History of Sorts

Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, “the Day of the Festival of Patrick”), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.

While the Republic of Ireland was neutral during WWII, Northern Ireland became an important Allied sea and airbase.And besides that there were a great number of allied soldiers who identified themselves as being Irish through their Irish ancestry. Also there were many Irish who fought during the war, the Irish guards for example were pivotal to many WWII operations.

Below are some pictures of St Patrick’s day celebrations during WWII

While a piper plays, a special rum ration is issued to men of the 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers to mark St Patrick’s Day in the Anzio bridgehead, Italy, 17 March 1944.

American soldiers…