THE WASTE OF WAR: The Second World War

On the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, Ryle Dwyer reflects on the conflict in which his father was killed

ONE of my earliest memories of studying history in primary school is of a Christian Brother condemning Daniel O’Connell for denouncing bloodshed. It was as if O’Connell was guilty of some kind of treason.

That Christian Brother saw something glorious about killing and dying, but, as the son of a soldier killed in Germany during the Second World War, I had a different perspective.