For six long years, they were the nation’s official ‘vigilantes’ keeping a 24/7 lonely vigil on Éire’s challenging coastline for the first sign of invasion. On the 80th anniversary of their stand-down on 9 October, 1945, Pat Poland pays homage to the, now almost-forgotten, dedicated volunteers affectionately known as
‘The Saygulls’
The Coastwatching Service was established the week the Second World War – Éire’s ‘Emergency’ – broke out in September 1939.
At first amalgamated with the Marine Service, each became a separate entity on 1 July 1942. Originally only equipped with two-man ‘bivvy’ tents, after several of them were blown into the sea from their exposed locations, simple, concrete pre-fabricated structures known as ‘Look Out Posts’ (LOPs) were provided.
Measuring just 9ft x 7ft with sea-facing bay windows, the huts were totally devoid of creature comforts; the only exception being a small stove provided for heating and cooking purposes.
Each hut was equipped with a telephone, telescope, binoculars, Admiralty charts, a fixed compass card, semaphore and international code flags, a Morse lamp, first-aid kit, handbooks for identifying belligerent aircraft and warships, and bicycles.
The huts were numbered clockwise around the coast from Carlingford Lough to Lough Foyle, many in remote, and indeed hazardous, areas. Lamb’s Head (LOP 33, still extant) on the Ring of Kerry being a good example of the latter; in stark contrast was LOP 6 (demolished) at Howth Head, Co. Dublin, which was but a hop, step and jump from the nearest hostelry!
By war’s end there were eighty-eight LOPs placed at strategic points along the Éire coastline, positioned on average every five – ten miles apart.
The volunteer soldiers who manned them were responsible for monitoring any sign of belligerent activity on sea or in the air, and to warn of the first sign of an invader.
They took their duties very seriously and anything untoward that came to their notice was diligently entered in the official log book, about 500 of which have survived and are deposited in Military Archives and available to read on-line.
Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own
Image courtesy of palette.fm
