W.E. Crew 25 July 1959
(Written shortly before his 72 nd birthday. His eldest son was 29 at the time his accounts of service in the Auxiliary Division R.I.C. (1920-21), the Palestine Gendarmerie (1922-24) and the British Legion Volunteer Police Force for the Sudentenland (1938) were written. Crew reverted back to the legal spelling of his surname before the Second World War)
This is an account of the work of the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary at
the height of the strife in Ireland, mainly 1920 and 1921.
The Auxiliaries, ex-officers of H.M. Forces, were attached to the R.I.C. Their dress was tan
Glengarry with Company badge, dark blue uniform and green puttees, in fact all but the
glengarry the dress of the R.I.C. They were not ‘Black and Tans’ as is commonly supposed.
Rarely indeed did they work with the Black and Tans. Their duties were in alliance with the
Police and Military, arduous, twenty-four hours a day on duty exposed to death or mutilation
at any moment and certainly not monotonous.
These Ex-Officers of World War I were of all ranks but sunk their army rank on joining. If
of exceptional brilliance, they rose to the rank of District Inspector and wore pips, otherwise
they were Cadets. I was a District Inspector and Intelligence Officer and as such had every
opportunity to know the “ins and outs”.
No Auxiliary denies that there were excesses. Personally I never saw any beatings up,
perhaps I did not notice them, and being in the centre of the “trouble” at the height of the
Troubles, and in constant contact with both sides I ought to know. Of course, there were
good, bad and indifferent Cadets, there are everywhere. Can anyone imagine that ex-
Servicemen, after 4 years of savage warfare, suddenly become Angels? I was not one myself,
by the way. Please don’t think I want to whitewash the Auxiliaries, but I write as I found, and my
experiences of them is that on the whole they were decent fellows, had no time for cruelty on
either side and consistently tried to carry out their oath of obedience and service.
NOTE: Writing stops after four lines of page 2, with remainder of page blank. NEXT 5 PAGES CUT OUT BY razor blade or similar. The next surviving page is headed ‘The Auxiliaries’, but this heading is crossed out. The initial manuscript pages 1 and 2 may have been added after the rest of the document was composed. Crewe explains that his family was not well-off and “whether my service with the Auxiliaries in Ireland during the ‘Troubles’ made me rich I have serious doubts…
In Sep 1920 I saw an advertisement in the “People” setting forth in bold type the advantages of the Royal Irish Constabulary and being ‘fed up’ under civilian life and having an ever pleasant ? of army life, a legacy of 5 years, and finding the land ‘Fit for Heros’ not applicable, I took the plunge and wrote to the Chief Recruiting Office Great Scotland Yard stating I was an Ex- officer and laying it on rather thick. To my astonishment… a reply came in the record time of two days, stating that… I could enlist in the Auxiliary Division R.I.C. for a period of 12 months at the pay of 21 shillings per day... and the permission to wear officers uniform but without badges of army rank” Crewe completed the application form, gave his resignation to his employer (he had been 6 months in his civilian job), was interviewed in London and given a Railway W arrant to cover his journey to Dublin. “On arrival at the headquarters of the Auxiliary Division Beggars Bush Barracks I discovered two young men taking care of the Gates. They were dressed in officer’s tunics, Fox’s breeches, puttees and Scotch Balmoral caps.” He was issued with the same kit.
Crewe states that his Company “remained kicking about Beggar’s Bush Barracks doing guards etc for about three weeks when they proceeded to Dublin Castle and promptly took over the darkest, smallest and most inconvenient set of rooms in the area. Dublin Castle consists of an Upper (‘The Nobs’ department’) and a Lower Castle Yard. The Lower Yard is full of weird and out of the way offices which you discover in the course of time if you are energetic and persevering, a long and narrow street of old-fashioned Barracks, called Ship Street, and a plot of ground called ‘The Pound’ where on fine days the inmates of the Castle walk around several times, several times a day [today this is Dubh Linh Garden]. The Castle in those days of 1920 was a busy place. Kings Messengers, Red-Tabbed officers, young Sinn Fein prisoners awaiting interrogation, armoured lorries of Auxiliaries looking like up-to-date Dick Turpins complete with revolvers and rifles, Secret Service Agents, Civilians and of course parties of our friends the enemy looking for information. Rooms were designated for the reception of all goods seized on raids, all correspondence in connection thereof and all enquiries regarding prisoners which began to accumulate as the Auxiliaries commenced working night and day at raiding, assisted by the military. All members of the I.R.A. arrested by my Company were lodged in the Company Guardroom, a dark, dilapidated place with a broken window from which a machine-gun peered out into Exchange Court. This room was a right of way for passers-by to Company quarters and it was rather unpleasant keeping guard there as people coming in and going out always forgot to close the door.
