British Army in World War II would you have joined...?

Dub13

Ok ladies I could be opening a can of worms here but I hope we can have a open and mature discussion on this without any nastiness.So lets keep it clean and friendly,moderation on this thread will be strict.You have been warned.

I think its great that the Irish Government are finally starting to recognize the hundred's of thousand's of Irish men who have fought for the British Army in both world wars,IMO it shows that we are starting to mature as a nation.Any solder who goes to war is a brave brave man in my book but these guys could have stayed at home and just hoped for the best.Instead of doing that loads joined the fight some with the Yanks a few with the Australian's but most went to the British Army.More recruits were coming in from Dublin than Belfast,some people say a lot were basically little more than economic migrant's.Life sure was hard in Ireland back in the 30s & 40s but you still need a lot of ball's to sing up for a world war.

So my question to you is if you were around back in World War II would you have joined the British Army..?

IrishAirCorps

Yes i would

babybundy

ya the raf

Sgt. Sensible

First, I would've gone to Spain in 1936 to fight the fascists, and the stalinists. In ww2 I like to think I would have been a fighter pilot, a commando, or in the French resistance, like Samuel Beckett, hiding downed airmen in my bicycle, throwing bombs made of onions at passing gestapo bounders and so on.

But since I'm rubbish at violence and sneakiness I probably would have only been suitable for some sort of service corps job.

Flex

If I couldve joined as an officer and considering the fact I probably wouldnt have hada good job in Ireland at the time, then I think I would have

Maskhadov

yes

Fenian

I would of done what Brendan Behan did....

babybundy

Fenian wrote:

I would of done what Brendan Behan did....

and that was

Dave!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Behan#Republican_activities

I woulda joined

babybundy

i liked this one from that link His last words were to several nuns standing over his bed, "God bless you, may your sons all be bishops."

Fenian

Ya, his dying wish was to have his brother Brian shot for being "a traitor to the cause".

Babybundy, are you Irish ? If so, how in the name of God have you never heard of Brendan Behan?

babybundy

ya i had heard of him just couldn't remember where i knew the name from

Hagar

What about joining the Germans... (Acedemic question)

Dub13

Hagar wrote:

What about joining the Germans... (Acedemic question)

Good point.

Dirk Gently

There’s no point on looking back on it now in hindsight. You would have either belonged to a republican family in which case you would not have joined up, or you would have seen the British Government as the legitimate government and would have decided to defend it, or you would have joined up as you had no other option of employment. I think circumstances and family influences would have dictated your choice more so than anything else. If I was to look back in hindsight knowing what I know now I would like to think the war I would have volunteered for was the Spanish civil war fighting against the fascists as was mentioned by another poster, even though I would have ended up on the loosing side.

GrumPy

I would have joined.

cyrusdvirus

If possible would have avoided the army, tried for the RN or the RAF.

However if given the choice would've probably joined the american forces.

anthony4335

If your answer to this question is yes ,what would be the reason?

cyrusdvirus

anthony4335 wrote:

If your answer to this question is yes ,what would be the reason?

In all fairness i'd have thought that would be obvious. it seems to me that any posters on this board like big green or grey metal things, and we'd like to get the chance to use said big green or grey metal things.
there'd also be the little matter of knowing a war of agression was going on, and that your way of life was threatened by the axis forces.

boneless

A number of the men and women who joined the International Brigades in Spains anti-fascist war (Irish included) went on to join various allied armed services. Many also wanted to resist fascism but could join what they deemed to be imperialist armies. In order to play a part though some became ambulance drivers or fire fighters. The London aux. fire service had many members of the XV Brigade as members. I think this latter example is the course I would have taken if I was around then.

ScottishDanny

I had a great uncle in the Irish Air Corps who joined the RAF to fight fascism (he ended up a POW in the far east) and I say fair play to him. My own Grandad (from Wales) had fought in Spain against Franco and joined the British Army in '39 - a veteran at 23! Apparently he caused a stir when he told the drill sergeants they hadn't a clue how to tackle German tanks
"And how would you know that?"
"Because I've seen them!" was his reply.
My maternal Grandad was a Sgt Major in REME or Royal Engineers in Normandy North Africa and Italy - he ended up very anti-military from his experiences but saw it as his duty at the time.
Growing up in Scotland, everyones Grandad seems to have been in the services. I would have gone if I had the bottle (I love how folk cherry pick 'Officer', 'Fighter Pilot' - the joys of a hypothetical point I suppose )

boneless

ScottishDanny wrote:

I had a great uncle in the Irish Air Corps who joined the RAF to fight fascism (he ended up a POW in the far east) and I say fair play to him. My own Grandad (from Wales) had fought in Spain against Franco and joined the British Army in '39 - a veteran at 23! Apparently he caused a stir when he told the drill sergeants they hadn't a clue how to tackle German tanks
"And how would you know that?"
"Because I've seen them!" was his reply.
My maternal Grandad was a Sgt Major in REME or Royal Engineers in Normandy North Africa and Italy - he ended up very anti-military from his experiences but saw it as his duty at the time.
Growing up in Scotland, everyones Grandad seems to have been in the services. I would have gone if I had the bottle (I love how folk cherry pick 'Officer', 'Fighter Pilot' - the joys of a hypothetical point I suppose )

One of the Irish Brigadistas, Alec Digges, joined the BA in '39 as a private and ended up as a Lt. Col. His experience in Spain ensured that.

DarkMuse

Credit where it is due, all the men who went off to figh deserve our respect for out bravery and they were for a great cause.

But I cannot help but think, Ireland cannot have friendly relations with Britain while the hold the six counties. Now I know it's the 21st century and they really would be one of the first nations we would turn to for help if we needed it,especially the RAF, but that would have been my stance at the time.

Of course if a similar situation arose now I would have to reconsider it as the England of today is very different to the England of back then, in my eyes anyway.

The RAF help alot in our air and sea rescues in all fairness to them - give credit where its due.
lol cant help but laugh when i read some posts about if they had no other employment!!
THE FIGHTING IRISH - A Country of mercenaries allright!

The RAF help alot in our air and sea rescues in all fairness to them - give credit where its due.
lol cant help but laugh when i read some posts about if they had no other employment!!
THE FIGHTING IRISH - A Country of mercenaries allright!

vesp

Dub13 wrote:

So my question to you is if you were around back in World War II would you have joined the British Army..?

Yes. I know quite a few brave old gentlemen who did just that. They speak highly of how they were treated by the British forces. If anyone has ever read any reports of conditions in the Nazi concentration camps, the Japanese pow camps etc they can be in no doubt the cause was just.

vesp

Deleted User wrote:

The RAF help alot in our air and sea rescues in all fairness to them - give credit where its due.

If a highjacked airliner ( like as in 9 /11 ) came heading for Shannon or Dail Eireann the first people we would ask for help is the RAF. They not only protected us in WW2, in the cold war, but in peacetime too.

Fratton Fred

I used to live near this organisations head office http://www.cwgc.org/ (Stick you name in ther search function, it will make you think)and I played for their football team, so I got to meet a lot of guys that worked there. They do some pretty amazing stuff and if you ever have the privilege to visit a Commonwealth cemetery (I’ve visited them in France, Belgium and Thailand), the immaculate condition they are kept in is a fitting tribute to those that lost their lives.

My mother lost an uncle who was shot down over Holland in 1944, he was a navigator on an RAF bomber and, for the first time, my great uncle visited his brother’s grave last year. It was a very moving time for him as he was quite young when his big brother went off to war and had only just got to know him. Thanks to the CWGC not only did he have the chance to pay his respects, he also heard an account of how his brother managed to escape from the plane and open his parachute. However by the time the locals managed to get to him (he landed in a copse), he was dead.

My Mother’s Dad joined the Navy at 14 and initially served on HMS Forester which, I think, was one of the Royal Navy ships that escorted the SS Habana out of Bilbao in 1937, so by the time war broke out he was a seasoned sailor. During the war he saw action in the Atlantic, Both Narvik campaigns and the Russian Convoys. He did spend some time on HMS Hood but was transferred back to his old ship, a few weeks before the Hood was sunk. At the time my Nan didn’t know this and for a while thought he was dead. Unfortunately he died in 1959 when my Mum was 14 so I never had the pleasure of meeting him.

As a kid growing up in Portsmouth I would hear the old boys telling stories from the war and always though of hem as boring old men (in an Uncle Albert kind of way). I wish now I had paid more attention, or that more of those guys were still around to tell us what it was really like back then.

vesp

I agree about the immaculate condition the graves are kept in is a fitting tribute to those that lost their lives. Incidentally, the one in Thailand I found especially moving because of the suffering of many of the men in captivity building the railway lines before they died...and the fact they were so far from home. Many Australians, Dutch etc died there as well. As far as I remember one prisoner died for each railway sleeper that was laid. That generation really did sacrifice a lot....I sometimes wonder about it all.

Most of the WW2 veterans I know do not talk about the war at all. One served in the navy ( on the Atlantic convoys + was at Normandy etc ) , one served in Crete, one in Malta etc.

Hagar

Fratton Fred wrote:

As a kid growing up in Portsmouth I would hear the old boys telling stories from the war and always though of hem as boring old men (in an Uncle Albert kind of way). I wish now I had paid more attention, or that more of those guys were still around to tell us what it was really like back then.

