155-623: IRA victory The Crossbarry ambush , also known as the Battle of Crossbarry , occurred on 19 March 1921 and was one of the largest engagements of the Irish War of Independence . It took place near the small village of Crossbarry in County Cork , about 20 km south-west of Cork city. About a hundred Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers, commanded by Tom Barry , escaped an attempt by about 1,200 British troops to encircle them. During
310-534: A Sunderland flying boat and embarked on an arduous fortnight -long, multi-stage flight via Gibraltar , Malta , Alexandria (where he was delayed by the Anglo-Iraqi War ), Basra , Karachi , and Rangoon , where he was met by an RAF transport. Percival had mixed feelings about his appointment, noting that "In going to Malaya I realised that there was the double danger either of being left in an inactive command for some years if war did not break out in
465-687: A sectarian aspect (see The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922) ). While the Catholic minority there mostly backed Irish independence, the Protestant majority were mostly unionist / loyalist . A mainly Protestant special constabulary was formed, and loyalist paramilitaries were active. They attacked Catholics in reprisal for IRA actions, and in Belfast a sectarian conflict raged in which almost 500 were killed, most of them Catholics. In May 1921, Ireland
620-579: A Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) policeman and the burning of an RIC barracks in Kerry. The attacks brought a British military presence from the summer of 1918, which only briefly quelled the violence, and an increase in police raids. However, there was as yet no co-ordinated armed campaign against British forces or RIC. In County Cork , four rifles were seized from the Eyeries barracks in March 1918 and men from
775-663: A Special Military Area under the Defence of the Realm Act two days later. The war was not formally declared by the Dáil, and it ran its course parallel to the Dáil's political life. On 10 April 1919 the Dáil was told: As regards the Republican prisoners, we must always remember that this country is at war with England and so we must in a sense regard them as necessary casualties in the great fight. In January 1921, two years after
930-618: A brief disagreement, when Percival insisted that the British keep 1,000 men under arms in Singapore to preserve order, which Yamashita finally conceded, it was agreed at 6:10 pm that all British Commonwealth troops would lay down their arms and cease resistance at 8:30 pm. This was in spite of instructions from Prime Minister Winston Churchill for prolonged resistance. A common view holds that 129,704 Allied personnel surrendered or were killed by fewer than 30,000 Japanese. However,
1085-577: A choice by Prime Minister David Lloyd George to put down the rebellion in Ireland rather than negotiate with the republican leadership. As a result, violence escalated steadily from that summer and sharply after November 1920 until July 1921. It was in this period that a mutiny broke out among the Connaught Rangers , stationed in India . Two were killed whilst trying to storm an armoury and one
1240-590: A diversionary force, and the main landings took place the next day at Singora and Pattani on the south-eastern coast of Thailand , with troops rapidly deploying over the border into northern Malaya. On 10 December Percival issued a stirring, if ultimately ineffective, Special Order of the Day: In this hour of trial the General Officer Commanding calls upon all ranks Malaya Command for a determined and sustained effort to safeguard Malaya and
1395-754: A fine example during several critical periods. He ended the war, which came to an end on 11 November 1918 due to the Armistice with Germany , as a respected soldier, described as "very efficient" and was recommended for the Staff College . Percival's studies were delayed in 1919 when he decided to volunteer for service with the Archangel Command of the British Military Mission during the North Russia intervention of
1550-485: A football match, shooting into the crowd. Fourteen civilians were killed, including one of the players, Michael Hogan , and a further 65 people were wounded. Later that day two republican prisoners, Dick McKee , Peadar Clancy and an unassociated friend, Conor Clune who had been arrested with them, were killed in Dublin Castle. The official account was that the three men were shot "while trying to escape", which
1705-560: A house in Maryboro, Percival chased him on foot and shot him in the back. Barry later wrote that Percival was "easily the most vicious anti-Irish of all serving British officers". David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill met Percival in 1921, when he was called as an expert witness during an inquiry into the Irish War of Independence. Percival would later deliver a series of lectures on his experiences in Ireland in which he stressed
SECTION 10
#17327651963961860-526: A hundred Royal Engineers" so he could fix the water supply leaks caused by Japanese bombing and shelling. He never got what he needed: Louis Allen says Murnane got 'one lorry and ten frightened Sikhs'. When confronted again, all that Percival delivered (on 14 February) was one lorry and ten Royal Engineers but it was too late. Percival himself was briefly held prisoner in Changi Prison , where "the defeated GOC could be seen sitting head in hands, outside
2015-476: A landslide victory in Ireland. On 21 January 1919 they formed a breakaway government ( Dáil Éireann ) and declared Irish independence . That day, two RIC officers were killed in the Soloheadbeg ambush by IRA volunteers acting on their own initiative. The conflict developed gradually. For most of 1919, IRA activity involved capturing weaponry and freeing republican prisoners, while the Dáil set about building
2170-519: A major operation to capture the IRA column, mobilising about 350 troops in total, to converge on the area from several different directions. According to Tom Barry, 400 British troops came from Cork , 200 from Ballincollig , 300 from Kinsale and 350 from Bandon. These numbers have been contradicted by military studies, also by reports from locals in Crossbarry reporting 34 British vehicles were counted in
2325-446: A new government by its side. The IRA's main target throughout the conflict was the mainly Irish Catholic Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), the British government's armed police force in Ireland, outside Dublin. Its members and barracks (especially the more isolated ones) were vulnerable, and they were a source of much-needed arms. The RIC numbered 9,700 men stationed in 1,500 barracks throughout Ireland. A policy of ostracism of RIC men
2480-580: A pre-emptive invasion of Thailand, in advance of the Japanese landings there; he did not wish to run any risk of provoking the coming war. Brooke-Popham was accused by his detractors of not arguing forcefully for air reinforcements required to defend Malaya. Peter Wykeham suggested that the government in London was more to blame than any of the British commanders in the Far East. Despite repeated requests,
2635-440: A proven reputation for bravery and organisational powers" but by 1945 this description had been turned on its head with even Percival's defenders describing him as "something of a damp squib". The fall of Singapore switched Percival's reputation to that of an ineffective "staff wallah", lacking ruthlessness and aggression. Over six feet in height and lanky, with a clipped moustache and two protruding teeth, and unphotogenic, Percival
2790-477: A reputation just as bad as the Tans for their mistreatment of the civilian population but tended to be more effective and more willing to take on the IRA. The policy of reprisals, which involved public denunciation or denial and private approval, was famously satirised by Lord Hugh Cecil when he said: "It seems to be agreed that there is no such thing as reprisals but they are having a good effect." On 9 August 1920,
2945-627: A self-governing Dominion on 6 December 1922. Northern Ireland remained within the United Kingdom. After the ceasefire, violence in Belfast and fighting in border areas of Northern Ireland continued, and the IRA launched the failed Northern Offensive in May 1922. In June 1922, disagreement among republicans over the Anglo-Irish Treaty led to the eleven-month Irish Civil War . The Irish Free State awarded 62,868 medals for service during
