The German

Impressively done, especially for that budget. The aircaft, in particular, are superb.

If you had to choose to be held in an internment camp, then K-Lines, where the majority of Allied and German airmen (and sailors) were held in Ireland during the war, was the place to be.

It was built within a large military base on the outskirts of a town in the middle of the country and internees were actually allowed to leave the camp for up to 7 hours a day simply by signing a statement promising to return before a certain time. They were allowed to use local swimming pools, gymnasiums, horse riding facilities, playing fields, cinemas, schools (where the Germans had English classes) and hotels (both for drinking and spending "personal time" with their wives, who were allowed to travel to Ireland to visit them). They were also allowed to visit private homes locally for parties and dances, and went on fishing and golf trips. They also had radios and telephones in the camp itself.

Virtually all returned as promised, with the Germans being ordered by their government to do so, and the British being ordered that any escape attempt had to be done "legitimately" in the form of a break out from the camp itself (with one pilot actually being SENT BACK to Ireland by the British for failing to do so and, thus, his escape was deemed illegitimate!). Most never bothered trying and, even then, guards were ordered not to fire on them anyway. (Most Allied internees were British, but there were a number of Canadians, some Kiwis, and at least one Pole and one American).

Also, officers from both sides attended horse races with their Irish counterparts, whom they also accompanied to various officers clubs. They also frequently went foxhunting, and at least one also shipped his wife over to live full-time in the local town.

There was little or no strife between the two sides. They were held in the same camp, albeit seperated by a single fence. Outside, they did mix. The worst "incident" (outside the camp) happened when RAF personnel lodged a complaint that the Germans had gatecrashed a dance they had organised for themselves (though I believe the dance went ahead anyway). They also played football matches against each other and had boxing competitions.

Considering the above, it probably won't surprise you that, if they encountered trouble over the Irish Sea or Northern Ireland, German pilots would deliberately try to crash/bail out in/over Ireland, or as close to it as they could get.

Most Allied airmen who ended up in Ireland landed here thinking it was Britain. This was quite common considering that aircraft navigation systems then were very basic compared to today’s standards.

Many sailors ended up here too, mainly because only Irish ships stopped for them, with both Allied and German ships passing them by, too afraid to stop.

Today, there are many people in the vicinity of the camp (and father afield) whose father or grandfather was a German or British internee who married a local woman and stayed here after the war.

When put in context, it's not really that odd: De Valera was an absolute stickler for diplomatic protocol (to the point of near obsession at times) and, in his own words, refusing to sign it "would have been an act of unpardonable discourtesy to the German nation and to Dr Hempel (the most senior German diplomat in Ireland at the time). During the whole of the war, Dr Hempel's conduct was irreproachable. ... I certainly was not going to add to his humiliation in the hour of defeat".

He wasn't terribly fond of Churchill either so, knowing how much it would irk him probably gave him no small amount of satisfation too (although the British Representitive to Ireland described it as being consistent with the actions of a properly neutral state).

And, to put things in context on a wider scale: neutral Sweden supplied ores, metals, food, and unrestricted transit to the Germans during the war; neutral Switzerland had no difficulty with gold coming from Germany; both neutral Spain and Portugal supplied intelligence to aid the Germans.

Neutral Ireland... signed a book.