British Propaganda in Neutral Eire after the Fall of France, 1940

Abstract

This article examines the propaganda ideas and plans that the British government put together in an attempt to coax neutral Eire into the Second World War, or at least to make Eire's neutrality as benevolent as possible. Britain's reputation in Eire, stemming particularly from the Irish Civil War, meant that conducting British propaganda in the country was a delicate task and had to be well judged. The article focuses on the work of John Betjeman, the British press attaché in Dublin 1941–43, in trying to influence Irish thought. The article concludes that Betjeman was most successful in propaganda by word-of-mouth, personality and Anglo-Irish cultural links.

Keywords:

• Propaganda
• Second World War
• Eire
• Neutrality
• Betjeman

Acknowledgements

This article has been extracted from my MA dissertation, with a few editorial adjustments. I would like to thank in particular my supervisor Professor David Welch at the University of Kent. My thanks also to Professor George Boyce of the University of Swansea, Professor Nicholas John Cull of the University of Leicester (particularly for sending me a copy of a transcript of an interview he conducted with Harry Hodson in 1987), Dr Martin Doherty of the University of Westminster and Professor Eunan O'Halpin of Trinity College, Dublin for their comments and suggestions for my research.

Notes

  [1] Roth, ‘Francis Stuart's broadcasts’, 413.

  [2] Carroll, Ireland in the War Years, 41; ‘Invasion of Low Countries’. In Ireland's Stand , 17–22.

  [3] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Betjeman, John (Ministry of Information). Note to Harry Hodson (Ministry of Information). ‘Eire’, 21 June 1940: 1.

  [4] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Betjeman, John (Ministry of Information). Note to Harry Hodson (Ministry of Information). ‘Eire’, 21 June 1940: 1

  [5] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Betjeman, John (Ministry of Information). Note to Harry Hodson (Ministry of Information). ‘Eire’, 21 June 1940: 1, 3.

  [6] ‘A Contrast: Mr. de Valera broadcasts on St. Patrick's Day, 1940, to the United States’. In Ireland's Stand, 16.

  [7] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 117.

  [8] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 117, 190.

  [9] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 117, 188.

 [10] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 117, 189.

 [11] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Hodson (MoI). Note to John Stephenson (Dominions Office), 21 June 1940.

 [12] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 191–3.

 [13] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 191–3, 195; Long, Tania. ‘Ireland’. Picture Post, 8, no. 4, 27 July 1940, 9, 15.

 [14] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Rawdon Smith, E. (DO). Note attached to the front of Betjeman's Report, 26 June 1940.

 [15] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Hodson (MoI). Note to Stephenson (DO), 15 July 1940.

 [16] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Hodson (MoI). Note to Stephenson (DO), 25 June 1940; Stephenson (DO). Note to Hodson (MoI), 29 July 1940.

 [17] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Hodson (MoI). Note to Stephenson (DO), 25 June 1940; Stephenson (DO). Note to Hodson (MoI), 29 July 1940

 [18] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Hodson (MoI). Note to Stephenson (DO), 25 June 1940.

 [19] See Lane and Clifford, Elizabeth Bowen.

 [20] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 13 July 1940: 1.

 [21] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 13 July 1940: 1 (Bowen's emphasis).

 [22] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 13 July 1940: 1, 1–2.

 [23] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Ireland’, 21 July 1940: 1.

 [24] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Ireland’, 21 July 1940: 1, 1–2.

 [25] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 14 Aug. 1940: 1, 2.

 [26] Cull, Selling War, 56.

 [27] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 9 Nov. 1940: 3 (Bowen's emphasis).

 [28] Churchill, Winston. Speech in House of Commons, 5 Nov. 1940. Cited in Coogan, De Valera, 558.

 [29] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 9 Nov. 1940: 1.

 [30] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 9 Nov. 1940: 1, 2.

 [31] Illingworth, Leslie, ‘No Bases for Britain’. Daily Mail, 9 Nov. 1940, 2.

 [32] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 9 Nov. 1940: 3.

 [33] Carter, The Shamrock and the Swastika, 56, 244 n52.

 [34] ‘Question of the Ports’ in Ireland's Stand, 23–7.

 [35] For Eden see TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Ireland’, 21 July 1940: 2. Eden visited Eire in the autumn of 1939 for a fishing trip; For Halifax see TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 9 Nov. 1940: 6.

 [36] Hodson, Harry, Head of MoI, Empire Division, 1940–1. Interview with Nicholas John Cull. 16 Sept. 1987.