3100-923: A series of violent incidents between trade unionists and the Dublin police in the Dublin lock-out . In June 1914, Nationalist leader John Redmond forced the Volunteers to give his nominees a majority on the ruling committee. When, in September 1914, Redmond encouraged the Volunteers to enlist in the British Army, a faction led by Eoin MacNeill broke with the Redmondites, who became known as the National Volunteers, rather than fight for Britain in
3255-636: A single tank. In The War in Malaya Percival himself cites this as the major factor for the defeat stating that the 'war material which might have saved Singapore was sent to Russia and the Middle East'. However he also concedes that Britain was engaged in 'a life and death struggle in the West' and that 'this decision, however painful and regrettable, was inevitable and right'. In 1918, Percival had been described as "a slim, soft spoken man... with
SECTION 20
#17327651963963410-531: A small minority. The demand for home rule was eventually granted by the British government in 1912, immediately prompting a prolonged crisis within the United Kingdom as Ulster unionists formed an armed organisation – the Ulster Volunteers (UVF) – to resist this measure of devolution , at least in territory they could control. In turn, nationalists formed their own paramilitary organisation,
3565-665: A state. In September, the British government outlawed the Dáil throughout Ireland, Sinn Féin was proclaimed (outlawed) in County Cork and the conflict intensified. The IRA began ambushing RIC and British Army patrols, attacking their barracks and forcing isolated barracks to be abandoned. The British government bolstered the RIC with recruits from Britain—the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries—who became notorious for ill-discipline and reprisal attacks on civilians, some of which were authorised by
3720-689: A troop train at Upton , in which six civilians and three IRA volunteers died. Several other volunteers were captured. The British succeeded in breaking an IRA volunteer under torture and discovered that the West Cork Brigade had its headquarters in Ballymurphy . The British also learned that the Brigade had recently returned to this area after several days waiting for an ambush on the Kinsale – Bandon road. The British commanders thus planned
3875-530: A unit of French artillery from capture, winning a Croix de Guerre . For a short period in May 1918, he acted as commander of the 54th Brigade. He was given brevet promotion to major, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), with his citation stating the following: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during recent operations. He handled his battalion cleverly, showing power of command and knowledge of tactics. He set
4030-481: A war was to kill someone, and we wanted to start a war, so we intended to kill some of the police whom we looked upon as the foremost and most important branch of the enemy forces. The only regret that we had following the ambush was that there were only two policemen in it, instead of the six we had expected. This is widely regarded as the beginning of the War of Independence. The British government declared South Tipperary
4185-670: Is buried in the churchyard at Widford in Hertfordshire. On 27 July 1927 Percival married Margaret Elizabeth "Betty" MacGregor Greer in Holy Trinity Church , Brompton . She was the daughter of Thomas MacGregor Greer of Tallylagan Manor, a Protestant linen merchant from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland . They had met during his tour of duty in Ireland but it had taken Percival several years to propose. They had two children. A daughter, Dorinda Margery,
4340-522: The 1918 general election Irish voters showed their disapproval of British policy by giving Sinn Féin 70% (73 seats out of 105,) of Irish seats, 25 of those being uncontested. Sinn Féin won 91% of the seats outside of Ulster on 46.9% of votes cast but was in a minority in Ulster, where unionists were in a majority. Sinn Féin pledged not to sit in the UK Parliament at Westminster , but rather to set up an Irish parliament. This parliament, known as
4495-646: The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division . He was made Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff at the War Office in 1940 but asked for a transfer to an active command after the Dunkirk evacuation . Given command of the 44th (Home Counties) Division , he spent 9 months organising the protection of 62 miles (100 km) of the English coast from invasion. He was appointed a Companion of
4650-845: The Allied war effort in Irish regiments of the New British Army , the intention being to ensure the commencement of home rule after the war. However, a significant minority of the Irish Volunteers opposed Ireland's involvement in the war. The Volunteer movement split, a majority leaving to form the National Volunteers under Redmond. The remaining Irish Volunteers, under Eoin MacNeill , held that they would maintain their organisation until home rule had been granted. Within this Volunteer movement, another faction, led by
4805-669: The Auxiliaries and Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). It was part of the Irish revolutionary period . In April 1916, Irish republicans launched the Easter Rising against British rule and proclaimed an Irish Republic . Although it was defeated after a week of fighting, the Rising and the British response led to greater popular support for Irish independence. In the December 1918 election , republican party Sinn Féin won
Crossbarry ambush - Misplaced Pages Continue
4960-607: The Battle of France . Along with the other senior British captives above the rank of colonel, Percival was removed from Singapore in August 1942. First he was imprisoned in Formosa and then sent on to Manchuria , where he was held with several dozen other VIP captives, including the American General Jonathan Wainwright , in a prisoner-of-war camp near Hsian , about 100 miles (160 km) to
5115-600: The Chief Secretary for Ireland Hamar Greenwood reported that 556 Constables and 313 Magistrates had resigned within two-month period. The Irish Republican Police (IRP) was founded between April and June 1920, under the authority of Dáil Éireann and the former IRA Chief of Staff Cathal Brugha to replace the RIC and to enforce the ruling of the Dáil Courts , set up under the Irish Republic. By 1920,
5270-772: The First Dáil , and its ministry, called the Aireacht , consisting only of Sinn Féin members, met at the Mansion House on 21 January 1919. The Dáil reaffirmed the 1916 proclamation with the Irish Declaration of Independence , and issued a Message to the Free Nations of the World , which stated that there was an "existing state of war, between Ireland and England". The Irish Volunteers were reconstituted as
5425-670: The House of Commons in June 1921, Attorney-General for Ireland Denis Henry stated that he was informed by Commander-in-Chief Nevil Macready that 191 houses were destroyed in official reprisals in the area under martial law since January of that year. In December 1920 Macready informed the Cabinet of the British Government that Military Governors in the martial law areas had been authorized to conduct reprisals. On 11 December,
5580-674: The Irish Free State and Northern Ireland 491 dead The Irish War of Independence ( Irish : Cogadh na Saoirse ) or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic ) and British forces: the British Army , along with the quasi-military Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and its paramilitary forces
5735-491: The Irish Volunteers . The British parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1914 , known as the Home Rule Act, on 18 September 1914 with an amending bill for the partition of Ireland introduced by Ulster Unionist MPs, but the act's implementation was immediately postponed by the Suspensory Act 1914 due to the outbreak of the First World War in the previous month. The majority of nationalists followed their IPP leaders and John Redmond 's call to support Britain and
5890-402: The Japanese 25th Army under the command of Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita launched an amphibious assault on the Malay Peninsula (one hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor ; the difference in date was because the two places lie on opposite sides of the International Date Line ). That night the first Japanese invasion force arrived at Kota Bharu on Malaya's east coast. This was just
6045-406: The Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1941 King's Birthday Honours . In 1936, Major-General William Dobbie , then General Officer Commanding ( Malaya ), had made an inquiry into whether more forces were required on mainland Malaya to prevent the Japanese from establishing forward bases to attack Singapore. Percival, then his Chief Staff Officer, had been tasked to draw up a tactical assessment of how
