On Saturday
May 31st, 1941 between 1.55am - 2.10 am, German bombs fell on
Dublin centred in the North Strand area of the city which
resulted in many casualties and damage to property. Since
then, historians have offered various reasons as to why the
bombing occurred. Likely causes from bending of radio beams by
British intelligence to accidental or no accident have been
proffered. To date, no evidence has been adduced to
corroborate either theory. However extracts from surviving
luftwaffe aerial photographs taken in 1940 show that Nazi
Germany had acquired detailed knowledge of Dublin city and
county and pinpoint with great accuracy the exact locations of
military and commercial locations within the Dublin area. Of
particular interest is the detail in photographs showing the
Dublin port area and the Liffey dockyard. In December 1940,
when several of these pictures were taken my father, Desmond
Mulvany originally from Whitehall in Dublin, was employed in
the Liffey dockyard as an electrician degaussing British and
allied vessels. He had previously worked as an electrician in
the Naval Section of the
Cammell Laird Shipyard
in Birkenhead.
Following a request by the Irish Government for British
assistance he was brought to Dublin on secondment with a Royal
Navy intelligence officer to advise the Liffey dockyard staff
on the methodology of routing an electric charge through
cables that had to be encircled around the hull of ships to
demagnetise vessels in order to prevent activation of magnetic
mines.
During WWII all sorts of mines were developed and used,
sometimes complete minefields were created. A particularly
deadly variety was the magnetic mine which was engineered by
German naval research into torpedo and mine fuses and they
successfully developed a magnetic proximity fuse. The magnetic
mine was based on the principle that when the residual
magnetism of a ship distorted the local geomagnetic field of
the sensor, it activated the mine's magnetic needle of the
trigger. One of the countermeasures was the installation of
wiping stations which degaussed or demagnetised the ship's
natural magnetic field. There is also anecdotal family
evidence which suggests the German Ambassador to Ireland
Eduard Hempel had become aware of what was going on in the
Liffey dockyard and had been seen in the dockyard warning
staff of the consequences of breaching Irish neutrality. These
aerial photographs prove beyond doubt that Hitler was
targeting Irish military locations to explore vulnerabilities.
A view has been expressed that there is no extant evidence
which indicates that a German invasion was being planned or
imminent and that these images are only surveillance
photographs which could be expected from belligerents engaged
in military operations against each other. That opinion is
naive in many respects. The luftwaffe on their flights over
Ireland were not taking snaps as souvenirs for some photograph
archive back in Germany. Surveillance images which show the
precise locations of military installations and commercial
targets have only one purpose in a time of war and that is to
seek out and identify the weaknesses and strengths of a
predetermined target to overcome defences. The multiple
targeting of various Irish military installations and
commercial locations within Dublin city and county by the
Nazis had military objectives and it was not only just for
surveillance. Indeed the amount of detail and precise
knowledge that had been accumulated on each location within
the Dublin area is very revealing and would suggest the Nazis
had already acquired eyes on the ground intelligence from
their agents or collaborators operating in Ireland. It is also
instructive to note that by the end of December 1940 Irish
flagged neutral vessels had already been attacked and sunk by
German aircraft and U-Boats with the loss of merchant seamen
from Ireland, the UK, Norway and Argentina.The north strand
bombing of the 31st May 1941 was a plausible deniable
luftwaffe military incursion into Irish sovereign territory,
and but for the sacrifice of UK and allied forces which
includes many Irishmen and Irishwomen, Nazi jackboots would
have been marching on Dublin streets. It has been suggested
that the luftwaffe bombing of the North Strand in 1941 was
accidental, however it is more likely the German pilots missed
their intended target, “THE DUBLIN DOCKS".
Postscript:
Interestingly an Irish Military Intelligence Report: marked
SECRET: Reference: NO: G2/X0/423: dated 15th November 1940
recorded: Quote: “ The Germans committed a very serious breach
of neutrality when on the 27th Aug. 1940 a German aeroplane
dropped bombs on the creamery in Campile, Co. Wexford, and
killed three girls. The Irish up to this received no reply to
their protest. In the meantime many Irish citizens have
themselves undermined the effectiveness of the protest of the
Irish government. It does not seem to them that the Germans
would be capable of bombing Ireland and they say that the
attack was made by the British in a German aeroplane (and with
German bombs in order to have an alibi). The fearless
newspapers note only the official report. They were not
allowed to add their own comments to the report or possibly to
condemn the deed” End of Quote: The G2 (Irish Army
Intelligence) conclusion about the Irish public attitude at
the time may explain why the various reasons for the German
bombing of the North Strand were bandied about other than the
real military objective by the Germans which was to hit the
Liffey dockyard, and if the bombs went astray then plausible
deniability that the bombing was accidental would have more
traction with an Irish public unwilling to believe that it
could have been intentional. Interestingly the degaussing of
Ships in the Liffey dockyard ceased for a period following the 1941 German
bombing of the North Strand. In September 1941 my father
returned to the UK along with my mother and he took up a
position in the
RAF Pembroke Dockyard located in Wales for the
rest of the War.