The unfortunate gentlemen interviewed by the R.I.C. or the Intelligence Officer would be either released or sent to Beggars Bush Barracks, where a compound had been started. Sometimes they would be handed over to Military Guard in Ship Street Barracks. At the beginning there was no record of suspects but a Card Index was started and proved of great help, as sometimes as many as 20 suspects would be in the Guard Room. Many of them with the same name, it was curious how many of them could not say definitely if they had two Christian names. An easy way to settle that was to ask them to write their full name on a piece of paper. The Intelligence office and Company office combined was a small room about 50 feet in width and 25 feet in length looking out on the backyard, besides being the rendezvous of the C.O. and his friends for gossip. It was my sleeping quarter as well. The murders of Red Sunday Nov 21 st startled and shocked everyone in the Castle. It was not altogether unexpected as rumours had been floating about for some time that the I.R.A. had been intending such a scoop but the callous and cold-blooded way in which they were carried out aroused the indignation of everyone. The first intimation the Company received of it was from a Cadet who reported that fighting was going on in Mount Street. This was about 8 o’clock in the morning. The company turned out in a very few moments and rushed down to Mount Street, unfortunately arriving there too late.
The following day nearly the whole of the Company left the Castle early for Kingstown, where they were going to carry out a number of raids. the only Cadets left behind were the guard and a few on details. About 1100 I heard a scuffle followed by the firing of shots in the Guardroom and the Guard commander reported that two prisoners had attempted to escape by attacking the guard who had fired back, killing them. The Guardroom was upside down, chairs all over the place, tables upended, the whole place presented a scene of chaos. The shot prisoners had been placed on ‘army biscuits’, the service name for army mattresses. The Medical Officer was immediately sent for and he pronounced life extinct. Shortly afterwards the C.O. returned and the matter was reported by him to Headquarters Dublin Castle, the bodies being removed by ambulance to hospital.
From now onwards the Company was kept very busy, carrying out raids and amongst the
most important places searched were Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the Irish Transport
Workers Union, The Mansion House, Bamba Hall the Gaelic League offices and a large
number of business places. Mr Arthur Griffiths, then Vice President of the Irish Republic,
was arrested a short while after Red Sunday. He was bought to the Castle and placed in the
Guardroom in the early hours of the morning. He was asked his name and address as well as
a few details as was usual in dealing with suspects. He replied briefly and to the point.
Perfect politeness was shown to him, and he was taken over by the Castle authorities (his
arrest card, purloined by Crewe and stuck in the Diary, shows that he was transferred to
Mountjoy prison).
The arrangement for dealing with suspects was not perfect. The minor suspects who were
just members of the I.R.A. were released after interrogation unless proof was forthcoming
that they had attacked the Crown Forces, in which case they were sent to Mountjoy or
Kilmainham jails for trial. There was one person no member of the Crown Forces, whether
police or army, were anxious to arrest, the elusive Michael Collins. His name was a legend
and it was a common joke that that he came in and out the Castle as he pleased, As always
amongst servicemen respect was always given to a clean and brave fighter on the other side –
and Michael certainly was that.
The Company was always ‘Standing by’ for sudden calls. A ring would come on the
telephone from headquarters Dublin District and an officer would go up to the offices to
glean full particulars whilst another officer would shout out to the transport “Two tenders” or
whatever was the required number. The Platoon on duty were turned out, the Cadets would
come rushing out, taking pride in seeing who could get out first. It was no uncommon sight
to see Cadets in the tenders as they were going out the Castle gates putting on overcoats and
equipment.
The Company office work and the Intelligence duties, which had been combined since the
formation of the Company, were separated in December. The Intelligence Officer was
allocated a room in the ADC’s quarters for his duties, whilst the Company offices were
handed over to the Company Quartermaster.
