Deployed alongside the Black and Tans and sent to make Ireland “an appropriate hell for those whose trade is agitation”, poor conditions and a lack of a clear objective would lead the Auxiliaries on a war path of drunkenness, destruction and murder. Though consisting of just 2,100 men they would be the IRA’s main opponent for the duration of the War of Independence and would take part, as victors and losers, in many of the most famous ambushes in the revolution. The Auxiliaries continue to cast a dark shadow over Irish history and in the places they would serve afterwards, from Bandon to Hebron. This episode also looks at the Essex Regiment whose members would fight a personal war with the West Cork Flying Column under the command of Tom Barry.
References:
David Leeson - “Black and Tans”
Paul O’Brien - “Havoc”
William Sheehan - “Hearts and Mines”
Essex Regiment members killed in Ireland - https://www.cairogang.com/regiments/regiments/essex.html
How a killing on the steps of Bandon’s church may have changed the War of Independence - https://www.southernstar.ie/news/how-a-killing-on-the-steps-of-bandons-church-may-have-changed-the-war-of-independence-4208923
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theirishnation
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIrishNationLives/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirishnationlives/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/theirishnationlives
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-irish-nation-lives
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/maniacalinc
Main Sources:
Military Archives - http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie
Century Ireland - https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland
Diarmuid Lynch, Irish Revolutionary - http://diarmuidlynch.weebly.com/
The Auxiliary Division - https://theauxiliaries.com/
Atlas of the Irish Revolution
Maurice Walsh - “Bitter Freedom”
Charles Townshend - "The Republic"
Michael Hopkinson - ”The Irish War of Independence”
Diarmuid Ferriter - “A Nation and not a Rabble”
Ronan Fanning - “Fatal Path”
Richard Abbot - “Police Casualties in Ireland 1919 - 1922”
Photos:
Military Archives
NLI Flickr account
Wiki Commons
