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Fort
Berehaven taken over by Irish Army 1938
This article looks at the Second World War Years in Beara
and the arrival of the Irish Army Base in Bere Island as
told by an old friend and neighbour, the late John O’Donoghue
who was one of the first sections of the Army to take over
from the British on the Island. John was a native of Cork
City retired from the army with the rank of Sergeant.
He met and married his late wife Mary (O'Neill) who was
a local girl and the family lived at Foildarrig, Castletownbere
for a long number of years. John became well known in Beara
as a keen angler on river, lake or sea. He was also secretary
of the Beara Angling Club.
The following is John's story:
In 1938 the people of Ireland were delighted and proud to
see the Irish flag flying over our Forts in Cork Harbour,
Lough Swilly and Fort Berehaven in Bere Island. War clouds
were gathering over Europe, Hitler had built a mighty army,
air force and navy, and one year later on September 1st,
1939 the second World War broke out, England declared war
on Germany and so began six terrible years of suffering
and killing in Europe. The older generation in Ireland,
will, like me, remember the hard times such as the rationing
of all food stuffs and petrol, no coal, the blackouts and
the censorship of foreign mail. Unemployment was rampant
and there were very few hand-outs then. It was a wonderful
achievement and great statesmanship on the part of our then
Taoiseach that the State had regained control of the ports
and his declaration of Ireland's neutrality. In 1940 things
looked very serious for the country and a national emergency
was declared. England wanted to get back possession of the
Forts as refuelling bases for its navy. Churchill threatened
to take them back, by force if necessary. And so the call
to arms came, and thousands of our young men joined the
defence forces. The result of this-two divisions - fully
armed and trained - all in the space of one year - a wonderful
achievement indeed.
The Forts were referred to in army terms as - Coast Defence
Artillery (CDA) and in Bere Island many young lads joined
the army and served there for the duration of the war; it
was a great honour for me to get to know them and to serve
as a comrade in arms.
It was a big challenge at that time for us army personnel
to take over and learn the skills of firing and maintaining
the big 6" guns, this we did with great results, because
in 1945 we won the coveted Dunboy trophy. This was a trophy
presented to the best CDA unit in Southern Command with
the highest marks in gunnery competition and other skills,
and it is now located in the officers mess in the 1st Field
Artillery Regiment, Ballincollig Barracks. I had the pleasure
of holding it in my hand once again on the 25th August this
year, 45 years later.
The men who served in Bere Island came from all counties
in Ireland, as the song so aptly puts it "north men,
south men, comrades all" and a wonderful esprit-de-corps
existed among all ranks with a great sense of loyalty and
discipline at all times. When Beara won the County Football
Championship in 1940, the army was there to help with such
great players as Donal O'Sullivan, Louis O'Sullivan, John
McCaffery, Gene Brannigan and Paddy Mullen. Bere Island
too had a great football team which included several players
from the army, many of whom went on to represent Cork in
Munster finals. At local levels, what thrilling matches
were played in the old football pitch at Droum against such
teams as Urhan, Garnish, Castletownbere and Adrigole. I
can well remember all those great players and the wonderful
enjoyment they gave to their loyal supporters.
Entertainment on the island was very limited, and to pass
the long dreary winter nights we formed our own drama group
- all produced, directed and performed by army personnel
under the expert coaching of Captain Fitzgerald from Cobh.
The "Down Express", and "the Golden Priest"
were among some of the plays we performed in and they were
played in halls in Ardigole, Castletownbere and Glengarriff,
where they were well received. Boxing was another of our
special interests and some exciting tournaments were staged
in the recreation hall in the barracks. Two very good boxers
came to mind, namely. Peter Carleton from Cork City and
Dr Dennehy, from Listowel who put on an exhibition fight
which was top class.
The army, like everyone else at that time, had to provide
their own fuel, so it was decided by the powers that be,
to cut its own turf. A bog was rented from Eugene Dunne
in Finaha, Castletownbere and in June 1941, thirty of us
arrived there fully equipped with spades and cleans to cut
300 tons of turf, but oh at what a cost. One night, towards
the end of August, a severe thunderstorm came, tearing and
leveling our bell tents, leaving us wet, cold and miserable.
