Irishmen in the German army?

Question

During the war did any Irish men serve in the German army? I know lots of them served in the Allies, but given the time that it was did any Irish men serve in any branches of the German Army?

Strictly speaking the Irish Freesate was neutral during the WW2 so if there were any in the German army they would not be traitors.

Answer 1

In WW1 the Germans tried to recruit from British POW who were of Irish extraction, the famous traitor Roger Casement failed miserably in his attempts to raise an Anti-British Unit.In WW2 another feeble attempt was made to get Irish and British to form the British Free Corps, never amounted to more that 15-20 who spent most of their time AWOL chasing German women and drinking beer, all survivors after the fall of the iii reich were arrested after the war and placed on trial.

During the Second World War, Ireland remained neutral, which was the policy the government followed at the overwhelming wish of the Irish citizens.

However, at least 200,000 Irish men and women served in the Allied Forces against the Axis Powers.

Very few, if any, Irish men or women served with the Axis powers; the only Irish people who did work with the Nazis were the I.R.A., who wished to use the Nazis to overthrow the Free State Government and unite Ireland under republican rule. That they would themselves be puppets of the Nazis was something they had not thought about.
And James Joyce, American-Irish (Lord Haw-Haw) propaganda announcer and rightly hanged after the war by the British.

There were Irish regiments with Irish names, but they were all based in the U.K., and thus British.

The Republic of Ireland did not send any battalions to fight in WWII, let alone under British leadership.
All German spies dropped by ship or plane were captured within days of arriving.

Ireland did, however, give the Allied forces a great deal of aid in ways that are still not widely acknowledged (particularly crucial was the aid given in the run-up to D-Day, which led to it being staged on the 6th June 1944 rather than the 5th June).

The Irish government at the time was not only worried by the prospect of an invasion by the Nazis, but also by the U.K. and the U.S.A., both of whom were stationed in Northern Ireland and who never robustly dismissed the idea of invading the Irish Free State to suborn its ports for Allied use. This was an idea much in vogue with both F.D.R. and Churchill, and remained an implicit threat as late as Spring 1944. It must be remembered that a scant twenty years had passed since the Irish had forced the British out; the British still had an Empire, and would not have being in the least adverse to regaining lost ground.

Despite this - or indeed perhaps because of it! - the Irish firmly endorsed the principles of democracy in opposition to the sordid ideals of Nazi Germany. It must also be remembered that the Irish Free State was the only country in Europe to successfully beat a fascist coup d'etat in the 1930's. (The Blue-shirts)

As in the past, Ireland's unenviable position was that of a small nation caught in the drama of larger powers, none of whom had the interests of the Irish at heart. Thus we had to look after ourselves because - as our history had shown - no one else would.

Answer 2

There might have been Irish troops in the British Army who became POWs and enlisted in the Nazi Legion of St. George. There were very few soldiers who joined the legion.
Of captured troops, the British had the lowest numbers of troops entering the German military.

Answer 3

No but over 80,000 joined the British Army.The legion of St George thought up by a traitor called Amery who tried to recruit POW's with promises of freedom was started in April 1943 and he was shouted down by POW's but recruited one elderly Frenchman.Later the Nazis took over and in May 1943 recruited 12 more and even though they were arrested after the war they were treated more as a joke.

Answer 4

Yes there were but you cannot call them traitors since one can olny be a traitor to ones own counrty or cause. Since they were not british and did not betray their cuase, indeed many died for ti you cannot call them traitors any more than those many irishmen who joined the british army describing themselves as british so as to avoid any breach of Irish neutrality were traitors.

Answer 5

Theres a long tradition of joining armies opposed to England so that the Irish could kill Englishmen.
The Wildgeese,no not that crap film starring Roger Moore.These were Irishmen who signed up for the King of France and fought at Bleinhem.The English won that one by the way!

Answer 6

Yes there was a few but the cannot be called traitors as they saw Britain as an force of occupation.More importantly The Germans had British regiment,although a lot of these men joined after being POW's most volunteered because they believed in fascism

Answer 7

They certainly did in WWI but in WWII I couldnt say.

There were Irish spys working for the Germans in WWII in Britain, not neccesarily because they were Nazi's but because it was an opportunity to fight the Brits.

Answer 8

Excellent!

Answer 9

You're talking bout WWI? in that case YES, for England was Eire's enemy. Now the German Kaiserreich was England's enemy, and... the enemy of my enemy.. is my friend. Thus a lot of Freedom fighters went over to join the German Emperial Army. I'm not sure, but I think that was slightly the case too during the beginnings of WWII.

Answer 10

It is always possible that there were traitors among the Irish people... but I don't think so.