6200-450: The Philippines to witness the surrender of the Japanese army there, which in a twist of fate was commanded by General Yamashita. Yamashita was momentarily surprised to see his former captive at the ceremony; on this occasion Percival refused to shake Yamashita's hand, angered by the mistreatment of POWs in Singapore. The flag carried by Percival's party on the way to Bukit Timah was also a witness to this reversal of fortunes, being flown when
6355-429: The Royal West African Frontier Force in West Africa as a staff officer . He was given brevet promotion to lieutenant-colonel in 1929. In 1930, Percival spent a year studying at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich . From 1931 to 1932, Percival was a General Staff Officer Grade 2, an instructor at the Staff College. The college's commandant was by now Major-General Sir John Dill , who became Percival's mentor over
Crossbarry ambush - Misplaced Pages Continue
6510-405: The Russian Civil War . Acting as second-in-command of the 45th Royal Fusiliers , he earned a bar to his DSO in August, when his attack in the Gorodok operation along the Northern Dvina resulted in the British capture 400 Red Army troops. The citation reads: He commanded the Gorodok column on 9–10 August 1919, with great gallantry and skill, and owing to the success of this column the forces on
6665-515: The intelligence officer of the 1st Essex Regiment . He was stationed in Bandon and Kinsale in County Cork . In December 1920 the Commander in Chief of British forces in Ireland ( Nevil Macready ) informed the British Cabinet that "official reprisals" had been authorized in Martial law areas. Percival proved to be an energetic counterinsurgency commander who was noted for his aptitude for intelligence-gathering and establishment of bicycle infantry formations which acted as flying columns . He
6820-414: The province of Munster—were put under martial law on 10 December under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act; this was followed on 5 January in the rest of Munster and in counties Kilkenny and Wexford in the province of Leinster. Shortly afterwards, in January 1921, "official reprisals" were sanctioned by the British and they began with the burning of seven houses in Midleton, County Cork . Questioned in
6975-436: The " Black and Tans ") and the Temporary Cadets or Auxiliary Division (known as the "Auxies"). On 25 November 1913, the Irish Volunteers were formed by Eoin MacNeill in response to the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) that had been founded earlier in the year to fight against home rule. Also in 1913, the Irish Citizen Army was founded by the trade unionists and socialists James Larkin and James Connolly following
7130-414: The " Irish Republican Army " or IRA. The IRA was perceived by some members of Dáil Éireann to have a mandate to wage war on the British Dublin Castle administration . The heart of British power in Ireland was the Dublin Castle administration, often known to the Irish as "the Castle". The head of the Castle administration was the lord lieutenant , to whom a chief secretary was responsible, leading—in
7285-472: The " Squad "—gunmen responsible to himself who were assigned special duties such as the assassination of policemen and suspected informers within the IRA. The years between the Easter Rising of 1916 and the beginning of the War of Independence in 1919 were not bloodless. Thomas Ashe , one of the Volunteer leaders imprisoned for his role in the 1916 rebellion, died on hunger strike, after attempted force-feeding in 1917. In 1918, during disturbances arising out of
7440-401: The 1891 census, although it is unclear if this is still for Hamel's Park, or for E.S. Hanbury's Poles estate (now " Hanbury Manor "), which is adjacent to Sprangewell. Percival was initially schooled locally in Bengeo . Then in 1901, he was sent to Rugby with his more academically successful brother, where he was a boarder in School House. A moderate pupil, he studied Greek and Latin but
7595-413: The Army was to back up the police. In the course of the war, about a quarter of Ireland was put under martial law, mostly in Munster; in the rest of the country British authority was not deemed sufficiently threatened to warrant it. The British created two paramilitary police forces to supplement the work of the RIC, recruited mostly from World War I veterans, namely the Temporary Constables (better known as
7750-446: The British Army had historically been heavily dependent on Irish recruitment, concern over divided loyalties led to the redeployment from 1919 of all regular Irish regiments to garrisons outside Ireland itself. The two main police forces in Ireland were the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and the Dublin Metropolitan Police . Of the 17,000 policemen in Ireland, 513 were killed by the IRA between 1919 and 1921 while 682 were wounded. Of
7905-511: The British Parliament passed the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act . It replaced the trial by jury by courts-martial by regulation for those areas where IRA activity was prevalent. On 10 December 1920, martial law was proclaimed in Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary in Munster; in January 1921 martial law was extended to the rest of Munster in Counties Clare and Waterford, as well as counties Kilkenny and Wexford in Leinster . It also suspended all coroners' courts because of
SECTION 50
#17327651963968060-400: The British administration. The first was Resident Magistrate John C. Milling, who was shot dead in Westport, County Mayo , for having sent Volunteers to prison for unlawful assembly and drilling. They mimicked the successful tactics of the Boers ' fast violent raids without uniform. Although some republican leaders, notably Éamon de Valera, favoured classic conventional warfare to legitimise
8215-403: The British at Crossbarry cross roads—his men being in position by 5:30 am. The first British lorries, about 12 vehicles according to Barry's account, came into view of the IRA at 8:00 am. When they reached Crossbarry, they were caught by surprise and hit by a crossfire at very close range—between 5 yards (4.6 m) and 10 yards (9.1 m). They took significant casualties and many of them fled
8370-412: The British cabinet, in the face of the crisis caused by the German spring offensive , attempted with a dual policy to simultaneously link the enactment of conscription into Ireland with the implementation of home rule, as outlined in the report of the Irish Convention of 8 April 1918. This further alienated Irish nationalists and produced mass demonstrations during the Conscription Crisis of 1918 . In
8525-526: The British government did not provide the necessary reinforcements and they denied Brooke-Popham – and therefore Percival – permission to enter neutral Thailand before it was too late to put in place forward defences. Moreover, Percival had difficulties with his subordinates Sir Lewis "Piggy" Heath , commanding Indian III Corps , and the independent-minded Gordon Bennett , commanding the Australian 8th Division . The former officer had been senior to Percival prior to his appointment as GOC (Malaya). Percival
8680-411: The British government. By mid-1920, the Irish Republic was a reality in the lives of many people, enforcing its own law, maintaining its own armed forces and collecting its own taxes. The British Liberal journal, The Nation , wrote in August 1920 that "the central fact of the present situation in Ireland is that the Irish Republic exists". The British forces, in trying to re-assert their control over
8835-473: The British government. Thus the conflict is sometimes called the "Black and Tan War". The conflict also involved civil disobedience , notably the refusal of Irish railwaymen to transport British forces or military supplies. In mid-1920, republicans won control of most county councils, and British authority collapsed in most of the south and west, forcing the British government to introduce emergency powers . About 300 people had been killed by late 1920, but
8990-423: The British. Moreover, the likelihood was that the small column would be trapped if it took this course of action. However, Barry observed that one of the British columns advancing towards Crossbarry was well ahead of the other British units. If his men could break through this British force, roughly the same strength as his own force, then they could break out of the British encirclement. Barry laid out an ambush for