Those type of old war stories would be make a great thread. We would of course have to accept them as told, inaccuracies, frills and all. These guys have deserved the right to "dress-up" the facts a little.

vesp

Hagar wrote:

Those type of old war stories would be make a great thread. We would of course have to accept them as told, inaccuracies, frills and all. These guys have deserved the right to "dress-up" the facts a little.

Generally old men like that just recall their experiences and stories, that is if and when they bother to recall or reminise at all. Why would they deliberately add lies ( inaccuracies, frills and all you call it )? I think these old men deserve our respect and not to be called liars , unless we have reason in specific cases to think otherwise.

Hagar

Vesp I have watched you stir the shyte everywhere you go.
Now if you want to play in this sandbox play nice or find another sandbox. I won't be repeating this.

purple'n'gold

I would have been proud to serve in the Royal Navy, as my great uncles did in World War 1.

Cake Fiend

DarkMuse wrote:

But I cannot help but think, Ireland cannot have friendly relations with Britain while the hold the six counties.
...
but that would have been my stance at the time.

The British army in WWII weren't (just) fighting for Britain, they were fighting for Europe.

purple'n'gold

Cake Fiend wrote:

The British army in WWII weren't (just) fighting for Britain, they were fighting for Europe.

They were actually fighting for the future of civilization. While de Velera was waxing eloquent about happy maidens dancing on crossroads.

TerrorFirmer

purplengold wrote:

They were actually fighting for the future of civilization. While de Velera was waxing eloquent about happy maidens dancing on crossroads.

...?

purple'n'gold

First, I would've gone to Spain in 1936 to fight the fascists, and the stalinists

That means you would have been fighting everyone!

walrusgumble

in all fairness to dev on not entering the war, but the country had only got out of a civil war about less than 20yrs before, huge divison still in the country then, our people barely had a pot to pee in.our soliders would barely have had the proper equipment to go to war against the nazi as britain would have. people might have gone banana if what ever money was in the purse was spent on the war effort. (then again dev did waste whatever dosh was given to us from the marshall plan)

still at least many irish men and women did their bit to stop germany, and its good so see they are finally being celebrated, unfortunately for some, its a bit too late, as some are now dead/

cyrusdvirus

Walrus, don't forget that Dev also sent a letter of condolence, on the behalf of the Irish people..........................the Germany when he heard about Hitler.

Fair play alright.....:rolleyes:

walrusgumble

exclude that weird moment of madness part, he was right to do what he did and keep our country out of it.

i wonder if his misses even know what was going on in his head when he did that?. i know we had to show a neutral stance and look like we were not taking sides, but did any other neutral country (bar spain who was at war) do this? doubt it.i think that was his reason. a bit of an embarrising day for dev all the same.

any way it was not actacly like ireland did not give some concessions to the allies (yes i know i was in our own intersts) eg detaining germans who flew in and crash on our soil, us fores stopping off for fuel, ireland was also reasonably leinant on british ships violating our national water space.

i wonder would many of our grand parents have been keen on threat of nazi's popping over to sligo and playing havoc if the nation had offically joined,seen what happened in derry and belfast.,our people were still sore between themselves after civil war.or what about when the war ended churchill publicly on radio implied self praise for not taking the port,thus violating our neutrality stance?

any way i know this is not the place for this here, so i apologise, i was not getting all republican and dismissing ww2 and the brave efforts of the allies

the_syco

Would have joined the British RAF, the Americans, or maybe the Germans, depending on when in the war it was. Also, depending on the amount of info I had back then. Most likely the Americans, tho, as I doubt I'd have joined the British "in them times". That is, if I hadn't joined the 'RA by then. May have still joined the yanks, if I was. As I said, depending on the info I had.

Hindsight is great, but only in the future.

FTA69

boneless wrote:

One of the Irish Brigadistas, Alec Digges, joined the BA in '39 as a private and ended up as a Lt. Col. His experience in Spain ensured that.

The man who led them ended up re-joining the IRA and trying to organise a campaign in England. There were people who went many different ways.

boneless

FTA69 wrote:

The man who led them ended up re-joining the IRA and trying to organise a campaign in England. There were people who went many different ways.

Actually, the man who led them, frank Ryan, was expelled from the IRA in 1933 for being too left wing. He was captured in Spain in '38 and spent two years in Burgos concentration camp. He was released into German custody and Abwher tried to get him to form an Irish Brigade (as Casement had tried to do in the first war). He was supposed to go to Ireland on a sub with Sean Russell but the latter died on the journey so the U boat turned back.

