00-an cos-feb-05 (p1-17) · 2 cav sqn, under the command of 2/lt melissa hogan. photo: armn billy...

■ The Tamil Tigers

■ La Langue Français

■ Surviving Ejection

■ A New Dimension

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An Cosantóirt h e d e f e n c e f o r c e s m a g a z i n e

February 2005 €2.20 (Stg£1 .40 )

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AN COSANTÓIR Februar y 2005 3

MANAGER:Capt Fergal Costello

EDITOR:Cpl Paul Hevey

JOURNALIST:Wesley BourkeCpl Michelle Byrne

CONNECT:Cpl Willie Braine

PHOTOGRAPHER:Armn Billy Galligan

SUBSCRIPTIONS:Cpl Dave Nagle

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© Published by OiC Public RelationsSection for the DefenceForces at DFHQ, Parkgate,Dublin 8, Ireland. Tel: 01 8042691Fax: 01 6779018E-mail: [email protected]

Front cover:A student participating inthe Air Crew SurvivalCourse is captured on filmentering the water by photographer Armn JohnDaly.

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i n s i d eNew UpdateUNMIL wins PeaceContingent of the Year2004.

4 A Lesson fromHistoryHow today’s FIBUAtechniques were usedalmost 90 years ago.Report byComdt Liam Campbell

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The Tamil TigersProfiling the LiberationTigers of Tamil Eelam.Report byDr John Horgan

7 A NewDimensionTraining the DefenceForces Senior NCOs.Report bySgt Christopher Smith

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La LangueFrançaisThe 2004 FrenchLanguage Course.Report bySgt James Goulding

11 Ultra-sportsEquipmentTorchesReport byVincent Carroll

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fire-ING A BURNING AMBITION FOR THE RESERVEProfiling Lt MartinDurcan (RDF).Report byCpl Michelle Byrne

12 TerenceMacSwineyThe Forgotten Hero(Part 1).Comdt BrendanO’Shea and CQMSGerry White

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Have You GotWhat It Takes?Advertising the ARW’sSelection Course MIKE-ONE.Report bySpecial Correspondent

15 ChildAidA volunteer humanitarian organisation run by ex-soldiers.Report byBQMS John O’Leary(retd)

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SurvivingEjectionAir Crew survival training on land and in the sea.Report byCpl Michelle Byrne

16 Book ReviewA Business of SomeHeat.Report byCol ED Doyle (retd)

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4 AN COSANTÓIR Februar y 2005

news update… news update… news update…

Welcome Back!Members of the 29th Cadet Class held their 50th Anniversary Re-union dinner at the Georgian Hotel,Dublin, on December 10th 2004. It was a time to celebrate old times but also some sad memoriesrelived of Lt Paddy Riordan and Capt Christy McNamara, who died on overseas service in the Congoand Cyprus respectively. Included in the photograph is Fr Pat Hudson (OFM Rome).

Irish Soldiers travelto Sri Lanka!Col Dermot Conroy (OC Combat Service Support College,DFTC), Lt Col John Egan (a specialist in Logistical andTransport Co-ordination), Comdt Damien McEvoy (a qualifiedStructural Engineer) and Capt John Phelan (a Civil Engineer)recently travelled to Sri Lanka to aid the humanitarian opera-tion that is taking place in the devastated country, followingthe St Stephen’s Day tsunami. Photo: Cpl Paul Hevey.

All present!The Rt. Hon. Seán Martin, Lord Mayor of Cork, recently accom-panied Brig Gen Pat Nash (GOC 1 S Bde) on his visit to Liberia,where troops from 1 S Bde form the backbone of 92 Inf BnUNMIL. During his visit the Lord Mayor (inset) took time out tocongratulate Pte O’Connor on receiving her GAA All StarsAward. Photo: Sgt Steve Kelly.

Presenting…His Excellency Dr Horst-Dieter Rennnau (AmbassadorDesignate of Austria) and His Excellency Dr DragisaBurzan (Ambassador Designate of Serbia andMontenegro) presented their ‘Letters of Credentials’ toPresident Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin. Dr Rennnau is seen here reviewing a Lieutenant’sGuard of Honour from 4 Inf Bn, Collins Barracks, Cork,escorted by Lt John Anderson (4 inf Bn), while bothAmbassadors were escorted to and from Áras anUachtaráin by a Motorcycle Detachment from 2 Cav Sqn, under the command of 2/Lt Melissa Hogan.Photo: Armn Billy Galligan.

Defence Forces Rugby4 W Bde’s Rugby Team won the Defence Forces Rugby Finalwhen they defeated the Naval Service 36 – 0 in Cobh recent-ly, having previously beaten the DFTC in the Semi-Final 44 – 9. The winning team is seen here (l-r) front row: Lts Waters, Smith, O'Connor, Collins, McCann, Behan andMalynn. Back row: Cpl Killeen, Capt Farrell, Lt Lavin, PteTouhey, Lt Cambell, Pte Flannery and Lts Connolly andQuinlan. Photo: Cpl Mandy Connolly (4 W Bde HQ).

Three’s a crowd…Brig Gen Gerry McNamara (GOC 2 E Bde) took timeout of his busy schedule to meet with the TrainingStaff of 71, 72 and 73 Recruit Platoons, after thethree platoons, comprising of seventy-one recruits,‘Passed Out’ in Gormanston Camp recently. BrigGen McNamara is seen here in the front row (sec-ond from the left) along with (l-r): Lt Col JJ Reilly(OC 5 Inf Bn), Comdt B Carroll (OC B Coy 5 Inf Bn)and Comdt N Brennan (Camp Commandant). Backrow: Sgt J Dyas & Lt E Harney (71 Rec Pln), Lt J Troy& Sgt P Byrne (72 Rec Pln), Lt N O’Mahony & Sgt JSkelly (73 Rec Pln), and Fr R McCabe (CF).

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te… news update… news update… news update…

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Peace Contingent of the YearAWARDS OF MERIT

Irish Troops: Peace Contingent of the YearA peacekeeping operation is arguably one of the most delicate opera-tions that anyone, or group of individuals, can undertake. A peace-keeper can either make a bad situation worse, or make a bad situationbetter, depending on the posture of the peacekeeper.

The successful peacekeeping operation of the United NationsMission in Liberia (UNMIL) during the year under review is obviouslyno exception. Although it has been almost impossible to single out aparticular contingent from among the more than 45 contributingcountries within UNMIL, the Rapid Reaction Unit of the Irish hasemerged as our Peacekeeping Contingent of the Year.

We have observed that Liberians have great admiration of, andrespect for, the Irish troops. Many Liberians see them as wellequipped and highly professional. Interestingly, wherever the Irishappear, in spite of their military hardware, their posture usually radi-ates an atmosphere of peace and love. We have also found out that thepresence the Irish usually calms nerves and creates a feeling of optimism.

Although all of the disturbances that UNMIL successfully broughtunder control this year was due to the combined efforts of contingentsfrom other countries, the Irish contingent was most often seen as avital contributor, thus our recognition of them as Peace Contingent ofthe Year.

The News, Monrovia (Daily Newspaper)Friday December 31st 2004, Page 8

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Prabhakaran’s rise to prominence within militantTamil nationalism came with his murder of AlfredDurayapa, the Tamil Mayor of Jaffna (a region in thenorth of the country, now controlled by the LTTE).Prabhakaran’s leadership of the LTTE began to waneupon the arrival of Anton Balasingham and thedevelopment of his Marxist teachings, althoughPrabhakaran’s role in creating the now unique cul-ture within the movement ensured a returned to lead-ership in the years that followed.

As is common in the history of many extremistmovements, attempts to quell their operational suc-cesses through severe State reprisals only served toreinforce the movement’s belief in their mission. InJuly 1983, the LTTE ambushed a Sri Lankan armypatrol, killing 13 soldiers. The severe military crack-down that followed resulted in the killings of manyTamils but a concomitant swelling of LTTE’s ranks.

The LTTE’s ruthlessness is unsurpassed amongAsian terrorist groups and their massacres of largenumbers of police officers and soldiers, while horrif-ic, are only dwarfed by the sheer numbers of Tamilsmurdered. In fact, the LTTE has killed more Tamilsthan either Sinhalese or military personnel. Themovement has conducted attacks not only on politi-cal, military and civilian targets, but has alsoengaged in a variety of audacious attacks on powerstations and petrol & oil refineries – sometimes deal-ing significant economic damage to Sri Lanka’s infra-structure. The success of these operations is partlydue to the capacity and resources of the LTTE, but isequally due to Sri Lankan security remaining rela-tively vulnerable.

Broadly speaking, the LTTE might be described asan ethno-nationalist separatist movement that,among other tactics, uses terrorism. However, in sev-eral ways it is a movement that defies simplistic cat-egorising. One distinguishing feature of the LTTE,which sometimes renders comparisons with other‘terrorist’ groups inappropriate, is that it controlsextensive territory and maintains a de facto CivilAdminstration involving police, courts, banks, andpost offices. A second distinguishing feature of theLTTE which is particularly important to note is that itremains a secular movement. This is surprising tomany given that the LTTE has perpetrated more sui-cide attacks than any other group in the world, butthat in itself demonstrates a narrow perception ofwhere the sources of inspiration for suicidal terror-ism come. In the case of the LTTE, these forces aresocial, psychological and organisational, asdescribed below.

Organisation, Membership andTrainingThe LTTE is organised hierarchically, with a top-down command structure. Closer inspection of theLTTE ranks reveals how the movement also chal-lenges traditional perceptions about what we assumeterrorist organisations to consist of, in terms of sizeand capacity. With an active operational membershipof up to 10,000 members (between 1,400 - 5,000 ofwhich are child soldiers), about half of which areactive members of the LTTE at any one time, theLTTE commands a wider militia of over 40,000 mem-bers, each of whom has received some form of mili-tary training in the use of such equipment as smallarms, 120mm mortars, heavy artillery, tanks andAPCs. In addition, the LTTE has created an air sec-tion (the ‘Air Tigers’), a naval section (the ‘SeaTigers’), and an elaborate intelligence section. Someof its special units, for example the ‘CharlesAnthony’ Special Forces unit, are named after ‘fallen

IntroductionThree weeks after the devastating Indian Oceantsunami, media attention surrounding the visit of theUnited Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to SriLanka and the furore over him not visiting Tamil-heldregions to the north of the country inadvertentlyserved as a reminder to the broader world of one ofthe most intractable insurgencies to date. Despite therelatively little attention the Sri Lankan conflictreceives in the West, both from media and analysts,the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE – The TamilTigers) have been responsible for hundreds of suicidebombings, the assassinations of two heads of state,and have been the principal sustaining factor in a con-flict that has claimed between 60,000 to 70,000 lives.

The goals of the Tamil Tigers, like many militantmovements, are deceptively simple. The movement’sprincipal demand is for the permanent establishmentof an autonomous homeland to the north and east ofSri Lanka, in what the LTTE refer to as ‘Eelam’(homeland). Claims for a Tamil homeland ‘for all’ aremisleading, however, as LTTE expert ArjunaGunawardena argues, the Movement’s aspirations forinternal autonomy essentially points to controlling 1/3of the entire land area of Sri Lanka’s 65,000 squaremiles and 2/3 of the coastline, for what amounts toless than 10% of the population.