9145-470: The Cork Number Three Brigade. Hurley, who was recovering from a serious wound sustained at the Upton ambush, was trapped in a house and killed at about 6:30am. Tom Barry , only becoming aware of the danger at the last minute, resolved that his men, 104 strong, would have to fight their way out of the encirclement. Barry's calculation was that his men, who had only 40 rounds per man, could not sustain an all day fight, which they could expect if they retired before
9300-425: The Dublin Metropolitan Police's G Division and other important branches of the British administration. The G Division men were a relatively small political division active in subverting the republican movement. They were detested by the IRA as often they were used to identify volunteers, who would have been unknown to British soldiers or the later Black and Tans. Collins set up the "Squad", a group of men whose sole duty
9455-482: The East or, if it did, of finding myself involved in a pretty sticky business with the inadequate forces which are usually to be found in the distant parts of our Empire in the early stages of a war." For much of the interwar period, Britain's defensive plan for Malaya had centred on the dispatch of a naval fleet to the newly built Singapore Naval Base . Accordingly, the army's role was to defend Singapore and Southern Johore . While this plan had seemed adequate when
SECTION 60
#17327651963969610-464: The Easter Rising. The British execution of the Rising's leaders also increased support in Ireland for both a violent uprising to achieve independence from British rule and an independent Irish republic. This support was further bolstered by the British government's decision to maintain martial law in Ireland until November 1916, the arrest of Irish critics of government policies and the possibility of conscription being extended to Ireland. In April 1918,
9765-425: The Germans, would have settled it in a very short time. Clifford Kinvig, Percival's biographer considers him to have been unfairly vilified by Irish republican propaganda due to being "tireless in his attempt to destroy the spirit of the people and the organisation of the IRA". Percival attended the Staff College, Camberley , from 1923 to 1924, which had Major-General Edmund Ironside as its Commandant, where he
9920-439: The IRA claimed to have a total strength of 70,000, but only about 3,000 were actively engaged in fighting against the Crown. The IRA distrusted those Irishmen who had fought in the British Army during the First World War, but there were exceptions, such as Emmet Dalton , Tom Barry and Martin Doyle . The basic structure of the IRA was the flying column which could number between 20 and 100 men. Finally, Michael Collins created
10075-405: The IRA desist from the ambushes and assassinations, which were allowing the British to portray it as a terrorist group and to take on the British forces with conventional military methods. The proposal was immediately dismissed. The British increased the use of force; reluctant to deploy the regular British Army into the country in greater numbers, they set up two auxiliary police units to reinforce
10230-427: The IRA through fear or sympathy, supplying the organisation with valuable information. By contrast with the effectiveness of the widespread public boycott of the police, the military actions carried out by the IRA against the RIC at this time were relatively limited. In 1919, 11 RIC men and 4 Dublin Metropolitan Police G Division detectives were killed and another 20 RIC wounded. Other aspects of mass participation in
10385-434: The IRA while in British custody and had invented his allegations to deflect attention away from his decision to provide the names of fellow IRA members in return for a lesser sentence. On 4 February 1921, while participating a raid carried out by British forces between Bandon and Kilbrittain , Percival shot and killed IRA volunteer Patrick Crowley Jr. When Crowley, who was being treated for appendicitis , tried to flee from
10540-429: The IRP had a presence in 21 of Ireland's 32 counties . The Dáil Courts were generally socially conservative, despite their revolutionary origins, and halted the attempts of some landless farmers at redistribution of land from wealthier landowners to poorer farmers. The Inland Revenue ceased to operate in most of Ireland. People were instead encouraged to subscribe to Collins' "National Loan", set up to raise funds for
10695-438: The Japanese formally surrendered Singapore back to Lord Louis Mountbatten . Percival returned to the United Kingdom in September 1945 to write his despatch at the War Office but this was revised by the UK Government and published only in 1948. He retired from the army in 1946 with the honorary rank of lieutenant-general but the pension of his substantive rank of major-general. Thereafter, he held appointments connected with
10850-436: The Japanese government planned to seize the resources of South-East Asia from the European nations by force. Both the Japanese navy and army were mobilised, but for the moment an uneasy state of cold war persisted. British Commonwealth reinforcements continued to trickle into Malaya. On 2 December, the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle-cruiser HMS Repulse , escorted by four destroyers , arrived in Singapore,
11005-414: The Japanese were most likely to attack. In late 1937, his analysis had duly confirmed that north Malaya might become the critical battleground. The Japanese were likely to seize the east coast landing sites on Thailand and Malaya in order to capture aerodromes and achieve air superiority. This could serve as a prelude to further Japanese landings in Johore to disrupt communications northwards and enable
11160-421: The RIC's senior officers, 60% were Irish Protestants and the rest Catholic, while 70% of the rank and file of the RIC were Irish Catholic with the rest Protestant. The RIC was trained for police work, not war, and was woefully ill-prepared to take on counter-insurgency duties. Until March 1920, London regarded the unrest in Ireland as primarily an issue for the police and did not regard it as a war. The purpose of
11315-723: The RIC, would now be required to enter the city. The Trades Council's special Strike Committee controlled the city for fourteen days in an episode that is known as the Limerick Soviet . Similarly, in May 1920, Dublin dockers refused to handle any war matériel and were soon joined by the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union , who banned railway drivers from carrying members of the British forces. Blackleg train drivers were brought over from England, after drivers refused to carry British troops. The strike badly hampered British troop movements until December 1920, when it
11470-694: The RIC. The first of these, quickly nicknamed as the Black and Tans, were seven thousand strong and mainly ex-British soldiers demobilised after World War I. Deployed to Ireland in March 1920, most came from English and Scottish cities. While officially they were part of the RIC, in reality they were a paramilitary force. After their deployment in March 1920, they rapidly gained a reputation for drunkenness and poor discipline. The wartime experience of most Black and Tans did not suit them for police duties and their violent behavior antagonised many previously neutral civilians. In response to and retaliation for IRA actions, in
11625-651: The Regiment between 1992 and 1999. Percival was respected for the time he had spent as a Japanese prisoner of war . Serving as life president of the Far East Prisoners of War Association (FEPOW), he pushed for compensation for his fellow captives, eventually helping to obtain a token £5 million of frozen Japanese assets for this cause. This was distributed by the FEPOW Welfare Trust, on which Percival served as chairman. He led protests against
11780-653: The Singapore Naval Base. He also spread his forces thinly around the island and kept few units as a strategic reserve. When the Japanese attack came in the west, the Australian 22nd Brigade took the brunt of the assault. Percival refused to reinforce them as he continued to believe that the main assault would occur in the north east. The attacking Japanese were down to the last of their ammunition when Percival surrendered. Before surrendering, besides taking his own counsel, he consulted his own officers. In
11935-817: The Volunteer air force to overcome the shortage of RAF planes, he toured the peninsula and encouraged the building of defensive works around Jitra . A training manual approved by Percival, Tactical Notes on Malaya , was distributed to all units. In July 1941 when the Japanese occupied southern Indochina, Britain, the United States and the Netherlands imposed economic sanctions , freezing Japanese financial assets and cutting Japan from its supplies of oil , tin and rubber . The sanctions were aimed at pressuring Japan to abandon its involvement in China ; instead,
