| Billsticker | Date: Monday, 2012-05-14, 8:12 PM | Message # 1 |
Lieutenant colonel
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| New TV series lifts lid on Ulster’s war heroes
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news....3838427
New BBC One NI series Dig WW2 With Dan Snow Dan Snow in fron of Catalina Flying boat
Published on Monday 14 May 2012 08:15
THE “pivotal” role Northern Ireland played in the battle against Nazi Germany is to be revealed by military historian Dan Snow in a new television series starting tonight.
The three-part BBC1 investigation will look at the importance of Northern Ireland’s location in protecting essential supply convoys during the battle of the Atlantic, the military tanks built by Harland & Wolff, submarine hunter flying boats made at Shorts – and the bravery of Ulster soldiers. The first programme also tells the story of the Northern Ireland pilot who would become the most successful U-boat hunter of all time.
“As a military historian World War II is a story I thought I knew,” said Snow.
“But now I’ve come to Northern Ireland where I’m discovering all sorts of incredible stories – secrets, heroism, suffering and valour. This is the untold story of how Northern Ireland played a pivotal role in the war and how its people helped shape the outcome.” In the series he travels to key sites across Europe and visits some 350 related sites in Northern Ireland – many of which are now forgotten but which were central to the defence of Europe.
The documentary team also dives to the bottom of the Atlantic to capture images of American Sherman tanks on the sea bed off Malin Head and sees a sunken U-boat that was one of the most successful in the German navy. John McNee, a World War II aviation enthusiast from Northern Ireland, told the News Letter that the Sherman tanks on the sea bed were lost when a US convoy coming into Ulster was torpedoed by a German submarine.
After the war some 75 German U-boats surrendered to the Allies in Northern Ireland. They were then taken out to sea and the Allies “had some fun using them as target practice”, he said. “I think the most surprising thing about this series for viewers will be how much of a role Northern Ireland actually played in the war,” he said. “People will be surprised how much of a role we played.
“US troops were prepared here for the D-Day landings and their planes were converted for tropical climates at our airfields. Northern Ireland played a very significant but relatively unknown role in WWII. “Churchill Tanks were built at Harland and Wolff and the Sunderland flying boats – submarine hunters – were built at Shorts. Both factories were hit by the Nazis during the blitz.
“The Germans would have gone for key targets and manufacturing plants like that.” He also told the story of Bud Wolfe, a US commercial pilot who wanted to fly the latest fighter plane of the day – the Spitfire – and so volunteered to fight for Britain even before the US had entered the war. “There were some 300 Americans who volunteered before the US entered the war,” he said.
“There were three squadrons made up entirely of Americans and Bud was in one of them, based at Eglinton airport. “He was flying out with two other pilots to welcome in a US supply convoy when his engine began to overheat and he had to return to base. Another two minutes and he would have made it, but he had to bail out to safety while his Spitfire crashed in the mountains.”
As a result, Bud ended up in a prisoner-of-war camp in the Republic, which was neutral during the war. John told the News Letter the story of how he played a key role in the recovery of the Spitfire. Together with a BBC crew, they were looking for another Spitfire that was understood to have crashed at Eglinton, but it proved a hopeless search. In desperation, they decided to look for another, so he set off to look for Bud Wolfe’s plane in Co Donegal instead.
He said: “I set out with my daughter one morning and we stopped in a local shop to buy her chocolate. The shopkeeper told me who I needed to speak to, and by pure chance the two men I needed both came into the shop in the space of five minutes.” The programme team even manages to restore one of the Spitfire’s Browning machineguns and fire it, despite the fact that it had been underground since 1941.
Quote n Dig WW2 With Dan Snow starts tonight at 9pm on BBC1 Northern Ireland and follows at the same time on the next two Mondays.
Quote See page 14 MORNING EDITORIAL
Our role in defeating Germany
DURING World War two, Europe was plunged into a horrendous war against the
brutality of Nazism. The worst horrors of that six-year conflict occurred in mainland Europe, where tens of millions of people were slaughtered in destruction on a global scale unseen in human history before or since.
Despite the terror of the Blitz, Britain's suffering was significantly mitigated by being an island. Even so; German bombers were able to reach the most westerly part
of the UK - Northern Ireland - which experienced many more deaths in a single night
in April 1941 than in any year of the Troubles.
Beginning tonight, the BBC will look at the role which the Province played against Hitler. Some of this was because of our geographical location, near the Atlantic, but it was also due to production at factories such as Harland and Wolff.
Dan Snow's documentary seems sets to focus on the positive sides of this story. But it is worth remembering that not everyone in Northern Ireland was supportive of the
fight. The Province suffered workers' strikes during the war, and ongoing IRA attacks.
No credible commentator today would dispute that Hitler was deranged, and primarily responsible for war. There are historical reasons why a newly independent Ireland chose not to join the battle against him.
And yet, regardless of the context, it is an uncomfortable fact that Dublin was neutral in the face of such evil.
In Northern Ireland, we can look back with pride that we played our part in the. immense war effort, something for which Winston Churchill was deeply grateful.
The BBC documentary will help keep this story alive for a younger generation. |
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| Billsticker | Date: Wednesday, 2012-05-16, 1:54 AM | Message # 2 |
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Lieutenant colonel
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| click the URL below and watch the 1st episode online at BBC IPlayer. There is the story of an American Spitfire pilot Lt Bud Wolf from Nebraska a member of Eagle Squadron who flew protection for the Atlantic convoys whoes aircraft developed severe overheating problems so he headed back to Limavady in Ulster RAF base but had to bail out over the Irish Republic.
He was captured by the Irish army and interned in Dublin. He escaped back to Ulster and rjoined his unit. However in an act of appeasement to the Irish government (Who by the way sent telegrams of congratulations to Hitler on his birthday) he was returned by our government to be reimprisoned in the Curragh jail. He escaped a second time and as the USA had by that time entered the war he fought for them instead an frankly I dont blame him after the shabby way he was treated here.
Buds aircraft was located in a peat bog and the remains were dug out by Mr Snow the documentary maker and his team. Its a fastinating watch enjoy!
Message edited by Billsticker - Wednesday, 2012-05-16, 1:55 AM |
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