HOW IRELAND WAS IN NAZI CROSSHAIRS
Despite our neutrality, a new book reveals how close Ireland came to a German invasion during the Second World War as Operation Green was at such a serious stage that De Valera even turned to the British for help
ON AUGUST 26, 1940, two low-flying aircraft disturbed the usual peace and quiet of the Wexford countryside. This was a time when the sound of aircraft was still such an unusual occurrence that people came rushing out of their homes for the chance to see a plane.
But as the planes swerved down to the small village of Campile, the gathering spectators turned and fled in horror and shock as the planes opened fire, targeting the local creamery. Three local women who had been inside working in the canteen of the building were killed in the attack.
The bombing occurred just after lunchtime. Had it occurred minutes before, the strike would have recorded a much higher death toll as the canteen would have been full of the creamery’s workers on their lunchbreak.
News of the bombing sent a wave of terror through the country. Although Berlin quickly denied it had carried out the attack, there was no doubt in the Dublin Government’s mind that it was the work of the Luftwaffe, the German military air force. Eyewitness descriptions of the planes and an examination of the remnants of the bombs dropped confirmed this belief.
Was the bombing a precursor of the unthinkable — a full-scale German invasion of Ireland? In the research I undertook for my new novel A Telegram From Berlin, I discovered that de Valera’s goverment had just been made frighteningly aware that such a plan had in fact been finalised that
Only Britain stood as a buffer between Ireland and the Nazis
month and the Nazi threat to Ireland was very much real.
The events in Campile was just a week short of the first anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War. In a move that had shocked and angered the British, the Irish had declared their neutrality at the start of the war. Since the foundation of the state 17 years previously, Ireland had been carefully and strategically pulling f urther away f rom the Empire and British influence.
In 1937, Ireland had established its own constitution and elected its first president and taken back the three ports that had initially been retained by the British under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
In 1939, with the declaration of neutrality, the act was seen in Ireland as another assertion of its independence. But in Britain it was viewed as a despicable act of betrayal.
Ireland’s strategic location in the North Atlantic would have provided invaluable naval bases to the British.
The Dublin Government even faced severe criticism from America, its usual ally, who despite its own neutrality at the time put immense pressure on the Irish to join the British in their fight.
The new American ambassador to Dublin, David Gray, even accused the Dublin government of being pro-Nazi.
In the first months of the war this all led to a fear in Dublin of an actual invasion by the British. There was a real belief that the British would put their need to win the war above any respect for Irish neutrality and simply take back the ports they had conceded in 1937. Or alternatively, the British could launch an invasion south from Northern Ireland. This move would have precedent, as in May 1940 the Royal navy had sailed into Reykjavik and informed the people of neutral Iceland that they would be putting them under British protection and the island would be used as a naval base for the duration of the war.
Though given the recent AngloIrish history, the British knew that if they attempted the same in Ireland they could not expect to receive the same complicit response from the Irish as they received from the Icelanders. As the events of 1940 unfolded and great swathes of the continent fell under Nazi domination, the world could only look on in dismay. With the fall of France in June, only Britain now stood as a buffer between Ireland and the Nazi empire. As the threat of a British invasion of Ireland receded, it became chillingly clear that the country now faced a far more treacherous enemy as was being witnessed by the brutal treatment the Germans were inflicting on the conquered nations of Europe. Also, as Hitler’s Wehrmacht s t ormed t hrough Denmark, Norway and Holland it became apparent that Ireland’s policy of neutrality would not protect it from German aggression either. Co-operation between Britain and Ireland now became essential in the face of the Nazi menace.
The old f oes began sharing intelligence and with Churchill now at the helm in London, it is ironic that Eamon de Valera now worked closely behind the scenes with his old enemy.
In 1940, British i ntelligence informed their Irish counterparts that the Germans had drawn up a full and very detailed invasion plan for Ireland. The plan — codenamed Operation Green — had been commissioned by German intelligence and 32 copies had been distributed to German high command.
The main ambition of t he Germans at this time was the quick defeat of Britain, which looked imminent. An invasion of Ireland was seen as a strategic move. Instead of a direct invasion of Britain, it was considered that a German offensive in Ireland would result i n a British defence of the island. In short, Operation
Green’s objective was to turn Ireland into the final battleground of the war where the British would be defeated.
A network of German spies in Ireland fed back meticulous information to Berlin, detailing data including climate, topography and transport networks. Detailed sketches and photos of towns and villages were furnished to be used alongside ordnance survey maps by the military in preparation for the blitzkrieg through Ireland.