Origins and DevelopmentThe history of tension in Sri Lanka is, among otherissues, the more recent history of the relationshipbetween the Tamil and Sinhala races. Tamils andSinhalese are primarily differentiated by language(and religion to a lesser extent), but LTTE grievancesare rooted in the tensions that developed primarilyfrom preferential treatment of the Sinhalese followingthe rise to power of a Sinhala majority in the 1956Parliamentary Elections. Subsequent political, admin-istrative and ethnic discrimination (including legisla-tion to remove the Tamil language) made explicit hith-erto simmering tensions between the two peoples,and the LTTE was formed in 1976 as a catalyt for aproactively assertive militant nationalist movement.

One of almost 40 militant nationalist movements,the LTTE grew from what was originally the TamilStudents Federation and Youth League, at the timeconsisting of no more than 12 members. Since thenthe LTTE’s military strategy, under the leadership ofVelupillai Prabhakaran, has involved guerrrilla war-fare, terrorism and political assassination.

THE TAMILTIGERS

PROFILING THE LIBERATIONTIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM

Dr John Horgan, Lecturer ofPsychology UCC, continues his seriesof articles on terrorism with anindepth look at the terrorist group,the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE – The Tamil Tigers).Velupillai Prabhakaran

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form of physical punishment, but also public humilia-tion by being forced, in one case, to carry a length ofcoconut tree in lieu of a rifle, and a dogtag instead ofthe capsule.

A number of catalyst events in the LTTE’s historygave rise to consideration of the use of suicide terror-ism as a tactic. These included the death of a Tamilpolitical leader on hunger strike in 1988 and, more sig-nificantly, the suicide by cyanide of captured LTTEmembers in Sri Lankan army custody.

Between 1987 and 2000, the Black Tigers executed astaggering 168 suicidal terrorist attacks in both Indiaand Sri Lanka, with female suicide terrorists compris-ing at least one third of those attackers. Typically, theLTTE have been quick to exploit the female LTTEmembers’ desire to gain equal status with their malecounterparts and, like many other terrorist organisa-tions (most of whom are male dominated), the LTTEare quick to exploit stereotypes about females to dev-astating effect. According to terrorism expert BoazGanor, the LTTE have organised female Black Tigers toappear pregnant in order to bypass security check-points while approaching their selected targets.Psychiatrist Jerrold Post once described the case of aPalestinian prisoner in an Israeli prison who stresseda distinction between suicide and suicidal terrorism:“This is not suicide. Suicide is selfish, it is weak, it ismentally disturbed. This is istishad.” The LTTE alsomake this distinction, referring to the martyr as‘mahaveera’ (‘brave one’). In any context, the suicideterrorist can be especially difficult to understand: theattacker knows full well that while engaging in terror-ism is generally risky, they will not (if succsessful) sur-vive this particular type of operation. Although mostLTTE members are Hindus (some are Muslims andsome Christian, while the Sinhalese are mostlyBuddhist), as stated above, the movement is complete-ly secular. The act of martyrdom is couched in terms offraternal sacrifice, with no obvious religious dimen-sions. Some analysts point to the internal culture ofthe LTTE containing powerful inducements to martyr-dom, and this is probably appropriate. Initially (andperhaps ironically) spurred on by an admiration ofHizbollah martyrdom operations, Prabhakaran hasessentially consolidated a ‘hero-worship culture’ whichhas now substituted for any meaningful political ideol-ogy within the LTTE (Prabhakaran, when once inter-viewed, spoke of having worshipped the comic bookcharacter ‘The Phantom’ as a child).

However, in terms of psychological dynamics, thesimilarities with the Palestinian martyrdom attacks arestriking. The process of grooming potential martyrsessentially involves creating both the individual andcultural inducements that combines with leading themartyr along a pathway which is best characterised bya series of successive points of no return. Despite theLTTE’s extensive use of suicide attacks, the leadershiphas become adept at placing a psychological premiumon the role of martyr and by subsequently creating agroup and cultural ‘contract’ which the member entersinto. The heroic deeds of dead martyrs are celebratedthrough photographs hung around training camps,awaiting reverence by intending martyrs, or newrecruits more generally. Meeting Prabhakaran himself,involving dinner and being photographed with him rep-resents one of the very final stages before the suicideoperation. This is also the ultimate point of no return.

Black Tigers defy simplistic profiling and are a het-erogeneous group. They are male and female, of vary-ing ages, with varying level of attachments. This in partreflects a move by the leadership as a response toSecurity Force ‘profiling’, and the LTTE have selectedindividuals for martyrdom missions based on specific


heroes’ of the movement. Despite this elaboratestructure, the LTTE have remained relatively insular,with no apparent connections with other (evenregional) terorrist groups. There is some evidence,however, that the Tigers had up to a few hundred of itsmembers training in Lebanon in the early-1980s.

There is considerable disagreement between ana-lysts about whether or not the LTTE engages inforced recruitment as a matter of policy. On the onehand, the LTTE is known to use intimidation andblackmail to press-gang young boys and girls intojoining the ranks, often stemming from physicalthreats being made against relatives. On the otherhand, there is an abundance of evidence for a system-atic and explicit attempt to indoctrinate children viaelaborate propaganda. Investigative reporter CharuJoshi’s indepth reporting from Sri Lanka describeshow in LTTE-controlled areas, “…young students areshown LTTE war movies and are given politicalspeeches by members of the political wing of theTigers.” This is consistent with how the LTTE haveproduced a perception of LTTE membership as aposition of communal hero-worship status and pride.Despite the fact that the Tigers are well-known neverto have enthusiastically provided essential servicesto ordinary Tamils in order to reduce their reliance onthe State, they still effectively portray themselves,both politically and ideologically, as the sole legiti-mate representatives of the Tamil people.

Despite the impressive size of the LTTE, whichgives them the appearance of a large guerrilla move-ment rather than a terrorist organisation, secrecy isstill paramount within the movement. All memberssurrender their own names, adopting pseudonums atthe beginning of training – which can last up to 12months. Some analysts suspect that this is indicativeof the kind of intensive preparation needed for thehigh quality targets typically chosen by the LTTE. Ingeneral, ensuring conformity, compliance and strictobedience to authority is paramount to the effectiverunning of the LTTE ranks.

In 1984, Prabhakaran instituted a fundamentalchange in the organistional and ideological culture ofthe LTTE, which was in many ways to shape the popu-lar perception of the Tamil Tigers internationally. Byinstructing all LTTE members to carry a cyanide cap-sure around their necks, as Prabhakaran himselfbegan to do, a central tenet of LTTE membership wasenshrined in the movement: rather than face capture,each member should be ready to take their own life.However, while each and every LTTE member carriesthis capsule, not all can be classified as the move-ment’s suicide terrorists. These, specifically, are for-mally known as the Black Tigers. Contrary to popularbelief, the Black Tigers are not a specific unit withinthe LTTE, but is a general description (often appliedafter the event) of all martyrdom candidates spreadthroughout the LTTE ranks (e.g. some are part of theair section, some in the sea section etc.). Normally,members receive their cyanide capsule at the end oftheir training. In addition, they will swear the follow-ing pledge:

“I pledge my life, my body and my mind to ouresteemed leader Velupullai Prabhakaran in selfsacrificial service to the achievement of ourorganisation’s aim of a separate Tamil Eelam. TheTiger’s thirst is Tamil Eelam motherland.”

This act also serves to symbolically mark the com-plete and total commitment to the movement andutter allegiance now expected of each and everymember. If any member misplaces or forgets to oneday wear their capsule, they can expect at least some

All above: Child soldiers.

Below: The material an LTTEsuicide bomber would wear.

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operationally-relevant characteristics. The female sui-cide bomber that assassinated Indian Prime MinisterRajiv Ghandi (killing 17 other people in the process)for example, was not searched by security guards. Interms of individual background factors of members,while cases of individual victimisation abound(Ghandi’s assassin, ‘Dhanu’ had been raped by Indiansoldiers in 1987), LTTE members tend to identify witha shared perceived victimisation of the Tamil peopleand learn to attribute their behaviour accordinglythrough a socialised process of gradual indoctrinationand the equally gradual process of acquiring group-relevant and focused beliefs and attitudes. The degreeto which this existed prior to membership or is shapedas a result of membership is difficult to confirm in theabsence of reliable data.

It should also be pointed out that while the LTTEtrains a significant number of recruits, they are alwayssensitive to identifying particular skills or capacitiesin individuals that can be exploited for operational rea-sons. Often the LTTE will retain their most skilled sol-diers for operations which have high strategic impor-tance. For smaller operations primarily focused fordisruptive activity, they have, according to the HumanRights Watch organisation, frequently used childmembers.

ConclusionsGiven the scale and extent of LTTE operations, it can-not be surprising that the movement has needed toboth create and sustain a financial infrastructure. Thishas largely been fed by diaspora fundraising opera-tions. That being said a number of agencies, includingthe US State Department, have overstated the extentto which the LTTE is funded by voluntary donations bysympathetic Tamil. The reality is that while some fundsdo come from such sources, extortion and racketeer-ing are still a commonplace occurrence, especially inthe large Tamil communities in Canada and Australia.Since 9/11, a global financial crackdown on the assetsand bank accounts held by seemingly legitimate chari-ties and organisations sympathetic to the LTTE havehad accounts frozen and the flow of funds has beenseverely restricted.

Following a long history of failed attempts tosecure a stable peace in the region (including a disas-trous attempt to impose an Indian peacekeeping forcein Tamil-controlled regions of Sri Lanka) the TamilTigers declared a ceasefire in 2001. The following year,in negotiations brokered by the Norwegian ForeignMinistry, the Sri Lankan Government engaged in face-to-face talks with LTTE Representatives and subse-quently agreed to grant the LTTE limited self-rule incertain areas – which came to light during KofiAnnan’s recent visit to Sri Lanka. Like most terroristceasefires, the LTTE’s cessation has not necessarilyindicated an inevitable move towards a lasting peace,and it is difficult to say if recent events may serve topositively influence the direction of peace talks. Whilepreliminary reports suggest that anywhere between1,000 and 3,000 LTTE members were killed in thetsunami catastrophe, there have been more worryingdevelopments in the region. UNICEF has recently pro-vided fresh evidence of the ‘recruitment’ of childreninto the LTTE. In particular, the abduction of threeorphaned girls has received significant attention. Inthe few years prior to the disaster, UNICEF had heldcontacts with the Tamil Tigers about child recruitment,and despite the breakdown of Peace Talks in 2003,expectations that the practice would at least stopsince the recent disaster have obviously now provedto be unfounded.

On December 23rd last, the LTTE rejected Sri

Lankan Government proposals to revive negotiations.It remains to be seen if meetings scheduled for lateJanuary of this year between the Norwegian ForeignMinister and Prabhakraran himself will beproductive.■

Editor’s Note: Readers please note that this article was com-pleted in early-January 2005 and the information containedtherein was correct at the time of going to print.

Further ReadingLiterature on the LTTE is very scarce, and it can be difficultto find reliable sources, particularly in relation to BlackTiger operations. The following represent some of the morecarefully detailed analyses currently available.1. Gunaratna, R., (1997), International & Regional Security

Implications of the Sri Lankan Tamil Insurgency, St.Albans, Herts, International Foundation of Sri Lankans.

