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This story is taken from an interview with Michael Karney at the Dublin WW2 Commemoration, and has been added to the site with their permission. The authors fully understand the site's terms and conditions. The interviewer was David Reid, and the transcription was by Bruce Logan.
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I’m very interested in military history.
I do a lot of research, it’s a hobby of mine, particularly the VC. I specialise in Irish VCs. In Irish Regiments there are 164 VCs. With Irish siblings and Irish soldiers it’s touching 200. The first VC ever won was for Mate Lucas from Armagh. He won it at the Baltic in the Crimea war. The first soldier to win the VC was Sgt Luke O’Connor from Elton in Roscommon. He won his at the Crimea war. Now they were the very first people to win the VC. The first VC of the First World War was won by an Irishman. The first VC of the Second World War was won by an Irishman. The youngest VC was 2 Irish lads at 15 years and 3 months. They won VCs — they were medical orderlies. One was in China in 1860, the other was in India. I’ve got an MBE, I’m very happy with that.
Irish VCs, we’ve led the warpath on them. Unfortunately, unluckily, we haven’t got an Irish VC in this country. There’s not one. All those that haven’t been bought up by collectors are in the Imperial War Museum in London. We’re trying to look after those who are buried here, who have VCs, but we haven’t got the medals. Their graves are in a terrible state. We’re working on that at the moment. We’ve already done some. We’re hoping to get in Collins’s barracks — this is the new all-army museum. We put up a letter to Tony Blair asking for 250k quid so we can put up a corner to VCs, Irish VCs but VCs in general, with an Irish emphasis. And we had an answer from Tony Blair — he said he’s hand it over to the MOD. At this point in time, Collins’s Barracks is going to be an all-army, not just British, all armies is going to have some kit in there. And we want the corner for the VCs, with all the up-to-date equipment, so that all the people can come in and rotate it and see who’s done what.

[do you thing the “People’s War” archive has a value?]

All military history has a value, it doesn’t matter what period. If you look at the historians today, the people I deal with, military history and military memorabilia is a multi-billion-pound business. And I can tell you, it isn’t going away. People will still want to do what we done today. I’ll give you a reason. There’s a man from the Dublin Fusiliers. Disbanded 1922, with all the other serving South-of-Ireland regiments. They have the biggest Old Comrades Association of all of them in Ireland. Dublin Fusiliers. And yet they’re dead and buried in 1922. The Munsters in Cork are the same. The Leinsters, the Connaught Rangers. They’ve all developed into — how many do you have? 900? 400? And they’re all friends of the museum. They’re doing the same in England. Because they’ve taken all the character out of the British army by getting rid of the county regiments. And there’s no family follow-on. Against all our complaints. Because that’s what made the British army — family following on. And making sure they done as well as their grandfather.

1939-45? I didn’t join up until 1950, because I wasn’t of age. But since then I’ve served in Korea, Kenya, Aden, Cyprus, Rhodesia, the North of Ireland — wherever there’s been a skirmish. I’m the pathfinder, something like that, but I’ve been in most conflicts since the Second World War. But I had an uncle killed in the Second War, and all my family served in the First World War. I come from a family of career soldiers. That means I didn’t just join up for 5 years, I joined up for full pension. My grandfather did, his grandfather did. And that’s the background I come from.
I grew up beside Stephen’s Green in a street called Messer St, off Stephen’s Green. And my playground was Stephen’s Green. I used to run around, 6 of us used to run around the square of Stephen’s Green. And when I joined the army, that was worth its weight in gold to me because I was fitter than everybody else. And hence in my Regiment, a Royal Irish Regiment, the Royal Irish Fusiliers, I got the nickname of “Flash” — because I won all the races, I was on the boxing team, I was on the football team. Because I was a fitness fanatic!

And then I went on. I joined the Pipe Band, because my uncle was the secretary of the musicians union of Ireland. His father was in the Lancers during the First War. So I was made redundant in the pipe band, which knocked me off my peg because I was doing very well. But the pipe major said “you’ll only be a piper in the pipe band”. And I didn’t understand what he meant. I was sent back to duty, and within 6 months lance corporal, and in 6 months a full corporal, but in 2 years I was stand I had 9 promotions altogether. What he’d obviously seen was that I was NCO material, and that being a piper wasn’t going to get me anywhere. That was my logic. I was very very annoyed and disappointed. I was knocked off my perch. I was the cheese, I was on every regimental team. And then I did 28 years, and 2 years more service. And I came out and although born and raised in Dublin I lived in the Wirral in Cheshire, where I bought a Post Office.

[snip RBL/MBE work]

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