Many people alive today will still have clear memory recall of those dark and terrible days between 1939 and 1945, when the entire European continent was being ripped asunder by Nazi Germany. In the desperate struggle to stop Hitler's lunatic bid for world dominion, the brave men of the Allied Forces sacrificed life and limb - invariably in apalling conditions - to save Western democracy.

Eamon DeValera

During World War II, there existed between Britain and Ireland (traditionally sworn enemies) a kind of restless truce, with neither country helping nor hindering the other too much. Although many young Irishmen joined the war effort, the Irish Republic maintained her neutral status throughout, taking no military part in the war. Many at home took a dim view of those who joined up, seeing their participation on the side of England as an act of national betrayal.

Winston Churchill

In truth, most recruits from the Irish Republic who joined the British Armed Services did so because of the ever present poverty and lack of employment at home. For some, the war may have been seen as an adventure - a way of seeing the world, but for the vast majority, it was simply a means of escape from hardship and hunger.

Many of those who survived the carnage were often ostracised by their communities at home and condemned never to set foot on their native soil again. Thankfully, those days have gone, and the subject is no longer taboo.