 [37] Cole, ‘Good Relations’, 33, 38; Aitken, Penelope. Letter to her father Sir John Maffey, early Dec. 1940. In Green, John Betjeman, 200.

 [38] Betjeman, John. Letter to John Piper, 10 Jan. 1941. In Ibid., 278.

 [39] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 147; Cole, ‘Good Relations’, 40.

 [40] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman, John. Pencil-written letter to Hon. Richard Hope (Catholic Section, Religions Division, MoI), 22 Mar. 1941.

 [41] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Stephenson, John (DO). Minute, 1 Oct. 1940.

 [42] Betjeman, John. Letter to John Lehmann, 12 Feb. 1941. In Green, John Betjeman, 279.

 [43] O'Halpin, ‘Intelligence and Security in Ireland’, 69.

 [44] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman, John. Letter to Rev. Hugh Martin (Director of the Religions Division, MoI), 14 Mar. 1941; ‘Irish Disbelieved Nazi Terror—Betjeman’. Irish Times, 28 Oct. 1972: 9; Carroll, Ireland in the War Years, 94.

 [45] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Memo on propaganda in Eire, 21 Mar. 1940.

 [46] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 9 Nov. 1940: 6; See Cole, ‘The Other “Phoney War”’, 461 for a more general discussion about the problems of Propaganda, Fascism and Christianity.

 [47] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Cameron [Bowen], Elizabeth. ‘Notes on Eire’, 9 Nov. 1940: 6.

 [48] TNA PRO DO 130/52. ‘Atheist-planted time bomb damages Vatican’ and ‘“Catholic Times” on Polish “Liberation Committee”’. Weekly Review of the German News Agency 32 (17 Aug. 1944): 2.

 [49] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 147.

 [50] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Note to Martin, 14 Mar. 1941.

 [51] TNA PRO DO 130/27. Betjeman. Letter to Brendan Bracken (Minister for Information), 28 Aug. 1942.

 [52] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Note to P.N.S. Mansergh (MoI), 7 May 1942; Hope. Letter to Betjeman, 5 May 1941.

 [53] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Note to Mansergh, 17 Oct. 1941.

 [54] BBC WAC E1/942. Betjeman. Letter to Sir Stephen Tallents (BBC), 20 Mar. 1941.

 [55] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Note to Martin, 14 Mar. 1941.

 [56] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Note to Martin, 14 Mar. 1941; TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Note to Hope, 24 July 1941.

 [57] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Hope. Note to Betjeman, 28 Mar. 1941.

 [58] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Hope. Note to Betjeman, 17 Mar. 1941.

 [59] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Pencil-written letter to Hope, 22 Mar. 1941.

 [60] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Note to Hope, 10 Jan. 1942.

 [61] Ó Drisceoil, ‘Moral Neutrality’, 46; Wood, Ireland, 180, 182.

 [62] Raymond, ‘World War II’, 49.

 [63] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Hingeley, E. F. (MoI). Minute to John Rodgers (MoI). ‘Minute on Eire’, 27 Jan. 1941.

 [64] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Hingeley, E. F. (MoI). Minute to John Rodgers (MoI). ‘Minute on Eire’, 27 Jan. 1941

 [65] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Rodgers, John. Letter to Lord Davidson (MoI), 10 June 1941; TNA PRO INF 1/539. ‘Note of a Conversation at Arthur Guinness, Son & Co’, 29 Jan. 1941.

 [66] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Rodgers, John. Letter to Lord Davidson, 10 June 1941. (Rodgers' emphasis).

 [67] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Rodgers, John. Letter to Lord Davidson, 12 June 1941.

 [68] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Mansergh, P. N. S. (MoI). Note to Professor V. Harlow (MoI), 16 June 1941.

 [69] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Harlow, Professor V. (MoI). Minute to Sir Maurice Peterson (Controller of Overseas Publicity, MoI), 16 June 1941; Rawdon Smith. Note to John Rodgers, 31 July 1941.

 [70] TNA PRO INF 1/539. ‘Discussion on Ireland—19.6.41.’

 [71] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Betjeman, John. Note to John Rodgers (MoI), 27 June 1941.

 [72] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Betjeman, John. Note to John Rodgers (MoI), 27 June 1941; TNA PRO INF 1/539. Rodgers. Note to Lord Davidson, 2 July 1941.

 [73] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Rodgers. Note to Betjeman, 7 July 1941.