The next day was fine and sunny, so we dried our belongings
as best we could. We moved into a cattle shed at the back
of Dunne's house, where conditions were, to say the least,
a bit primitive. The turf was finally dry and it was taken
by army lorries to Furious Pier where it was reeked prior
to shipping to Rerrin Pier on Bere Island.
The first load of twelve tons arrived on the island in PJ
Murphy's barge, which was an open boat, easy to load and
unload. That night a sentry at Lonehart reported a huge
fire at Furious Pier, and by the time the firefighting service
arrived there, the most of the turf was in ashes and the
remainder had fallen into the sea. That ended the cutting
of turf by the army in Beara. Turf was purchased from the
Cork County Council in the following years also timber was
purchased from Dunboy Estate. The port of Castletownbere
was closed to all shipping during those war years, but should
an emergency arise, such as a sick person aboard a ship
who required medical attention, or of a ship needing urgent
repairs, then entry and a twenty four hour stay was allowed.
The observance and entry of vessels was carried out by a
detachment of soldiers stationed at the Lighthouse and in
the West End of Bere Island. They also were on the look
out for air craft and floating magnetic mines, and when
such were seen they were reported to the Fort Commander
in the East End of the Island where the big guns were located.
Many magnetic mines were laid around the south west coast
of Ireland on the moan shipping lines. Sometimes due to
gales and rough seas many of them broke away and drifted
into Bantry Bay where they were a great danger because if
they came within a certain range of a ship the magnetism
would draw the mine causing it to explode. Likewise if the
mine touched a rock or shore land it would also go off causing
considerable destruction. Army marksmen with rifles and
armour piercing bullets fired at and destroyed many such
mines. I, myself, while on a tour of duty at the Lighthouse,
saw one such mine drifting in the harbour towards us, but
as the tide turned it changed course and moved in under
the Piper Rocks where it exploded sending tons of water
and rock inland for hundreds of yard, the noise was absolutely
deafening and it brought home to us the horror of war and
all its consequences.
The Taoiseach Mr De Valer, came to visit the Fort in 1943
and a big military show was laid on for him, such as guard
of honour and target practice out at sea with a great degree
of accuracy. He inspected all our positions of the scheme
of defence in the event of an attack and complimented us
on our achievements. In the same year during the month of
August, at about sunset a heavy mist came rolling in from
the sea covering the whole peninsula in a thick blanket
of fog, and the noise of a large aircraft was heard as it
passed low over the Fort in an easterly direction, however,
it changed course to the North West and soon afterwards
news came via the Gardai in Castletownbere that a plane
had crashed in the mountains above Goulane, and immediate
assistance was requested.
Twenty men from the Fort left within the hour and brought
medical supplies, stretchers etc to the scene of the crash
where they remained all night. The following morning the
full horror was revealed as the bodies of the eight member
crew were recovered from the mountain side, and brought
by stretchers down the steep incline to the nearest road.
The ill fated plane was a British Air Force Liberator which
had left Ballykelly Airfield on a reconnaissance mission
off of the South West coast of Ireland and on its return
flew too low in the dense fog and tore into the side of
the mountain. The bodies of the dead airmen were conveyed
by road to the LDF Hall in Castletownbere. They were later
taken from there to the Border accompanied by a party of
army personnel from Collins Barracks, Cork.
I visited the crash site in 1983, forty years later - where
a very impressive ceremony took place. A plaque was erected
at the site and a detailed talk about the tragedy was given
by Mr Victor Sullivan. The Last Post and the Reveille were
sounded by one of the relatives of the deceased airmen and
prayers were said for the repose of their souls.
To conclude my memories of the "Emergency" as
those years 1939 to 1945 were called, thousands of men were
demobbed from the defence forces. Fort Berehaven closed
at the end of 1945 and the remaining officers; NCO's and
men were transferred to Fort Mitchell (Spike Island). I
look back now and remember the wonderful comrades of those
eventful bygone years and feel proud to have served my country
with such loyal and wonderful companions
.
Courtesy of the Southern Star
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