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Belligerent Aircraft Landings in Ireland 1939 - 1945

Updated 20th October, 2007 - Updated lists of those who have contacted me and helped out and corrected typos.

On my listing, I have 180 incidents involving crashes and forced landings of aircraft over Ireland and the surrounding seas in the 1939 to 1945 period. This subject has seen a number of books written on it and these have been the basis of much of the information listed below. The information concerns as I have said, landings on or around the territory of the 26 counties during the period 1939 to 1945. I have listed my sources against each aircraft both to show my sources and as a reading aid for others. Where possible, I have pointed out errors in those sources where I have been able to determine such errors. Most if not all these incidents have been researched in some depth by a number of researchers and this site SHOULD NOT be taken as a sustitute to these works. Treat this only as a reference only, I can advise you where to clarify the data. I don't plan to include on this site the stories of the crashes. A vast majority of the listed sources contain that information, and future publications will, no doubt fill in more of the gaps in the knowledge.
It is worth noting that the Irish Military Archives in Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin has files concerning about 165 aircraft. My list contains just over 200, what makes up the balance you may ask? I have included in this list some entries which I beleive account for errors in other sources, for example where I or another author have incorrectly associated a date with the loss of an aircraft. Another type of entry are those that were not recorded by the Irish Military Authorities because they were to far off shore or have been recorded incorrectly as being in Ireland. These I have indicated in the 'Notes/Sources' field.
Note also for a moment the column showing the numbers of those killed in some of these incidents. I will update this information as I get it. Spare a thought for the memories of these young British, German, American, Polish, Canadian, New Zealander, Norwegian and others, whose lives were lost on or around the Island during this time. While the remains of most of those British airmen whom lost their lives in Ireland were returned to their home authorities and are buried in the UK where they came from or in Northern Ireland, the remains of German airmen were interred locally near the crash sites. After the wars end, their remains were moved and interred in Glencree War Cemetry in Wicklow. A small number of Allied air crew are buried in the Republic of Ireland however and these should be mentioned in the text. Those airmen from Canada, Australia, Poland and elsewhere that died would not be returned to their home countries due to the difficulties of transport and they lie in cemeteries across Northern Ireland and in the United Kingdom. As noted on the sheet itself, the totals I have come to on the list are generated from a spreadsheet and due to the reasons above do not accuratly reflect the actual number of airmen / passengers involved in what might be considered as 'Crashes and Emergency Landings of aircraft of the Belligerent Nations in World War Two'. Further more, of those who survived their visits to Ireland, almost 60 more of these men would loose their lives subsequently in training or operational roles during the war. The term 'Belligerent' is used due to its being the term used during the Emergency by the Irish authorities to denote personnel, aircraft and ships belonging to the nations engaged in the war.

In reading the 'Pilot/Crew/Pax' Column of the list the following notes are to be taken into account.
Where a airman or passenger was killed in the incident in Ireland, that person's name is marked with the symbol '+' to indicate their death.

For German aircraft, it is taken that all crew members were German.

For American Aircraft, all members are taken to be American but there are one or two ocasions where British or Commonwealth airmen were on board or there were passengers on the aircraft in question. Where this occurs, a note such as 'RAF' or the persons nationality will be noted.

For British aircraft, i.e. those listed as RAF, FAA and BOAC, it is to be assumed that all persons are British unless they are members of a Commonwealth armed forces. In this latter case, the abbreviation for that force will appear after the persons name, i.e. RAAF, RNZAF, RCAF. In other case's, the airmen may have been a member of the forces of the occupied nations, in which case this will be noted as PolAF, RNAF etc. Finally, if the airman is a civilian, the nationality will be stated where known. The question of nationality of British and Commonwealth personel however is a tricky one and might be a subject in itself!

In addition to the above notes, the 'Pilot/Crew/Pax' column contains the following information also where I have been able to determine it.



I hope that the notes above explain some of the ramblings of my list.
Regards, Dennis Burke - July 2008

CONTACT ME: dp_burke@yahoo.com (Note that my address contains an 'underscore' _, not a 'dash' -.
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Aircraft Wreckage

The following is a brief explanation of the status of wreckage from the crash sites of some the aircraft listed on this site. This clarification was sought by myself from the National Museum of Ireland. "Objects from such sites are considered archaeological objects under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2004, and a licence to export an archaeological object would be required in order to remove any objects from the site. Export licences are issued by the National Museum of Ireland, and removal of any material without a licence is an offence."


YOu can read the act and it's history at the Irish Government Statute website: NMA 2004 . The site home page is ww.irishstatutebook.ie
The Museum website is www.museum.ie .
Also, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, archaeology section have an input into the sites themselve. Website: www.environ.ie .

That said, there is very little left at such sites and where it does exist it is at high ground sites. Bear in mind that in some of these crashes young men lost their lives and as such, such debris is a reminder of these men. Taking a small part away from the site, while small, all the 'small' parts eventually end up with all traces of the aircraft being lost. I do also find it sad that such debris be left at such sites and it will eventually rot away and disappear. In the past however, people have recovered items from such sites and these parts have in turn disapeared. Please think twice about removed any items, however small from a site if you visit. Unless you plan to display it in a meaningful fashion, might it end up discarded in yoru next clear out. Thanks for your consideration. May 2008

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Back to the Crash Listing Dennis Burke February 2007

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