An exhibition at Tralee has items from around the world connected to the Second World War.
German tanks parked outside the Kerry County Museum at Ashe Memorial Hall in Tralee are part of a World War II exhibition. The exhibition the first of ts kind in Ireland has been open for a week and has already had several thousand visitors and will run until the end of the year.
John Griffin provides a background to the exhibition saying that virtually every country in the world was involved in some way in World War II. While Ireland was officially neutral, seven hundred Kerry men fought on the side of the allies during the war. Among them was Private Richard Kelliher from Tralee who was awarded the Victoria Cross. Also on show is an altimeter from a USAAF B-17 bomber which crashed on Mount Brandon in Kerry. There is material relating to Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, known as the Scarlet Pimpernel of The Vatican, who rescued over four thousand allied troops during the German occupation of Rome.
John Griffin says that over 18 months of research have gone into the exhibition which involved contacting military museums all over the world. Many of the items on display have been borrowed from these museums and from private collections. Items include Douglas MacArthur's pistol and Dwight D. Eisenhower's declaration accepting responsibility for D-day in the event of its failure. There is also a diary of Russian General Georgy Zhukov. These are on display in Ireland for the first time and are expected to attract a lot of interest.
Visitors to the exhibition can also view film footage shot during World War II.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 May 1995. The reporter is Tom MacSweeney.
