Irish Pardon Deserters Who Joined Britain in WWII
Source: AP
The Irish government said Tuesday it is pardoning nearly 5,000 men who deserted its armed forces to fight for Britain during World War II, an episode of history that brought shame and embarrassment to neutral Ireland.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter said a bill pardoning the men — mostly posthumously — and apologizing to their families would be introduced and passed into law Tuesday. The move comes a year after he issued an official state apology to the men, who because of a government blacklist suffered job discrimination and loss of pension rights at war's end, condemning their families to poverty.
Shatter said the Second World War Amnesty and Immunity Bill was long overdue because barely 100 of the war veterans are still alive. The bill describes their 1945 punishments as "unduly harsh" and ensures that no surviving deserter could face a court-martial if returning to Ireland from exile abroad.
Shatter said it should remove "any tarnish from their name or reputation" and highlight the reality that, by joining the British army, navy or air force, those Irishmen did most to protect Ireland's independence, despite the official hostility back home.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/irish-pardon-deserters-joined-britain-wwii-19125922#.UYldsj7h5co
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My ancestors had a part in that conquest.
I am descended from the Anglo-Normans who conquered Ireland in the 12th Century. Theobald FitzWalter Butler founded the Butler Dynasty of Kilkenny...I am directly descended from Baron Butler (mother's side), from which came the British Lords-Lieutenant of Ireland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobald_Walter,_1st_Baron_Butler
Many times I've thought of going to Ireland to see my old ancestral roots...but I don't know how I'd be received. I know that members of the Irish Diaspora throughout the world are often very warmly received in Ireland, but technically I'm a Norman, not an Irishman.
I do agree that the timing on pardoning these Irish who served is pretty questionable, especially given that many of Eire gave their lives in British service, notably RAF Wing Commander Brendan "Paddy" Finucane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Finucane
And you have to understand the attitudes at the time. My grandfather, a first generation American of Irish descent (both of his parents were Irish born) didn't have any negative attitudes about the English until he was forced to live there for months before D-Day. He spoke with a clear Irish accent, and was pretty shocked when he was subjected to serious British racism. He'd go to pubs with other American soldiers and be kicked out because they considered him an Irishman. He'd be made the butt of racist jokes. Some English people would refuse to discuss the war with him in the room because they didn't trust the Irish. Other than the lynchings, he said that the Irish were treated nearly as badly in Britain in the 1940's as blacks were in the American south.
There was a real hatred between the Irish and English people back then, and even the threat of Hitler wasn't enough to get the Irish involved to help the English (the fact that the Nazi's weren't really a threat to Ireland didn't help that argument). In that context, it's understandable why the Irish reacted so poorly when so many of them ran off to help the English.
FWIW, my grandfathers experiences in Britain in WW2 was also the foundation of his support for the IRA, which lasted right up until his death in the 1990's. He came home hating the English nearly as much as he hated the Nazi's (or, as he once said, "It's a damned shame that America went to war to save the Jews and gypsies, but left the Irish to whither and die"
. Hatred breeds hatred, and his experiences were an example of that.