12090-514: The War of Independence, of which 15,224 were issued to IRA fighters of the flying columns . Since the 1870s, Irish nationalists in the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) had been demanding home rule , or self-government, from Britain, while not ruling out eventual complete independence. Fringe organisations, such as Arthur Griffith 's Sinn Féin , instead argued for some form of immediate Irish independence, but they were in
12245-560: The action. Volunteer Tom Kelleher—a Section Leader in Barry's column— claimed that he alone personally shot and either killed or wounded 22 British soldiers during the fire-fight. The British stated their losses were 10 killed and three wounded. The RIC memorial records that one RIC constable and six soldiers were killed. The New York Times , published the following day, reported the casualties as seven soldiers and one policeman killed, and seven IRA men killed. According to historian Peter Hart ,
12400-517: The adjoining British territories. The eyes of the Empire are upon us. Our whole position in the Far East is at stake. The struggle may be long and grim but let us all resolve to stand fast come what may and to prove ourselves worthy of the great trust which has been placed in us. The Japanese advanced rapidly, and on 27 January 1942 Percival ordered a general retreat across the Johore Strait to
12555-444: The anti-conscription campaign, six civilians died in confrontations with the police and British Army and more than 1,000 people were arrested. There were raids for arms by the Volunteers, and two Kerry Volunteers (John Brown and Robert Laide) were shot and killed on 16 April 1918 during a raid on the police barracks at Gortalea. Those men were the first Volunteers to be killed during a raid for arms. At this time at least one shooting of
12710-475: The area as well as eye-witness evidence from Florence Begley. Later in the day about 120 Auxiliaries also left Macroom . The British sweep was mounted early on the morning of 19 March. At Crossbarry, some of the troops descended from their lorries to proceed on foot or bicycle to try and catch the IRA unaware. One early victim of the action was Charlie Hurley , the IRA Commanding Officer of
12865-575: The barracks were beaten that August. In early July 1918, Volunteers ambushed two RIC men who had been stationed to stop a feis being held on the road between Ballingeary and Ballyvourney in the first armed attack on the RIC since the Easter Rising—one was shot in the neck, the other beaten, and police carbines and ammunition were seized. Patrols in Bantry and Ballyvourney were badly beaten in September and October. In November 1918, Armistice Day
13020-480: The building of airfields in northern Malaya and along its east coast and the dispersal of the available army units around the peninsula to protect them. On arrival, Percival set about training his inexperienced army; his Indian troops were particularly raw, with most of their experienced officers having been withdrawn to support the formation of new units as the Indian army expanded. Relying upon commercial aircraft or
13175-460: The centre of Cork city was burnt out by British forces in reprisal for an ambush. Violence continued to escalate over the next seven months; 1,000 people were killed and 4,500 republicans were interned . Much of the fighting took place in Munster (particularly County Cork), Dublin and Belfast , which together saw over 75 percent of the conflict deaths. The conflict in north-east Ulster had
13330-660: The centre of Cork City was burnt out by the Black and Tans, who then shot at firefighters trying to tackle the blaze, in reprisal for an IRA ambush in the city on 11 December 1920 which killed one Auxiliary and wounded eleven. In May of that year, the IRA began a campaign of big house burnings which totaled 26 in Cork alone. Arthur Percival Russian Civil War Anglo-Irish War Second World War Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival , CB , DSO & Bar , OBE , MC , OStJ , DL (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966)
13485-534: The chance offered by his quick victory to get away, Barry then marched his men to safety in the Gurranereigh area, while the British were still disoriented by the ambush. There was another brief exchange of fire at long range as the IRA column got away. The action had lasted for under an hour. On realising what had happened, Major Percival of the Essex Regiment rushed to the scene with his troops, but
13640-486: The commander of the IRA's 3rd Cork Brigade , and Patrick Harte, the brigade's quartermaster , for which he was given an OBE . Both Hales and Harte subsequently claimed they had been tortured while in custody, and according to IRA commander Tom Barry , Harte received a severe blow with a rifle butt to his temple causing a brain injury and died in a mental hospital in 1925 as a result. British intelligence officer Ormonde Winter subsequently stated that Hales had informed on
13795-569: The conflict escalated in November. On Bloody Sunday in Dublin , 21 November 1920, fourteen British intelligence operatives were assassinated; then the RIC fired on the crowd at a Gaelic football match, killing fourteen civilians and wounding sixty-five. A week later, the IRA killed seventeen Auxiliaries in the Kilmichael Ambush in County Cork . In December, the British authorities declared martial law in much of southern Ireland, and
13950-572: The conflict included strikes by organised workers, in opposition to the British presence in Ireland. In Limerick in April 1919, a general strike was called by the Limerick Trades and Labour Council, as a protest against the declaration of a "Special Military Area" under the Defence of the Realm Act, which covered most of Limerick city and a part of the county. Special permits, to be issued by
14105-719: The conflict, IRA activity was concentrated in Munster and Dublin, with only isolated active IRA units elsewhere, such as in County Roscommon , north County Longford and western County Mayo . While the paper membership of the IRA, carried over from the Irish Volunteers, was over 100,000 men, Collins estimated that only 15,000 were active in the IRA during the war, with about 3,000 on active service at any time. There were also support organisations Cumann na mBan (the IRA women's group) and Fianna Éireann (youth movement), who carried weapons and intelligence for IRA men and secured food and lodgings for them. The IRA benefitted from
14260-481: The consolidation of the captured position. Percival took a regular commission as a captain with the Essex Regiment in October 1916, whilst recovering from his injuries in hospital. He was appointed a temporary major in his original regiment. In 1917, he became a battalion commander with the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel . During Germany 's Spring Offensive , Percival led a counter-attack that saved
14415-573: The construction of another main base in North Borneo. From North Borneo, the final sea and air assault could be launched against eastern Singapore – in particular the Changi area. In April 1941 Percival was promoted to acting Lieutenant-General , and was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) Malaya. This was a significant promotion for him as he had never commanded an army corps although he had previous experience there. He left Britain in
14570-641: The construction of fixed defences in Southern Johore . In March 1938, Percival returned to Britain and was (temporarily) promoted to brigadier on the General Staff, Aldershot Command . Percival was appointed brigadier, General Staff, of the I Corps , British Expeditionary Force , commanded by General Dill, from 1939 to 1940. He was then promoted to acting major-general , and in February 1940 briefly became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of
14725-503: The country, often resorted to arbitrary reprisals against republican activists and the civilian population. An unofficial government policy of reprisals began in 1919 in Fermoy , County Cork, when 200 soldiers of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry looted and burned the main businesses of the town on 8 September, after a member of their regiment—who was the first British Army soldier to die in
14880-684: The county of Hertfordshire, where he lived at Bullards in Widford : he was Honorary Colonel of 479th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery , ( T.A. ) from 1949 to 1954 and acted as one of the Deputy Lieutenants of Hertfordshire in 1951. He continued his relationship with the Cheshire Regiment being appointed Colonel of the Cheshire Regiment between 1950 and 1955; an association continued by his son, Brigadier James Percival who became Colonel of
