Madam, - The correct figure for Irish men and women who enlisted in the British armed forces in the second World War is nearer to 130,000. The reason that this figure is so much greater than that quoted by Seán Coleman (February 5th) is that it includes those from Northern Ireland.
The estimated figure of those who served during the war is, for the then Irish Free State, about 78,000 and, for Northern Ireland, 52,000. About 20,000 were already in the armed forces before the war began.
In his book Irish Men and Women in the Second World War, Richard Doherty discusses this in detail, and the figures quoted are from his research-based estimations. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL PEGUM, Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.