Sir, - Mr John de Courcy Ireland writes (January 8th) that Casement "waited in vain for the Libau to appear" after reaching Tralee Bay. This is not apparent from the war diary (Kriegstagebuch) kept daily by Kapitanleutnant Weissbach (not Weisbach) throughout the operation. This makes no mention of the Libau but records his failure to make contact with a pilot-boat (Lotsenboot).
Having entered the bay at 0010 hours on April 21st (Good Friday), he launched Casement's dinghy at 0215 hours when two miles off Banna Strand and headed at once for the Atlantic. Having delivered his passengers, he would have had no apparent reason to remain in enemy waters.
The captain of the Libau, Karl Spindler, in his book Gunrunning for Casement (Collins 1921), states that his rendezvous with a pilot-boat was at 1615 hours the same day when Weissbach would have been well out to sea (where, in the next few days, he sank several unarmed merchantmen). It would be most surprising if Spindler, a career officer in the German navy, was "at the mouth of the Shannon," as Mr de Courcy Ireland now tells us, when from his book he clearly thought he was in Tralee Bay. Yours, etc. -
Killegar, Co Leitrim.