Ancestor Photos

Irish veterans of British Forces to be pardoned ..

Irish Independent (newspaper)

Paddy Reid, of Balbriggan, Ireland, holds a photograph of his father and uncle, Gunners Paddy and Freddie Reid, who served in the British Army in south-east Asia through most of WW2. They were involved in some of the war's fiercest battles, notably at Kohima, where being a Gunner did not absolve one of the necessity to defend one's life at the end of a bayonet. Paddy Snr. (died 1987) had deserted from the Army of the Irish Free State (he had lied about his age to join it) to join the British Forces, one of 5,000 Irish servicemen to do so. On his return to Ireland, he found himself dishonourably discharged from the Irish forces and blacklisted for public service employment - a serious disadvantage for anybody in the depressed economy of southern Ireland in the late-1940s. The Irish Government is publishing a Bill aimed at pardoning and rehabilitating these men (announced today, 7 May, 2013). Heroes ? Deserters ? Better perhaps to live in the now. Over 65,000 southern Irishmen volunteered for and served in the British forces during WW2. Best regards, JR. [I have placed an entry on this in the Forum, should anybody wish to follow up on it].