An Cosantóir

| 23 www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE There is a great historical paradox to the tale of the Irish deserters of WWII. Most deserters throughout military history ran from the battlefield – many Irish deserters 'ran' towards the battlefield. The motivations, lives, and wartime experiences of these individuals formed the basis of the research into their lives that I hope to investigate, uncover, and ultimately reveal. From a strictly scholarly point of view, the analyses of Éire and its relationship with WWII have primarily focussed on the experiences of Irish civilians on the Home Front during the so-called 'Emergency' years, the perennial question of whether Ireland remained 'neutral' during this time and the state's reaction to the war (i.e., censorship, economic policies etc.). These topics have been pursued and published in extensive detail and justifiably so. Furthermore, other research interests (that do have a military angle) have tended to focus on the contribution of Irish Brigades and Battalions from a relatively impersonal perspective. While the lives and experiences of seemingly ordinary WWII Irish soldiers have been discussed in greater detail in more recent years with works from authors such as Richard Doherty and Neil Richardson - a detailed, critical and in-depth analysis of Irishmen who deserted the Irish Defence Forces and who subsequently joined the British Army has yet to be undertaken and intensively investigated. We are still far from satisfactorily resolving the details of the deserters' issue. Many questions remain about the deserters themselves – when studied in isolation from the general WWII volunteers of Éire. Whereas in past centuries, Irish soldiers had no homogenous nation- state to swear an oath of loyalty to, this was no longer the case from 1922. Their experiences and decisions to desert, therefore, are somewhat unique to explore and analyse. In future articles, I will explore some associated questions regarding these men. What were their motivations to desert and enlist in the British Army? Were these men treated appropriately or fairly by the organisation they deserted or the state? Should the deserters be remembered, commemorated, or celebrated? Or ignored and forgotten? 1 Under EPO 362, 4,634 Irish soldiers who were absent for a period of more than 180 days were dismissed from the National Army. Army personnel who had not been summarily struck off by 08 August 1945 and were absent for less than 180 days (not captured and placed under court-martial) were also dismissed automatically as soon as they passed the 180-day threshold. Additionally, a further 149 soldiers were expelled in March of 1946. 2 In all, some 350,000 served in some form of a uniform, whether in the regular army, Air Corps, Marine and Coast Watching Service, Local Defence Force and Local Security Force. There is an excellent chance that the other 90% who joined the British military (officially never having served the state of Éire in any capacity) during WWII may have been a member of one of the above-mentioned reserve units at some point. Figure 2. Guardsman John Stout. Served with the Irish Guards and fought at the Battles of Arnhem & the Bulge after deserting the Defence Forces during the Emergency. Picture from the Irish Daily Mail (07/05/2013). Figure 3. George Gallagher in British military uniform. Picture courtesy of next of kin. George (b. 10/4/1920) was from Castleconnor, Co. Sligo. He would go on to serve in North Africa. After the war, he returned to his homeland of Sligo for the remaining years of his life. Author: Capt Cían Harte was born in Riverstown, Co. Sligo in 1991. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in Ancient History from Queen's University Belfast and an M.A. in Strategic Studies from UCC. He has self-published five history books to date including his latest: 'Heroes or Traitors: Irish Deserters of WWII' (2021), available from www.lulu.com or any online book retailers. Capt Harte's book, 'Heroes or Traitors? The Irish Deserters of WWII' is available from www.lulu.com and online booksellers

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