Operation Seagull II facts for kids

Operation Seagull II (also known as "Unternehmen Möve II" or "SeeMöve" in German) was a secret mission planned by Germany during World War II in June 1942. It was a follow-up to an earlier plan called Operation Seagull I.

The main idea behind Operation Seagull II was to send a German agent, known as "V-Manner," by parachute into the area southeast of Ballycastle in Northern Ireland. Once there, the agent would try to find and recruit members of the IRA who were willing to help. Their goal was to attack important targets nearby. Both Operation Seagull I and Seagull II were meant to be controlled using radio messages, with the teams in Ireland and Scotland communicating with each other.

Who Was Involved in Operation Seagull II?

The agent chosen for Operation Seagull II was a man named James Brady, also known as "Agent Metzger." Brady was from Strokestown in Roscommon, Ireland. He had been a soldier in the British Army stationed in Norway.

Brady was captured by the German Army on June 30, 1940, when they took over the Channel Islands. At that time, he was in jail on Guernsey for a serious offense. After his capture, he was held in a prisoner-of-war camp called Stalag XX A (301). There, he met other Irishmen, possibly including an IRA member named Frank Ryan.

Around mid-1941, Brady was recruited by the Abwehr, which was Germany's intelligence service. He was given a fake South American passport under the name "de Lacy." To get ready for Operation Seagull II, Brady went through intense training courses. This included a radio course at the Abwehr school in Stettin.

Why the Mission Failed

After their training, James Brady (for Seagull II) and another agent named Andrew Walsh (for Seagull I) were supposed to fly to German-occupied Norway. From there, they would take a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor plane to their drop zones.

However, just before they were about to leave for Norway, the Abwehr headquarters in Berlin called and ordered them to return immediately. It turned out that Andrew Walsh had been overheard telling another prisoner that he planned to turn himself in to the police once he landed in England. He also planned to hide the money the Abwehr had given him for the mission. The other prisoner told on Walsh, and both Walsh and the prisoner were arrested by the Gestapo, Germany's secret police. Because of this, Operation Seagull I was completely canceled. Operation Seagull II was also called off due to these events.

Why Was Operation Seagull II Planned?

Operation Seagull II was planned at the same time as Operation Seagull I. These plans came about because, between 1940 and 1941, the Abwehr had successfully recruited agents from Irish prisoners of war held at Stalag XX A (301), sometimes called "Friesack Camp".

The main goal of the Abwehr was to gather information. However, different regional offices of the Abwehr had a lot of freedom to plan their own missions. This sometimes led to missions that, looking back, seemed to have many problems.

Targets in Northern Ireland

The agent in Operation Seagull II would have found many potential targets in Northern Ireland. By early 1942, US Army troops were present in the region. Also, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was operating from there. These military activities would have been of interest to the Abwehr.

However, getting help from the IRA for the operation might have been difficult. By 1942, the IRA in Ireland was much weaker. Their "Northern Campaign" in Northern Ireland (September - December 1942) had completely failed. This showed that the organization was greatly limited by wartime rules, internment (being held without trial), and the actions of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British Army in Northern Ireland. It seems that the Abwehr staff in Germany did not fully understand how many problems the IRA faced or how ineffective they were as a fighting force.

Was the IRA Involved?

The IRA in Ireland had no involvement or prior knowledge of Operation Seagull II. However, it is possible that Frank Ryan, an IRA member who was in Germany and working with the Abwehr, might have known about the mission.

See also

• IRA Abwehr World War II - Learn more about the connections between the IRA and Nazi Germany.