, and why parties like the pro-Axis Ailtirí na hAiséirghe were around during the war. Also, the Axis had the appeal to hardline IRA men of being anti-British.

Regardless, as you say, anti-Communism or anti-British sentiment does not seem to have been strong enough to send enough Irishmen into the Axis fold to really have a notable presence. I think we should also keep in mind the issue of logistics. Traveling from Ireland to Britain to join the Allied armies was much easier than traveling from Ireland to Germany or some occupied territory on the continent. To get to UK territory, you didn't even have to leave the island.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Viktor S,

All true.

Yet, while 700 Irishmen reached the Nationalists and over 300 reached the Republicans in Spain in the civil war, virtually none seem to have reached the Axis via Spain in WWII. The motivation seems to have been lacking.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Viktor.S]

Yet, while 700 Irishmen reached the Nationalists and over 300 reached the Republicans in Spain in the civil war, virtually none seem to have reached the Axis via Spain in WWII. The motivation seems to have been lacking.

Sid, I agree, the amount of pro-Axis sentiment in Ireland seems to have been negligible overall. I do believe that the population of Ireland generally favoured staying away from the war, given the devastation they had seen barely over a generation earlier during the Revolution/Civil War, but we should also remember the commercial ties between Ireland and Britain at that time were arguably much stronger than those between Ireland and Germany. I wouldn't hesitate to say that the jobs of many Irishmen employed in sectors like agriculture and shipping relied heavily on good trade relations and continued exports to Britain. Indeed, even the right-wing Blueshirts during the 1930s seem to have been against the Anglo-Irish Trade War instigated by De Valera's government. Perhaps at least some of these Irishmen who joined the British side in WW2 did so because they were considering how their own country might be financially damaged by a weak/defeated Britain?

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Viktor S,

Irish trade was then almost entirely with the UK. Indeed, the two countries had yet to fully separate in many spheres. The Irish had freedom of movement to and from the UK and direct access to employment and British benefits (such as they then were), etc., some 60 years before the EU did so.This was reciprocal.

However, I don't believe people make such decisions on macroeconomic grounds. I would suggest that it is personal circumstance that governs these personal decisions.

I suspect poverty, lack of employment and poor prospects at home provided major push factors. There were also long traditions in many families of service in the British Army. A simple desire for adventure might also have played a part.

Cheers,

Sid.