Xmas passed off very quietly, raids and patrols were carried out right up to midnight Xmas eve, then there was a truce for two days, an informal one kept by both sides. At the beginning of the New Year the Company could congratulate itself upon few casualties. Unfortunately, this record was not kept up and the New Year had not progressed very far when up went the number of casualties. On January 1 st [in fact 21 st ] it was reported by telephone that the I.R.A. was laying an ambush at Tolka Bridge Drumcondra. The Company immediately rushed there with four tenders accompanied by a Rolls Royce armoured car. Arriving near the bridge they saw the ambushing party running away across the fields. Fire was opened on them with the result that one man was shot. He was bought back to the Castle in one of the tenders but died a very short while after arrival.
On Saturday January 28 th it was notified to the Company, again by telephone, that the hotel porter at the Wicklow Hotel had been shot dead by members of the I.R.A. Three tenders of Cadets rushed there and closed all the streets. The inmates of the Hotel were searched and interrogated, a thorough search was carried out. The only result obtained being the fact that the man had been shot by three armed and masked men from the doorway. This unfortunate man had been of a quiet and retiring disposition and did not appear to have an enemy in the world. What the object of the murder was no one knew.
The following Saturday there was another killing in a public house in Lower Gloucester Street, this time it was a Military Policeman. He had been shot whilst drinking a glass of stout. All the side-streets and alleys in the area were cordoned off but the place was like a rabbit warren.
During a raid in Talbot St early in February two men were bought back to the Intelligence office for interrogation. The O.C. questioned them and at the end told them to get out of it as he was satisfied with their replies. The cleared out of the office and the O.C. went away on another duty. Next day we read in the papers that these two men had been found shot at Drumcondra, one of them was dead and the other so seriously wounded that it was only a question of time before he would also die. Before his death he made a statement to his brother that he and his friend had been taken from the Castle and on arrival at Drumcondra they were placed against a wall with a tin over their head and then shot.
A few days afterwards the O.C. and two Cadets were arrested on a charge of shooting these two men. They were taken in an armoured car to Arbour Hill Detention Barracks and detained there. This event cast a shadow over the Company, everyone thought of the aspersions it cast over them as a whole and there was a feeling of nervousness as to what was going to happen next. A movement was soon afoot to obtain as good a defence as possible for the O.C. and the two Cadets, the idea being that one days pay (a guinea) if collected from all in the Division would make a good defence fund, also providing a nucleus for the defence of any other trouble that might come along, The Court Martial did not take place until April and was a Field General Court Martial [empowered to recommend the death penalty if all the members of the court agreed] held in the City Hall. The accused were defended by a King’s Counsel and junior counsel and after a trial which lasted three days the accused were found not guilty and released.
About this time, owing to the frequent bombing and ambushing in the streets of Dublin, the open tenders began to be replaced by armoured ones in which a wall of steel had been built on the sides of the car with loopholes for firing from. There was a heavy door at the end to enter and in the centre of the car was a stand for a Lewis gun to fire at a high angle if so required. Across the top of the car sloping upwards to a cross beam was a mesh of wire to defeat hand grenades. These cars were not liked by the Auxiliaries as they always felt caged- in, and it took longer to dismount from than an open tender, where men could jump from the sides as well as the back. They were heavy and though useful for town work, easily got bogged on country roads and delayed swift movement.
On March 14 th three tenders of the Company were on their way to Great Brunswick Street to carry out a raid on St Andrews Boys Club. They were fired at by a party of I.R.A. assembled close to the Club. It was getting dark and the Cadets were for a moment at a disadvantage, being in the act of dismounting from the tenders. The firing seemed all round them and several Cadets were hit. It was not long before the discipline of the Cadets began to tell. The attackers received more than they had bargained for. Several were seen to fall and one fellow was captured. The surviving attackers bolted down the side streets and the Cadets proceeded to raid the Club. The prisoner had a revolver on him and a spare revolver magazine full of cartridges was found in his waistcoat pocket. He admitted. in the Intelligence office, firing at the Cadets and added “I suppose I shall have to swing for this.” He was correct on this, being hung at Mountjoy prison shortly afterwards. Sadly, he was a married man with a large family. The Auxiliary casualties was one Cadet killed, five seriously wounded, one of them dying in King George V Hospital shortly after admittance. Two of the Cadets were so seriously wounded that they were unfit for any work or duties for the rest of their lives.
