0:17:40 > 0:17:43There we go.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46556746, Trooper A Freeman.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48This'll be Albert.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51'Albert Freeman came from Gainsborough in Lincolnshire.
0:17:51 > 0:17:57'His local paper records the tragic events of his death in 1940.'
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Trooper Freeman was drowned when his ship, the Arandora Star,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02a former luxury liner that was carrying
0:18:02 > 0:18:04German and Italian internees to Canada,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06was torpedoed into the Atlantic.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Albert's body was one of many washed up on the Donegal coast.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17He was found by the Irish servicemen manning this observation post
0:18:17 > 0:18:20as they watched the Second World War unfold offshore.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Ireland's National Archivist, Michael Kennedy,
0:18:25 > 0:18:30is with me to explain the role of the men stationed at lookouts like this.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32They could see convoys,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35they'd see aircraft flying over protecting the convoys,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and they'd occasionally see German aircraft flying by
0:18:38 > 0:18:40attacking the convoys. The idea is you're here,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43you're observing the Battle of the Atlantic
0:18:43 > 0:18:47out in front of you there, out off Ireland's west coast.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50These watchmen were onlookers to a world at war,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52because Ireland was neutral.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58The Irish didn't even call it a war.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01It was known as The Emergency.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Publicly, the British Government denounced Ireland's neutrality.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08But Michael's discovered that the two governments
0:19:08 > 0:19:11were holding talks in secret.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Let's looks at some secret documents that show more of what was going on.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16It's not just secret, it's "most secret."
0:19:16 > 0:19:18This only came out in the early 1990s.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21It was hidden in the archives until then.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23It's written by a man named Joseph Walshe,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25who was Ireland's top diplomat.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28The title of it is, "Help Given by the Irish Government
0:19:28 > 0:19:31"to the British in Relation to the actual Waging of the War."
0:19:31 > 0:19:34So there's a lot being done here that we didn't know about.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37OK, so the important ones here, say, point two, here.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40"Broadcasting of information relating to German planes
0:19:40 > 0:19:43"and submarines in or near our area," so out here.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45- So these posts were actually feeding information.- That's right.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47The men of the coast watching service
0:19:47 > 0:19:50were reporting first to the Irish Intelligence Services,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52and then the reports were going over
0:19:52 > 0:19:54to the British military, as well.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00'Ireland's close contact with the British government
0:20:00 > 0:20:02'brought other benefits, too.'
0:20:02 > 0:20:04And you can see here another one, the third point.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07"Permission to use the air for their planes,"
0:20:07 > 0:20:10that's British planes, "over certain specified areas."
0:20:13 > 0:20:15The Allies used flying boats to help protect
0:20:15 > 0:20:19the vital North Atlantic convoys from U-Boat attack.
0:20:20 > 0:20:25Those flying boats were stationed on Lough Erne in North Ireland.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27The shortest route to the Atlantic
0:20:27 > 0:20:32meant flying through Irish air space directly over Donegal.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Using this route required the permission
0:20:34 > 0:20:36of Ireland's leader, Eamon Da Valera.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38The Donegal air corridor, it was called,
0:20:38 > 0:20:43it was negotiated over the Christmas of 1940 into 1941.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47And through it, Da Valera gave the Royal Air Force permission to fly
0:20:47 > 0:20:50right behind us here, across Donegal bay,
0:20:50 > 0:20:51and out into the North Atlantic.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54- The shortest route to get out to port.- Exactly. Protecting the convoy.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57- Stopping the Germans starving Britain into submission.- Yeah.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Walshe writes at the bottom here, he says, and it's in his own hand,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07"We could not do more if we were in the war."
0:21:07 > 0:21:12So it's serious, high level co-operation
0:21:12 > 0:21:14that is twisting and bending the parameters
0:21:14 > 0:21:16of legal neutrality out of shape.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Evidence on this coast tells us a surprising story
0:21:21 > 0:21:24of Ireland's active participation in the Second World War.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Testimony to a secret bond between countries
0:21:27 > 0:21:30on the edge of the Atlantic during desperate times.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56Around here, you can't escape the power of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59It's carved out massive sculptures to remind us
0:21:59 > 0:22:03that for millions of years, it's battered Ireland's north-west coast.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11The islanders of Arranmore have an intimate relationship
0:22:11 > 0:22:13with the fickle sea.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16So at the heart of the community there's a lifeboat station.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Now, there's no way I could leave these shores
0:22:23 > 0:22:26without meeting the men who know more than anybody else
0:22:26 > 0:22:29about the harsh realities of life on the edge of the Atlantic.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32The lifeboat men, who brave the wildest storms
0:22:32 > 0:22:34to bring help to those in peril.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42The RNLI here in Ireland is the same organisation
0:22:42 > 0:22:44that operates in Britain.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Yet the crew of the RNLI's Arranmore boat
0:22:48 > 0:22:52are Irishmen operating in Irish waters.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55It's remarkable that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's
0:22:55 > 0:22:57presence in Ireland has survived
0:22:57 > 0:23:01the struggle for independence and the troubles that followed.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03It begs a question for Terry Johnson,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06one of the RNLI's top brass.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08I must admit, I'd never really thought about it.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10It was almost a surprise to think that there's
0:23:10 > 0:23:13a ROYAL National Lifeboat Institution
0:23:13 > 0:23:15in the Republic of Ireland.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Well, it's always been the RNLI.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21And it was operating for nearly 100 years
0:23:21 > 0:23:24before Ireland's government was formed in 1922.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28And they approached the Irish Free State Institution and said,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32"We're here in Ireland, our lifeboat crews want to continue the work."
0:23:32 > 0:23:36And the government said, "Well, we welcome and support you in that."
0:23:41 > 0:23:46The Irish Coastguard work with the RNLI to provide a vital search
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and rescue service for mariners in the North Atlantic.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53The Sikorsky Search And Rescue helicopter is on its way to join us
0:23:53 > 0:23:57for an exercise that'll test the skills of both crews.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04There's about to be a seafarer in trouble...me!
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Am I going in, yeah?
0:24:08 > 0:24:10- OK.- OK.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Let the air out of your suit.
0:24:15 > 0:24:16'Without my dry suit,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19'I wouldn't expect to last more than matter of minutes.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28'Being adrift in the ocean as the life boat disappears from view
0:24:28 > 0:24:29'is unsettling.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38'In a real emergency, my distress flare could be a life saver.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46'The plan is to pick me up and land me
0:24:46 > 0:24:49'on the deck of the moving life boat.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51'A procedure the crew practise for rescues
0:24:51 > 0:24:53'when there's a number of people in the water.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57'Imagine this in a ten foot swell.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10'With the ten tonne helicopter hovering directly above me,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13'I'm being blasted by the downdraft from the rotor blades.'
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Brilliant.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28'The lifeboat's purposely travelling into the wind,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32'and I'm flying through the air at 15 knots, following it! The reason?
0:25:32 > 0:25:36'It gives the pilot more control, because flying forward,
0:25:36 > 0:25:41'the helicopter gains lift, so it's more stable, if more scary.'
0:25:47 > 0:25:52I would never even contemplate taking part in an exercise like this
0:25:52 > 0:25:55if it wasn't with the RNLI and the Coastguard.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57Not only will they rescue anyone,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59irrespective of nationality or creed,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01but they'll go out a 100 miles into the worst
0:26:01 > 0:26:04the Atlantic storms have to offer to get their job done.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Now, that's class!