"On the 17th May 1942, I joined the S.S. Earlston as A.B. at Glasgow. About the 27th May 1942 we left Glasgow and arrived in Iceland on 1st June 1942. We left Iceland on or about the 27th June 1942 bound for Russia. On the 1st July 1942 we were attacked by enemy aircraft and these attacks continued off and on until 5th July, when our ship was sunk by bombs and torpedo. The skipper Captain Stenwick was taken onboard one of four submarines, which surfaced close to the sinking ship. The rest of the crew were in one lifeboat, and after ten days at sea, landed at North Cape, Norway. The remaining men were captured soon after landing and were taken by land and sea to a prison ship at Oslo and later to Aalborg, Denmark. We were later taken by stages to Marlag and Milag Prisoner of War camp arriving there by the end of August 1942". (War Crimes Files National Archives Kew. Extracts sourced from British and German documents).1943: Irishmen in Bremen-Farge Arbeitslager: On the 31st March 1943 Gestapo Bremen wrote to the Reich Main Security Office, Foreign Workers Section, Berlin SW 11, asking for other instructions to send the Irishmen to a concentration camp (Neuengamme). The RHSA (Reich Main Security Office/SS General Ernst Kaltenbrunner) advised that the Irishmen be kept in Bremen-Farge Arbeitslager and await further instructions. Circa 6th April 1945, the Irishmen, less the 5 men who died, were returned from Bremen-Farge Arbeitslager to their former camp, Milag Nord (Merchant Seamen's Internment Camp) located in Westertimke. (Film extract showing the Liberation of Marlag und Milag Nord 27 April 1945 - Imperial War Museum): UBoat Bunker "VALENTIN": In April 1943 construction of the largest Kreigsmarine project, the UBoat Bunker "VALENTIN" was begun, located on the River Weser. In less than two years a bunkered shipyard would arise to build submarines of the latest type. The completion of the first submarine was scheduled for March 1945, and from the autumn of 1945 every other day, a boat was to be launched and put into service. William (G) Knott and Thomas Murphy from SS Earlston and the other Irish born British merchant seamen who refused to workfrei for the Nazis were relocated to Bremen-Farge Arbeitslager circa 06th February 1943 and forced to work as slave labourers on soil removal and the construction of the mud banks that now surrounds the Bunker to prevent the Weser flooding the site. The Irishmen also worked laying the foundations for the UBoat Bunker, and were the first group of slave labourers to work on the Bunker Valentin from 1943. Built to withstand aerial bombing with up to seven metre thick ceilings and walls, what now remains of the Bunker "VALENTIN" is a unique and unmistakable relic of Nazi armaments for naval warfare, a lasting place of memory and a visible reminder of crimes of the Nazi regime. Bunker Valention: Drone footage: Imposing Concrete Hideout is Where Nazi U-Boats Were Once Built: This imposing concrete structure in the German city of Bremen is 1400-feet long, 300-feet wide, and 90-feet high, and looks every inch the secret Nazi facility that it is. Its purpose was to build and test U-Boats. https://fb.watch/cdYfNm3osz/ 28 April 2010: Commemoration Milag Nord Westertimke Germany: Organised by the Irish Seamen’s Relatives Association (1939-46) a Commemoration was held at the location of the former merchant seamen’s prison camp (Milag Nord) in Westertimke, in remembrance of prisoners who lost their lives during world war two: Pipe Major David Johnson, from Northern Ireland, ex Irish Guards, former Pipe Major, Queens Royal Irish Hussars and currently Pipe Major, Crossed Swords Pipes and Drums, Germany, Piped the lament. Pipe Major Johnson placed a wreath in remembrance of members of Irish Guards killed in action. Wreaths were also placed on behalf of the Irish Seamen’s Relatives Association (1939-46), British Merchant Navy Association and the Royal Naval Patrol Service Association in Lowestoft. 