“This so called Irish ‘neutrality’ already favours Britain — the Royal Navy relinquishes its naval bases to Ireland while Leinster House allows overflights by British aircraft and doesn’t intern RAF servicemen who’ve crash-landed or bailed out over Irish soil. Does Germany enjoy similar benefits in this ‘neutrality’? Oh, I know the Krauts have ‘reassured’ Ireland that they ‘understand’ the nature of your country’s ‘peculiar’ position…” He grimaced. “I trust you can hear all the inverted commas in that sentence! Do you really think the Germans are at all trustworthy?” He allowed that to sink in completely. “You must know enough about history to know what the Nazis’ promises are worth! What did Hitler say about the Sudetenland in ‘Thirty-Eight? ‘It is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe’? History shows how long that promise lasted! Will he make a similar ‘promise’ to Ireland after Britain falls?”
That the Germans could be a threat to Ireland had never occurred to Kelly even though he himself had held serious doubts about the nation’s usefulness as an ally. The Irish Government was overtly neutral, and the IRA was actively engaged in attempts to curry German favour — that there was a chance all that would mean nothing to the Nazis hadn’t even crossed his mind, and yet the arguments Thorne made carried weight. The recent past had shown exactly how little Nazi guarantees were worth, and how little the Great Powers’ appeasement of Hitler had accomplished in relation to a continued peace.
“I don’t want you to sell your people or your cause to the British, Eoin,” Thorne continued, mellowing somewhat now he thought he’d made his point and, more importantly, that he felt he’d regained the initiative in the conversation. “I’m offering you the chance to be armed and prepared when the Germans cross the Irish Sea — and believe me, if Britain can’t stop them, they will come. There won’t be any Britain by the time you get any support from me or the organisations I’m setting up: under circumstances such as those, how can there be any problem with you accepting my offer of arms?”
“Can y’ understand how hard this is for me to accept?” Kelly asked plaintively. “You’re makin’ all these claims and sayin’ y’ want to help The Cause, and yet you’re sittin’ there wearin’ that bloody uniform!”
“You still think you can’t trust me? What if I told you I know you were lying about Frank Ryan earlier today?” The man’s eyebrow rose at that but he didn’t try to deny it. “Ryan’s in Germany right now, isn’t he… trying to work in with the Germans?” Another paused for effect. “And what about Jim Crofton…?” At the mention of the IRA’s man inside Special Branch, Kelly’s eyes flew wide with surprise and shock. “He was one of the men sent to the Curragh to collect you, wasn’t he? But he’s also passing inside information to the IRA about Special Branch. How d’you think Leinster House would react if they knew about that? Yet I haven’t passed that on to them, nor do I intend to.” Thorne shook his head slowly. “I don’t want the IRA disbanded or damaged — when the Germans come across the Channel, Ireland will need every able-bodied and armed man it can lay its hands on, IRA included! All I want you to do is go back and report to the Army Council with what you’ve seen and heard here. You can tell them I know about Crofton and they’ll be able to see that I haven’t informed anyone of it. You can also take back a few ‘samples’ of what you saw today for the council to have a look at, although I’ll not give you enough ammunition for anything more than a test firing, and you’ll have details on how to contact me again if the IRA want to do business. That’s all I’m asking at this point — you can all walk away from it if there’s anything about what I’m doing you can’t trust or accept at face value.”
“I’ll need to think about this… think hard about it…” Kelly admitted, too confused to feel confident of making a rational decision.
“You’ll have all the time in the world,” Thorne said softly, smiling faintly once more. “It’ll be a month or so before we’ll have any spare weapons to send back with you, so you’ve at least that long. I’m sorry I can’t allow you to wander around unaccompanied while you’re here, but we should be able to manage an escort that hopefully isn’t too obtrusive. There will be areas we won’t be able to allow you access to, but if you need anything or want to talk any further, just ask for me.”
“Oh, I’ll be wantin’ to talk to you again about this, sure enough,” Kelly admitted, almost grinning at the wry truth of that but not quite able. “Once I’ve had a chance to get my head around it all!”
“I don’t know what’s possible on technical grounds, but I also have no problem with you making attempts at contacting your current Council, either to confer or simply to let them know that we haven’t killed you up here.” He shrugged. “Again, as long as you give no indication of exactly where you are or what’s going on here, you’re welcome to speak freely if you can get hold of someone by radio or phone or something.”
Kelly waved an accusing finger at that remark. “Oh no: now you’re really playin’ with my head there, Mister!”
“How better to screw with someone’s mind that to use the truth, eh?” Thorne grinned back, thinking the conversation had finally turned positive, if still uncertain. He nodded at Kelly’s glass. “You look like you could do with a refill.”
“I think I could do with one or half a dozen, sure enough…” And the Irishman held the glass up for Thorne to take, a genuine smile on his face for the first time.
10. Down Time
Wednesday
July 24, 1940
Despite an initial soreness in the joints and muscles that would last for a few days, Kransky joined Eileen on her run the next morning, and in the days to follow. At first he’d have admitted — to anyone other than Donelson, of course — that his actions were driven more by physical attraction than any real enjoyment of the exercise itself. By the end of that first week however, his body, already fit and relatively well toned to begin with, had started to become accustomed to the increased effort. By that time he was also managing to keep up with the commander most of the time, and the pair generally ran together side by side — although he’d have been mortified to discover Eileen was still holding her pace back slightly to be kind.