Unrecognized Honor: Irish Involvement in World War II

Hello All,

Southern Ireland

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! What a beautiful day to celebrate our Irish heritage and ancestry, or even if you are not of Irish decent, a lovely day to pretend you’re Irish because, let’s face it, everyone wants to be Irish!

As you may already know, Ireland and Britain have had a substantially rocky past for the better part of the shared history. The circumstances were no different during World War II. Northern Ireland felt a strong connection with England, while Southern Ireland wished to be freed from its tyranny. When the time came for Great Britain to take up arms against the Axis Powers, Southern Ireland chose neutrality instead. Since a large portion of Ireland was decidedly neutral, we forget those who did volunteer for Great Britain to protect their homes. Not only did Northern Ireland fight, but many Southern Irish men and women risked their lives to volunteer for the cause.

Women stand in line outside Slough Training Center, UK, 1941

For many Irish men and women, the choice to stay neutral was a wise decision for the country overall; however, for a host of reasons, including nationalism and patriotism, many made the decision to volunteer, fully expecting their country would remain neutral. Both men and women volunteered with pride for their country but were never properly recognized for their efforts. Until recently, their story has gone untold for too many decades.

Just before 1940, it was extremely difficult for an individual under the age of twenty-two to leave the state, unless the circumstances were just cause for passage. With that law in place, an astounding 200,000 citizens applied for passports to emigrate to England, out of a population of 2,968,000. That means at least eight percent of the population felt called to serve in some way during World War II. If one takes out those not eligible to leave the state, including the elder and the very young, that percentage rises to at least fifteen percent of the eligible population. This clearly shows that despite tensions between Ireland and Britain, the people were no less concerned for the safety of their government and homes against the Nazi regime than any other country in Europe or abroad.

With the large influx of Irish workers into England, skepticism would be understandable by government leaders, particularly Prime Minister Churchill. However, even Churchill understood the importance of labor during hard times and a British Liaison Office was established to maintain agreements made by the two countries. Despite initial tensions, the Irish were glad to be working in England. They were able to earn higher wages, ease the pangs of unemployment in the home country, and feel accomplished knowing their work was for a just cause. Not only that, by allowing an easy flow of labor between the two states, England received the labor intensive help they desired and Ireland was able to experience an increase in revenue for the country.

Royal Air Force soldiers in Belfast, Northern Ireland

The Irish not only desired to work, they also desired to fight. Whether they were following a family tradition of service, or looking for adventure, many Irish men enlisted into the British Armed Forces. An estimated 200 men were enlisting weekly by 1944. However, official government records state that only 771 travel permits were issued between 1943 and 1945. This suggests the difficulties men had in enlisting without receiving flak from the IRA, or other groups adamantly opposed to Irish support of British Forces. In some cases, men were harassed or threatened if they expressed interest in enlisting, but that fact did not deter them in the least.

Soldiers from the Irish Defense Force join the British Legion

The government also wanted to keep the number of enlistees quiet so not to agitate desertion rates for both sides. Despite restrictions, little could be done to prevent men from joining the fight in Europe. By the end of the war, approximately 55,000 Irishmen, from the North and South, were part of the English Army. Of that total, about 7,000 of those volunteers were women. As more information on the topic comes to light, researchers have concluded there may in fact be an additional 20,000 members added to the final total due to the lack of proper documentation. However, these numbers do not include those who served for the Navy or Merchant Marines, with those numbers included, the total would amount to 150,000 strong. Regardless of the numbers, the sheer quantity of men and women who made the conscious decision to put aside their differences between states for the greater good of the world is astounding and admirable.

 

Group of young Irish soldiers, WWII

Regardless of their sacrifice, the government ignored their service, prohibiting a Remembrance Day and subsequently ignoring any appeal for a just outcome by the public. It would take another fifty years before full recognition of Irish involvement in World War II would be honored. Of the 150,000 who served, an estimated 10,000 lost their lives for the greater good and their sacrifice needed to be honored.

I hope you all enjoy the holiday.

Take Care,

Elizabeth

Noor Khan: Spy Princess

 Hello All,

Noor's service portrait

Continuing with Women’s History Month, I would like to introduce you to Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, born January 2, 1914, St. Petersburg, who became an Allied Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent during World War II. Her dedication and skill as the first female radio operator to assist the French Resistance in France, earned her the George Cross honor, which is the highest civilian honor in the United Kingdom. 

Noor, of Indian and American decent, often being called Nora, was raised in Europe by a noble Indian Muslim father and an American mother from New Mexico. The family initially settled in Russia, but moved to London just before the outbreak of World War I. Shortly after war’s end, the family moved to France and remained there until France was invaded by the Germans at the outbreak of World War II, when they traveled back to England. These major life changes developed a keenly aware individual in Noor’s case. She had an intelligent understand of different cultures, dialects, and social graces. She studied child psychology and music during her formative years and then went on to begin a successful career as a children’s story and poetry writer as an adult.