29 April 2021: Commemoration Stalag XB Sandbostel Germany: On the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the liberation of prisoners of war and concentration camp prisoners in Stalag XB Sandbostel, a Commemorative film published online includes a section remembering IRISH VICTIMS OF THE NAZIS: Sandbostel76 Virtual Memorial: 29th April 1945: Liberation of Stalag XB Sandbostel Germany: On the 29th of April 1945, members of the Irish Guards led by Lieutenant John Gorman were involved in the liberation of Stalag XB Sandbostel (Film Extract: Imperial War Museum): Sandbostel is also where Irish born British merchant seamen were held from 1941-1942: Former Ulster Unionist MP Sir John Gorman, spoke of witnessing the "barbarous" treatment of prisoners at Sandbostel concentration camp. Sir John recalled "We were trying to do something to keep some of the dying people alive."A hole had been dug to put dead bodies in. "The people running the camp behaved in a barbarous way". By the end of the war, more than 313,000 prisoners from around the world had passed through the camp complex of Stalag XB Sandbostel. Their treatment was regulated by international treaties, but systematic violations were common. The Wehrmacht denied the Soviet soldiers any protection under international law. Thousands of them died of hunger and diseases, the exact number, is not known. In April 1945, about 9,500 prisoners from the Neuengamme concentration camp, which had been evacuated shortly before, and some subcamps in the Bremen area arrived at Sandbostel. Despite the desperate efforts of the International Prisoner of War Resistance Committee to help the concentration camp prisoners in the days before liberation, thousands died of disease, exhaustion, and direct violence at the hands of the guards. The British Army liberated 14,000 POWs and 7,000 concentration camp prisoners on April 29, 1945. The soldiers found catastrophic conditions, especially in the area where the concentration camp prisoners were housed. After the liberation, the British Royal Army Medical Corps, (No 10 (British) Casualty Clearing Station), tried to help the liberated concentration camp prisoners, but more than 500 concentration camp prisoners still died of exhaustion, emaciation, and infectious diseases. The dead were initially buried in mass graves around the camp. These graves were opened between 1954 and 1956.Irish Merchant Navy Memorial - Alrewas - UK: Sponsored (2001) by the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46), the Irish Merchant Navy Memorial Plaque and Plinth uniquely embossed with the Irish flag commemorating those crews lost on neutral Irish registered vessels during world war two (including an oak tree) is now on view in the Merchant Navy Convoy Section of the National Memorial Arboretum currently managed by the Royal British Legion, and located in Alrewas, Staffordshire, England. The Irish memorial is also listed on the website of the British Merchant Navy Association. On the 22 June 2017, following completion of loan in Germany, the Bremen-Farge Memorial Plaque which commemorates 5 Irish Born British Merchant Seamen who lost their lives in the Bremen-Farge Work Concentration Camp during world war two, and originally fixed to the front of the plinth, was donated to the Mayo Peace Park, Garden of Remembrance, Lannagh Road, Castlebar, County Mayo (Google Map Location), for permanent display. This memorial plaque was unveiled on Saturday 26 August 2017 at 14.30hrs by a relative of the O’Hara family in honour of their Father, Grandfather, Radio Officer Gerald O'Hara. (Article: Gerald O'Hara (1893-1944) An Irish Seaman of the British Merchant Navy): The Irish Merchant Navy Memorial Plaque/Plinth, along with the Bremen-Farge Memorial Plaque: is listed by the National Memorial Arboretum UK, listed in the UK War Memorials Register/Imperial War Museum, London at Neutral Irish Registered Vessels Memorial, and recorded in British Commonwealth and International War Graves in Ireland, Published 2007 by the Irish Government Stationery Office, Dublin: The Merchant Navy Association UK, have included the Bremen-Farge Memorial Plaque now located in the Mayo Peace Park, Garden of Remembrance, Castlebar, County Mayo, on their website record of Merchant Navy Memorials Worldwide. (Additional Publications: Merchant Navy Association UK, Newsletter, 11 August 2017: Unveiling Ceremony Mayo Peace Park, Garden of Remembrance; Western People Newspaper, Monday 04 September 2017: 'Ballina's Gerald O'Hara is Remembered': Merchant Navy Association UK, Newsletter, 12 September 2017: Unveiling Ceremony Mayo Peace Park, Garden of Remembrance): |
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COMMEMORATION | ||||||||||||||
Tuesday 07 June 2022-Youtube Video: Commemoration: Irishmen who served on Arctic Convoys 1941-1945 | ||||||||||||||