15035-517: The early morning, Collins' Squad attempted to wipe out leading British intelligence operatives in the capital, in particular the Cairo Gang , killing 16 men (including two cadets, one alleged informer, and one possible case of mistaken identity) and wounding five others. The attacks took place at different places (hotels and lodgings) in Dublin. In response, RIC men drove in trucks into Croke Park (Dublin's GAA football and hurling ground) during
15190-628: The end of the war. By November Percival had been promoted to captain . The following year he was despatched to France with the newly formed 7th (Service) Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment (later the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment ), which became part of the 54th Brigade , 18th (Eastern) Division , in February 1915. The first day of the Battle of the Somme (1 July 1916) left Percival unscathed, but in September he
15345-507: The face of repeated requests to start construction from his Chief Engineer, Brigadier Ivan Simson , with the comment "Defences are bad for morale – for both troops and civilians". Percival also insisted on defending the north-eastern shore of Singapore most heavily, against the advice of the Allied supreme commander in South East Asia , General Sir Archibald Wavell . Percival was perhaps fixed on his responsibilities for defending
15500-600: The fall of Singapore to be "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history." However, the British defence was that the Middle East and the Soviet Union had all received higher priorities in the allocation of men and material, so the desired air force strength of 300 to 500 aircraft was never reached, and whereas the Japanese invaded with over two hundred tanks , the British Army in Malaya did not have
15655-405: The figure of 10 Crown forces personnel killed and four wounded, was "given in internal police and military documents and verified at the inquest", Historian Michael Hopkinson concludes of the action, "With considerable justice, Crossbarry is regarded as victory for the IRA, but can also be seen as a missed opportunity for the British". Irish War of Independence Inconclusive Creation of
15810-770: The film The Bridge on the River Kwai when it was released in 1957, obtaining the addition of an on-screen statement that the movie was a work of fiction. He also worked as president of the Hertfordshire British Red Cross and was made an Officer of the Venerable Order of Saint John in 1964. Percival died at the age of 78 on 31 January 1966, in King Edward VII's Hospital for Officers , Beaumont Street in Westminster , and
15965-457: The first time a battle fleet had been based there. (They were to have been accompanied by the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable to provide air cover but she had run aground in the Caribbean en route.) The following day Rear-Admiral Spooner hosted a dinner attended by the newly arrived Commander-in-Chief Eastern Fleet , Admiral Sir Tom Phillips , and Percival. On 8 December 1941
16120-592: The former figure includes nearly 50,000 troops captured or killed during the Battle of Malaya , and perhaps 15,000 base troops. Many of the other troops were tired and under-equipped following their retreat from the Malayan peninsula . Conversely, the latter number represents only the front-line troops available for the invasion of Singapore. British Commonwealth casualties in battle since 8 December amounted to 7,500 killed and 11,000 wounded. Japanese losses totalled more than 3,507 killed and 6,107 wounded. Churchill viewed
16275-427: The ground to prevent them being used again, along with almost one hundred income tax offices. The RIC withdrew from much of the countryside, leaving it in the hands of the IRA. In June–July 1920, assizes failed all across the south and west of Ireland; trials by jury could not be held because jurors would not attend. The collapse of the court system demoralised the RIC and many police resigned or retired. In August 1920
16430-472: The hour-long battle, ten British troops and three IRA volunteers were killed. The increasing success of the IRA's 3rd Cork Brigade led to a spate of arrests and interrogations of suspected IRA volunteers in West Cork, in an effort to discover the identities and headquarters of the guerrillas . At this point the column had a total of 104 volunteers. On 15 February 1921, the IRA mounted an abortive ambush of
16585-442: The importance of surprise and offensive action, intelligence-gathering, maintaining security and co-operation between different security forces . Historian J. B. E. Hittle wrote that of all the British officers in Ireland "Percival stood out for his violent, sadistic behaviour towards IRA prisoners, suspects and innocent civilians... He also participated in reprisals, burning farms and businesses in response to IRA attacks. Percival
16740-517: The island of Singapore and organised a defence along the length of the island's 70-mile (110 km) coast line. But the Japanese did not dawdle, and on 8 February Japanese troops landed on the northwest corner of Singapore island. After a week of fighting on the island, Percival held his final command conference at 9 am on 15 February in the Battle Box of Fort Canning . The Japanese had already occupied approximately half of Singapore and it
16895-501: The jury were targeted in the reprisal. Arthur Griffith estimated that in the first 18 months of the conflict, British forces carried out 38,720 raids on private homes, arrested 4,982 suspects, committed 1,604 armed assaults, carried out 102 indiscriminate shootings and burnings in towns and villages, and killed 77 people including women and children. In March 1920, Tomás Mac Curtain , the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork ,
17050-462: The large number of warrants served on members of the British forces and replaced them with "military courts of enquiry". The powers of military courts-martial were extended to cover the whole population and were empowered to use the death penalty and internment without trial; Government payments to local governments in Sinn Féin hands were suspended. This act has been interpreted by historians as
17205-405: The married quarters he now shared with seven brigadiers, a colonel, his ADC and cook-sergeant. He discussed feelings with few, spent hours walking around the extensive compound, ruminating on the reverse and what might have been". In the belief that it would improve discipline, he reconstituted a Malaya Command, complete with staff appointments, and helped occupy his fellow prisoners with lectures on
17360-582: The nationalist campaign involved popular mobilisation and the creation of a republican "state within a state" in opposition to British rule. British journalist Robert Lynd wrote in The Daily News in July 1920 that: So far as the mass of people are concerned, the policy of the day is not active but a passive policy. Their policy is not so much to attack the Government as to ignore it and to build up
17515-602: The nearest Japanese base had been 1,700 miles (2,700 km) away, the outbreak of war in Europe , combined with the partial Japanese occupation of the northern part of French Indochina and the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, had underlined the difficulty of a sea-based defence. Instead it was proposed to use the RAF to defend Malaya, at least until reinforcements could be dispatched from Britain. This led to
17670-433: The new republic in the eyes of the world, the more practically experienced Collins and the broader IRA leadership opposed these tactics as they had led to the military débacle of 1916. Others, notably Arthur Griffith, preferred a campaign of civil disobedience rather than armed struggle. During the early part of the conflict, roughly from 1919 to the middle of 1920, there was a relatively limited amount of violence. Much of
17825-589: The next boat out of Dublin. The Chief of Staff of the IRA was Richard Mulcahy , who was responsible for organising and directing IRA units around the country. In theory, both Collins and Mulcahy were responsible to Cathal Brugha, the Dáil's Minister of Defence, but, in practice, Brugha had only a supervisory role, recommending or objecting to specific actions. A great deal also depended on IRA leaders in local areas (such as Liam Lynch, Tom Barry, Seán Moylan , Seán Mac Eoin and Ernie O'Malley ) who organised guerrilla activity, largely on their own initiative. For most of
