Author in search of World War II stories

A Coward If I Return, A Hero If I Fall: Stories of Irishmen in World War I, told the story of previously unknown Irish soldiers of the Great War and went on to win the Argosy Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award as part of the Bord Gáis 2010 Irish Book Awards.
The author is Neil Richardson, an Irish military history writer who is hoping to write a similar book on the Irish in World War II.
He is appealing to surviving veterans or their families to contact him with their stories.
At least 7,000 Irish were killed in action during World War II and Neil would like this book to honour the memory of those who died. Everyone joined up for their own personal reasons but either way, they should all be remembered for their sacrifice.
“I strongly believe that these people’s lives should be preserved and written down for all to read. I want to tell the stories of ordinary Irish soldiers, sailors and airmen from all across the island of Ireland who served in the Second World War; to have every county represented, if possible.
“I had relatives myself who were in that war, so it is a sort of personal quest for me.
“I am very passionate about giving a voice to the men whose stories have not been recorded so far – the men who will otherwise be forgotten about.”
Neil has so far managed to gather some fascinating and tragic stories of several Irish war veterans but he is now hoping that more will contact him.
He got a tremendous response from Clare Champion readers to his appeal for background information in respect of his previous book and is hopeful that the same help will be forthcoming this time also.
“The other thing is, even though Ireland is much more comfortable with the idea that Irishmen fought in the Second World War than in the First, many Second World War soldiers were still treated badly for having served in the British Army and there were 100,000 of them that did.
“This makes their stories even more important to record, as they fought against one of history’s greatest evils only to return to an atmosphere of uncertainty in Ireland. Their bravery deserves to be written about.”
Neil is fascinated by what these men went through and he wants the book to focus primarily on the veterans’ lives – not only what they experienced when in uniform but also their lives before they ­enlisted and what happened to them after they returned home.
“I am really excited about this book. If anyone has even the smallest bit of information, I would love to hear from them.
“I hope people will not be shy about coming forward and I really want to stress that no story is ­insignificant – it all paints a picture of a time and a place and the people that lived through it.”
Neil can be contacted after 6pm at 086 0735297 or 04492 23932, or neilrichardson6@yahoo.ie.