2. Gunaratna, R. (2000), ‘The LTTE and Suicide Terrorism’,Frontline, Vol. 17. Issue 3, February 05-08, 2000,http://www.flonnet.com/fl1703/17031060.htm, 12November 2002.

3. Gunaratna, R. (2000). ‘Suicide terrorism: a globalthreat’, Jane’s Intelligence Review (20 October).

4. Pape, Robert A. (2003) ‘The Strategic Logic of SuicideTerrorism’, American Political Science Review 97 (3): 343-61.

5. Peiris, G.H., (2001), ‘Secessionist War And Terrorism InSri Lanka: Trans-national Impulses’, Gill, K.P.S., andSahini, Ajai (eds), The Global Threat of Terror:Ideological, Material and Political Linkages, New Delhi,Institute of Conflict Management.

6. Prabhakaran, V. (2000) Frontline, quoted in Gunaratna,R., Vol. 17. Issue 3, February 05-08, 2000, ‘The LTTE andSuicide Terrorism’,http://www.flonet.com/fl1703/17031060.htm, 12 November2002

7. TamilNet (2003), TamilNet, ‘Fallen Comrades:Thileepan’, 05 July 2003, http://www.tamiltigers.net/fall-encomrades/bio1.htm, 06 July 2003

8. Sprinzak, E. (2000), Foreign Policy, September 2000,‘Rational Fanatics – analysis of the effects of suicidebombers’,http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1181/2000_Sept/67886151/print.jhtml, 04 November, 2002.

9. Swamy, M. R. N, (2004), Inside an Elusive Mind:Prabhakaran, Colombo, Vijitha Yappa Publications.

Major attacks by the LTTEJuly 1975: Alfred Duraiyapa, Tamil Mayor of theJaffna region of Sri Lanka assassinated by, laterLTTE leader, Vellepullai Prabhakaran.May 1991: Rajiv Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, assas-sinated while a female suicide bomber placed a gar-land wreath around his neck during a public meeting.May 1993: Ranasinghe Premadasa, Sri LankanPresident, assassinated by suicide bomber inColombo.October 1994: Sri Lankan Presidential candidate and52 others killed by suicide bomber.January 1996: 91 people killed and over 1,300 injuredafter a truck bomb explodes outside a Colombo bank. October 1997: 18 people killed by suicide truckbomber outside Colombo’s World Trade Centre.July 1999: Neelan Thiruchelvam, a Tamil-born memberof the Sri Lankan Parliament assassinated by suicidebomber who jumped in front of his car.December 1999: Chandrika Kumaratunge, Sri LankanPresident, is blinded in one eye following a failedassassination attempt.January 2000: Suicide bomber attempted to assassi-nate the Sri Lankan Defence Minister, in the resi-dence of the Prime Minister.June 2000: C.V. Gunaratna, the Industry Minister ofSri Lanka, assassinated by suicide bombers. 24 otherpeople were killed and over 60 seriously injured.

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NIt was with a lot of enthusiasm and some trepidationthat a group of students of all ranks reported to 2 EBde BTC, Cathal Brugha Bks, in September 2004 tobegin their encounter with La Langue Francaise.

The majority of students were absolute beginnersand not sure what to expect, but being soldiers theyknew to ‘expect the unexpected’.

It is reputed that when the French authorAlexander Dumas began to learn English he said,“…English is simply French – but badly pronounced.”We should have, at this point, offered our apologiesto Monsieur Dumas for some of the forthcomingattempts at French pronunciations that were about tobe uttered and prayed for divine intervention in our‘hour of need’.

Our average active vocabulary ranges between 500and 1,500 words and it is quoted that some 60% of theEnglish language is derived from the French lan-guage. In fact 1,200 nouns are spelled exactly thesame in both languages, so French and English (ineffect) share a broad common basis. The differencelies in the pronunciation of the two languages andthat is where the fun started!

We were to be greatly helped with plentiful assis-tance, patience, encouragement and direc-

tion in the form of F.A.S., not theTraining Authority but our tutors,

Francois, Anne and Stephanie. Theirhelp and encouragement was paramountto many of us staying the distance andsuccessfully completing the course.

The lessons conducted during thecourse consisted of grammatical struc-

ture, aural and oral comprehension, andwritten French. However, it should be

pointed out that each of the abovecompetencies is required in order

to attain any degree of fluency inany language and none can betaken in isolation. The idea thatone can concentrate on conver-

sational language and excludegrammatical understanding is

soon exposed when one moves from the very basicstructural sentences found in phrase books.

The Course began, as did each day, with thedreaded ‘grammar’, a word that on its own is oftenaccompanied by a sharp intake of breath from thestudents and can make grown men go weak at theknees.

One of the difficulties encountered in languagelearning is gaining the grammatical knowledge asso-ciated with any particular language, as the breakingdown of written sentences into their grammaticalparts is not something one engages with on a dailybasis. While most of us remember what a ‘noun’,‘verb’ and ‘adjective’ is, the use of ‘indirect pronouns’and ‘prepositions’ can bring on a thousand-yardstare in the most calm and stable individuals.

For example, if we described, ‘The orange is hard,harder or hardest.’ (No problem.)

But if we say that this is, ‘A concrete noundescribed using an adjective, a comparative or asuperlative adjective.’ (How do you feel about that.)

However, regular practice of grammar, togetherwith the ability to understand the differing grammat-ical parts of a sentence, is paramount to providing asolid basis for further progression. At least that’swhat the brochure said!

“We stop for fifteen minutes, maintenant,” werethe blessed words waiting to be heard each morning.In the interests of cultural exchange we knew thatthis was a seminal moment to educate lesProfesseurs on the inviolability of such moments,namely Army coffee time. In all credit to themthough, if the coffee surprised them they never let itshow.

When the time arrived for some aural comprehen-sion, a tape recorder consisting of a small passage inFrench was played to the class. We would listenintently and write down what we heard. Absolutelynothing at first! Blank pages and blank expressionsall round!

We knew we must try harder and invariably all ofthese exercises were followed by questions from theTutor and a period of silence from the students,together with vain attempts to avoid eye contact andthe hope that someone else would be asked first. TheJury is still out on whether the tutors were brought infor an MOI (method of instruction) Course by thedark forces within the Directorate of DefenceForce’s Training, Park House.

The intensive nature of this course allowed eachstudent to progress from their individual startingpoints. This course also required each student toundertake supplementary work and assignments dur-ing the intervening period from each week’s trainingin order to fully benefit from the lessons they hadpartaken in.

In order to learn a language, and gain a degree ofproficiency in it, requires a high level of commitmentand work. The gifted individual with an aptitude forlanguages may exist out there somewhere, but formost of us it is down to sheer hard work and applica-tion to the task in hand. In return we gain the abilityto converse with others in their language and enrichour experience of other cultures. It can certainly beintense, frustrating and confusing at times, but alsovery funny and rewarding. Why not sign up and try itfor yourself.

Vive la difference.Vive la France.

Sgt James Goulding (BPSSO McKeeBks/DFHQ) provides An Cosantóirwith this report of the trials andtribulations encountered in the 2004French Language Course, conductedby Alliance Francaise, on behalf ofDirector Defence Force’s Training for2 Eastern Brigade.

La LangueFrançais

For example, if wedescribed, ‘Theorange is hard,harder or hardest.’(No problem.)But if we say thatthis is, ‘A concretenoun describedusing an adjective,a comparative or asuperlative adjec-tive.’ (How do youfeel about that?)

00-An Cos-feb-05 (p1-17) 2/9/05 4:01 PM


ence ensured a place on the team selected to build theactual working models of the set for the 1988 EuropeanSong Contest.

Martin also continued his career in the Reservesthroughout his period of study, completing an AssaultPioneer Course with The Engineer School, CurraghCamp. This very intensive course, conducted everyweekend and Thursday evening over a period of sixmonths, demanded a high level of dedication, as thecourse included instruction on improvised explosivedevices, water crossing, abseiling, and building ropebridges and the medium girder bridge, a later version ofthe Bailey Bridge.

It was around this time that Martin completed thefirst of many contracts for the Defence Force. This first‘job’ was to recreate a particular section of ground on a5m x 5m cloth model for the Cadet School that depict-ed every road, track, field and boundary. Describingthis job as a ‘nightmare’, Martin found that the hardestpart of the project was trying to find a suitable area tostore this huge model as his creation began to unfold.

Martin finished College in 1988 and was employedby RTÉ’s Design Department, where he worked on anumber of programs including ‘Saturday Night at theOlympia’ and ‘The Den’. He later left RTÉ to work forModern Display Artists before moving on again to JackRestin Display (JRD). It was while working for JRD

Having turned the corner of an average street inDublin City one can only be stunned by the brightcopper-covered building appropriately called ‘TheCopper House’ that is the home of ‘fire’ and its

family-like staff. Passing through The Copper House’sairy receptio, fire’s production team, that includesdesigners, printers, photographers and engineers, weresitting and chatting with the company’s Head ofMarketing, Martin Durcan, about what they did at theweekend. In general, everyone’s weekend was the samewith dinners in restaurants, taking in a movie, having afew drinks. The difference with Martin’s normal week-end, however, is that he spends much of his time offshooting on the firing range, jumping out of planes and,as a Platoon Commander with 6 Fd MP Coy, he is alsoresponsible for the unit’s training.

This is certainly one busy man. Originally fromWalkinstown, Dublin, Martin grew up in a family with astrong military background. He recalls listening to‘war-stories’ from his Grandfather, a former ScotlandYard Detective, and from his father, John Durcan, anofficer with the LDF’s 42 Inf Bn and the greatest influ-ence to him joining the Reserves. Martin’s brother,Jack, also served with the Defence Force in the 1970s,with 20 Inf Bn, and would pay Martin to ‘Bull’ his bootsfor him before going on parade.

It wasn’t until September 19th 1984 that Martin’s‘Bulling’ techniques were put to the test, when he joinedE Coy (Complacht Na Bhfiann), 20 Inf Bn, an Irish-speaking unit based at Griffith Bks. After serving twoyears in this unit Martin transferred to 6 Fld MP Coy,Cathal Brugha Bks, completing an MP ProbationersCourse and, later, a Potential NCO Course.

At the time he joined the Reserve (formerly AnFCÁ), Martin had begun to form the educational basefrom which his future career would stem. While com-pleting a course at the College of Marketing andDesign, Martin worked as a contractor for RTÉ, as wellas working on architectural model making. His experi-

Lt Martin Durcan (6 Fd MP Coy,Cathal Brugha Bks) has notched up21 years service with the ReserveDefence Force, while also building a fantastic civilian career that hasled him to the post of Head ofMarketing with the creative adver-tising company ‘fire’. Cpl MichelleByrne (An Cosantóir journalist and 7 Inf Bn) visited fire to find out howhe juggles both careers.

fire-INGA BURNING AMBITION FOR THE RESERVE

Clockwise (from bottom left):

Lt Durcan receives a boxinglesson from Muhammed Ali.

Taken prisoner.

The winning team.

fire’s engineering area.

