Evening star., 1946-06-23
BY William A. Millen

tlon PACK, mas cropped OUT
the news, but Col. Timothy A
McInerny, big, braNny direc
tor of the Division of Public In
formation at the Department o
Justice, who was in intelligence
work for the United States Arm.
there during the recent war, chal
lenges those who believe that thu
Irish were neutral or favored Ger
many. He contends that the Irisf
were of real help to the Allies.
Col. McInerny, about whose 1risf
extraction there is no doubt, Har'
ward and Boston College graduate
and practical newspaperman, whit
once worked on the Boston Post
declares that Britain was glad tt
have a neutral Fire at her back
supplying her with much-needee
food and recruits, particularly flyers
While the government of Fire wa.
officially neutral, the people were
most certainly not, in Col. Mc1n-
erny's opinion.
At his big Office in the Department
Of Justice, Col. McInerny chatteo
about the ireland of wartime ano
the Irish. The colonel was not only
in Ireland for a goodly portion OF
the war, but recently returned there
to renew friendships-from the
equality" to the humble pub" keep
ers. Now he is back in Washington
advising Attorney General Tom
Clark on public relations, but he
thinks often of Fire and believes
the Americans have a distorted view
Of that Nations part in war.
THE Republic of Fire was never
even slightly, neutral in the last
war" the colonel stoutly maintains
The colonel served not only in
Ireland, but North Africa, Italy, Rus
sia, the Middle East and France and
was on duty in the Pacific.
Here is Col. McInerny's slant on
wartime Fire:
Very little knowledge Of what
went on inside Fire in 1912 ever
came out of that country. When the
American troops landed in Belfast
Northern Ireland, on January 26 of
that year, Maj. Gen. Russell P,
Hartle, U. S. A., was in command of
the American forces in Northern
Ireland. He was extremely alert, as
were all his troops, to the possibility
that the Germans might land in
neutral and virtually unprotected
Fire. Thus, every means was used
to make certain that American units
would dash south over the border to
meet German invasion. In fact,
these units, the 1st Armored and
34th Infantry Divisions, were to lead
the vanguard of an Allied Army to
help drive the Germans out of Ire
land if and when they staged an
invasion.
Col. McInerny was assigned to
the G-2 Section of Gen. Hartle's
Headquarters, and his mission was
to visit Southern Ireland regularly
to set up a liaison with the military
attache in Dublin and with the
United States Minister, David Gray
Col. McInerny Says Irish
Hearts Were True to Allies
At that time it was surmised that
EiEe was neutral because of hatred
for Britain, but Col McInerny holds
an opposite view. He says that in no
part of Fire were the people inter-
ested in any other outcome of the
war other than a complete defeat of
Germany. Officers of the Irish
Army, with whom the colonel con-
sorted, referred to the Allies as ''We'
and the Germans as "the ferries.
In fact, their conversation woulc
lead any one to believe the Irish
were actually in the war, he said.
No matter how strictly Mr.. d.
Valera and his government inter.
preted the laws of neutrality, the
people, on the other hand, paio
little or no attention to them. TT
begin with, full permission of the
Irish government was accorded thi.
officer to travel to and from his pos
in the north, the only requirement
being that he dress in civilian
clothes. The Irish had been looking
on foreign uniforms for hundreds
of years and had decided the only
uniform that could be legally worr
at that time in their country wa.
their own.
The Irish Were Ready
To Aid the Allies
There were a few firebrands
either in the IRA Grish Republican
Army or on its frlnges, who de.
clared they would like to see Ger.
many win the war. But the majority
Of the Irish not only wished to SET
the Allies win, but would have taker
an active part, provided it did no
ieopardize their position of neutral.
ity which they considered to be theil
great declaration of independence
They appeared to be in a historica
position similar to the people of tn,
United States during the Napo.
leonic wars. Not one in the Unitec
States at that time had any sym.
pathy for Napoleon, but the mem
ories of the British rule were tot
close to permit the American peopl,
to join with the British in fightint
Napoleon. The declaration of neu
trality in 1885 by the Irish was t.
them symbol of national indie
pendence and they did not ever in
tend to jeopardize their stand.
However, in many ways they dis
played their sympathy for the Alliet
cause. One way was for the youn,
men and women to join the British
armed forces, They filtered over tn