The collaboration between the Nazis and Irish Republican Army (IRA) is one of the little-known stories of World War II. The seeds of the relationship were sown before, during and after World War I, and the co-operation grew as World War II broke out. Daniel Boustead explains.
Sean Russell, IRA Chief of Staff from 1938 to 1939.
Irish independence
In 1912 the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant was signed by thousands of people led by Edward Carson, who were opposed to the British parliament’s Third Home Rule Bill ([1]). The Protestant opposition to Home Rule was further evidenced by the formation of the Protestant Paramilitary force called the Ulster Volunteer Force, which forced the British government to take notice of Ulster Loyalism as a political and military force! ([2]). The largely Irish Catholic Nationalist forces then staged the Easter Uprising in 1916 against British rule in Ireland which was then put down by the British ([3]). While the Easter Uprising was a failure it left a long-lasting impact on the predominately Irish Catholic Nationalists (4). In 1919 the IRA launched their Irish war of independence against the British ([4]).The war ended on December 6, 1921 when the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed which partitioned Ireland, into the independent 26 counties in the South to become the Irish Free State and the remaining 6 counties in North were kept under British rule ([5]). The results of the Treaty split the Irish Republican Army into two factions, the Pro-Treaty faction that later became the regular Irish Army and the Anti- Treaty Faction of the IRA ([6]). The effects of Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 caused fierce political divides in Ireland and Great Britain that are still felt to this day. This bitterness would set the Anti-Treaty IRA on the path to collaborate with the Nazis.
Early collaboration
The early collaboration between the Nazis and the IRA started as far as back as 1936 when Anti Treaty IRA member Sean Russell, had sought German support for IRA activities (7). During this time he was engaged in talks with the German Foreign Office, regarding IRA-German cooperation (7). Sean Russell would later become the Chief of Staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA in 1938 (8). Russell was also one of the “architects” of the S-Plan bombing campaign, against Great Britain along with Irish American, Joseph McGarrity and Jim O’Donovan (9). Joseph McGarrity had known Sean Russell since the 1920s and it was his organization, Clan Na Gael, who supported and financed Sean Russell’s bombing campaign against Great Britain (9). Sean Russell also had announced an Anti-British bombing campaign in 1936 during a tour of the USA (9). He formerly got approval for his plan at the IRA’s General Army Council or GAC, in April 1938 at a meeting in Dublin (9). From October 1938 training for the S-Plan was commenced in Dublin by bomb making instructors Patrick McGrath and Jim- O’Donovan (9). (Seamus) Jim O’Donovan drew up the blueprint for the “S-Plan”, which called for the destruction of military targets such as communication centers, BBC transmitters, aerodromes, bridges and military installations (10). On December 2, 1938 Oscar C. Phaus, a journalist and founder of the German Bund, returned from America to Germany and was approached by the German intelligence agency the Abwehr (11). Oscar Phaus was also called Oskar Pfaus (12). The Abwehr knew little about the IRA, but felt if they were to conduct bombing attacks against the British the IRA would be a useful ally to the Nazis (11). In February 1939 Pfaus arrived in Ireland in order to liaise with the IRA (12). Pfaus made contact with the IRA’s Army Council and arranged for “S-Plan” architect Jim O’ Donovan to travel to Germany (12). Jim O’Donovan traveled to Germany repeatedly between February and August 1939 (12). In these various visits plans were made for the IRA to assist Germany against Britain through sabotage and espionage in Britain and Northern Ireland (12). The IRA believed that the Nazis could help them achieve a United 32 county Ireland and kick the British out of Ireland – so had partition not existed, the IRA-Nazi alliance would not have existed.
S-Plan
On January 16, 1939 the IRA launched their “S-Plan” campaign by setting off bombs in Manchester, London, and Birmingham (13). By July 1939, British Home Secretary, Samuel Hoare, stated that there had been 127 IRA incidents since January (13). One of these attacks had killed one man in Manchester (13). The worst of the IRA’s S-Plan bombings was in Coventry on August 25, which killed 5 people (13). Adolf Hitler’s initial response to the S-Plan was that he initially refused to fund it, fearing provoking conflict with Great Britain (14). However after Hitler declared war against Great Britain he did agree to send, money, transmitters, and spies to Ireland as a result of the S-Plan (14). On October 29, 1939 the IRA began their radio messages to the Nazis (15).
The October 29 IRA transmission asked about arms, but the Abwehr could not help as the message had not indicated any likely supply routes (15). This transmitter was later seized by Irish police on the December 29, 1939 raid on Ashgrove House (15). The IRA never succeeded in setting up supply routes, nor did they respond to German requests to cease operations against De Valera’s government and concentrate instead on military installations in Britain and Northern Ireland (15). In February 1940 Abwehr agent Ernst Weber Drohl arrived in Ireland and quickly mislaid his radio transmitter after landing from a U-Boat (12). Drohl was quickly taken in by Irish authorities (12). Abwehr agent Herman Goertz arrived in Ireland in May 1940, and one his many aims was to prompt Northern Irish Republicans into rebellion (12). Hermann Goertz’s efforts also failed and he was quickly detained the following year (12). Shortly after Herman Goertz capture in 1941, the primary Nazi-Republican link, Jim O’Donovan, was interned and as a consequence the IRA-German connection was greatly weakened (12). On August 14, 1940 former IRA Chief of Staff Sean Russell died in the arms of his comrade Frank Ryan hundreds of miles away from Galway aboard a German U-Boat while trying to get back to Ireland (16). Sean Russell and Frank Ryan were sent to Ireland as part of a Nazi sponsored mission called Operation Dove, which was a loosely defined mission, which left Sean Russell to take any action he saw fit in Ireland (16).