17980-406: The next decade, helping to ensure his protégé's advancement. Dill regarded Percival as a promising officer and wrote that "he has an outstanding ability, wide military knowledge, good judgment and is a very quick and accurate worker" but added "he has not altogether an impressive presence and one may therefore fail, at first meeting him, to appreciate his sterling worth". With Dill's support, Percival
18135-511: The north east of Mukden . As the war drew to an end, an OSS team removed the prisoners from Hsian. Percival was then taken, along with Wainwright, to stand immediately behind General Douglas MacArthur as he confirmed the terms of the Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. Afterwards, MacArthur gave Percival a pen he had used to sign the treaty. Percival and Wainwright then returned together to
18290-504: The post-war Percival Report (written in 1946, published in 1948) the "imminent collapse" of the water supply, estimated by David J. Murnane , the Municipal Water Engineer, on 14 February to occur within 24–48 hours, was highlighted as a direct cause for surrender. According to oral history records, quoted by Louis Allen (author of Singapore 1941–42), Murnane asked for and was promised by General Percival "ten lorries and
18445-469: The right bank of the Dvina were able to capture all its objectives. During the enemy counter-attack from Selmenga on Gorodok he handled his men excellently. The enemy were repulsed with great loss, leaving 400 prisoners in our hands. In 1920, Percival was deployed to Ireland and fought against the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence , first as a company commander and later as
18600-497: The scene. Barry's men collected the British arms and ammunition before setting fire to the lorries. At this point, they were attacked again by another British column of about 200, coming from the southwest, but they too retreated after a stiff fire fight. The renewed fire led to the day's three IRA fatalities. Two more British units converging on the area from the southeast tried to dislodge the IRA from their ambush position, but again without success and they too fled in disorder. Taking
18755-586: The second half of 1920 and in 1921. Collins was a driving force behind the independence movement. Nominally the Minister of Finance in the Republic's government and IRA Director of Intelligence, he was involved in providing funds and arms to the IRA units and in the selection of officers. Collins' charisma and organisational capability galvanised many who came in contact with him. He established what proved an effective network of spies among sympathetic members of
18910-492: The separatist Irish Republican Brotherhood , began to prepare for a revolt against British rule in Ireland . The plan for revolt was realised in the Easter Rising of 1916, in which the Volunteers launched an insurrection whose aim was to end British rule. The insurgents issued the Proclamation of the Irish Republic , proclaiming Ireland's independence as a republic. The Rising, in which over four hundred people died,
19065-506: The summer of 1920, the Tans burned and sacked numerous small towns throughout Ireland, including Balbriggan , Trim , Templemore and others. In other acts of reprisal, between April and August 1920 over 100 mills, creameries and other economic targets were destroyed or burned. In July 1920, another quasi-military police body, the Auxiliaries, consisting of 2,215 former British army officers, arrived in Ireland. The Auxiliaries had
19220-503: The use of the explosives, but contemporary press accounts reported that the three British lorries were destroyed by a mine planted under the bridge at Crossbarry and detonated as they passed. The reports of casualties inflicted in the ambush varied according to the source that reported them. Barry reported that three of his men were killed in the fight and another three wounded. British accounts claimed that six IRA men had died. The IRA claimed that over thirty British soldiers were killed in
19375-530: The war had started, the Dáil debated "whether it was feasible to accept formally a state of war that was being thrust on them, or not", and decided not to declare war. Then on 11 March, Dáil Éireann President Éamon de Valera called for acceptance of a "state of war with England". The Dail voted unanimously to empower him to declare war whenever he saw fit, but he did not formally do so. Volunteers began to attack British government property, carry out raids for arms and funds and target and kill prominent members of
19530-619: The war. Many of the National Volunteers did enlist, and the majority of the men in the 16th (Irish) Division of the British Army had formerly served in the National Volunteers. The Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army launched the Easter Rising against British rule in 1916, when an Irish Republic was proclaimed. Thereafter they became known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Between 1919 and 1921
19685-463: The war—was killed in an armed raid by local IRA volunteers on a church parade the day before (7 September). The ambushers were members of a unit of the No. 2 Cork Brigade under the command of Liam Lynch , who also wounded four British soldiers and disarmed the rest before fleeing in their cars. The local coroner's inquest refused to return a murder verdict over the soldier and local businessmen who had sat on
19840-475: The widespread help given to them by the general Irish population, who generally refused to pass information to the RIC and the British military and who often provided " safe houses " and provisions to IRA units "on the run". Much of the IRA's popularity arose from the excessive reaction of the British forces to IRA activity. When Éamon de Valera returned from the United States, he demanded in the Dáil that
19995-529: The words of the British historian Peter Cottrell —to an "administration renowned for its incompetence and inefficiency". Ireland was divided into three military districts. During the war, two British Army divisions, the 5th and the 6th divisions, were based in Ireland with their respective headquarters in the Curragh and Cork . By July 1921 there were 50,000 British troops based in Ireland; by contrast there were 14,000 soldiers in metropolitan Britain. While
20150-418: The young government and its army. By the end of the year the loan had reached £358,000. It eventually reached £380,000. An even larger amount, totalling over $ 5 million, was raised in the United States by Irish Americans and sent to Ireland to finance the Republic. Rates were still paid to local councils but nine out of eleven of these were controlled by Sinn Féin, who naturally refused to pass them on to
20305-556: Was a British Army officer. He saw service in the First World War and built a successful military career during the interwar period , but is best known for his defeat in the Second World War , when Percival commanded British Commonwealth forces during the Malayan campaign , which culminated in a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Singapore . Percival's surrender to the invading Imperial Japanese Army , which
20460-494: Was almost exclusively confined to Dublin and was put down within a week, but the British response, executing the leaders of the insurrection and arresting thousands of nationalist activists, galvanised support for the separatist Sinn Féin – the party which the republicans first adopted and then took over as well as followers from Countess Markievicz , who was second-in-command of the Irish Citizen Army during
20615-453: Was also accused by several IRA prisoners of using torture during interrogations. As a result, Percival became one of the most hated British commanders in Ireland at the time and survived three assassination attempts by the IRA. The IRA had promised a £1,000 reward to whomever captured or killed Percival. Following the IRA killing of a Royal Irish Constabulary sergeant outside a Bandon church in July 1920, Percival captured Tom Hales ,
20770-545: Was an easy target for a caricaturist, being described as "tall, bucktoothed and lightly built". There was no doubt his presentation lacked impact as "his manner was low key and he was a poor public speaker with the cusp of a lisp". Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham , the Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command , refused Percival permission to launch Operation Matador ,
20925-460: Was announced by the Dáil on 11 April 1919. This proved successful in demoralising the force as the war went on, as people turned their faces from a force increasingly compromised by association with British government repression. The rate of resignation went up and recruitment in Ireland dropped off dramatically. Often, the RIC were reduced to buying food at gunpoint, as shops and other businesses refused to deal with them. Some RIC men co-operated with
