Irishman in SS

Night Flight · 10-10-2008 9:30am

Ve Vere only obeying orders!

John Codd on Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Codd

ilkhanid · 20-11-2008 12:44am

"There is a story that two korean men fighting for the germans were taken prisoner at normandy. Apparently they had been conscripted by the japanese and sent to fight the russians in manchuria. The russians captured them and sent them to fight the germans on the eastern front. They were then captured by the germans and sent to normandy where they were made fight for the germans before being captured by the americans."
It's a pity the Americans did'nt enlist them into their forces fighting the japanese in the pacific theatre. They would have done a complete circuit of the globe.

LuckyBleeder · 25-11-2008 4:21pm

A lot of teh non-german ss divisions were rubbish.The so called Freies Indien legion to name but one were little more than ex-pow's who never fired a shot in anger.

R.Dub.Fusilier · 22-09-2009 10:58pm

here is a related article i found on the net http://www.geocities.com/irishnationalist1921/THE STORY OF ROTTENFUHRER JAMES BRADY WAFFEN SS.

article cut-link is enough.mod.

Fuinseog · 18-10-2009 9:22pm

SlabMurphy wrote: »

Very interesting, he wasn't featured on Irelands Nazi's programme was in ?? Not admiring the cause he fought for, but seemed like a tough nut all the same.

james brady may not have been his real name. he was supposd to hail from roscommon, but nobody knew him there.

Fuinseog · 18-10-2009 9:25pm

McArmalite wrote: »

A bit off topic, but watching a programme on English soldiers recruited into the waffen ss for propganda purposes, the programme stated that appearently 2,000 soldiers volunteered from India to fight in the Waffen SS. Whether they were recruited in India or POW camps it didn't say. Since there also were many Bosnian Muslims also who volunteered for the waffen ss, is it a great irony to say that the waffen ss were a - racial and religious diverse organisation ??

there is abook out about Eric Pleasant (or is it Peoples). he served in teh legion of st. George

Fuinseog · 18-10-2009 9:27pm

what happened to 'James Brady' after 1950? he was court martialled but thereafter disappeared

BlackEdelweiss · 18-10-2009 9:49pm

I read the book about him, "Hitlers Irishmen" I think it was called, its not that great a book and the Irish guys involvement in the war was minimal, a bit of a crap story I thought overall. One interesting little story from it was when they were in a prisoner camp they shared a cell with Stalin's son who nobody got on with, there was even a bit of bullying if I remember correctly. One day an english cell mate punched Stalin's son who lost the plot and ran outside and made for the wire, or a guard, I cant remember exactly, and was promptly shot and killed.

BostonB · 19-10-2009 12:12am

Agreed its not a great book, and its not a great story.

McArmalite · 19-10-2009 11:52am

LuckyBleeder wrote: »

A lot of teh non-german ss divisions were rubbish.The so called Freies Indien legion to name but one were little more than ex-pow's who never fired a shot in anger.

Yes, most of non German SS divisions were rubbish, more for propaganda purposes, though I think some such as the Viking Division formed from Danish, Swedish fascists etc were pretty formidable.

Here is a picture of Rommell inspecting some Indian soldiers.
Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J16796%2C_Rommel_mit_Soldaten_der_Legion_%22Freies_Indien%22.jpg

Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-J16796%2C_Rommel_mit_Soldaten_der_Legion_%22Freies_Indien%22.jpg

BlackEdelweiss · 19-10-2009 2:36pm

[FONT=ARIAL, SANS SERIF]I am not sure if this guy was in the SS or the Heer but foreign servicemen were almost exclusively in the SS, but it sounds like an interesting story. I have tried to find out more about it but have so far been unsuccessful.
"Dan George McDaid
Born the illegitimate son of a domestic servant girl raped by a rich landlord who cast her out on the road when she bore his illegitimate son, McDaid’s life began in extreme adversity and destitution. His mother died when he was just 13 and he was left to fend for himself, the experiences of which set the scene for his later exploits in life.

He joined a ship’s crew and found himself in Europe in the 1930’s where he was arrested in Germany for robbery with violence and was pressed into the German army. He saw action in France and on the bloody Eastern front where he was highly decorated.

At war’s end he escaped in an allied soldier’s uniform and drove an ambulance to Portugal and from there took a boat to Mexico. Imprisoned, for illegal gold mining, he once again escaped and crossed into the USA. His songs detail his various American exploits.

He returned to Ireland in 1962 and was by then a seasoned vagabond affecting thefts and con-tricks as the opportunities presented themselves. Obviously suffering from untreated shell-shock, his increasingly erratic behaviour led him further along the path to self -destruction and possibly his finest song writing period, until the time of his mysterious disappearance in 1986."[/FONT]

FiSe · 19-10-2009 3:13pm

I don't think that 'most non German SS divisions were rubbish' and that 'foreign servicemen were almost exclusively in the SS'. I would say that it was the opposite. The Waffen SS divisions were the elite of the German army in another words the best on the front line. Highly motivated, well trained, equipped with the best available material.

Not all of those foreign units fought main battles, which could lead to that statement, but were deployed on their home ground as an anti-partisan force, brutal, bloodthirsty and merciless.

But, it's true that some of the 'units' were for propaganda purposes only. Like the one formed from British POWs, which, I think, never even reached any operational status.

Most of the above mentioned foreign 'volunteers', like Indians, Tartars, Russians and so on, were formed as a part of WH units.

sven76 · 03-05-2012 8:50pm

Hello
Do You maybe know in the battle of Zehden did ss English corps also participate? they were stationed not far in the Angermunde
Please help me

nuac · 04-05-2012 9:50am

Re foreign SS - Beevor mentions that some of those fought very bravely at the fall of Berlin

sven76 · 06-05-2012 3:31pm

Ok i att. jpg with item from Zahden/Cedynia is it possible british whistle in this place ??? Maybe they come from Ireland???

Im waiting for Your opinion Kind Regards

TerrorFirmer · 11-02-2014 4:07am

I've recently made a brief radio documentary on Brady and Stringer; can link you guys with the radio broadcast segment. I'm also working on a larger piece of several thousand words, find the topic absolutely fascinating.

My aim is to make the whole event accessible to anyone. I've covered everything from beginning to end in the radio segment, which is fairly basic, but my work in progress is far more detailed.

Stringer and Brady are the only two confirmed Irishmen to have served Germany in combat roles, there are others, like Patrick O Neill, which are unsubstantiated, and are likely to never be uncovered.

Let me know if you want to hear the podcasts.

Irishman in SS

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