I've always felt that Ireland's neutrality during WWII was right but then wrong. In 1939 it was almost certainly the right call. Leaving aside any other considerations the country had a pitiful military capability at the time.
This represents the hardware that Ireland had to defend itself on outbreak of war
Defending the Seas
The Muirchu with one 12 Pounder naval gun
The Fort Rannoch, again with a 12 pounder naval gun
Two Vosper MTBs
Land strikeforce
Two Swedish Landsverk L60 tanks
One Vickers Mark II Medium tank
In the skies
The Irish Army Air Corp's strike capability consisted of three Gloster Gladiators. The Corps did also have Lysanders, Ansons and a number of Walrus seaplanes but these would have been ineffectual in an offensive role
The purpose of this post is not to sneer at the Irish military but to give a small indication of what military hardware it had at the start of WWIIand a small contributing factor to staying neutralSource URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/07/perhaps-why-it-was-good-idea-for-eire.html
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This represents the hardware that Ireland had to defend itself on outbreak of war
Defending the Seas
The Muirchu with one 12 Pounder naval gun
The Fort Rannoch, again with a 12 pounder naval gun
Two Vosper MTBs
Two Swedish Landsverk L60 tanks
One Vickers Mark II Medium tank
The army also had just four anti aircraft guns and four anti tank rifles (useless against even light tanks)
In the skies
The Irish Army Air Corp's strike capability consisted of three Gloster Gladiators. The Corps did also have Lysanders, Ansons and a number of Walrus seaplanes but these would have been ineffectual in an offensive roleThe purpose of this post is not to sneer at the Irish military but to give a small indication of what military hardware it had at the start of WWIIand a small contributing factor to staying neutralSource URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/07/perhaps-why-it-was-good-idea-for-eire.html
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection
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