Memorials are silent on both USSR and role in Easter Rising

However it should also be mentioned that there are no mentions of the Irish war of independence which, after having its origins in the 1916 Easter Rising, continued straight after the first world war up until 1922 when the Irish Free State came into existence.

The reason for this is that the Establishment has always known that appalling brutalities and atrocities were carried out by the infamous Black and Tans in Ireland during the war.

These irregulars were recruited from British prisons both military and civillian and were established by none other than Winston Churchill himself - ask any Irish Republican and they will confirm that as a fact.

No campaign medals were issued to soldiers serving in Ireland from 1918-1922 and no memorials exist for British soldiers who died there either, because of the embarrassment to the Establishment once these brutalities became known to the general public on both sides of the Irish sea.

It was hoped that it would fade away into historical obscurity and the lack of plans to acknowledge this dark period of Anglo-Irish relations during the centenary commemorations of 1914-1918 means that it has done as such in mainstream circles.

Another whitewashed period of inconvenient history.

Phil Brand

London SW17