Noor was musically gifted

World War II would alter her plans for her future dramatically. Despite her upbringing as a pacifist, Noor knew she had a role to play in the conflict to defeat the Nazi regime. By November 1940, Noor joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and was sent to train as a wireless operator. However, the monotony of her duties soon wore on her and so she applied for commission in a more rewarding field. She was consequently promoted to Assistant Section Officer and then recruited to join F (France) Section of the Special Operations Executive in February 1943. Her life for the next few months consisted of rigorous training all over England and despite her rushed training; superiors felt her language skills and competency in wireless communications made her an adequate candidate for Nazi occupied France. By June 1943, Noor was given a new identity as “Jeanne-Marie Regnier/Nurse”, Assistant Section Officer/Ensign Inayat Khan and landed in Northern France, on a night landing codenamed Teacher/Nurse/Chaplain/Monk.

Noor was joined by two other women in Paris, the Chaplain and the Teacher, and together they joined the larger network, codenamed Prosper. Within a month and a half, the network was compromised and hundreds of French Resistance personnel were arrested. Noor was the only remaining wireless operator at large in her circuit and was able to keep transmitting information to London. She quickly became the most wanted British Agent in France with German wireless detection details on her every move. To avoid detection, Noor could only transmit for twenty minutes in one place at a time. Her dedication and spirit kept her going through the most challenging ordeal of her life, thus far.

As if matters could not get any worse, Noor was betrayed by one of her own, a colleague who was either a double agent for the Sicherheitsdienst or jealous of her talents. Nevertheless, on October 13, 1943, Noor was arrested and taken to the SD Headquarters, Paris, for interrogations. Despite her quite and passive aggressive nature, Noor fought arrest with such violent force, the officers treated as a dangerous prisoner. However, though there was no evidence to suggest she had been tortured, her interrogations lasted over a month. She lied to the Gestapo at every encounter to avoid divulging information and attempted to escape twice while in captivity. As a result, she was sent to a German prison, in Pforzheim, in solitary confinement as a “Nacht und Nebel”, or “Night and Fog”, meaning her whereabouts were completely secret. She was held captive for ten months. Her conditions of confinement were horrible and other prisoners could hear her weeping at night. Through her training and sheer genius, Noor was able to transmit messages to fellow prisoners by scraping her mess cup on the floor. Eventually someone nearby was able to identify her and her address in London. 

Bust resurrected in Noor's honor, London

In September 1944, she and three other agents were transferred to Dachau Concentration Camp and subsequently executed. An anonymous Dutch prisoner recorded that Noor’s last words were “Libertѐ”.

Five years later, Noor was awarded the George Cross and the French Croix de Guerre for her service and is now memorialized in London.

If you are interested in Noor’s story, a biographic film was produced in 2012, entitled, Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan.

Take Care,

Elizabeth 

Reba Whittle: First Female POW in World War II

Hello All,

 

March is upon us and you know what that means? Women’s History Month, of course! All too often women are the unsung heroes in many aspects of life, especially during major, life altering conflicts. World War II put women in a position to be reckoned with, as far as society was concerned. Women stepped up to the challenge when their boys went off to fight in a foreign land. They took charge of their circumstances at home and realized without their hard work ethic, the success of the war would have taken a very different turn. This was not only true for American women, but all women in war torn countries. Through the next several weeks, I would like to spotlight some brave women who put their lives on the line for their country and the war effort. 

Reba Whittle

Reba Z. Whittle, born August 19, 1919, Texas, was the first and only American military female prisoner of war in the European Theater during World War II. First Lieutenant Whittle was serving in the United States Army Nurse Corps when her casualty evacuation aircraft was shot down over enemy territory, September 1944.

Whittle had aspirations for nursing before the war broke out in Europe. She attended North Texas State College, and then continued on to the Medical and Surgical Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in San Antonio, Texas. Soon after graduating, Whittle enlisted into the Army Nurse Corps in 1941. Due to her higher education, Reba entered the military as a Second Lieutenant and was stationed in Sacramento, California.

2nd Lt. Reba Whittle on board a C-47

By August, 1943, Whittle joined the Army Air Forces School of Air Evacuation to train as a flight nurse; an occupation that had never been used in warfare before and was highly dangerous. The nurses were trained in trauma situations, including severe pain, substantial blood loss, and shock, when a trained physician was absent. On January 22, 1944, Reba and twenty-five other nurses crossed the Atlantic on the RMS Queen Mary, bound for England. Just eight months later, Reba logged over 500 hours of flight time, with at least 40 missions under her belt.

Reba had made it through so much already, but on her last mission, on September 27, 1944; she would experience one of the most traumatic incidents of her life. On a mission to St. Trond, Belgium, to collect causalities, her C-47 was hit by German flak and crashed 70 km from where the crew should have been. Since those planes typically carried more than casualties of war, the aircrafts were not marked with a red cross which would have allowed them to fly ‘safely’. When they crashed landed, Reba sustained a concussion and lacerations to her face and back, while the rest of the crew either perished or were badly wounded. As soon as they crawled out from the wreckage the Germans were upon them and the now prisoners of war were taken to a nearby village for medical treatment. The German soldiers and doctors were unsure how to handle having a woman prisoner such as Reba because that situation had never occurred beforehand.

