Here is a photo I took of A Coy. participating in the 1967 Easter Parade
A Coy. in the 1967 Easter parade in Dublin
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Some photos from Pat McManus
Got these photos from Pat McManus who served in B Coy in the Coastguard Station and was a contemporary of Peter Campbell. The motor bike photo is of Pat in Waterford and the other may be Kilkenny 1965 with left to right Liam ??, Charlie O’Driscoll ,??, Pat McManus
Save the date – April 9th, 2016
There will be a function for ex-members on April 9th, 2016 at 20:00 in the Eblana Club, Dun Laoghaire.
We are also asking for any memorabilia you may have (whether acquired legally or not!) to be part of a future display marking the history of the Battalion in Dun Laoghaire. Amnesties and confession will be available on the night if required.
More information will follow closer to the date.
Italia 90 homecoming
I remember we were on camp in the Glen and it was arranged that trucks would take us into Dublin to welcome the team back. Some of the regular cadre even made green white and orange dickey bows to sell to us, such was their dedication.
We parked the trucks in Trinity College, probably courtesy of Pat Holohan, and set off to find the boys in green. As we set off we looked up Dawson Street and saw a crowd gathered at the Mansion House and went up there expecting to see the team. They weren’t there, but Nelson Mandela was there, getting the freedom of the city.
Nelson must have been overcome to see such a large crowd gathered waving Irish flags. He may not have understood the chant that went up though – “Oooh, Aaah, Paul McGrath’s Da”!
Much later the team bus arrived and I watched from half-way up a lamp post on College Green before we headed back. Happy days…
Jack Haughton reminisces
Comdt Jack Haughton in 2013 reciting back action of Lewis gun as taught to him by a regular NCO in a lesson on the seafront in Bray in 1943. In conversation with The Colonel.
New header image
The previous header photograph was of site admin Mick O’Toole on the range in Kilpeddar, although it may not have been obvious who it was.
However members of the 21st Bn from certain years will have no difficulty recognising the new poster boy from his profile alone!
What will we do with all the prisoners?
The recent auctioning of a copy of part of the German invasion plan of Ireland has caused me to think about how such an invasion may have panned out. I do not claim any great strategic understanding and my tactical work ended at platoon level. Seemingly the Germans decided not to land in the area marked “a” on this map so they would not have to deal with the 21 Bn and decided instead to land between Wexford and Dungarvan, not realising that 21 Bn might be on annual camp in the region. The major difficulty facing 21 Bn would have been how to cope with all the prisoners!
The Daily Mail published a piece on the plan which has led to every regional newspaper that has a local picture postcard included in the documents to run an article on how Hitler planned to invade Kerry, Donegal, Limerick, The Arann Islands etc. I have taken some information from a very good Wikipedia article on “Operation Green” as well as a commentary by Diarmuid Ferriter I found on independent.ie. There is also an excellent document available under creative commons licence from Tom Clonan of DIT. I will discus these documents and supply links to them after the break.
Any more photographs
Please send any material you have to Mick O Toole