6 Fd MP Coy’s Unit photo.

Graduation time: Martin andFiona Durcan.

One of the many roles LtDurcan partakes in.

Centre: Martin Durcan (fire’sHead of Marketing) is seenhere with a number of DefenceForce displays.

The Copper House.

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Eof the first RDF personnel to complete the com-bined parachute course.

After conquering the skies, Martin continued hissuccess on the ground when, as a member of 2 EBde’s RDFRA Committee he was elected to theReserve Defence Force RepresentativeAssociation’s (RDFRA) National ExecutiveCommittee. Describing his hectic lifestyle, Martinsaid with ease, “At the moment I am working on thedesign and production of the new RDFRA ID Cardand a Logo for the Organisation.”

As if this was not enough Martin has continuedto work extensively with the Defence Forces, fromproducing military stands for Unit Recruiting Drivesto intricately designed banner stands for CareerFairs and Document Launches. One of the mostinteresting projects he was tasked with designingwas the ‘mounts’ for Michael Collins’ and ErskinChilders’ pistols explaining, “It was a tight deadlineto work to, but a very interesting project.”

As for his home life, Martin describes it by say-ing, “My house sometimes needs a UN Envoy tocome in and sort out the ‘blue’ from the ‘green’ in thewardrobe, as my wife, Fiona, is an Ensign with theNaval Service Reserve. It can be tough sometimes,with both of us serving in the Reserves. At onestage I had just completed a three-week course inthe DFTC when Fiona started a two-week patrol offthe West Coast of Ireland, but you have to take therough with the smooth if you want to be a part-timeprofessional soldier.”

With whatever time or space he has left, Martinstill manages to build his collection of Irish Militariaand is always on the lookout to fill the gaps in hiscollection.

Although Martin’s military career is a huge partof his life, his role as fire’s Head of Marketing isalso a demanding job – dealing with high-profileclients such as Inis, The Regency Hotel Group andBank of Ireland. fire is in existence for 20 years andthe company has mastered the concept of creatingunusual but stunning designs. fire’s use of light,colour and clarity, combined with easy to assemblestands, can transform any event into a mind-blowingexperience with their array of reusable and eye-catching advertising stands. The Copper Housecontains a phenomenal amount of high-qualityequipment, from scanners to printers, and an engi-neering area where the designs literally ‘come tolife’. All of fire’s production stages, along with itsgreat family atmosphere combine to make this com-pany a winning team, with the staff often workinglong hours to meet tight deadlines. To ease the pres-sures of work, when the going gets tough, fire pro-vides facilities such as showers, a well-equippedgymnasium, a Foosball table and a chill-out area tokeep their Staff’s minds sharp and their bodiesrelaxed.

However, there is one member of the team thatkeeps everyone on their toes and that is Casper theBoxer Dog, who proudly struts his stuff around thebuilding while he waits to be walked, petted and fed.As Martin explained, “Casper is not just a mascot heis part of our team.”

Since his first day in the Reserve Defence Force,things have really changed in Martin Durcan’s life.He has matured from student to Head of Marketingat fire, climbed the ranks of 6 Fd MP to Lieutenant,and pursued his hobbies and interests with equalambition. It is inevitable that Martin’s burning ambi-tion will allow him continue to complete new proj-ects, take on new challenges and continue to servewith the Reserve Defence Force.■

…At one stage I had just completeda three-week coursein the DFTC whenFiona started a two-week patrol off theWest Coast ofIreland, but youhave to take therough with thesmooth if you wantto be a part-timeprofessional soldier.

that Martin got to know the owners of fire, Maurineand Les Walnick, and when the opportunity arosefor him to join their company as Head of Marketinghe made the latest career move.

Throughout his hectic civilian career Martin hasremained dedicated to the Reserve Defence Forceand is now a Lieutenant with 6 Fd MP Coy. Involvedin the unit’s recruiting campaigns over the years,Martin now holds the position of Training PlatoonCommander but was keen to state that, “He wouldbe lost without the really great nucleus of dedicatedtraining NCOs that pull everything together.”

Martin manages to combine many of his hobbieswith his military career and his love of pistol shoot-ing has seen him become Captain of the unit’s BAPShooting Team, who recently won the MP CorpsBAP Shoot Competition.

The sky really is the limit for Martin Durcan ashe proved when, in the midst of juggling his civilianand Reserve careers, he completed the DutchMilitary Parachute Course in Texel, Holland. Goingon to complete an Accelerated Free Fall Course inthe USA, Martin later applied for the firstPDF/RDF Advanced Free Fall Parachute Coursewith An Para Chumann Mileata (the DefenceForce’s Parachute School). Literally ‘jumping’ atthe chance to join the course, Martin became one

00-An Cos-feb-05 (p1-17) 2/9/05 4:01 PM


AR

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Army Ranger Wing’s Selection Course Mike One

Have you got what it takes?

Selection Course MIKE ONE runs from June 19th to July 22nd2005. The Army Ranger Wing needs new members and is preparedto give YOU the opportunity to prove that you have the qualitiesnecessary to become a fully trained member of an elite SpecialForces Unit.

We will train you in the following:• Long Range Recce• Parachuting• Unarmed Combat• Anti-Terrorist Training• Advanced Combat Shooting• Advanced First Aid• Demolitions

All within your first year in the ARW!

Once you earn the ‘Green Beret’, you will have the opportunity tospecialise in diving, sniping or advanced parachuting. You canalso expect to complete military courses abroad and to train withinternational Special Forces’ units.

So, if you are:

• Medically fit• IT 2/2000 qualified• Minimum 3-Star Pte or equivalent

…and want a new challenge from the Defence Force, submit your application through your Brigade Operations Office for MIKE ONE today. Applications must be received by WednesdayApril 13th 2005.

A one-day Preliminary Course will take place on Thursday April 14th 2005 and must be completed by all course applicants. IT 2/2000 will be run on this day, as well as briefings on the newformat of the course.

For further information contact the ARW Duty Room at:Tel: 045 445000 ext 5248SJC, Plunkett Bks, Curragh Camp, Co. KildareDefence Force Intranet/ARMY/ARW

Note: The ARW welcomes applicants from ‘all’ personnel from‘all’ Corps and Branches of the Permanent Defence Force.

The new Selection Course Format and Briefingswill allow you the chance to find out!

00-An Cos-feb-05 (p1-17) 2/9/05 4:01 PM


Air Corps Cadets, along with all army and navalcadets must successfully complete their basicmilitary training at the Cadet School, MilitaryCollege, DFTC, before beginning their chosen

careers in the Defence Forces. For the Air CorpsCadets a transfer to the Air Corps Flight TrainingSchool (FTS), Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, isthe next step in their career to becoming an officerand it is here thatstudents get their introduction tothe Pilatus PC-9M.

The Air Corps Cadets begin their pilot training,with the first step on the runway to the sky being the

completion of all safety courses connected with flyingthe Pilatus PC-9M. The Pilatus is equipped with anejection seat system and a course was developed inthe Military Training School (MPS) to train the poten-tial pilots in its use and how to survive the aftermathof its use.

The MTS's first Air Crew Survival Course wasconducted in November 2004. Six potential pilots, fivemen and one woman, began the survival course withbecoming accustomed to the cockpit of the PilatusPC-9M and its ejection seat system, learning abouteverything that could happen when a pilot is forced toeject from an aircraft. The ‘actions-on’ drills werelearned and fine tuned, as these drills would need tobe instinctive and performed with co-ordinated preci-sion to ensure the complete safety of the pilots’ lives.The drills were also practiced in different scenarios,ejecting over land and sea during the many differingweather conditions that the students could possiblyfind themselves flying in. As Air Corps pilots normallyfly over friendly areas, the potential pilots’ initial train-ing was based around landing in friendly territory andawaiting a standard rescue.

When a pilot makes the crucial decision that his air-craft has become unflyable and ejection is the onlycourse of action left, this decision immediately triggersa chain of events that must be controlled by the pilot toensure survival. Following the initial (explosive) exitfrom the aircraft, the pilot’s parachute opens andallows a safe return to Earth. This is ‘showtime’ for thepilot. They are now relatively safe, having left their fail-ing aircraft, but it is their decisions and actions fromthis point forward that will decide their fate.

To simulate ejection over the sea, a day in theDFTC's Swimming Pool Complex was arranged. TheCadets, wearing full flying suit, helmet, mask andparachute harness, stood (one at a time) at theDiving Pool’s edge. Under the watchful eye of ComdtGary Gartland (OC MPS), each student systemati-cally carried out their drills as if falling from the skyuntil finally reaching the point of inflating their life-jacket. The student then entered the pool and swamto a point where they were directly under a raisedand open parachute. Once in position the parachutewas lowered down onto the pool’s surface and thestudent went on to complete their survival drills, tak-ing off the parachute harness and sliding the para-chute over their helmet, before finally swimmingback to the pool’s edge. Throughout the exercise SgtJim O’Neill (Course Instructor and safety diver) wasconstantly in the pool, monitoring the students’responses.

The next section of the training program was tosimulate the ‘drag’ encountered along the surface ofthe sea by a wind-inflated parachute. This, again, wassimulated in the pool by dragging the student throughthe water while carrying out the drills of releasing theparachute harness. Once out of the harness, though,this time the student had to inflate the survival raftattached to the end of their harness, before complet-ing the survival drills of protection, location, water andfood.

For protection the student must get into the sur-vival raft, launch its anchor, zip up the raft’s canopyand manually inflate the rest of the raft (by blowinginto the canopy), before drying out the inside of theraft. The raft's location is maintained, in calm seas, bya mini parachute-type anchor, as it is imperative thatthe pilot remains in the area of their ejection for ‘pick-up’ purposes. Safe ‘drinkable’ water and food is eithercarried by the pilot on his person or provided by thewater purification system and survival rations con-tained in the survival raft.

The thought of flying the Pilatus PC-9M, the Defence Force's latest aircraft, is one of the many enticingreasons young men and women havefor joining the Defence Force as anAir Corps Cadet. For the latest batchof Air Corps Cadets there is a lot ofpreparatory work to be completedbefore taking hold of the reins ofthis turbo-prop aircraft, Cpl MichelleByrne (An Cosantóir journalist and 7 Inf Bn) takes a closer look at onephase of this preparation.

survivingejection

00-An Cos-feb-05 (p1-17) 2/10/05 12:39 PM


PIL

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GThese exercises were relatively easy in theDFTC’s Pool Complex, even with the simulated‘choppy seas’, but the students now had to look for-ward to completing these drills again in the open sea.Two days later the students completed their drills inthe Irish Sea, dealing with waves, salt water, sea-sickness, foul weather and bitterly cold water. All sixstudents completed their drills with a precise profes-sionalism that proved they could handle themselvesin the sea just as well as they did in the diving pool.

Having mastered landing in the sea it was time tolearn how to survive on land! This exercise would bemore worrying for the students, as they had all justrecently completed their military training at the CadetSchool. All of this prior training had been completedwith full combat equipment marching order (CEMO),with regular access to rations during well-organisedground tactics. However, on this occasion the stu-dents would have to learn how a pilot would face andhandle a survival situation ‘on-the-ground’.

After ejecting from the aircraft and parachuting torelative safety, the potential pilots could possibly findthemselves in a position where they were unable totravel long distances and would have to remain attheir landing site, maintaining their safety and securi-ty until rescued. During this exercise the student's‘exercise brief’ left them all in no doubt that they mustbe prepared to stay in-situ for an unlimited amount oftime with limited equipment.

Situated in three different areas in the Glenmalurearea of Co Wicklow, the three teams-of-two built shel-ters using their parachutes while the inflated raftswere used to lie on and provide insulation from theground. The teams then set up rabbit snares, preparedcamp fires and, after skinning and preparing the rab-bits they had caught, the teams then boiled them inammunition boxes.

After surviving for two days on-the-ground, thewelcome sound of a distant ‘rescue’ helicopter was adelight to the survival teams, who then carried out therequired rescue drills that included launching flares. Itwas time to ‘pull out’. They had all survived their pilotsurvival training and it was now time to get back tobase for a hot meal, a shower, some clean clothes andthe hope that they will never have to put these les-sons into practice for real, but if they did they wouldknow how to survive ejection!■

For protection thestudent must get intothe survival raft,launch its anchor, zipup the raft’s canopyand manually inflatethe rest of the raft(by blowing into thecanopy), before dryingout the inside of theraft. The raft's location is maintained,in calm seas, by a miniparachute-typeanchor…

Top:Sgt Jim O’Neill (CourseInstructor) gives a demo onhow to survive ‘on the ground’.

Centre:Sgt Jim O’Neill keeps a watch-ful eye on a student practicingtheir ‘water drills’.

Right:A student prepares to skin arabbit.

00-An Cos-feb-05 (p1-17) 2/9/05 4:01 PM


With the publication of the DefenceForce’s Brigade Operations Manual,2000, Comdt Liam Campbell (COAGA)takes a historical look at the causesand effects of fighting in built up areas(FIBUA), using the 1916 Battle forMount Street Bridge as his example.

A Lessonfrom HistoryTHE URBAN BATTLEFIELD AND THE 1916 RISING

The urban battlefield came into prominence duringthe Second World War, as the battles for Stalingrad,Warsaw, Berlin and Manila saw the evolution of acombat environment that demanded new and radi-

cal strategies. Up until this time armies generally laid‘siege’ to cities and did ‘battle’ in the countryside.During the Cold War though the manouvre space pro-vided by open terrain again dominated the doctrine ofboth sides. But with the collapse of the Warsaw Pact,armies have again returned to developing doctrine for abattleground they can no longer avoid, the UrbanBattlefield.

It is expected that by 2020 the World’s rapidlyexpanding urban areas will contain 70% of the Globe’spopulation, making the city and the battlefield insepa-rable. The Irish Defence Force has recognised this factand in its Brigade Operations Manual, 2000, has estab-lished the doctrinal foundation for the conduct of fight-ing in built up areas (FIBUA).

Counter-insurgency operations, such as the battlesfought in the streets, factories and sewers of Hue,Beirut, Mogadishu, Grozny and more recently in Falluja,have contributed to the development of this type of war-fare doctrine. However, closer to home some of the bat-tles of the 1916 Rising that were fought in Dublin areprime examples of the part Urban Terrain can play inrestoring the balance between two unequal forces. Toillustrate this point this article will examine one suchaction that took place during the rebellion.

Background SummaryThe 1916 Rising was planned and executed by an innercircle within the leadership of the Irish Volunteers.However, when the Irish Volunteer’s Chief of Staff,Professor Eoin MacNeill, became aware of the plans heissued a countermanding order canceling the paradesand marches that were to have signalled the start of therebellion. Although this order dramatically reduced thenumber of Volunteers who turned out, the Rising wentahead regardless.

Commandant Éamon de Valera’s 3rd Battalion of theDublin Brigade was assigned the defence of the south-ern approaches to the City Centre. Initial planning hadenvisaged a unit strength of 400, but as approximately120 men reported for duty on Easter Monday, the unit’sarea of operations (AO) had to be reduced. This AOwas triangular in shape, with its base running from

Lansdowne Road across to Ringsend Road before mov-ing northwest to an apex at Westland Row RailwayStation. Covering in the region of one square kilometreof dense urban terrain, even if the 3rd Battalion hadbeen at full strength this AO would have severelystretched the unit’s resources.

The BattlegroundThe Grand Canal runs in a loop from west to eastthrough the southern part of Dublin City, on its way toDublin Port, and is traversed by eight bridges betweenRingsend and Harold’s Cross. The 3rd Battalion’sreduced AO included the bridges at Ringsend Road,Grand Canal Street and Lower Mount Street, whichwere defended, blocked or covered by interlocking fire.However, due to the low turnout of ‘Volunteers’ it wasnot possible for the Rising’s Leadership to assign unitresponsibility for the defence of the bridges at LowerBaggot Street, Leeson Street, Charlemont Street,Portobello and Harold’s Cross, resulting in free ‘pas-sage of movement’ to the reinforcing British troops.

The Defending ForceLieutenant Michael Malone, C Company, 3rdBattalion, commanded the defence of Mount StreetBridge, a bridge that lies on the main route betweenthe Royal Dublin Society’s grounds at Ballsbridgeand the City Centre. The British reinforcements, hav-ing landed at Dun Laoghaire Port, used the groundsas an assembly area prior to advancing northwardson the main Volunteer positions and Mount St Bridgewas an ideal and obvious position to organise adefence.

If a unit of the Irish Defence Forces had to defendthe same approaches to the city today, it is likely thatthe Mount Street Bridge area would be designated a‘defended locality’. This is defined by the DefenceForce’s Brigade Operations Manual, 2000, as a numberof mutually supporting and linked strong-points that areself-contained and organised for all-round defence asits flanks may become exposed, bypassed or surround-ed. Manned by a company-strength infantry unit, withan establishment of 120 all ranks, the company wouldalso be augmented by engineers who would assist instrengthening the strong-points and in providing a safemeans of movement between them.

To appreciate the size of the military force needed to

‘Fighting in builtup areas isuncomfortable,unnerving, noisy,dirty and, as it isusually done insmall groups,demands high skilland courage.’

Canadian Army Staff College.

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defend an urban area, a modern-day battalion hasonly the resources to man two defended localitieswhile also deploying a disruption force whose maintask is to cover the gaps between defended locali-ties. A perimeter force, acting as an aggressive trip-wire to warn of an enemy’s approach, and a strongmobile reserve are also required. In the defence of alarge urban area these two components can onlyrealistically be supplied by a brigade-level force,making brigades the building blocks around whichan effective defence can be constructed for an arealike the inner city of Dublin.

In 1916 the Volunteers could not field brigades,nor did Lt Malone command a company. Only twelvemen, armed with a variety of rifles, were available tohim by the Wednesday of Easter Week when hispositions came under attack. Although most carriedhandguns, they had a very limited supply of ammuni-tion.

Lacking adequate resources and with varyingstandards of training, they did, however, have adetailed knowledge of their AO – Lt Malone and hissecond-in-command, Section Commander GeorgeReynolds, were determined and resourceful leaders.Malone placed Reynolds and six men in Clanwilliam

House, a private residence on the city side of thecanal that overlooked the Mount St Bridge and had acommanding view down Northumberland Road, thesouthern approach road to the Bridge. Four men alsooccupied St Stephen’s Parochial Hall, 75 metres southof the bridge on the West Side of NorthumberlandRoad, while Lt Malone positioned himself with oneman in No 25 Northumberland Road – another privateresidence also on the West Side of the road, approxi-mately 150 metres south of the Bridge and sited at thejunction of Haddington Road.

The defending force had 48 hours to strengthentheir positions. However, their efforts were mainlyconfined to piling up furniture against doors and win-dows, making largely ineffective efforts at cuttingloopholes (firing positions) due to a lack of suitabletools and a marked reluctance by them to cause dam-age to private property! Without any infantry supportweapons and a strength that was one tenth of whatshould have been deployed, the defenders waited forthe inevitable onslaught.

The Attacking ForceThe British Army was having its own troubles. OnEaster Monday the British Government’s War Officeordered reinforcements to be sent to Ireland as soonas transport could be provided. Among the reinforce-ments hastily assembled was the 178th InfantryBrigade, made up of four battalions of the SherwoodForesters. The troops were young, raw recruits, withless than three months service and who had yet to fireon the open range. Arriving at Dun Laoghaire many ofthe young soldiers thought they had landed in France.The junior officers were just as inexperienced and thelittle training the unit had undergone had not preparedit for urban warfare. Critically, in the rush to send theBrigade to Ireland, the unit’s Lewis Machine Guns hadbeen left on Liverpool’s quayside.

The Defence Force’s Brigade Operations Manual,2000, states that when dealing with urban terrain anattacking force has three choices, the unit can bypassa defended area, neutralise it with fire, or attack it.Bypassing Mount Street Bridge was a clear option forthe Sherwood Forresters’ 7th and 8th Battalions who,that Wednesday, found themselves advancing fromBallsbridge towards it. However Brigadier-GeneralLowe, the British Forces Commander in Dublin,refused to let them divert to one of the five availableand unguarded bridges. Why he should have orderedan unnecessary and suicidal advance by this route isdifficult to understand and can only be explained as acombination of arrogance and the military mindset ofattrition that prevailed at the time. Meanwhile theSherwood Forresters’ 5th and 6th Battalions wereordered to take the inland route via Stillorgan andDonnybrook and reached the Royal Hospital inKilmainham without serious incident.

The Brigade Operations Manual also states thatthe commander of an attacking force in an urban set-ting must determine the defender’s composition, dis-position, capabilities and strength by means such aspatrols, information from local inhabitants and intelli-gence reports from higher headquarters. The onlypatrol sent out by the Sherwood Foresters was anofficer in civilian clothes on a bicycle, who exploredthe option of using the Dublin & SoutheasternRailway to enter the City. However, the Volunteershad blocked the line and had removed part of thetrack. Also, information supplied by local people wastreated with scepticism and ignored, while the intelli-gence supplied by higher headquarters gave thewrong dispositions for the Volunteers in the Mount StBridge area.

Right:No. 25 Northumberland Roadwhere Lt Malone and VolunteerGrace held out for five hours.Photo: Armn Billy Galligan.

Bottom:View from Clanwilliam Houseoverlooking Mount Street Bridgeand down Northumberland Roadtowards Ballsbridge.

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The faded wording on theweather-beaten memorial atMount Street Bridge. Photo: Armn Billy Galligan.

Right:Northumberland Road Roadtoday lookining towards thebridge with a modern officeblock now standing on the siteof Clanwilliam House. Photo: Armn Billy Galligan.

ConclusionThree of the seven-man garrison at ClanwilliamHouse, including Section Commander Reynolds,had died during the defence of Mount St Bridge andthis route to the City Centre was now open.However, the British losses stood at 234 soldiers,either killed or wounded, and accounted for overhalf the British Army’s casualties during the 1916Easter Rising.

The Volunteers had conducted the defence usinga simple and flexible plan that made the best use ofthe terrain and the slim resources available to them.The British plan was also simple, in that it onlyenvisaged using weight of numbers to achieve suc-cess. This tactic, not unique for its time, was to berepeated with tragic results at the Somme twomonths later.

The Battle for Mount St Bridge shows how UrbanTerrain can help reduce the disparity in combat power

between two opposingforces. In this case itplayed a significant partin allowing a handful ofmen to hold up a vastlysuperior force for a fullday. It also showed thatthis unique form of com-bat requires the develop-ment of a doctrine forwhich specific trainingand resources are need-ed. In particular the urbanbattlefield demands thatjunior leaders must becapable of taking tacticaldecisions, within theircommander’s intent, evenwhen they are cut off.Lieutenant MichaelMalone and SectionCommander GeorgeReynolds certainly meas-ured up to these exactingleadership standardswhen they led their meninto action on theWednesday of EasterWeek 1916.■

Today Northumberland Road and Mount Street Bridgeare part of the traffic system that carries commutersinto the centre of Dublin City. Anyone who has satthrough the frustrations of peak hour traffic in our capi-tal city will understand that those travelling across thisbridge might not be in the right frame of mind to appre-ciate its history. The only evidence that a military actiontook place almost ninety years ago, in this commercialand residential area, is a modest and weather-beatenmemorial at the bridge. It would seem that Mount StreetBridge and the events of that day in April 1916 have beenconsigned to the pages of history. However, at a timewhen the professional thought on fighting in built upareas is still evolving, the lessons that help form thatthought are sometimes closer to home than we realise.

Sources & AcknowledgmentsDiarmuid Breathnach, ‘1916 – The Bakery Area’, An Cosantóir(August 1981, October 1981 & January 1982).M Ó Dubhghaill, Insurrection Fires at Eastertide (Cork, 1966).Roch Legault, ‘The Urban Battlefield and the Army: Changesand Doctrines’, Canadian Military Journal (Autumn 2000).Peter De Rosa, Rebels: The Irish Rising of 1916 (Dublin, 1990).Military Archives, The Bureau of Military History 1913-1921.Defence Forces Doctrinal Manual: Land Operations.Defence Forces Brigade Operations Manual 2000.

The AssaultThe 7th and 8th Battalions advanced towards the CityCentre from Ballsbridge as if they were movingthrough open terrain. A Covering Force, which normal-ly operates well forward of the advancing unit duringan ‘advance-to-contact’ and whose main task is tomake the ‘first contact’ with the enemy, does not seemto have been deployed. This resulted in the AdvanceGuard, moving just ahead of the main body, walkingstraight into an ambush without warning and withouthaving the opportunity to deploy for an attack.

The Sherwood Foresters had come under fire froma Volunteer perimeter post located in CarrisbrookHouse, at the junction of Lansdowne, Pembroke andNorthumberland Roads, which had been manned by ahandful of Volunteers who withdrew after a short fire-fight. Despite the confusion that this minor incidentcaused to their advance, the British still failed todeploy a Covering Force.

When the AdvanceGuard reached the junctionof Haddington andNorthumberland Roads it, again, came under closerange fire from Lt Malone’s post at No 25,followed soon afterwards bythe Volunteers positioned inClanwilliam House. Withoutthe covering fire that couldhave been provided by theBritish unit’s Lewis Guns,the Sherwood Forestersmade repeated frontalassaults on No 25. No seri-ous attempt was made toisolate Malone’s force or touse smoke or darkness tocover what was in effect the‘break-in phase’ of an attackon the 3rd Battalion’s AO.(In FIBUA an attack suchas this is usually dividedinto five phases: isolation,break-in, securing theobjective, clearance and re-organisation.)

By exercising strict firecontrol Malone andReynolds’ positions repelled the assaults and inflictedheavy casualties on the two British units who hadentered the area. It was only after five hours of con-stant battle that No 25 was finally taken, with LtMalone dying at his post.

The British force then concentrated its efforts onClanwilliam House. Once again they made little use ofthe available cover, persisting in their attempts atrushing the objective, and when their assaults eventu-ally came level with the Parochial Hall, which is in arecess back from the road, they were subjected toeffective enfilading fire from that strongpoint too. Thesmall number of British soldiers who finally reachedMount St Bridge were then brought down by sustainedrevolver fire from Clanwilliam House. When theVolunteers manning the Parochial Hall ran out ofammunition they withdrew from their position. Thiswas just as well as the Sherwood Foresters hadobtained a machine gun and a one-pounder gun,mounted on the back of a lorry. Assisted by these sup-port weapons the British soldiers gradually wore downthe resistance in the remaining strong point,Clanwilliam House, which became engulfed in flamesand forced the surviving defenders to withdraw.

Commemorationof the Battle of

Mount Street Bridgeand in Honour of the

Irish Volunteerswho gallantly

gave their livesin this area in defence

ofThe Irish Republic

Easter Week1916

Remember their sacrificeand be true to their ideals

God Rest the Brave

‘We found new tactics happening each dayWe’d cut through reins and rider with the pike,And stampede cattle into infantry,Then retreat through hedges where cavalry mustbe thrown.’

From Séamus Heaney’s Requiem for the Croppies

00-An Cos-feb-05 (18-32end) 2/9/05 3:27 PM


A NEW DIMENSIONThe Senior Non-Commissioned

Officer Course

Sgt Christopher Smith (StrategicPlanning Office, Office of the Chiefof Staff) has just recently complet-ed the newly-revised Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Course, heldat the NCO Training Wing, DFTC.Sgt Smith gave An Cosantóir thisreport…

For most organisations ‘change’ is a concept thathas become part of their everyday life, the IrishDefence Force is no different in this respect.Successful change needs a strategic approach,

where the change is proactively managed in order toallow the organisation to move forward. The strate-gic approach in this case came in the shape of anew syllabus of training for the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Course, the Senior NCO TSINF 10/2004.

The non-commissioned officer (NCO) is the back-bone of the Defence Forces, both at home andabroad, while the Senior NCO is the vital link in thechain of command between the unit commander andthe personnel within the unit. With our continuousinvolvement in UN Peacekeeping, PfP and PSO oper-ations the role played by the Senior NCO hasbecome more complex and demanding, as a greatervariety of skills and education is now needed to dealwith today’s dynamic environment.

A Senior NCO is now expected to be quick-think-ing, flexible, dependable, adaptable and resourceful,and this ever-increasing demand upon Senior NCOshas resulted in a new syllabus of training beingissued and implemented during the NCO TrainingWing’s 29th Senior NCO Course. The objective of thenew syllabus was not only to train students to per-form at Company Sergeant level, but also atSergeant Major level and their Corps/Service equiv-alents.

The new modular approach to career courses hasallowed for a more effective approach to NCO train-ing, unlike previous courses where a student only gotone opportunity to complete a course. The SeniorNCO Course consists of two modules and allows astudent the opportunity to re-attempt a particularmodule that was failed due to injury, compassionateleave, etc.

The aim of the course’s first module was to trainthe students to Senior NCO standard in an ‘All

Arms’ environment in peacetime and wartime, withan emphasis on performing leadership and manage-ment functions at unit and sub-unit level. The stu-dent must also be capable of co-ordinating unit andsub-unit training, including the supervision andassessment of personnel in the training environ-ment.

The second module is designed to train studentsto operate at Senior NCO level in a combat environ-ment, more specifically to the relevant tactical, skilland doctrine as per TM 201 and the Manual ofInfantry Tactics Part 1 & 2. The students are alsotaught how to correctly perform the relevantCombat Service Support functions at unit and sub-unit level.

Prior to entry on the Senior NCO Course thoughthere is a pre-qualifying criteria that all potentialstudents must attain, which, in effect, adds anothercouple of weeks of preparation to the scheduledten-week course. This preparation is aimed at givingthe potential students the best opportunity toenable them to pass the pre-qualifying CourseAssessment Tests.

The first three days of the Senior NCO Courseare taken up with both written and practical tests, inconjunction with passing TI 2/2000 – Revised 2002Parts 1, 2 & 3. These pre-qualifying assessmenttests cover a variety of topics, including staff duties,tactics, internal security and map reading. Whereaspractical tests are taken in medical, communica-tions and Chemical, biological, radiological andnuclear warfare (CBRN), with a practical navigationexercise thrown in for good measure. This aspect ofthe course can in fact be quite competitive, having a10% failure rate on this occasion.

The eight-week long Module 1 consisted of work-ing through lectures on 13 subjects, as well as 44hours of tests (21 hours of assessments, 18 hoursstudent syndicated presentations and five hours ofwritten tests). The subjects included some familiar

00-An Cos-feb-05 (18-32end) 2/9/05 3:27 PM


Right-Angle TorchIn the main there are three basic sizes of Right-AngleTorches, small, medium and large. All three torchesare very popular sellers as they incorporate a signal-ing button, colour filters in the base, and have adegree of ‘hand-free’ capability. However, it must beremembered that with all torches of this type, ‘Thebigger the light, the bigger the batteries!’

MagliteThe very sturdyMaglite comes in avariety of sizes, tosuit all purposes,and ultra-sports ath-letes would normallychoose one of thethree sizes shown here. The Maglite bulb and reflectorsystem gives out more light than equivalent-sizetorches, while the light beam is fully adjustable from‘Wide Flood’ to ‘Intense Spot’. Both water-resistantand shock-proof, the Maglite also carries a spare bulbin the tail cap. The energy source used in the modelsshown range from one AAA to two AA batteries,making the weight:light-source factor quite low.

Petzl TactikkaThe Petzl Tactikka Torch has been produced in arange of standard colours and ‘military camo’, fea-turing a pro-military drop-down red filter over fourLEDs (light emitting diodes). Other models includean adjustable four-LED light, whereby the individualuse of one-, two-, three- or four-LEDs, with a ‘SignalFlashing’ mode, can be chosen. The Petzl Tactikka’slight system, with the short-range intense white lightgiven out by LEDs, is very economical on batteries,achieving an average of 150 hours on only three AAAbatteries. This ‘hand-free’ torch is also extremelyweight-friendly, weighing in at only 78 grams.

Petzl Myo 3The Petzl Myo 3 is a head-torch that gives the user ahand-free capability with the option of using halogenor LED light sources. The halogen light source willgive a longer beam for athletes travelling relativelyfast over easily manageable ground by night, whilethe three LEDs will give a shorter beam. The PetzlMyo 3, weighing in at 137 grams, uses four AA bat-teries and will give continuous light for four hourswhile using the halogen light source or 180 hourswhile using the LED light source.

The three factors of how much light is needed,weight to be carried and the necessity to be hand-free will decide on which torch will suit best for thetraining exercise/adventure you are about to embarkon. LEDs are very popular with most users today, asLEDs may never need to be replaced and are veryeconomical on batteries. However, LEDs do not giveout as strong a light beam as a halogen or standardbulb will and cannot be adjusted from Flood to Spot.Finally, remember that as good as your torch is, it isstill only as good as the batteries you put in it!■

ULTR

A-S

PO

RTS

ULTRA-SPORTSEQUIPMENT

TORCHESIt might be bright, but is it right? This is a question thatall soldiers must ask themselves before going tactical,strangely it is also a question that ultra-sports athletesmust ask themselves too. Sgt Vincent Carroll (retd) con-tinues his series of articles on sporting equipment with the ‘Torch’ by asking three simple questions.• How much light do I think I will need?• How much weight am I prepared to carry?• Will my light source need to be ‘hands-free’?

Items displayed were kindlysupplied by All Seasons, Unit6, Cutlery Road, Newbridge,Co Kildare.

00-An Cos-feb-05 (18-32end) 2/10/05 2:23 PM


Terence MacSwiney was born into a family of ninechildren at North Main Street, Cork City, onMarch 28th 1879. Educated by the ChristianBrothers at the North Monastery he secured

employment at Dwyer & Co., a warehouse and distri-bution firm, from where he continued his studies andeventually obtained a Philosophy Degree in 1907.However, it was many years before when MacSwineyfirst developed his love for the Irish language andculture.

On January 2nd 1901, together with Fred Cronin,Dan Tierney, Bob Fitzgerald and Liam deRoiste,MacSwiney founded the Celtic Literary Society1 andwas responsible for publishing a circular calling on‘all self-respecting Irishmen’ to refrain from welcom-ing King Edward VII to Cork. In 1905 the CelticLiterary Society merged with the Cork Young IrelandSociety and Inghinidhe na hÉireann, a nationalistlady’s society and forerunner to Cumman na mBán,to form the Cork Branch of the National Council ofSinn Fein, a move that clearly reflected the national-ist momentum of the time. MacSwiney also managedto continue his literary work and between 1910 and1914 wrote five plays, crafted numerous poems andfounded a weekly newspaper called Fianna Fáil – TheJournal of the Irish Army. He also published a signifi-cant collection of his articles entitled ‘The Principlesof Feedom’ in the Dublin monthly Irish Freedom.Given MacSwiney’s history it was perhaps no greatsurprise to also find him present in Cork City Hall forthe inaugural meeting of the Cork Brigade of the IrishVolunteers on December 14th 1913, when, that samenight, he was one of the first to enlist in the move-ment.

Six months later, on June 21st 1914, MacSwineywas elected to the Irish Volunteer Cork ExecutiveCommittee, under the chairmanship of JJ Walsh. InSeptember 1914, following the split with JohnRedmond's National Volunteers, MacSwineyremained with the minority Irish Volunteers, becom-ing Company Commander of A Company, Cork CityBattalion, Cork Brigade, under the command ofTomas MacCurtain. Then, in October 1915,MacSwiney was tasked with developing the VolunteerOrganisation throughout the County and by theyear's end 46 active companies were established.

By the time the Cork Brigade mobilised on EasterSunday 1916 for the planned rebellion MacSwineyhad risen to the rank of Vice-Commandant and sec-ond-in-command to MacCurtain. However, becauseof the confusion caused by a series of conflictingorders his unit stood down that evening and playedno further part in the rebellion. During that fatefulweek MacSwiney could do no more than remain inthe Volunteer HQ at Sheares St, Cork City, withMacCurtain and others, where a tense stand-off haddeveloped between the Volunteers inside and theBritish soldiers from Victoria Barracks outside – whohad taken up positions on the street. Though anagreement was eventually arrived at, whereby theVolunteers would surrender their weapons to theLord Mayor, when the Rising finally came to an endthe Brigade officers were nevertheless arrested anddispatched to internment camps in Britain wherethey remain incarcerated until Christmas 1916.

Upon his return to Cork MacSwiney immediatelyresumed his Volunteer activities that, again, led tohis arrest and internment, this time in BromyardPrison, England. It was while serving his sentence inBromyard Prison that MacSwiney, clad in an IrishVolunteer’s uniform that had been smuggled into theprison, married Muriel Murphy, a member of the

In 2004 Cork Public Museum,Fitzgerald's Park, mounted anexhibition based on the life andtimes of Terence MacSwiney.‘Who was this politician and soldier?’ and ‘What exactly didhe stand for?’ In the year thatmarks Cork City as the EuropeanCultural Capital, Comdt BrendanO’Shea (Ops Offr 92 Inf Bn,UNMIL) and CQMS Gerry White (4 Inf Bn) cast light on the lifeof an extraordinary patriot whogave his own life in order thatIreland might be free.

TERENCEMacSWINEY

THE FORGOTTEN HERO – PART 1

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MIL

ITA

RY H

ISTO

RYdetention his wife, Muriel, was pregnant and on

June 23rd 1918 gave birth in Cork to their onlychild, Máire.

In the meantime, in the wake of the ‘GermanPlot’ of May 1918, many prominent members ofSinn Fein and the Irish Volunteer were beingarrested throughout Ireland and deported toBritain. Furthermore, many Republicans who hadbeen released from prison at this time were beingre-arrested and MacSwiney joined the ranks of thislatter group when, on September 4th 1918 followingthe completion of his prison sentence, he too wasre-arrested and sent to Lincoln Prison, England.

It was from this prison that MacSwiney contest-ed the Dáil General Election that was held onDecember 14th 1918, resulting in his being returnedunopposed as a Sinn Fein Candidate for the Mid-Cork Constituency.

When the First Dáil met at the Mansion House,Dublin, on January 21st 1919 MacSwiney and 35other newly-elected Sinn Fein deputies were stillincarcerated in British prisons, and when the ‘Roll’was called these deputies were all declared to be‘Fé ghlas ag Gallaibh’ (imprisoned by the foreign-er). On that same day a squad of Irish Volunteersfrom the 3rd Tipperary Brigade attacked and killedtwo RIC constables near Soloheadbeg Quarry, asthey escorted a consignment of gelignite. Thisattack marked the beginning of Ireland’s War ofIndependence and, unlike Easter 1916, this time theCork ‘Volunteers’ would be to the forefront of thefighting.

MacSwiney got his opportunity to return toIreland shortly after the War of Independencebegan, when he was released on parole to visit hiswife – who was seriously ill with influenza. TheBritish Government had begun releasingRepublican prisoners at the time and never soughtMacSwiney’s return.

His freedom secure, MacSwiney once againreturned to the ranks of the Cork Brigade andresumed his efforts to organise and train his menfor the fight he knew was coming. However, nomatter how well trained his men were, they were

famous Cork brewing family whom he had metthrough her involvement with Cumann na mBán in1915. A week later a general release of prisoners wasannounced and MacSwiney, accompanied by his newwife, returned to Cork and set up home on theDouglas Road.

MacSwiney’s freedom, however, was short livedand by the end of October 1917 he was arrested formaking a ‘seditious speech’ and sentenced to sixmonths imprisonment in Cork Gaol.

On November 17th 1917 MacSwiney and otherRepublican prisoners went on hunger strike in orderto secure better conditions in Cork Gaol. They werereleased from Cork Gaol after four days under the‘Cat and Mouse Act’, the popular name for thePrisoners (Temporary Discharge for Health) Act 1913– whereby prisoners who were in poor health couldbe released on parole and later returned to prison tocomplete their sentence. Four months later the provi-sions of this Act were invoked against MacSwiney,and he was arrested while in Dublin and sent toBelfast to complete his sentence. At the time of his

Terence MacSwiney is seenhere with his wife, Muriel, fol-lowing their wedding ceremonyat Bromyard Prison.

Terence MacSwiney,secondrow, second from left, with hisclassmates from NorthMonastery, Cork.

00-An Cos-feb-05 (18-32end) 2/9/05 3:27 PM


Finbarr’s Cemetary with full Military Honours.On March 30th 1920 MacSwiney followed in

MacCurtain's footsteps, when he was elected LordMayor of Cork at a meeting of the Corporation held atCity Hall. In the course of his acceptance speech hedeclared…

“I come here more as a soldier stepping into thebreech than an administrator to fill the first post inthe municipality. At a normal time it would be yourduty to find for this post the Councillor most prac-ticed and experienced in public affairs. But the timeis not normal. We see the manner in which our lateLord Mayor was murdered in an attempt to terrifyus all. Our first duty is to answer that threat in theonly fitting manner by showing ourselves un-terri-fied, cool and inflexible for the fulfilment of ourchief purpose – the establishment of the independ-ence and integrity of our country. To that end I amhere…for that reason I take this place. It is, I think,though I say it, the fitting answer to those whostruck him down…I wish to point out again thesecret of our strength and assurance of our finalvictory. This contest of ours is not on our side arivalry of vengeance, but of endurance – it is notthey who can inflict the most, but they who suffermost will conquer…”

MacSwiney’s first official act as Lord Mayor wasto donate half of his salary to a establish a memorialfund for Tomas MacCurtain’s widow and family, andwhile civic and municipal affairs now occupied mostof his time MacSwiney remained equally committedto his responsibilities as OC Cork No 1 Brigade.

This situation was more than the British Militaryauthorities in Ireland were prepared to tolerate andat around 7pm on August 12th 1920 a column ofapproximately 300 troops, preceded by an armouredcar, left Victoria Barracks for Cork City Hall. At thesame time a meeting of the Irish RepublicanBrotherhood (IRB) was being held at City Hall whilethe HQ Staff of Cork No1 Brigade were also meetingin the Lord Mayor's chambers.

When the British troops arrived at City Hall theyimmediately surrounded and entered the building,detaining all of the occupants found therein, while adetailed search of the premises was conducted.Eventually, at 9pm that evening, most of the detainedpeople were released, however, not beforeMacSwiney and 11 other Volunteer officers had beenarrested and carted off to Victoria Barracks. Amongthose taken by the British were, Liam Lynch, OC CorkNo 2 Brigade; Sean O'Hegarty, Vice OC Cork No 1Brigade; Joseph O'Connor, Quartermaster Cork No 1Brigade; Dan ‘Sandow’ Donovan, OC 1st Battalion,Cork No 1 Brigade and Michael Leahy, OC 4thBattalion, Cork No 1 Brigade.

In the concluding part of this article CQMS GerryWhite and Comdt Brendan O’Shea will look at thecircumstances of the trial that led TerenceMacSwiney to go on hunger strike and make the ulti-mate sacrifice for the Republic he loved above lifeitself.■

Footnotes1. The Celtic Literary Society later became the Cork

Branch of Cumann na nGaedheal and established itsheadquarters at 31 Great George's Street (nowWashington Street).

2. Dan Donovan was nicknamed after Eugene Sandow, thefamous European ‘strongman’ who appeared on theadvertisements for Murphy stout.

powerless without an adequate supply of arms andammunition – an acute shortage of these items exist-ed throughout the Volunteer movement at this time. Inan attempt to alleviate this situation MacSwiney ledan abortive raid in June 1919 on a party of Britishtroops guarding an aerodrome being constructednear Killeagh, some 19 miles from Cork. The attackparty included Florrie O’Donoghue, BrigadeIntelligence Officer; Jim Grey, Brigade TransportOfficer; and Dan ‘Sandow’2 O’Donovan, one mostefficient officers within Cork Brigade’s ranks. On thenight in the question these men travelled to theirobjective by way of steep and narrow by-roads in anattempt to avoid the RIC Barracks at Carrigtwohilland Midleton. Unfortunately, the car that they weretravelling in broke down and forced MacSwiney toabandon the operation.