After the crew had been properly treated for their injuries, they were sent to Auswertestelle West (Evaluation Office West) where Whittle was permanently separated from her crew. Throughout her imprisonment, Reba was sent to one POW hospital after another to help treat other POW patients. A month after the crash, a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross saw her and immediately notified the State Department, who then began immediate work for her release. Whittle was repatriated on January 25, 1945, leaving Stalag IX-C for good. She, and other POW patients, were sent by train to Switzerland, and then transported back to the United States.

 

German POW Camp

On February 7, 1945, she received the Purple Heart for her injuries during the plane crash and then awarded the Air Medal ten days later. After twenty-one days of convalescent leave, Reba returned to duty, stationed in Miami Beach, Florida. She would never be able to fly in air missions again due to recurring headaches caused by her concussion. She spent the rest of her active duty assignment as a ward nurse for the AAF Regional and Air Debarkation Hospital. A few months later she applied for release from active duty because of her medical issues but was denied compensation and was discharged by the army in January 1946.

Whittle continued to suffer with chronic pain and a slew of other medical issues as a result of her crash. She applied for disability compensations but was denied numerous times. Not until 1954 did the Army Physical Disability Appeal Board grant her disability benefits, but only from the time she applied in 1952. She was given about $4,800 of retroactive pay. If she was given retroactive pay when she was initially discharged in 1946, she would have received $13,800.

Reba made the decision to continue on with her life and not prolong a seemingly uphill clash with the Army. She and her husband, Colonel Tobiason had two sons, one of whom served in the Vietnam War as a naval aviator. In 1981, Reba passed away after losing her battle with cancer.

In 1983, her husband petitioned for his wife to finally have the POW recognition she deserved when the Department of the Army was honoring Army and Navy nurses who were captured and imprisoned by the Japanese. Reba Whittle was at last given official POW status she deserved on September 2, 1983.

Take Care,

Elizabeth 

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookies

Hello All,

Winter Storm Remus

Hope you are all enjoying the reprieve from snow we are experiencing. Steady temperatures in the 50s next week? I was almost convinced it might never come again.  But alas, we have made it through to March and spring is on the horizon.

Unfortunately, due to Winter Storm Remus this past Wednesday evening, the second installment of our Lecture Series was canceled. However, we will be rescheduling the lecture for March 19th at the Welcome Center.

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Today I thought I would share a 1940s cookie recipe I came across a few weeks ago…

A Brief History on the Oatmeal Cookie:

Rationing Cookbook

The oatmeal cookie is actually a derivative of an oatcake, made by the Scots and British as early as 1,000 B.C. when oat harvesting first took over as a main source of food for the area. It is unknown when raisins or nuts were added to this particular treat, but it is known that raisins and nuts were used in many recipes during the Middle Ages. The first ‘traditional’ Oatmeal Raisin recipe first appeared in the 1896 publication of Fannie Merritt Farmer’s cookbook. She considered the cookie a health food and within ten years, the recipe could be seen on every container of Quaker Oats.

Sisters baking, 1940s, Life Magazine

By the 1940s, Oatmeal Raisin cookies were a household name. On the home front, rationing made cookie baking, and life in general, difficult, but mothers, wives, and sisters knew their loved ones abroad needed some indulgence from home, so whenever possible, care-packages with these cookies, and other treats were sent overseas for a little taste of home for the soldiers and sailors.

Today there are probably a hundred, if not more, versions of this one famous cookie. However you, or your family, makes Oatmeal cookies I am sure the smell and tastes can always bring you back home.

Old Fashioned Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Old Fashioned Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1-cup sugar

½-cup butter

1/3-cup molasses

2 eggs

2 cups oats

1 2/3 -ups flour

1-teaspoon baking soda

1-teaspoon cinnamon

¼-teaspoon salt

1-cup raisins

 

Preparation:

Cookie Dough

Cookies almost always turn out better when the ingredients are at room temperature. (Do not ask me why, I was a history major, not a culinary student.) However, I have tested this theory many times and it has always proven worthy. So with that being said, it is best to let the butter and eggs become room temperature before diving in. Also, many times raisins are extremely dehydrated by the time you are prepared to cook/bake with them, which makes the cookies dry. Soaking the raisins in hot water for at least 30 minutes rehydrates them enough, which puts moisture into the cookie and the cookie stays fresher longer. It is also better to mix your dry ingredients together so you do not experience dry pockets in the dough. So you would blend the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together and set aside.

The next step is to pre-heat the oven. This particular recipe calls for the oven to be set at 375°F; however, if you have a gas convection oven, I recommend turning the temperature down to 350°F.

Fresh cookies, straight from the oven!

Next, cream the sugar, butter, and molasses together. Once creamed, add the eggs one at a time.  Then add the dry ingredients.

Once everything is well blended, mix in the raisins.

Place a rounded teaspoon-sized cookie, two inches apart, on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

This recipe yields about 4-dozen cookies. 

This recipe proved to be a winner and has been added to our own family recipes book. I would highly recommend this version, or anything similar, of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. The molasses makes the cookies deliciously chewy and moist, while the plump raisins add a delectable quality and richness.

Hope you all take the time to enjoy some homemade cookies!

Take Care,

Elizabeth