Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Owen J. Redmond (Dublin)
(221/147E)

Just a note to point out that the statement made by a spokesman of the British Air Ministry and printed in the Dublin newspapers of the 23rd February to the effect that the dropping of bombs on the North Strand¹ was the result of RAF interference with the German navigational beam may conceivably prove somewhat of a handicap when we come to deal with future German Governments about the settlement of the North Strand claim! From every point of view, it was a stupid and unhelpful disclosure.

Actually, we had some inkling of the cause of the bombing at the time, as you will see from the attached copy of a letter of the 3rd June, 1941, from a man called Megan to one of the officials in the High Commissioner's Office in London.² We purposely refrained from encouraging Megan at the time, in view of the effect which his story was likely to have on the German Government's willingness to accept liability, if it got about.