In 1946 Desmond Mulvany returned to Ireland and worked in the
ESB as an electrician. He died in 1957.
(Peter Mulvany:
https://www.irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie):
●
14th August 2003: BBC History,
WW2 Stories:
Irish Connection WW2
●
27th May 2024: Irish Examiner:
Letters Editor:
Nazi bombs in Dublin were no accident
●
29th May 2024:
Remembering Lost Lives: North Strand Bombing May 1941:
Dublin People
●
Follow up to article/letter published in the Dublin people and Irish
Examiner might be
of interest reference Irish Neutrality during world war two
at link:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/pAMfTE95Vc2fhDLz/
An Aspect of Irish Neutrality 1939-45:
The line of reasoning promulgated by some Irish connections
regarding an imminent British invasion during the Emergency
is at odds with the Chief of Staffs (British) outlined
position dated 12 January 1938, which indicates the British
Government were more concerned at the hostile attitude on
the part of Ireland rather than the possible denial and use
of the ports. They advised Churchill that in order to avoid
so intolerable a situation arising no effort should be
spared to ensure that friendly relations with Ireland were
maintained, and considered it would be preferable to waive
insistence of a formal undertaking which might be
politically impracticable for Mr de Valera to give and which
would not necessarily have any value in the event, if by
doing so, they could secure a satisfactory agreement with
the de Valera Government. Consequently the British
Government from the outset had achieved the result of an
accommodation with Britain and an Ireland that was not
hostile but neutral.
On the 3rd of September 1939, the outbreak of the Second
World War, Ireland declared herself to be neutral.
Aides-memoire were delivered to Britain, France and Germany.
The 1907 Hague Convention concerning the rights and duties
of neutral powers was cited to be Ireland`s position.
Covertly the Irish had also agreed with the British 14
points to assist the allies during 1939-45. See attached
Cranbourne Report on the Position of Southern Ireland.
By May 1940 The Department of External Affairs had destroyed
many papers relating to Irish-German relations, fearing that
Ireland would soon be invaded by Germany, indeed the Irish
Free State itself was already subjected to armed action as
unarmed neutral Irish flagged ships were being attacked and
sunk by Nazi forces on the high seas.
Repairs
to British Ships, Liffey Dockyard, Alexander Basin, Dublin,
1940-1941:
Following complaints by some Irish Shipping Companies that
they were having problems/delays in getting their ships
degaussed in British Shipyards, the Department of External
Affairs communicated their concerns to the British. With the
agreement of the Irish Government a wiping station was set
up in the Liffey Dockyard, to enable the process to be done
in Dublin. File No. MT9 3374 Dated October/November 1941 and
headed
Éire ship-repair facilities at Dublin and other Éire ports
is of particular interest. It records “The Liffey
yard has been of substantial assistance to the WAR EFFORT
and the question is whether in return for that assistance,
or in order to ensure its continuance, we should place at
the disposal of Éire, not only steel for repairing British
ships, but also the steel necessary to carry out work on
Éire ships. There is no source, except the United Kingdom,
from which steel can, in practice, be drawn by Éire".
The writer concludes "the balance of advantage,
the assistance we receive from the Dublin Dockyard
facilities, and to be now augmented by the Rushbrook yard,
well repay the release of steel for repairs”.
The document ends with a very interesting statistic.
“In the period 01st October 1940 to 30th March 1941,
seventeen UK ships were repaired in Dublin, and during the
twelve months ending 30th September 1941, 34 were repaired
at that port. The total cost of repairs is estimated at
₤50,000 sterling". All of
these repairs were done at the Liffey dockyard located in
the Alexander Basin, Dublin. Arguably the Germans would have
viewed the repair of British merchant ships in the Liffey
dockyard as a breach of Irish neutrality and thus a
legitimate target.
This confirms that our
neutrality was beneficial to the British during the
Emergency and begs another question as to why foreign
nationals who lost their lives as a result of belligerent
action while serving on board neutral Irish flagged vessels
during the emergency 1939-1946, and who were awarded
posthumously the Irish mercantile marine valour medal with 3
bars, citation and tunic Bar, which is the Irish
government's highest decoration for service are not included
in the national commemoration. On the 16th May 1945, when
the hostilities were over, An Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, in
his speech to the nation said: "To the men of our mercantile
marine who faced all the perils of the ocean to bring us
essential supplies, the nation is profoundly grateful".
Consequently, foreign seafarers, who were lost while in the
service of the Irish State, and who were honoured for their
sacrifice by the same Irish State in 1945, being excluded
from any mention for their sacrifice, is an insult to their
memory, and indicates the Irish government has lost its
moral compass.
Peter Mulvany BCL, HDip Arts Admin
https://www.irishseamenrelativesassociation.ie
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