For me two of the most interesting vehicles at Tankfest 26 were the two armoured vehicles from the Irish Army Museum at the Curragh.
These were used by the Irish Defence Forces. There was a Landsverk L180 armoured car.
There was also a Landsverk L-60 tank..
These were of Swedish origin. The Irish government only bought two Landsverk L-60 tanks. Likewise there weren’t many Landsverk L180 armoured cars either, after an initial order of two, a further six were delivered in 1939. Another five were ordered, but could not be delivered because of the war.
Seeing these and later reading about the Irish Defence Forces it got me thinking about possible period scenarios involving these armoured vehicles. I also got thinking what if the Irish government decided to beef up their armed forces in response to threats to their country.
German Invasion of Ireland – The German High Command did in fact draw up an invasion plan for Ireland, called Operation Green. The plan was to mislead the UK about German plans, and the plan itself was seen as a support for the main Operation Sealion.
Though you could also see a scenario, where the Germans did successfully invade Great Britain, and then plan to invade Ireland to prevent the US from using Ireland as a staging for liberating occupied Great Britain (and the rest of Europe). Following a successful invasion of the UK mainland, and the surrender of the UK, the German High Command decided that the threat posed by a neutral Ireland being used a stepping stone by US forces and was too great.
British Invasion of Ireland – In order to stop Germany using Iceland, the British did invade the island country in the North Atlantic. Operation Fork saw the landing of Royal Navy and Royal Marines forces at Reykjavík, who occupied Iceland without resistance. Would they do something similar with Ireland. The British government, in secret liaison with the Irish government, drafted Plan W, a planned occupation of Ireland by the British Armed Forces to counteract a potential German invasion.
The question is, would there be resistance from the Irish forces. Would neutral Ireland seek support from others, America perhaps, even Germany.
Both these ideas, depending on the timeframe could be used as the basis for some interesting games between various forces.