Ryan was in very bad health due to his treatment by the Spanish fascists and died in Dresden in 1944. His remains were re-interred in Glasnevin in 1979.

fightin irish

In my head i would like to think i wold have left for the u.s. and signed up, But realistically i probably would have enlisted in the British army.

Funny thing is my grandad's brother joined the British army in '41. He went to Belfast and the story goes that my Grandad went up and got him out...by force, with money, against his will i dont know. Never liked that story but there ya go.

odonnell

I often wondered about this question myself so fair play to you for raising it.

Im Scottish, and actually joined the RAF when i was 23 t fulfill a life long ambition - and i left almost immediately as i had gotten engaged the weeks preceding basic training. All i could think about was leaving my wife to go to iraq (which at the time was looking very likely) and so i didnt see any other option but to withdraw.

Now... in answer - in WWII, i suppose like any other war - if married, no i wouldnt go.... if single - definitely.

Secondly - in response to someone chatting about the RAF earlier - Remember 9/11 here in Dublin, and the first thing i remember the morning after, was standing on the balcony looking at a Nimrod flying overhead... tornados were also sighted. So id say with all that is going on between the UK and Eire, the UK are still helping out where needed - and it IS the UK guys...the RAF dont act independantly of the UK Government - just a wee point that seems to have been lost somewhere in there amongst the "fair play to the RAF"'s...

purple'n'gold

odonnell wrote:

I often wondered about this question myself so fair play to you for raising it.

Im Scottish, and actually joined the RAF when i was 23 t fulfill a life long ambition - and i left almost immediately as i had gotten engaged the weeks preceding basic training. All i could think about was leaving my wife to go to iraq (which at the time was looking very likely) and so i didnt see any other option but to withdraw.

Now... in answer - in WWII, i suppose like any other war - if married, no i wouldnt go.... if single - definitely.

Secondly - in response to someone chatting about the RAF earlier - Remember 9/11 here in Dublin, and the first thing i remember the morning after, was standing on the balcony looking at a Nimrod flying overhead... tornados were also sighted. So id say with all that is going on between the UK and Eire, the UK are still helping out where needed - and it IS the UK guys...the RAF dont act independantly of the UK Government - just a wee point that seems to have been lost somewhere in there amongst the "fair play to the RAF"'s...

Of course the RAF keeps a friendly eye on us, and thank heaven for that. After all our “air force” consists of the government jet and a few propeller driven aircraft. I know, this annoys a lot of people but it’s a fact.

cp251

I'd have volunteered for aircrew in the RAF, hoping to be a pilot. But would probably have ended up a gunner or wireless operator on bombers. And probably shot down and killed.

Actually I tried to join the modern RAF but believe it or not the rules now state you must be British born to be aircrew. So no more Irish pilots in the RAF. How things have changed. The third highest RAF pilot of WW2 was Brendan 'Paddy' Finucane and he was killed in 1942.

My Father was the right age to join but didn't because he had to look after his Mother and siblings. He wasn't very military in truth.

There was one Irish Air Corps pilot who was bored with life in the Air Corps (nothing new there then:rolleyes: ). He decided to join the Luftwaffe for some reason. So he stole an Air Corps amphibious Walrus aircraft and off he went. He only got as far as England where he was arrested and sent back. After some jail time. He got out and this time more sensibly joined the RAF and even got to fly Spitfires in Italy. He is still alive when I last heard.:D

odonnell

yeah its a shame but, i suppose that sort of regulation was on the cards. I remember them raising a few eyebrows when i joined up to see id lived in ireland for a while immediately beforehand...

After thinking about it though in terms of which role youd like to play, or Id play personally... i grew up wishing to join the RAF and loving planes, airfields, being in the cadets etc.... but ill say this - later in life that point of view changed dramatically. It turned out that a very small percentage of airforce jobs are actually aircrew based. In the end I was all go for joining the Regiment (raf regiment are something akin to the royal marines though are more or less restricted to the securing of airbases and their related sites) but they werent for having it saying i would "get bored".

swines.

Dub13

odonnell wrote:

In the end I was all go for joining the Regiment (raf regiment are something akin to the royal marines though are more or less restricted to the securing of airbases and their related sites) but they werent for having it saying i would "get bored".

Well thats a matter of opinion,I know a few lads who served/are serving with the Brits and apparently its only the RAF who think the Regiment are up there with the best.

odonnell

probably true.... but all the regiments think like that

Fratton Fred

Dub13 wrote:

Well thats a matter of opinion,I know a few lads who served/are serving with the Brits and apparently its only the RAF who think the Regiment are up there with the best.

Isn't the RAF Regiment known as the Rock Apes?(Apologies if that's an offensive name for it)

I thought they had a special forces type section designed to capture and hold enemy airfields or something like that. A couple of old school mates of mine joined and had a great time in Belize.