Sir, – My father deserted the Irish Defence Forces (IDF) in 1940 to serve with the British army in Burma and India. I have spoken to other men who did the same thing. Some did so for reasons such as the fight against fascism, others to escape the poor pay and conditions of life in the IDF.
Whatever the merits of their actions, many, such as my father, paid a high price for desertion. I think it is a shame that he was not given the right to defend himself in a court of law, military or otherwise.
In reality, the highest price was paid by the wives and children of such men. My dad was blacklisted and not allowed to work for seven years after his return to the north inner city. As the oldest child, my memory is that of trips to the pawnshop, going to the Penny Dinners, and relying on the kindness of relatives and neighbours just to survive in the early 1950s. What comes through to me when reading the historical documents of that period is the sheer vindictiveness and mean-spirited attitude of men like John A Costello and Oscar Traynor.
The government of that time appeared to have a Janus-like approach to the war. I still find it very odd to this day to imagine Éamon de Valera going to the German embassy to sign a book of condolence on the death of Adolf Hitler.
What if fascism had won out and Ireland had become a satellite state of Germany? Oh dear, what if we do become that now? The military war may have been won by the efforts of such men as my dad and the countless other IDF deserters, but I fear we may yet lose the economic war to the Germans. C’est la vie, as they might say in Berlin. – Yours, etc,