"Smuggling and Subversives in the Great War" Topic

I am always looking for new and novel reasons for my aviation games.

Recently someone on my Watch Your Six Yahoo Group suggested we take a look at the "Easter Rebellion" of 1916. Apparently the Germans attempted to smuggle a shipload of Mauser rifles with ammunition, plus Sir Roger Casement, into Ireland.

This then raised the question of a number of 'what if' scenarios revolving around using aircraft for smuggling weapons, spies or what ever. And going the other way, smuggling critical war materials (such as caster oil) back to Germany.

I was wondering how active the Irish separatist movements were during the Great War and how likely they might have been to cooperate with the Germans.

Please don't recommend any books on this -- I'm not going to research this. Just looking for any historical events that might relate to this topic or opinions about the likelihood of something like this succeeding -- and if so, where such a thing might have occurred.

mjc

I think most of the shipments came in by U-Boat.

However, this link may be of interest to you.

link

interesting question – the ulster protestants certainly obtained arms fgrom the kaiser prior to the great war.

no idea as to reciprocation.

as to separatist activity, the easter rebellion is your answer in part – but the majority of both protestant and nationalist types flocked to the colours in 1914 and chose to fight the hun rather than the British or each other.

Howth gun-running:

link

Re Casement and the Aud, there is a theory that the rifles were not Mausers but 20,000 Nagants captured from the Russians. Apparently 20 Maxims were also on board as well as several million rounds of ammunition.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aud_(ship)

Re your air interest: airships patrolling for U-Boats with destroyer back-up. Battlebags is the book – but they were North Sea fliers. So you need definate (and long-known) intelligence of such a drop.

The Hun tried to supply von Lettow-Vorbeck in East Africa with a zeppelin loaded with supplies. It was to be a one way trip, and the zeppelin was to be scavenged for … stuff. The skin had some use, the framework another.
Alas for fans of weird hostory, it turned back over the Sudan.

If you are looking for wacky ways to supply Irish insurgents, here's a wacky idea. Your main problem will be to do it and route it in a way to not attract British attention.
Zeppelins could carry more cargo and had a longer range than aeroplanes.

Maybe slightly off, but this thread reminded me of a trip to Ireland, where the proprietor of a youth hostel in the Wicklow mountains south of Dublin told stories from WWII.

He told, that damaged german bombers unable to return home after attacks on England would seek to make emergency landing in Ireland. Here the crews could expect help from anti-british Irish to get back to Germany.

This old storyteller was openly supportive of the IRA, and claimed he sometimes cried, thinking of all the young german airman lying buried in Ireland.

He told, that damaged german bombers unable to return home after attacks on England would seek to make emergency landing in Ireland. Here the crews could expect help from anti-british Irish to get back to Germany.

This old storyteller was openly supportive of the IRA, and claimed he sometimes cried, thinking of all the young german airman lying buried in Ireland.

link

The guns the Ulster Volunteer Force got into Ireland were Mausers -GEW 88s but they were not supplied by "the Kaiser" -they were private purchase from Mauser corp. Same for the Irish Volunteers. In fact, the Kaiser tried to slow down the weapons sales to Ireland by Mauser, so Tom Kettle of the IV had to convince the Mauser salesmen that he was from Mexico! Both the IV and the UVF shipments came in on private yachts and fishing boats. Hundreds of rifles were smuggled into Ireland by Irish expatriots working the docks of England (easier than a Zepplin). Some were smuggled in in blocks of marble. The German arms ship Libau (Aud was the cover name as it pretended to be a Norwegian tramp steamer) was carrying Russian rifles collected on the Eastern Front. The Irish Volunteers had hoped for German trainers and experts and Casement on his own had tried to create an Irish Brigade from POWs in German camps- both were unsuccessful. In the 20s arms were smuggled from USA, but a good number were intercepted by the FBI in NY.