History of Sorts

(First published in 2019)

Ireland remained neutral throughout World War II, but that is not to say there was no contribution from the Irish during the war. Many young Irish men did join the British army and also partook in Operation Overlord, more commonly known as D-Day.

However, this blog is not about any of those troops but—about two less likely participants in Operation Overlord.

When Maureen Flavin took on a job as postmistress at the Blacksod Lighthouse in Co. Mayo in Ireland, she had not anticipated the other job bestowed on her. The job was taking barometer and thermometer readings (basically weather forecasting) at the remote Blacksod weather station on the west coast of Ireland. She did do her job—and it made a global impact.

On her 21st birthday on June 3, 1944, she took the barometer readings and noticed a sudden drop, indicating bad weather was coming. Maureen reported to Ted Sweeney, the lighthouse keeper, and they sent it in. Maureen quickly received a call from a British woman asking them to check and confirm the report.

The report was re-sent, and an hour later, she received a call from the same British woman, asking her to check and confirm again, which she did.

Unbeknownst to Maureen, the Allied leaders in London relied on her weather reports to judge whether they should proceed with the D-Day launch as planned. The chief meteorologist, a Scottish man named James Scagg, was giving General Eisenhower regular weather updates.

Scagg advised Eisenhower that based on Maureen’s report—Operation Overlord (planned for June 5, 1944), should be postponed. He knew the weather forecasted by Maureen would hit the United Kingdom and France after it hit Ireland. Eisenhower took the advice and postponed the planned invasion by one day, so D-Day happened on June 6 because of a young Irish woman. Maureen later married the lighthouse keeper, Ted Sweeney. Their son Vincent is currently the lighthouse keeper at Blacksod Lighthouse.

The other unlikely Irish D-Day hero was born and raised in the village of Carnlough on the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland. He joined the RAF as a messenger, and although he wasn’t a pilot nor did he have a plane, he still flew a dangerous mission.

You see, Paddy was a messenger pigeon who served with the RAF during the Normandy operations in June 1944. He was the fastest pigeon to reach England with a coded message from the battle-front beaches of Normandy.

The brave bird brought back vital information about the Allies’ progress, flying 230 miles in four hours and 50 minutes—the fastest time of any messenger pigeon involved in the mission with an average speed of 56 mph.

In the face of poor weather conditions and the threat of German Falcons deployed to intercept Paddy and his comrades, he delivered his message to his home loft at RAF Hurn.

He was the only Irish pigeon to receive the award—the Dicken Medal for bravery. Paddy trained for his specialist role in Northern Ireland and England.

Before D-Day Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, Paddy was delivered to RAF Hurn in Hampshire. Two days later, he was among 30 pigeons taken to France by a unit of the 1st US Army. Paddy was released at 8.15 a.m. on June 12, carrying coded information on the Allied advance.

Maureen passed away on December 17, 2023 aged 100

Sources

https://www.irishtimes.com/obituaries/2024/01/06/maureen-flavin-obituary-blacksod-postmistress-whose-weather-report-changed-the-course-of-history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maureen_Flavin_Sweeney

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyjj7dddvmjo

https://www.met.ie/maureen-sweeney-1923-2023