Two Types
I'll Lock Up
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The father of a friend was an ex-IRA man - an English-born Irishman who tried to join the British army during WW1, was rejected for being underage, so went to ireland, joined the IRA and fought the British. The irish civil war saw him return to England and spend the next 20 years happily serving in the British Army.
There is a general misunderstanding of the attitudes of the Irish to the British (and vice versa). The germans fell into this trap during WW2 when they tried to recruit Irish prisoners of war to fight against the British. They selected men by name - i.e. anyone with an Irish name - and segregated them into special camps. Many of the 'Irishmen' were perplexed: they were English born, but with irish surnames, with no notion of being Irish. Most of the others (genuine Irishmen) had no desire to fight for Germany since they had volunteered to fight for the British.
As one Irishman told me "I was living in England when war was declared, so I had to fight when the English were fighting."
There is a general misunderstanding of the attitudes of the Irish to the British (and vice versa). The germans fell into this trap during WW2 when they tried to recruit Irish prisoners of war to fight against the British. They selected men by name - i.e. anyone with an Irish name - and segregated them into special camps. Many of the 'Irishmen' were perplexed: they were English born, but with irish surnames, with no notion of being Irish. Most of the others (genuine Irishmen) had no desire to fight for Germany since they had volunteered to fight for the British.
As one Irishman told me "I was living in England when war was declared, so I had to fight when the English were fighting."