 [74] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Rodgers. Note to Betjeman, 7 July 1941

 [75] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Rodgers. Note to Betjeman, 22 July 1941.

 [76] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Betjeman. Note to Rodgers, 15 Aug. 1941.

 [77] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Baynes, E. S. (Department of Overseas Trade). Letter to Sir John Maffey (UK Representative to Eire), undated but almost certainly Jan. 1942. (Baynes' emphasis).

 [78] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Braddock, G.F. (UK Trade Commissioner in Dublin). Letter to Controller-General, Department of Overseas Trade, 30 Jan. 1942.

 [79] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Mansergh. Letter to N. E. Costar (DO), 18 December 1941; Mansergh. Note to Hingeley, 30 December 1941; Baynes, Letter to Maffey, undated.

 [80] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Stringer, C. E. (General Sales Manager, Kodak Limited). Letter to Hingeley, 12 Mar. 1942.

 [81] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Mansergh (MoI). Note to R. B. Pugh (DO), 14 Mar. 1942.

 [82] TNA PRO INF 1/539. Braddock. Letter to Controller-General, Department of Overseas Trade, 30 Jan. 1942.

 [83] Cole, ‘The Other “Phoney War”’, 466.

 [84] TNA PRO CJ 1/64. Perth, Lord (MoI). Letter to John Stephenson (DO), 16 Apr. 1940.

 [85] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. ‘Minutes of a Meeting held on Thursday the 19th of June [1941] to discuss Propaganda in Eire’, 21 June 1941.

 [86] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Pugh (DO). Letter to W. Bridge-Adams (British Council), 2 Aug. 1941 (my italics).

 [87] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Bridge-Adams. Letter to Pugh, 13 Aug. 1941.

 [88] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 149.

 [89] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Note of meeting between Dominions Office, MoI and John Betjeman, 19 Aug. 1941.

 [90] TNA PRO DO 35/1011/3. Minute of a Meeting between Rawdon Smith, Pugh and Betjeman, 7 Aug. 1941.

 [91] BBC WAC E2/370. Radio Éireann: Tuairisc Do'n bhFeil-Bhliain, 1945 (Annual Report, 1945).

 [92] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Mansergh. Letter to Betjeman, 2 Dec. 1941.

 [93] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Betjeman. Letter to Mansergh, 10 Dec. 1941.

 [94] TNA PRO INF 1/786. Mansergh. Letter to Wing Commander Heald (Air Ministry), 13 Dec. 1941.

 [95] TNA PRO INF 1/562. Ministry of Information: Overseas Planning Committee. ‘Plan of Propaganda to Eire (Appreciation, Aims & Objectives, & Channels)’, 10 Feb. 1943: 8, 9.

 [96] TNA PRO INF 1/562. Ministry of Information: Overseas Planning Committee. ‘Plan of Propaganda to Eire (Appreciation, Aims & Objectives, & Channels)’, 10 Feb. 1943: 8, 9; Cole, ‘The Other “Phoney War”’, 465; Also see Betjeman, John. Letter to Benjie Nicolls, 19 Aug. 1942. Reproduced in Green, John Betjeman, 305; Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 148.

 [97] TNA PRO INF 1/562. Ministry of Information: Overseas Planning Committee. ‘Plan of Propaganda to Eire (Appreciation, Aims & Objective, & Channels)’, 10 Feb. 1943: 8.

 [98] TNA PRO INF 1/562. Ministry of Information: Overseas Planning Committee. ‘Plan of Propaganda to Eire (Appreciation, Aims & Objective, & Channels)’, 10 Feb. 1943: 8, 5, 9.

 [99] Ó Drisceoil, Censorship in Ireland, 148–9.

[100] Cole, ‘Good Relations’, 43–4.

[101] O'Halpin, Defending Ireland, 171.

[102] MacNeice Foster, F. (a friend of Pakenham and Betjeman). Letter to Betjeman, 6 May 1941. In Green, John Betjeman, 269.

[103] MacNeice Foster, F. (a friend of Pakenham and Betjeman). Letter to Betjeman, 6 May 1941. In Green, John Betjeman, 269, 275.

[104] MacNeice Foster, F. (a friend of Pakenham and Betjeman). Letter to Betjeman, 6 May 1941. In Green, John Betjeman, 269, 267.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Edward Corse

Edward Corse holds a Master of Arts in Propaganda, Persuasion and History from the University of Kent