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failed to detonate. As the volunteers opened fire, the second lorry stopped and the soldiers inside leaped out and returned fire, but the volunteers were hidden behind a large timber gate which gave them cover. The first lorry continued on to Cork
Barracks. As the fight went on, the officer in command of the British troops, Captain Dixon, was shot in the head and killed as well as one of his men.
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Later that night, members of the Essex
Regiment went on a violent rampage through Bandon, destroying property and seeking out anyone they believed to be connected to the ambush. It is believed that at least some of the rampaging soldiers were those released unharmed by the IRA earlier in the day. The
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killed or wounded during the ambush and aid was given to the wounded soldiers, while the dead were pulled away from the lorry and it was then set on fire by the volunteers. The two soldiers who were not hurt during the ambush were released along with their wounded and they returned to their barracks.
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Two
British soldiers, Lt Dixon MC of the Suffolk Regiment and Pte Charles William Reid of the Essex Regiment, were killed in the ambush. Five were wounded, including Sergeant Thomas Bennett RASC who died in Cork on the following day. Six were unhurt except for shock. None of the IRA volunteers were
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Scouts signalled the approach of two lorries which were coming down the road towards the ambush site. As the first lorry passed, the order to fire was given and a home-made three-pound bomb was thrown. The bomb landed inside the lorry but did not explode. The mine that was placed on the road also
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following the
Ballinhassig ambush Further extensive damage was done Mr. Joseph Brennan's private residence, Kilbrogan House, was then attacked by soldiers They entered the bedroom of Shaun Brennan, who was an officer and fought in the late European War, and smashed some furniture Joseph Brennan,
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The remaining
British soldiers surrendered soon after, and the IRA men ceased firing. The British soldiers were relieved of their weapons and ammunition, but otherwise unharmed. Fourteen rifles, bayonets, equipment, several Mills bombs, around 1,400 rounds of ammunition and a couple of revolvers
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Thirty-two ambushers, twenty-one being riflemen of the Third West Cork
Brigade occupied ambush positions outside Toureen and lay in wait for the approaching Essex. The Essex normally went in two or three lorries to Cork City so the IRA placed a home-made mine on the road for use against them.
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was deployed to West Cork and had a reputation for violently raiding houses throughout the countryside and arresting people believed to be IRA volunteers. They were also alleged to have tortured their prisoners in order to get information on the whereabouts of the
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every morning and return in the evenings. The road went through the hamlet of
Toureen which the Third West Cork Brigade was stationed at nearby and it was decided to ambush this column of the Essex Regiment as it made its way to Cork city.
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A Military Court of
Inquiry into the soldiers killed, was conducted on 28 October 1920. There are mixed references to these proceedings in the Irish Times, and the Irish Independent, both of which contained errors.
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had finished its training, but had not previously engaged in battle with
British troops stationed in County Cork. The Tooreen was one of the first major ambushes carried out by the West Cork Brigade under
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reprisal attacks were indiscriminate, and included attacks on homes and properties of business owners with "establishment" connections – including the
Brennan family of
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A glaring example of the carelessness of the unruly soldiers was their attack on Kilbrogan House, where the prosperous and well-connected occupant was Joseph Brennan
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the son of the owner of Kilbrogan House, is private secretary to Sir John Anderson, one of the Irish Under-Secretaries
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Sergeant Bennett was buried in St. Peter & St. Paul Church in his home village of Shorne, near Gravesend in Kent.
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Donnelly, JS Jr (2010). "Unofficial British Reprisals and IRA Provocations, 1919–20: The Cases of Three Cork Towns".
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Lt. Dixon was buried with full military honours in St. Paul's Catholic Church Dover.
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648:, so this made them a despised enemy to the West Cork IRA.
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The Essex Regiment was known to travel on the road from
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931:"Private C W Reid 5998619 1st Bn. Essex Regiment"
599:. It took place near Roberts Farm, Tooreen, near
1055:"THE DOVER WAR MEMORIAL PROJECT - World War One"
886:O'Halpin, Eunan & Ó Corráin, Daithí (2020),
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16:IRA ambush during the Irish War of Independence
998:. Irish-American Cultural Institute: 152–197.
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890:. Yale University Press, pg 198-199.
49:adding citations to reliable sources
688:Location - plaque on farm wall 2014
1059:www.doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk
941:from the original on 7 August 2020
868:from the original on 24 March 2016
777:"Ballinhassig Ambush, 22 Oct 1920"
607:. The IRA ambushed two lorries of
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623:Up until the Tooreen ambush, the
263:Lieut. William Alfred Dixon
1085:"Thomas Arthur Bennett Casualty"
888:The Dead of the Irish Revolution
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1039:"Report of Inquest".
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559:Arnon Street killings
304:Casualties and losses
281:Irish Republican Army
179:51.78778°N 8.60944°W
45:improve this article
1146:October 1920 events
862:homepage.eircom.net
591:carried out by the
585:Ballinhassig ambush
579:(also known as the
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1043:. 28 October 1928.
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399:Sack of Balbriggan
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34:This article
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1097:. Retrieved
1089:www.cwgc.org
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1067:. Retrieved
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444:Pickardstown
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292:British Army
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207:Belligerents
131:Part of the
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43:Please help
38:verification
35:
18:
1099:19 November
1069:19 November
975:16 November
945:16 November
915:16 November
872:19 November
605:County Cork
544:Coolacrease
519:Tourmakeady
494:Selton Hill
384:Soloheadbeg
317:6 captured
198:IRA victory
182: /
157:County Cork
1115:Categories
754:References
619:Background
504:Crossbarry
474:Coolavokig
449:Drumcondra
434:Kilmichael
414:Ballinalee
325:6 captured
167:51°47′16″N
71:newspapers
1012:159547814
835:4 October
705:Aftermath
657:Cork City
630:Tom Barry
587:) was an
539:Rathcoole
484:Clonbanin
389:Knocklong
323:4 wounded
315:4 wounded
252:Tom Barry
170:8°36′34″W
159:, Ireland
155:Tooreen,
1093:Archived
1063:Archived
969:Archived
939:Archived
909:Archived
866:Archived
829:Archived
785:Archived
732:See also
524:Kilmeena
514:Scramoge
509:Headford
479:Sheemore
469:Clonmult
459:Dromkeen
394:Holywell
377:Timeline
321:5 killed
313:3 killed
275:Strength
151:Location
101:May 2009
791:23 July
639:of the
499:Burgery
489:Kilfaul
454:Clonfin
409:Tooreen
267:†
85:scholar
1010:
664:Ambush
653:Bandon
613:Bandon
589:ambush
424:Tralee
404:Rineen
231:
195:Result
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1008:S2CID
464:Upton
92:JSTOR
78:books
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917:2017
874:2017
837:2021
793:2021
635:The
575:The
309:none
143:Date
64:news
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