Plan Kathleen
The most noteworthy joint IRA–Nazi venture was called Plan Kathleen and it was written by new IRA Chief of Staff Stephen Hayes in early 1940 (17). Stephen Hayes took over as the leader of IRA after Sean Russell left in early 1940 for the USA to raise funds and drum up support for the IRA (17). Plan Kathleen stated with a Nazi invasion of Northern Ireland with active IRA help (17). The IRA would help the Nazis in this plan by staging uprisings in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State as well as overthrowing both the Dublin and Belfast governments and seizing key posts in Ireland (17). Plan Kathleen also stated that Northern Ireland would be conquered by a simultaneous IRA insurgency in Northern Ireland and the landing of German forces (17). 50,000 German soldiers would be dropped in Northern Ireland, while over 30,000 IRA soldiers would be near the Irish and Northern Irish borders near Lough Erne (17). They would then together sweep Northern Ireland and destroy British forces (17). Plan Kathleen was presented in a meeting on May 17, 1940 in the Irish Free State that was chaired by Stephen Hayes (17). German Spy Herman Goertz was present at this safe house meeting (17). The plan fell apart because Stephen Hayes had exaggerated the IRA’s strength of 30,000 men when in reality it only had 5,000 unarmed men that were available to support the proposed invasion (17). The IRA’s Plan Kathleen had also failed to give information on where or how the Northern Irish coast was fortified, how German troops were to be brought to Ireland, or how control of sea approaches were to be obtained (17).
Plan Kathleen could have worked if the Luftwaffe had consistently bombed and destroyed not only the British radar stations, but also the flimsy wooden huts that housed the operators during the Battle of Britain (18). The IRA and Nazis would then invade Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Avoiding the alliance
Conversely, the British could have avoided the Nazi-IRA alliance threat by giving back all of Ireland to the Irish in 1921. Great Britain could then have easily moved their Royal Air Force Anti-Submarine bases as well as merchant ship ports out of Northern Ireland (19). They would then establish new bases in the Scottish Islands and the Isle of Man. This would have complemented the Anglo-American base of Iceland, which the British seized in May 1940 (20). The British government offered proposals of Irish reunification provided they joined the war on Great Britain’s side (21). The first was in June 1940 and the second after the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941 - but both times they were rejected by the neutral Irish government (21).
In order to avoid this alliance, the British government should have given Irish reunification and asked for nothing in return.
What do you think of the IRA’s collaboration with the Nazis in World War II? Let us know below.
Now, you can read more World War II history from Daniel: “Did World War Two Japanese Kamikaze Attacks have more Impact than Nazi V-2 Rockets?” here, “Japanese attacks on the USA in World War II” here, and “Was the Italian Military in World War 2 Really that Bad?” here.
[1] English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 9.
[2] English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 9 to 10.
[3] English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 9 to 11.
[4] English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 11 to 13.
[5] English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 30.
[6] English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 34 to 35.
7 English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 63.
8 English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 60.
9 English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 60 to 61.
10 Coogan, Tim Pat. The IRA: Fully Revised and Updated. New York: New York. St. Martin’s Griffin. 2002. 120 and 31.
11 Coogan, Tim Pat. The IRA: Fully Revised and Updated. New York: New York. St. Martin’s Griffin. 2002. 212.
12 English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 64.
13 English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012. 61.
14 Thomson, Mike. “How De Valera asked UK to smear IRA chief Sean Russell”. Last Updated or Modified March 28th, 2011. BBC News. Accessed on July 19th, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-12848272 .
15 Coogan, Tim Pat. The IRA: Fully Revised and Updated. New York: New York. St. Martin’s Griffin. 2002. 213.
16 Coogan, Tim Pat. The IRA: Fully Revised and Updated. New York: New York. St. Martin’s Griffin. 2002. 211.
17 Nazi Collaborators: The IRA. WMK Productions. IMG Entertainment. 2010.
18 Mosley, Leonard. The Battle of Britain. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1977. 95.
19 “Northern Ireland in World War Two-Revision 3-GSCE-BBC Bitesize”. BBC. Last Updated or Modified August 27th, 2019. Accessed on August 27th, 2019. https://www.bbc.co/uk/bitesize/guide/z2k9d2p/revision/3
20 Pitt, Barrie. The Battle of the Atlantic. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1977. 136.
21 Madden, F.J.M. Teach Yourself: The History of Ireland. Chicago: Illinois . Contemporary Books. 2005. 161.
Bibliography
Coogan, Tim Pat. The IRA: Fully Revised and Updated. New York: New York. St. Martin’s Griffin. 2002.
English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. London: UK. Pan Books. 2012.
Madden, F.J.M. Teach Yourself: The History of Ireland. Chicago: Illinois. Contemporary Books. 2005.
Mosley, Leonard. The Battle of Britain. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1977.
Nazi Collaborators: The IRA. WMK Productions. IMG Entertainment. 2010.
“Northern Ireland In World War Two-Revision-3-GSCE-BBC Bitesize”. BBC. Last Updated or Modified August 27th, 2019. Accessed on August 27th, 2019. https://www.bbc.co/uk/bitesize/guide/z2k92p/revision/3 .
Pitt. Barrie. The Battle of the Atlantic. Alexandria, Virginia. Time-Life Books Inc. 1977.
Thomson, Mike. “How De Valera asked UK to smear IRA chief Sean Russell”. Last Updated or Modified March 28th, 2011. BBC News. Accessed on July 19th, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-12848272.
