Personal code telegram from Joseph P. Walshe to William Warnock (Berlin)
(No. 112)

Please make the following protest to the German Government immediately and leave the text as an aide mémoire:-

'1. Between the hours of 1.0 and 2.0 approximately, Irish Summer Time, on the morning of Saturday, May 31st, bombs were dropped in the Dublin area. Three fell in a densely populated part of the North City and one fell in the Phoenix Park near the President's Residence and the American Legation, both of which buildings suffered damage. In the city at least thirty persons were killed and over ninety were injured.¹ A large number of houses were demolished and considerable additional damage to property was caused.

On Sunday morning, June 1st, at about 1.0 a.m., a bomb was dropped in the open country near Arklow, Co. Wicklow. Some material damage was done.

2. The investigations have shown that the bombs were of German origin. In particular, a light-blue coloured plastic material, generally cylindrical in shape and bearing the instruction HIER NICHT ANHEBEN² was found in each bombed area.

3. The Irish Government cannot exaggerate the strength and depth of indignation caused amongst the Irish people by the tragic loss of life and injury to persons and property following the bombing of this neutral country. No neutral country has suffered a single catastrophe from air bombing involving such extensive loss of life. The Irish Government desire to protest in the strongest manner against the violation of the neutrality of Irish territory by German aircraft bringing death and serious injury to persons and property. They claim full compensation and reparation and they ask the German Government for explicit assurances that the strictest instructions will be given to secure that no further flights of German aircraft will take place over Irish territory or territorial waters.

4. The Irish Government wish furthermore to remind the German Government that no satisfactory reply has been sent to the protest made by them in the month of January when air bombs bearing German markings caused loss of life and damage to property in Ireland.³

5. The Irish Government cannot emphasise too strongly that the strain imposed on Irish-German relations by such tragic events might well become insupportable. They therefore urge the German Government to take the most urgent measures to comply with the terms of this protest.'