SNIPPET: Per author Donal MacCARRON, a lifelong military history and aviation enthusiast, modern aviation memorials ("markers") have been increasingly evident in the last 20+ years. These take various forms, often a plaque or tablet on a wall commemorating stories of triumph or tragedy related to the years of the Second World War. Over 200 warplanes - British, American, Canadian and German - force-landed or crashed in neutral Ireland during the years of combat, the majority being Allied aircraft. The reasons for their unexpected arrival were usually navigational problems, lack of fuel or engine problems. Tragedy occurred when night-time and fog enshrouded high ground before the development of airborne radar. By today's standards, navigational aids then were quite primitive; often the stars, when they could be seen , were the only guides. The greatest number of incidents, by far, involved lucky escapes, thanks to expert piloting and the grace of God. In those years, few people in Ireland had even seen an aeroplane, and certainly not at close quarters; the various air displays of the 1930s were centered on cities and major towns and flights by the tiny Irish Air Corps would rarely disturb the rural calm. The spectacle of a huge heavily-armed four-engine war machine coming like a bolt out of the blue and performing dramatic maneuvers to effect a landing were the talk of the town and villages. The crew of the United States "Travelin' Trollop" landed safely on morning in 1943 on the golden beach of Lahinch, "T'aint-a-Bird" made a soft landfall near Clonakilty in Co. Cork. At Co. Roscommon, a B.25 "Mitchell" made a superb landing. One humorous story involves the east coast beach area in the vicinity of Cos. Meath & Louth. One morning in 1944 members of a religious order of nuns were alarmed to see a war-weary American "Marauder" aircraft swoop down with its wheels up and come to a dramatic halt in front of their residence. On its nose, and in addition to its name "Range Runner" and the tally of its bombing operations, was a dramatic depiction of a grizzly bear chasing an unclad young lady! Glad to be safe, the airmen sat sunning themselves on a wing while the hospitable nuns dispensed mugs of cocoa, all the while discreetly averting their eyes from the artwork. Per Mr. MacCARRON - As of early 1998, no commemorative tablet had been installed, but no doubt the holy sisters offered up some prayers for the hardy lads who went on to fly and fight another day. If the subject interests you, you can check out MacCARRON's books and/or refer to his article (with old and recent photos and names of some of the airmen involved) in the March-April 1998 issue of "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine published in Dublin. Perhaps there is information on the web about any ongoing reunions.