21080-734: Was appointed to command the 2nd Battalion, the Cheshire Regiment from 1932 to 1936, initially in Malta . In 1935, he attended the Imperial Defence College in London. Percival was made a full colonel in March 1936, and until 1938 he was General Staff Officer Grade 1 in Malaya , the Chief of Staff to General Dobbie , the General Officer Commanding in Malaya. During this time, he recognised that Singapore
21235-582: Was badly wounded in four places by shrapnel , as he led his company in an assault on the Schwaben Redoubt , beyond the ruins of Thiepval village, and was awarded the Military Cross (MC), the citation for which reads: For conspicuous gallantry in action. During the advance he showed fine leadership and determination under heavy shell and machine-gun fire. He worked unceasingly, with absolute disregard of danger, in completing every detail in
21390-594: Was born on 26 December 1887 in Aspenden Lodge, Aspenden near Buntingford in Hertfordshire , England, the second son of Alfred Reginald and Edith Percival (née Miller). His father was the land agent of the Hamel's Park estate and his mother came from a Lancashire cotton family. By 1891 the family was living in nearby Thundridge at "Sprangewell" on Poles Lane, his father being listed as "Land Agent" in
21545-478: Was called off. The British government managed to bring the situation to an end, when they threatened to withhold grants from the railway companies, which would have meant that workers would no longer have been paid. Attacks by the IRA also steadily increased, and by early 1920, they were attacking isolated RIC stations in rural areas, causing them to be abandoned as the police retreated to the larger towns. In early April 1920, 400 abandoned RIC barracks were burned to
21700-617: Was clear that the island would soon fall. Having been told that ammunition and water would both run out by the following day, Percival agreed to surrender. The Japanese at this point were running low on artillery shells, but Percival did not know this. The Japanese insisted that Percival himself march under a white flag to the Old Ford Motor Factory in Bukit Timah to negotiate the surrender. A Japanese officer present noted that he looked "pale, thin and tired". After
21855-415: Was described by a teacher as "not a good classic". Percival's only qualification on leaving in 1906 was a higher school certificate. He was a more successful sportsman, playing cricket and tennis and running cross country . He also rose to colour sergeant in the school's Volunteer Rifle Corps. However, his military career began at a comparatively late age: although a member of Youngsbury Rifle Club, he
22010-604: Was later executed. A number of events dramatically escalated the conflict in late 1920. First the Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney , died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison in London in October, while two other IRA prisoners on hunger strike, Joe Murphy and Michael Fitzgerald , died in Cork Jail. Sunday, 21 November 1920, was a day of dramatic bloodshed in Dublin that became known as Bloody Sunday . In
22165-407: Was led by Seán Treacy , Séumas Robinson , Seán Hogan and Dan Breen acting on their own initiative. The IRA attacked and shot two RIC officers, Constables James McDonnell and Patrick O'Connell, who were escorting explosives. Breen later recalled: ...we took the action deliberately, having thought over the matter and talked it over between us. Treacy had stated to me that the only way of starting
22320-529: Was marked by severe rioting in Dublin that left over 100 British soldiers injured. While it was not clear in the beginning of 1919 that the Dáil ever intended to gain independence by military means, and war was not explicitly threatened in Sinn Féin's 1918 manifesto , an incident occurred on 21 January 1919, the same day as the First Dáil convened. The Soloheadbeg Ambush , in County Tipperary,
22475-427: Was no longer an isolated fortress. He considered the possibility of the Japanese landing in Thailand to "burgle Malaya by the backdoor and conducted an appraisal of the possibility of an attack being launched on Singapore from the North, which was supplied to the War Office , and which Percival subsequently felt was similar to the plan followed by the Japanese in 1941. He also supported Dobbie's unexecuted plan for
22630-419: Was only able to open a long range fire on the fleeing IRA men. He later blamed the failure of the British operation on the Auxiliary column which had gone to the wrong rendezvous point and had therefore left a gap in the encirclement. There were some further firefights along the IRA column's line of retreat at Crowhill and Rearour but with no further casualties on either side. Barry's account does not mention
22785-401: Was partitioned under British law by the Government of Ireland Act , which created Northern Ireland . A ceasefire began on 11 July 1921. The post-ceasefire talks led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921. This ended British rule in most of Ireland and, after a ten-month transitional period overseen by the Provisional Government , the Irish Free State was created as
22940-430: Was rejected by Irish nationalists, who were certain the men had been tortured and then murdered. On 28 November 1920, one week later, the West Cork unit of the IRA, under Tom Barry, ambushed a patrol of Auxiliaries at Kilmichael, County Cork , killing all but one of the 18-man patrol. These actions marked a significant escalation of the conflict. In response, the counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary—all in
23095-399: Was said to regularly drive in the countryside in an open touring car so he could "have cockshots at farmers working in the fields". It is possible that Percival was influenced by the then British Army Captain Bernard Montgomery who wrote to Percival regarding tactics he used to combat the Irish rebels: "My own view is that to win a war of this sort, you must be ruthless. Oliver Cromwell , or
23250-433: Was shot dead in front of his wife at his home, by men with blackened faces who were seen returning to the local police barracks. The jury at the inquest into his death returned a verdict of wilful murder against David Lloyd George (the British Prime Minister) and District Inspector Swanzy, among others. Swanzy was later tracked down and killed in Lisburn , County Antrim . This pattern of killings and reprisals escalated in
23405-413: Was taught by J. F. C. Fuller , who was one of the few sympathetic reviewers of his book, The War in Malaya , twenty-five years later. He impressed his instructors, who picked him out as one of eight students for accelerated promotion, and his fellow students who admired his cricketing skills. Following an appointment as major with the Cheshire Regiment , he spent four years with the Nigeria Regiment of
23560-424: Was the largest of its kind in British military history , significantly undermined Britain's prestige and military position in East Asia . Some historians, such as Sir John Smyth , have argued that under-funding of British Malaya 's defences and the inexperienced, under-equipped nature of the Commonwealth forces in Malaya, not Percival's leadership, were ultimately to blame for the defeat. Arthur Ernest Percival
23715-409: Was to seek out and kill "G-men" and other British spies and agents. Collins' Squad began killing RIC intelligence officers in July 1919. Many G-men were offered a chance to resign or leave Ireland by the IRA. One spy who escaped with his life was F. Digby Hardy , who was exposed by Arthur Griffith before an "IRA" meeting, which in fact consisted of Irish and foreign journalists, and then advised to take
23870-420: Was ultimately responsible for the men who served under him, and with other officers – notably Major-General David Murray-Lyon , commander of the Indian 11th Infantry Division – he had shown a willingness to replace them when he felt their performance was not up to scratch. Perhaps his greatest mistake was to resist the building of fixed defences in either Johore or the north shore of Singapore, dismissing them in
24025-444: Was working as a clerk for the iron ore merchants Naylor, Benzon & Company Limited in London, which he had joined in 1914, when the First World War broke out. Percival enlisted on the first day of the war as a private in the Officer Training Corps of the Inns of Court , at the age of 26, and was promoted after five weeks' basic training to temporary second lieutenant . Nearly one third of his fellow recruits would be dead by
#395604