The attitude of the general public towards the Auxiliaries was very non-committal. It was rare for any demonstrations for or against us. Everyone appeared anxious to keep a strictly neutral attitude, and although it was risky, as I was fairly well-known in Dublin, I used to walk about the streets by myself quite openly. I was never molested. Speaking as an Auxiliary, an Englishman and a member of the so-termed oppressors I found the Dubliners extremely nice people, pleasant and not at all inclined to throw their weight about. The curfew was a great inconvenience to civilians, it was distinctly unhealthy to be found wandering about in the deserted streets during those restricted hours. In the months March, April and June the activities of the I.R.A. were very pronounced. Several large seizures of arms and ammunition took place. A very favourable spot for the storage of these illegal articles being disused stables. Large numbers of the small fry of the I.R.A. were arrested and sent to detention barracks, but the exhausting part about all these successes in capturing arms etc of the Shinners was the fact that they always seemed to have plenty left.
On May 8 th as the Cadets were sitting down to dinner news came through that armed men were attacking the Customs House. This was about one o’clock, all the party rushed out to the tenders, leaving their dinners, and in a very short space of time five tenders and two armoured cars left the Castle as fast as they could travel. As they drew near to the Customs House on the Quay fire was opened on them by the I.R.A. using bombs and revolvers. The Cadets replied, keeping up a running fire until the Customs was reached. The large building was in flames and “Q” Company, who were stationed nearby, with the assistance of the military formed a cordon around the buildings. Just after we arrived there and before the building was well alight over a hundred prisoners were captured, sent back to the Castle, about 50 revolvers and a large amount of ammunition were seized. These were subsequently photographed by the Official Photographer in the Intelligence Office.
After this there was a slight lull in the activities of the I.R.A. and it was on Friday 24 th June that the next outrage occurred. Two Cadets of my Company went out in mufti [civilian clothes] on pass and entered Kidd’s Bar in Grafton Street for a drink. As they went out, they were followed by a girl who pointed them out to two young fellows, exclaiming “There they are”. The two fellows followed the Cadets up Grafton Street and were followed by five other men from a nearby shop. As they reached the junction of the streets just above the Picture Palace, three of them turned round and pulling out revolvers held the crowd back. The other two also whipped out revolvers and fired point-blank at the Cadets, who dropped to the pavement. The murderers then emptied their revolvers into the Cadets and decamped up the street. The whole ghastly business was quickly over. I happened to be coming out of the Picture Palace at the time and just as I reached the door a Cadet in mufti rushed up and told me that he had watched the whole proceedings but could not do anything as he was unarmed. We got a call through the telephone to the Castle and St Stevens Hospital. An ambulance took the murdered Cadets away. A few moments later two tenders of Cadets came from the Castle but could do nothing. To avoid any possibility of reprisals the Company was kept in the Castle that night and despite this terrible outrage no reprisals did occur.
The following day two Cadets of “Q” Company, North Wall, were having tea with their wives in a private house in Baggott Street when the door was violently pushed open and a party of masked men entered and shot at the Cadets across the table, killing one and wounding the other. and rushing out of the house and getting away. The bodies of the Cadets were escorted by parties of their comrades and a memorial service was held in Beggars Brook Barracks the following Sunday, which was attended by parties from all the Companies stationed in Dublin.
A very short while afterwards, orders were issued that Auxiliaries were not to go out in mufti but in uniform and armed with revolvers. In no case were they to go out alone but in parties of four. The tension in Dublin was very great, everyone, civilians and Crown Forces, were wondering what was going to happen next. Just at the very darkest moment came an invitation from the Prime Minister to Mr de Valera to come to London for a conference. and the subsequent agreement of a truce. It seemed too good to be true. For a few days preceding the truce no hostilities of any description occurred in Dublin. At 11 o’clock July 11 th , the date and time of the truce, my Company discarded their revolvers and there was quite a crowd outside the Castle gates who were friendly and chatted with the Cadets. Sinn Fein and American flags were to be seen everywhere but few Union Jacks and those only on the big buildings. We could walk about as freely in Dublin as in London. There was no need to gaze into shop windows to see if you were being followed.
Orders were issued that 50% of the Company could go on leave. The remainder indulged in bathing at Killiney. The Auxiliaries were to be demobilised, paid up to date and given a free railway warrant home. I had not been long in England before I heard from the Adjutant of the Auxiliary Division that a temporary headquarters had been opened at Adastral House, Kingsway, to form a force of Auxiliaries in Palestine. Would I accept a post as Orderly Room Sergeant? [He did.]
Looking back, I now feel that the whole Troubles, like all wars, solved nothing, caused untold misery, hardship and bitterness on both sides, and could have been settled long before with goodwill and forbearance.