The Condemned Irish Soldiers of WWII

[Guno צְבִי]

When World War 2 eventually took the globe by storm, Ireland had in 1922, only just gained her independence from British rule and was in no mood to be fighting any wars nor in a mood to help the British at any length, and thus stayed neutral. With that said, as the German Blitzkrieg devastated Western Europe and was knocking on the door of the British Isles, many Irish men put aside their qualms with the British to fight a fight they deemed of greater ideological importance. However unlike the rest of the men who fought, these Irish soldiers didn’t come home heralded as heroes for defeating Nazi Germany and were largely condemned by their own people.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

When World War 2 eventually took the globe by storm, Ireland had in 1922, only just gained her independence from British rule and was in no mood to be fighting any wars nor in a mood to help the British at any length, and thus stayed neutral. With that said, as the German Blitzkrieg devastated Western Europe and was knocking on the door of the British Isles, many Irish men put aside their qualms with the British to fight a fight they deemed of greater ideological importance. However unlike the rest of the men who fought, these Irish soldiers didn’t come home heralded as heroes for defeating Nazi Germany and were largely condemned by their own people.

Cool bit of history. 42,000 Irishmen served to fight the Nazis, but 5000 of them had deserted the Irish Army to do it. That is pretty egregious and I can understand why they were viewed with disdain.

Thanks for posting the link. I'd never heard this bit of history before.