Thanks,for later.
“because they deserted to help the British despite Ireland’s neutrality”
If they were deserters then the title is misleading; in any case they had a foe much closer to home who unlike Germany, is still there. In 1916 a previous German administration gave Ireland the guns that eventually helped them get independence for the Republic; Ireland (and the US) had no reason to fight for Stalin or Hitler.
to put it into perspective:
During the war, few people knew the extent of Hitler’s atrocities, but the Irish people still remembered the potato famine that some claim killed half the population.
No the Brits didn’t start the potato famine: but they did export local wheat and grain during the famine, and they allowed landlords to destroy the homes of those who couldn’t pay the rent.
As one Irishman lamented: If only they had been kind...
But they weren’t, because they were influenced by Malthus.
There are still quite a few Indian WWII vets that are treated as pariahs because they fought with the British. There was a pretty serious Independence movement in India even in the early 40s and both Japan and Germany tried to foster that to keep them out of the war. These vets were looked upon as traitors and shunned when they came home.
Ireland, Switzerland, and Sweden never received the approbation they deserved for their “neutrality”. The Swiss and Swedes enriched their coffers with the wealth gained from ding germany with weapons, machine tools, and raw materials. The Swiss dealings regarding the Jews are well known, and Swedish socialism was paid in part by money from germany which bought iron ore and tungsten steel used in Tiger tanks and 88mm AT shells.. The govt of Eire did not actively provide military supplies but Irish cities remained lit at night,giving Luftwaffe bombers refenence navigation points, and the refusal to allow the Royal Navy and later the U.S. Navy the facilities around Cobh ( Queenstown) created a far larger stretch of ocean which convoys had to traverse without the umbrella of land based air. this added to the losses suffered and merchant seamen lives lost until the defeat of the U Boat at the end of 43. But I had never heard of this. All I can say is DISGRACE!!
My great uncle was killed at the Somme in France in 1917.
He joined the British Army in Dublin as did thousands of his fellow Irishmen to fight against the Germans.
Sadly if he would have survived WWI he would have undergone massive hate against him by the Irish when he returned from the war.