Many of you will know that I make an important link between my models and the history they represent. I see them as educational tools. Imagine my despair when I came across this on another site.
"....and at times german and us/raf were interned as POWs effectively when they bailed out or crashed / landed ......tho some were allowed to return to their services - mostly the US/RAF personnel.
Without Ireland in WW2 on the allied side, would the war been any much harder i wonder?
The staging flights from the US to Ireland ( and aslo vice versa) surely helped transport new aircraft to the RAF and Europe?"
Belligerent aircrews were interned,it is one of the obligations of neutrality to do so,but they were not PoWs. Infact a neutral country has NO obligation to intern an escaped PoW,it can simply send him home.
Ireland was not on the side of the allies,she was neutral. Some nations,notably the USA early in the war,pushed the boundaries of what was neutrality but Ireland generally did not. There are instances in which it would be correct to say that Irish actions were pro-allied. It was more likely that an allied internee would find his way back to the UK than an axis one to Germany for example.
The persistent rumour that the Irish allowed the RAF to operate from an airfield in Ireland has been going on for many years without a single piece of supporting evidence,as has the one about the Irish allowing U-boats port facilities. Infact,under the conventions governing neutrality,the Irish were entitled to allow a vessel of any belligerent nation 24 hours in port,more may be allowed for repairs. Anyone who remembers the fate of the Graf Spee in Uruguay will be familiar with this.
Belligerent nations personnel (with the exception of the wounded) and materiel may not be transported via a neutral country.The flights mentioned above simply did not exist. I suspect that the poster is unaware that the territory of "Northern Ireland" is part of The UK! The Irish did allow the allies a corridor through their air space to the Atlantic,the so called Donegal Corridor,but only under extreme pressure from the UK and the USA. This allowed flying boats based at Loch Erne in Northern Ireland to avoid a diversion around Irish air space. This was secret at the time as it was a clear contravention of Ireland's neutrality.
Cheers
Steve
"....and at times german and us/raf were interned as POWs effectively when they bailed out or crashed / landed ......tho some were allowed to return to their services - mostly the US/RAF personnel.
Without Ireland in WW2 on the allied side, would the war been any much harder i wonder?
The staging flights from the US to Ireland ( and aslo vice versa) surely helped transport new aircraft to the RAF and Europe?"
Belligerent aircrews were interned,it is one of the obligations of neutrality to do so,but they were not PoWs. Infact a neutral country has NO obligation to intern an escaped PoW,it can simply send him home.
Ireland was not on the side of the allies,she was neutral. Some nations,notably the USA early in the war,pushed the boundaries of what was neutrality but Ireland generally did not. There are instances in which it would be correct to say that Irish actions were pro-allied. It was more likely that an allied internee would find his way back to the UK than an axis one to Germany for example.
The persistent rumour that the Irish allowed the RAF to operate from an airfield in Ireland has been going on for many years without a single piece of supporting evidence,as has the one about the Irish allowing U-boats port facilities. Infact,under the conventions governing neutrality,the Irish were entitled to allow a vessel of any belligerent nation 24 hours in port,more may be allowed for repairs. Anyone who remembers the fate of the Graf Spee in Uruguay will be familiar with this.
Belligerent nations personnel (with the exception of the wounded) and materiel may not be transported via a neutral country.The flights mentioned above simply did not exist. I suspect that the poster is unaware that the territory of "Northern Ireland" is part of The UK! The Irish did allow the allies a corridor through their air space to the Atlantic,the so called Donegal Corridor,but only under extreme pressure from the UK and the USA. This allowed flying boats based at Loch Erne in Northern Ireland to avoid a diversion around Irish air space. This was secret at the time as it was a clear contravention of Ireland's neutrality.
Cheers
Steve
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