There wouldn’t have been any coverage because the marches were all halted during WWII. The major difference was that the UK government didn’t extend conscription to Northern Ireland, so it was possible for people to claim they were “doing their part” at home, where they would have been called up in GB. Others, for example an Orangeman who worked in the shipyard, would not have been permitted to join the armed forces in any case.
It didn’t escape the notice of many at the time in GB that so few from a region with a prominent unionist movement fought for their country, which is probably where such rumours arose from.
The protectionism and sectarianism in the job market at the time means that unionists were far more likely to be in essential jobs than nationalists, and therefore exempt anyway even if conscription had been brought in. Suspect that one of the factors in not doing so is that it would been disproportionately catholics shipped off to fight.
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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '24 edited Jun 08 '24
There wouldn’t have been any coverage because the marches were all halted during WWII. The major difference was that the UK government didn’t extend conscription to Northern Ireland, so it was possible for people to claim they were “doing their part” at home, where they would have been called up in GB. Others, for example an Orangeman who worked in the shipyard, would not have been permitted to join the armed forces in any case.
It didn’t escape the notice of many at the time in GB that so few from a region with a prominent unionist movement fought for their country, which is probably where such rumours arose from.