In service to their country: Moving tales of Irishmen who fought in WWII

The stories of Irishmen who served in WWII are deeply moving says Geoffrey Roberts

THE amazing story of Dr Aidan MacCarthy, the West Cork medic who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in August 1945, has once again captured the imagination.

Dr MacCarthy, a graduate of University College Cork, joined the RAF in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War. He enlisted on a short-service commission to further his medical career but remained in the RAF for 30 years, eventually rising to the rank of air commodore.