Split from "Lend Lease repayments" Going off at a bit of a tangent does anybody know what the effect of the U boat campaign was on Irish imports? Could the Germans distinguish what ships were heading for Britain and which for Ireland? Did they bother? Just curious.
I believe Germans atleast tried not to provoke Ireland because Ireland was atleast a bit anti-UK. Besides, having neutral Ireland made it harder to get aircover for convoys because they had to fly around/over Ireland instead of from Ireland.
Actually allied aircraft did take small short cuts across Irish Airspace. As long as it was nothing to flagrant the Irish tended to look the other way. There was actually an agreement up to the mid 1930s that allowed the RN access to a number of Irish ports on the west coast. Unfortunately it was allowed to lapse by Chamberlin :angry:
