Drill Amidst the Dead – Remembering the Ambush at Kilmichael

Fifteen seconds later, the first
lorry came around the bend into the
ambush position at a fairly fast
speed. For fifty yards it maintained
its speed and then the driver,
apparently observing the uniformed
figure, gradually slowed it down
until at fifty yards from the
Command Post, it looked as if it
were about to stop. But it still came
on slowly and, as it reached thirty-five yards from the small stone
wall, the Mills bomb was thrown,
an automatic barked and the whistle
blew.

The bomb sailed through the air
to land in the driver’s seat of the
uncovered lorry. As it exploded the
rifle shots rang out. The lorry
lurched drunkenly, but still came on
impelled by its own weight, the foot
brake no longer pressed as the
driver was dead. On it came, the
Auxiliaries firing their revolvers at
the I.R.A. who were pouring lead
into them, and then the lorry
stopped a few yards from the small
stone wall. Some of the Auxiliaries
were now fighting from the road
and the fight became a hand-to-hand
one. Revolvers were used at point
blank range, and at times, rifle butts
replaced rifle shots. So close were
the combatants, that in one instance
the pumping blood from an
Auxiliary’s severed artery struck
one attacker full in the mouth before
the Auxiliary hit the ground. The
Auxiliaries were cursing and
yelling as they fought, but the I.R.A.
were tight lipped, as ruthlessly and
coldly they outfought them.
It was not possible to see the
efforts of the I.R.A. except those
near me. There Jim (Spud) Murphy,
John (Flyer) Nyhan and Mick
O’Herlihy were fighting splendidly.
Once I got a side glimpse of Flyer’s
bayonet being driven through an
Auxiliary, whom I had thought dead
as I passed him, but who had risen
to fire and miss me at four yards’
range. There was no surrender
called by those Auxiliaries and in
less than five minutes they had been
exterminated. All nine Auxiliaries
were dead or dying sprawled
around the road near the little stone
wall, except the driver and another,
who with the life smashed out of
them were huddled in the front of
the lorry.

At the opening of the attack I had
seen the second lorry come around
the entrance bend, but did not know
of the progress of the action at that
part of the road. Now that we had
finished with the first lot, we could
see the second lorry stopped thirty
yards at our side of No. 2 Section.
The Auxiliaries were lying in small
groups on the road firing back at
No. 2 Section, at about twenty-five
yards’ range. Some men of No. 2
were engaging them. Waiting only to
reload revolvers and pick up an
Auxiliary’s rifle and some clips of
ammunition, the three riflemen from
the Command Post, Murphy, Nyhan
and O’Herlihy, were called on to
attack the second party from the
rear. In single file, we ran crouched
up the side of the road. We had gone
about fifty yards when we heard the
Auxiliaries shout “We surrender.”
We kept running along the grass
edge of the road as they repeated
the surrender cry, and actually saw
some Auxiliaries throw away their
rifles. Firing stopped, but we
continued, still unobserved, to jog
towards them. Then we saw three
of our comrades on No. 2 Section
stand up, one crouched and two
upright. Suddenly the Auxiliaries
were firing again with revolvers.
One of our three men spun around
before he fell, and Pat Deasy
staggered before he, too, went
down.

When this occurred, we had
reached a point about twenty-five
yards behind the enemy party and
we dropped down as I gave the
order, “ Rapid fire and do not stop
until I tell you.” The four rifles
opened a rapid fire and several of
the enemy were hit before they
realised they were being attacked
from the rear. Two got to their feet
and commenced to run back past
No. 2 Section, but both were
knocked down. Some of the
survivors of our No. 2 Section had
again joined in and the enemy,
sandwiched between the two fires,
were again shouting, “ We
surrender.”

Having seen more than enough of
their surrender tactics, I shouted the
order, “ Keep firing on them. Keep
firing, No. 2 Section. Everybody
keep firing on them until the Cease
Fire.” The small I.R.A. group on the
road was now standing up, firing as
they advanced to within ten yards of
the Auxiliaries. Then the “ Cease
Fire ” was given and there was an
uncanny silence as the sound of the
last shot died away…

– Tom Barry, Guerrilla Days in Ireland