German intelligence even studied photos taken by German tourists visiting Ireland before the war to familiarise themselves with the landscape.
The Germans had an easy advantage with one aspect as one of their corporations, Siemens, had constructed the Ardnacrusha power plant that supplied the majority of Ireland’s electricity needs. The German military had access through Siemens to the plans of the power plant, at the time one of the biggest in the world. Various landing locations were identified including Killala, Donegal and Galway. But it was the area along the south coast of Wexford and Waterford that were seen as the best landing spot for an invading force.
It is telling that Leonhard Kaupisch was appointed as the commander in charge of Operation Green. Kaupisch was the supreme military commander of occupied Denmark and so he could bring the knowledge and expertise to manage the conquest of a similarly- sized population and neutral country such as Ireland. It had been Kaupisch’s signature that had been on the bottom of leaflets that had been dropped from planes flying across Denmark at the time of invasion urging the population there to surrender peacefully to the advancing German troops.
So with these detailed plans in place and with even Hitler stating in 1940 that the occupation of Ireland could lead to the end of the war, why was Operation Green never put into practise?
On the surface, Ireland looked like an easy target as it had a very weak military at the time and the country was still recovering from the War of Independence and Civil War. This fragility had been compounded by the economic war of t he 1930s. But Commander Kaupisch still may have found the Irish far more obstinate to deal with than the Danes.
The Irish were very experienced in resistance fighting, their guerrilla warfare skills still tuned from fighting the British only 20 years previously. A hostile population used to guerrilla warfare accompanied by what was seen as a hostile topography for the German military to navigate made Ireland an unattractive prey.
But ultimately it was geography that caused Operation Green to be shelved. Although the raids on Belfast showed the Luftwaffe was very capable of wreaking destruction on the island, it was considered too risky to launch a full invasion.
Paratroopers could be dropped into Ireland but they risked being cut off without support if the accompanying naval force could not land safely on the island. The German naval force would need to disembark f rom Brittany and would have to navigate across more than 500km of seas to land at the nearest point of Wexford — rough seas that were heavily patrolled and protected by the British navy. It was decided that this would leave German troops that had landed in Ireland at risk of being isolated without support and too vulnerable to British forces who would attack from their territory in Northern Ireland.
Unknown to Hitler, this is exactly what had already been arranged to happen if the invasion should be launched. Once British intelligence made the Irish aware of Operation Green, the two worked together on their own secret plans, called Operation W. This was the blueprint for the joint defence of Ireland by British and Irish troops.
It was agreed that in the event of a Nazi invasion, British troops would cross the border into the south only at the request of the Dublin Government to repel the common enemy.
It is amazing that within less than 20 years of the War of Independence, the two countries could pull together in such a way. It is even more amazing to think that de Valera was prepared to invite the British back into Ireland, such was the dread of a Nazi occupation.
As the Nazis decided to instead launch a direct attack on Britain, Operation Green was f i nally rejected. However, the plan to invade Britain — codenamed Operation Sealion — still did not exclude Ireland from the Nazi threat.
In fact, the planned invasion of Britain, which was logistically seen as much easier than an invasion of Ireland, intensified the peril for Ireland. For with the expected defeat of Britain, Ireland was being
On the surface, Ireland looked like an easy target
Hitler had no respect for Irish neutrality
included in the plans for the ensuing German occupation. Dublin was named in Operation Sealion as one of the six centres of Nazi administration after a German victory in the British Isles along with London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Glasgow. Ireland’s inclusion in Operation Sealion is evidence than Hitler intended to show no respect for either Irish independence or neutrality.
Eventually, as the Germans could not defeat the RAF and gain superiority over the skies in the Battle of Britain, Hitler abandoned all intentions to occupy any part of the British Isles and turned his attention east to Russia, which proved to be his Waterloo. Ireland managed to maintain its neutrality and the war continued to be referred to as ‘the emergency’.
Had the German invasion force arrived in Ireland though, the emergency would have quickly become an outright war on the island.
As for the raid on the creamery in Campile, Berlin finally admitted that it was its aircraft that carried out the raid, claiming the area had been mistaken for South Wales which had been the intended target. In an amazing testament to Irish diplomacy at the time, the Irish even managed to eventually secure compensation. For the damage done in Wexford, the German government paid £9,000 in reparations in 1943, three years after the air raid took place.