Terrific post davie-c. I sometimes think it's easy to forget that world war two wasn't about British colonialism/imperialism. It was a fight against a very evil entity, a fight for the very soul of humanity. A fight fought by several countries; not by any means just Britain... America, Canada, Australia, France, Russia, India. While Ireland remained neutral, tens of thousands of Irish folk, men and woman, also fought. People of all colours and creeds put aside their differences to defeat a particularly evil type of Fascism. We should be forever grateful for their sacrifice.
As for The Great War, The Fureys, song The Green Fields of France, sums up the futility of that particular war better than anything I've ever read. Worth a listen.