An Cosantóir

history | 29 on the gate. There were also PA's (MP's) knocking about which you had to watch out for. It was very monotonous, you got very tired both physically and mentally doing this day in day out. The guard commander used to do spot checks on us to see if we had fallen asleep. Two hours on four hours off." "One thing all prisoners had in common was giving you the sign for a cigarette. We knew it as getting a fix. A friend might say 'give us a fix' and it would break your heart to break a cigarette in two." "We rotated around the German, Allied and IRA camps. Now there was a different arrangement for the different prisoners. The Germans and Allies used to get day passes and some even got jobs in the local areas in Kildare town, Newbridge or Kilcullen. The Ger- mans were an intimidating bunch. I remember one time escorting a German officer down to the Military Hospital. I was ordered not to let him out of my sight. Now I was only 5,4", looking up at him he didn't look too impressed." "The IRA were locked up 24/7. They did terrible things back then too and the government were determined not to let them get up to anything. Going home on leave people would ask you did you ever shoot anyone. Apart from the odd warning shot all we ever shot were the sheep getting caught up in the barbed wire. In saying that the IRA were always trying to tunnel out. There were some very ingenious engineers in their ranks. We'd watch them dig away and then catch them just before they finished it. It kept them busy so we didn't' mind." "For the most part we didn't get much leave. It all depended on how the war was going. My sisters came up a few times to New- bridge on the bus. I would go and meet them and they'd bring you some food or a clean shirt. If they brought food this was the best. The food in camp was terrible. I remember the CQMS counting out three potatoes that were black. We lived off loaves of bread, butter and jam. The canteen in the camp sold everything for a penny. A bun and a cup of tea or a piece of Gurcake. Now if you had 2pence you could get a Wad this was a big cake with cream in the middle." "One sad story I remember from 1941; we were all playing football one day and got the call to report to the hospital to give blood. There had been a training accident in the Glen of Imaal. 16 lads had been killed. We had to carry in the bodies. There was blood all over the truck. We all got a reality check that day." For most of the Emergency C Coy 25 Inf Bn was stationed in the Curragh. However it regularly took part in exercises outside of the Curragh area. Taking the young men to parts of the country like Cork, The Blackwater, Castle Annagh Camp, New Ross, Abbeyleix and Bawnjames. "In the summer of 1942 we took part in big ma- noeuvres. Now we marched everywhere. Our objective was to cross the Blackwater. The march down took us through places we'd never heard of or been. We were regularly allowed bivouac in old estates like Silversprings House Piltown, Co. Kilkenny. That was in July. We then went on to Wexford were we stayed in a camp in Bawnjames. We didn't mind marching through the countryside. We could buy things off the locals and the girls were always very pleasant to us." "The Blackwater manoeuvres took place in August and Septem- ber of 1942. We had to cross the Blackwater with full battle dress. Most lads couldn't swim so we had to form human chains. The current would try and grab your legs. Sometimes a chain would break upstream and lads would come drifting down and we'd have to catch them. "Near the end of the war I was given indefinite leave to finish my apprenticeship. My CO called me in and explained because the war was winding down, I was approved to go finish my trade so I would have it when I was discharged. Now I had just completed my NCO's course and I wanted to get my corporals stripes. Alas back up to Dublin I went. On return to the Curragh 18 months later I was handed my discharge papers and the offer of a Martin Henry suit. I took two shirts, two trousers and a pair of boots instead for work. I never got to find out whether I passed my NCO's course or not. Everyone was being demobilised. On discharge Éamon de Valera gave us a 100 pound. That was it, the Emergency was over." *Jildy - Anglo-Indian military slang, originally meaning haste in a military sense, now more so used to acknowledge a smart well turned out soldier. Emergency period photo- graphs are from the 25th Inf Bn, from the Hanley Collection at Military Archives. Military Archives are launching an online collection of these photo- graphs on www. militaryachives. ie as part of our photo identifi- cation project, where they will be asking members of the public for their help in identify- ing individuals in the photographs through feedback online. More photograph albums for dif- ferent eras will follow in due course. THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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