Thanks, I have forwarded to Bernard O'Connor who has written a lot about espionage and similar topics.
The role of Ireland in WWII was complicated and you get the impression the Irish government did not about it all!
One TV programme showed how sightings of U-Boats around the coast were sent direct to the RN.
I am interested in the Y Service in WWII, it was thought early in the war that a DF (Direction Finding) station was needed in each of the four corners of the British Isles so one in South Ireland would be very useful but not possible politically. So equipment was supplied to Ireland with training so they could operate one (or more?) themselves and presumably liaise with the British network as both sides wanted to know of any Germany spies.
Later post-WWII, the Royal Observer Corps supplied equipment to Ireland to install their own nuclear monitoring posts though few (if any) were built. A large stock of the equipment was found in a warehouse at an Irish Army barracks. The person who tracked it down was allowed to take a few items and was negotiating to get hold of the rest when he found it had all been scrapped, a pity because there is a big demand for the equipment when any appears on eBay .
During WWII, the RN tried an operation to sink U-Boats operating in in Irish waters. A small RN submarine was towed by a fishing boat manned by the RN with a telephone line down the towing cable. It was not a success! But one RN crew member was taken ill so went into an Irish port and took him into a hospital, apparently everyone in the village seemed to know who they were and what they were doing!
Martin Briscoe
Fort William
[log in to unmask]
https://sites.google.com/view/edmund-otoole-vc/
########################################################################
To unsubscribe from the BBC-HISTORY list, click the following link:
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=BBC-HISTORY&A=1
This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/BBC-HISTORY, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
|