Madam, – I read with interest your report of the shipwrecked German sailors, rescued by the crew of the merchant ship MV Kerloguein the Bay of Biscay during the second World War (Michael Parsons, An Irishman's Diary, May 30th). The sailors were landed in Cobh, Co Cork and subsequently interned in the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare.
My late father served in the Irish Army during the Emergency and was based for some time in the Curragh. He related to me that he was occasionally on guard duty for the German internees. He patrolled outside the compound with a rifle that had no bullets. The area that the internees were held in was called “Tintown”, due to the amount of tin used in the construction of the buildings.
Intriguingly the German sailors were allowed out, at weekends, to socialise with the locals and attend dances. Few attempted to escape and they remained in the Curragh until the war ended. – Yours, etc,