Ireland and the Great War - Aftermath

Aftermath

Relief and elation followed by battle fatigue, alienation, occasional victimisation and silence. Memory became the province of Ulster.

"It was finished, and that was that"

This veteran tries to convey how the end of the war felt almost matter-of-fact.

"No one took the slightest notice"

This veteran recalls being simply fed-up by the time it was all over.

"I don't think that today's generation could survive it"

Emmet Dalton gives the opinion that it is impossible to know if Ireland paid too high a price for its participation in the war. At the time, the war was fully justified by the leaders of the day.

"War is war...you kill or be killed"

Jack Campbell's outstanding memory of the war is the loyalty of his comrades to the cause and the oath.

Ulster Veterans Return to the Somme

Veterans of the Ulster Division prepare to leave Belfast to attend a commemoration at Thiepval. Two of them, Mr Saunders and Mr Wilson, tell how they feel about returning to the Somme 60 years later.