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Re: German spies parachuted into Britain
Hallo Brian,
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German agents parachuted into neutral Ireland during WW2.
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This is not an area I have carried out any research into. However I have compiled the following from a number of books and some notes I made while checking files not directly related to the subject in question. The books of particular value here are;
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1/ Defending Ireland; The Irish State and its enemies since 1922 by Eunan O'Halpin. Oxford University Press, 1999.
2/ MI5 and Ireland, 1939-1945; The Official Report edited by Eunan O'Halpin. Irish Academic Press, 2003.
3/ Ireland in World War Two edited by Dermot Keogh and Mervyn O'Driscoll. Mercier Press, 2004.
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The first publication listed is the most useful and provides a list of the 12 German agents who arrived in neutral Ireland from August 1939 to December 1943.
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Five of the twelve were parachuted into Ireland.
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1/ Hermann Goertz. Landed in County Meath on 12 May 1940 ( according to this list but most sources agree it was 5/6 May 1940 ). Arrested 12 November 1941.
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2/ Guenther Schutz (alias Hans Marschner). Landed in Co. Wexford on 12 March 1941, but the intended drop zone was near Naas, Co. Kildare some 60 miles away. Arrested 13 March 1941.
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3/ Joseph Lenihan. Landed in Co. Meath on 18 July 1941. Surrendered himself to the British Authorities in Northern Ireland 23 July 1941.
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4/ John Francis O'Reilly. Landed near Kilkee, Co. Clare on 16 December 1943. Arrested 16 December 1943.
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5/ John Kenny. Landed near Kilkee, Co. Clare at approximately 3.00 am on 19 December 1943. Arrested 19 December 1943.
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It is possible there was another arrival in 1942, one James Cromwell O'Neill, but he is not on the list of 12 mentioned above. Nor can I find any confirmation that he actually landed in neutral Ireland or by what means if he did. It seems he surrendered himself to the British Authorities; but when, where and how I do not know.
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I hope the above is useful and perhaps my colleagues Tony Kearns and Dennis Burke can add more to what I have written. Any details on the Luftwaffe flights would be of great interest to us.
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Regards,
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Martin Gleeson.
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