Politics also occupied MacSwiney’s time duringthis period. He devoted considerable time to hisConstituency work and, when at all possible, madeevery effort to get to Dublin for Dáil meetings. At onesuch meeting, held on August 20th 1919, MacSwiney‘Seconded’ a motion proposed by Cathal Brugha, theMinister for Defence, whereby the Irish Volunteerswould take an ‘Oath of Allegiance’ to the Republicand the Dáil. This motion was significant in the devel-opment of Irish democracy in that, for the first timesince their foundation in 1913, the Volunteers wereunder the control of the elected representatives ofthe Irish people.

In January 1920 MacSwiney turned his attentionto local politics and was elected to Cork City

Council (Corporation) in the local elections held thatmonth. When the newly-elected Council met onJanuary 30th the City struck another blow for free-dom, electing Tomas MacCurtain as the firstRepublican Lord Mayor of Cork. That year alsomarked a dramatic intensification of the War ofIndependence. In the early hours of March 20th 1920the people of Cork witnessed the first of manytragedies that would befall the City in the comingmonths, when a group of masked men entered thehome of Tomas MacCurtain and shot him dead in fullview of his family. Shocked and outraged at thedeath of his friend and commanding officer,MacSwiney immediately took over as BrigadeCommandant with his first task being MacCurtain’sfuneral. In a courageous act of defiance he mobilisedthe full strength of the Brigade to pay public tributeto his fallen comrade and buried him in Saint

Terence MacSwiney is seenhere in the front row (far left)with a company of IrishVolunteers.

Terence MacSwiney with hisdaughter Máire.

00-An Cos-feb-05 (18-32end) 2/9/05 3:27 PM


HUM

AN

ITA

RIA

NIn 1994 BQMS John ‘Ginger’ O’Leary was secondedto the relief agencies that were working in war-tornRwanda, following the genocide in the country. Thetrip to Rwanda was Ginger’s first experience of the

Third World as he concentrated on the job of feedingand caring for thousands of internally displaced andabandoned Rwandan children and the ongoing chil-dren’s projects.

In 1997 a suggestion was put forward to raisemoney for the Third World by climbing MountKilimanjaro, Kenya. After two years of planning and aninitial ‘recce’ visit to the mountain, the first sponsoredclimb set out in 1999 and it was a great success withthe all-army climbing group.

In the Millenium Year another climb was attemptedand this exercise was more successful again, with anumber of the general public joining the militaryclimbers. The enthusiasm for the charity climb wassuch that Defence Forces personnel and Irish Aidworkers formed a committee, and plans were set aboutto put in place a designated charity with all of thelegal requirements necessary. ChildAid was the resultand very, very quickly, 2001 in fact, ChildAid’s statusas a company was secured. While in 2002 ChildAid’sstatus as a charitable organisation was received.

The expeditions have continued with two climbs ofKilimanjaro in 2002, two in 2003 and three in 2004. Thisyear, 2005, it is planned to run three climbs also whileorganisational planning for a climb to Mount Everest’sBase Camp in 2006 is well underway.

Taking into account that ChildAid is only up andrunning for five years, Ginger went on to explain, in his

own inimitable way, what ChildAid has achieved todate and why being involved with this charitableorganisation is such a wonderful and enlighteningexperience for him…

In 2004 ChildAid had ninety people participate on itscharity climbs. The climbers come from all walks of life,both military and civilian, and the tour attracts thisnumber of people because of the variety of experiencesthey receive during the trip. There are always good char-acters on the trips and the crack is mighty. Also, we visitthe areas that are never seen on television and theclimbers get a chance to visit the schools and feedingcentres, and meet the people that run the centres thatwe provide money for.

The €4,200 necessary to participate on ChildAid’sexpeditions to Mount Kilimanjaro pays for meals,accommodation and transport, with the remaindergoing to fund the ‘Street Children’s Projects in theSlums of Nairobi’. All ChildAid members are volunteersand, as no salaries are paid, to date we have collected€475,000. The money has been mostly put into educa-tional and feeding projects in Mukura, a town outsideNairobi. Education, we feel, is the only way forward foranyone who is trying to survive in the conditions thatare here in Africa.

ChildAid runs a number of projects but like all othercharitable organisations there is just not enough moneyto cater fully for them all. Great help has been receivedfrom the Irish Government’s Dept of Foreign Affairs andits sub-section Co-Operation Ireland, also the IrishGovernment’s Overseas Agencies have been wonderfulto us. John Lucey, former-General Secretary of PDFOR-RA, was one of the driving forces in setting up ChildAidand his initiative, enthusiasm, coercion (sometimes)and love for the kids was fantastic, he really was theman responsible for ChildAid getting its first project upand running. PDFORRA and ANSAC have been fantas-tic in their support for ChildAid’s projects.

While we at ChildAid like to think that we are theDefence Force’s Humanitarian Organisation, I wouldalso like to say that there are some wonderful people inthe Defence Forces who raise money for many differentcharities like Our Lady of Lourdes Children’s Hospital,Crumlin, and for other overseas organisations. We atChildAid do not feel that we are in any sort of competi-tion with them and we respect these people in everypossible way. In fact ChildAid has just handed over acheque for €20,000 to GOAL to aid them in the work theyare carrying out in East Asia (mainly in Sri Lanka), fol-lowing the disastrous Tsunami on St Stephen’s Day.■

If you would like to participate on any of the charitableclimbs of Mount Kilimanjaro, ChildAid can be con-tacted at; Address: Plunket Chambers, 21-23 OliverPlunket St, Cork City, Co Cork. Tel: 021 4222985. Email:[email protected]. Web: www.childaid.ie.

ChildAid

After serving 36 years with theDefence Force BQMS John ‘Ginger’O’Leary (retd), 1 Logs Bn, Collins Bks,Cork, now spends his spare time asone of the lead volunteers withChildAid, a humanitarian organisationthat is run by Defence Force’s andcivilian personnel. Ginger O’Leary spoketo An Cosantóir regarding ChildAid’sfundraising plans for 2005…

Climb Mount Kilimanjaro in 2005Climb 1 February 28th to March 12thClimb 2 May 29th to June 10thClimb 3 August 7th to August 19th

All photos kindly supplied by Brian MacCormaic, PRO ChildAid.

Children at KwaNjenga School.

Fr Pat O'Toole with children atKwaNjenga School.

Irene Wanjuki is seen hereattending class in the newly-built KwaNjenga PrimarySchool.

Below: Parents attend coursesin home management and re-training, while their children arecared for.

Bottom right: Children at classin the original classrooms atKwaNjenga School.

00-An Cos-feb-05 (18-32end) 2/9/05 3:27 PM


Col ED Doyle (retd) reviews this fascinating and enjoyable read byBrigadier Francis Henn (Chief ofStaff of the UN Force in CYPRUS,1972-74). With so many subjects covered in this book, as well as thenumerous annexes and references,Col Doyle has managed to encompassmany of Brigadier Henn’s points inthis very concise review.

Brigadier Francis Henn was Chief of Staff of theUN Force in Cyprus (1972-74). His book is bothnecessary and unusual, because he outlinesdevelopments since Disraeli (1878) and

describes aspects of UNFICYP in concise, focussedchapters. His Logistics and Finance chapter showshis clarity. He is similarly clear on Mandates andDirection, etc.

So this is a book of reference, as well as a narra-tive. And what a narrative! The description of the1974 Greek coup d’etat and the subsequent Turkishinvasion will send readers with UNFICYP serviceback to their Cyprus maps. The index is thin. Vehiclesand high and low cost units, for instance, would beuseful additions.

His chapter on Peacekeeping – The UN Conceptis balanced and well argued. Beginning with the ritu-al ‘salaam’ to minimum force, so thoroughly inculcat-ed in the British Army (learnt at some cost to others,be it said) he explains ‘consent’ vs ‘en-forcement’operations. He seems to accept the Israeli view onUNIFIL. His comparisons between UNFICYP, UNEF2and UNIFIL miss the point that Israel opposedUNIFIL even before the UN Resolution was passedand her surrogates attacked UNIFIL from the begin-ning. US support, like that given to UNEF2 and itsObserver Group, would have been welcome in

UNIFIL – an American-initiated operation.UNFICYP HQ was an efficient machine, and a

credit to its Chief-of-Staff as the troop transfers toEgypt and the Turkish invasion showed. The SinaiPeninsula had been occupied for six years (1967-73),with its oil piped to Israel, when a ‘New Model’Egyptian Army crossed the Canal. A peacekeepingforce was urgently needed. Three contingents movedfrom Cyprus, followed by the Irish as a fourth. MrKissinger said that ‘no other military system couldhave reacted so quickly to the establishment of athird party presence in the Canal confrontation area.’

UNFICYP HQ intended to keep the small Irishcontingent in Cyprus. But for (unstated) ‘overridingreasons’, UN New York wanted the Irish contingentsent to UNEF2 without delay. This late decision, theneed for Dáil sanction and vehicle allocation cuts byUNFICYP caused an operational deficiency criticisedby Gen Siilasvuo. Our vehicles had been taken overand paid for by UNFICYP long before. For mainte-nance and spares standardisation, all the Force’svehicles were replaced by British ones. The reasonsfor our vehicle problem were complex but basically

arose from British shortages. (Britain providedLogistics on repay-

ment by the UNand normally didit well. Thisdemand wasunexpected).

The 1stBattalion, theParachuteRegiment, providedinvaluable expert-ise in aircraft load-ing, although noteverything wentsmoothly.

The coup againstPresident Makariosand the subsequentTurkish invasion are

fully described. Comdt Jim Flynn had the vitalappointment of Liaison Officer to the Greek NationalGuard. He is mentioned 11 times in the index. He fol-lowed National Guard HQ moves with characteristicenergy and good humour and maintained a radio linkwith UNFICYP HQ. Brigadier Henn highly commendshim and Lt Col Gerry O’Sullivan (‘who took control ofthe Force’s humanitarian and relief operations withoutstanding success’).

For the inevitable Realpolitik, read FM Lord Carver,Chief of the Defence Staff, both in this book and inhis memoirs (notably pp. 464-6).■

Brigadier Henn has long family connections withIreland; his uncle founded the Yeats Summer School.

A Business of Some Heat,The United Nations Forcein Cyprus before and during the 1974 TurkishInvasionAu: Brigadier Francis

HennPub: Pen & Sword MilitaryISBN: 1-84415-081-Xp.p. 550Price: St£30

Symbol of Courage, A Complete History of the Victoria CrossAu: Max ArthurPub: Sidgwick & JacksonISBN: 0-283-07351-9p.p. 686Price: €37.00

Supreme Courage, HeroicStories from 150 years of The Victoria CrossAu: General Sir Peter de

la BilliérePub: Little, BrownISBN: 0-316-72925-2p.p. 387Price: €16.99

The 1st Royal Irish Riflesin the Great WarAu: James W TaylorPub: Four Courts PressISBN: 1-85182-702-1p.p. 363Price: €29.95

Ireland’s General’s in the Second World WarAu: Richard DohertyPub: Four Courts PressISBN: 1-85182-865-6p.p. 250Price: €35.00

BOOK REVIEW

A Business of Some HeatThe United Nations Force In Cyprus before

and during the 1974 Turkish Invasionby Brigadier Francis Henn

00-An Cos-feb-05 (18-32end) 2/9/05 3:28 PM

00-an cos-feb-05 (p1-17) · 2 cav sqn, under the command of 2/lt melissa hogan. photo: armn billy...

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