Could WWII have been avoided? Memoirs uncover the Irishman who saved Hitler from being kicked to death by a mob

Michael Keogh on his wedding day. He lived an extraordinary life, not least because he intervened to save Hitler's life from an angry mob in 1919

It's the ultimate imponderable in the 'counterfactual' school of history: Could the world have been spared its greatest cataclysm - and more than 70million deaths - but for the unwitting intervention of one forgotten Irishman?

For in 1919, 20 years before the horrors of the Second World War, Michael Keogh rescued a little-known demagogue who was on the point of being kicked to death by an angry mob. His name? Adolf Hitler.

Mr Keogh's extraordinary life story - and the Nazi leader's narrow escape - have come to light in the soldier's newly discovered memoirs.

His detailed accounts mysteriously disappeared from his deathbed in 1964. But now the files, recovered by his family and authenticated by historians, tell how he fought on both sides during the First World War, met Hitler twice - and saved his life.

Mr Keogh, born in Tullow, Co. Carlow, and joined the British army's Royal Irish Regiment in 1913 at the age of 22. He was soon in trouble for 'sedition'.



The regiment went to France in August 1914 and before the month was out, Mr Keogh had been captured by the Germans.



In 1916, he became one of the few Irish PoWs to volunteer for Roger Casement's Irish Brigade and when that fell through, he joined the German army.

It was at this point, in September 1918, that he first met Lance-Corporal Adolf Hitler near Ligny on the French border. The pair had been assigned to the same 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment.

However, it is their second meeting in 1919 that saw the former soldier unwittingly change the course of history. Mr Keogh had joined the Freikorps, or Free Corps, the right-wing militia formed to quash Bolshevik-inspired Marxist revolution in post-war Germany.

What If? : Adolf Hitler was directly responsible for between 40 and 50 millions deaths. Had Michael Keogh been a little less efficient in his duties, all those deaths may have been avoided.

His memoirs explain: 'I had fought my way into Munich as a captain in the Freikorps Epp. A few weeks later, I was the officer of the day in the Turken Strasse barracks when I got an urgent call at about eight in the evening.

'A riot had broken out over two political agents in the gymnasium. These "political officers" were allowed to approach the men for votes and support. I ordered out a sergeant and six men and, with fixed bayonets, led them off. There were about 200 men in the gymnasium, among them some tough Tyrolean troops.'

The two politicians, who had been lecturing from a table top, had been dragged to the floor and were being beaten. ' Bayonets were beginning to flash,' he wrote.

The two on the floor were in danger of being kicked to death. I ordered the guard to fire one round over the heads of the rioters. It stopped the commotion.'

The soldiers managed to haul out the two politicians. Both were cut, bleeding and in need of a doctor.

'The crowd around muttered and growled, boiling for blood,' Keogh added.

The fellow with the moustache gave his name promptly: Adolf Hitler. It was the Lance Corporal of Ligny. He began to talk about his new party, the new National Socialist German Workers' Party.'

Mr Keogh's memoirs recall that the next time he saw Hitler, the Fuhrer-to-be was addressing a vast crowd at Nuremberg in August 1930 and in need of no protection.

The soldier's family said they are thrilled that his long-lost memoirs are being published.

Yesterday, his 84-year-old son, Kevin, who lives in Swords, north Dublin, told how the files were lost in 1964 while his father was on his deathbed in an Irish hospital.

They were recently discovered in the UCD archives and released to his family.