The Grey Blur
7th May 2006, 00:23
This is a cool book about Tom Barry's days as commander of the IRA flying columns during the War Of Independence in Ireland, a battle against British Imperialism that began in 1918 and culminated in the partition of Ireland in 1921
It is also said that Che Guevara was influenced by this struggle, being as it was the first guerilla war and that his father was of Irish descent it wouldn't be impossible
I was expecting it to be a dry read but is surprisingly thrilling, I think I might post up some excerpts from it if I have the chance
From the wiki:
Cork also saw the first "flying columns": mobile units of around 100 men, who could strike in ambushes and melt into the countryside they knew far better than the British soldiers who were deployed to fight them. Some regiments of the British army had a reputation for killing unarmed prisoners. The Essex Regiment was one of these. on November 28 1920, only a week after Bloody Sunday in Dublin, the west Cork unit of the IRA, under Tom Barry, ambushed a patrol of Auxiliaries at Kilmicheal in County Cork, killing all 18 of them. This action marked a significant escalation of the conflict, with all of the province of Munster being put under martial law. Tom Barry and the West Cork flying columns were to engage the Black and Tans and the Auxilaries once again at Crossbarry. This engagement would cost the IRA three volunteers and the Crown forces over sixteen dead and many more wounded.
It is also said that Che Guevara was influenced by this struggle, being as it was the first guerilla war and that his father was of Irish descent it wouldn't be impossible
I was expecting it to be a dry read but is surprisingly thrilling, I think I might post up some excerpts from it if I have the chance
From the wiki:
Cork also saw the first "flying columns": mobile units of around 100 men, who could strike in ambushes and melt into the countryside they knew far better than the British soldiers who were deployed to fight them. Some regiments of the British army had a reputation for killing unarmed prisoners. The Essex Regiment was one of these. on November 28 1920, only a week after Bloody Sunday in Dublin, the west Cork unit of the IRA, under Tom Barry, ambushed a patrol of Auxiliaries at Kilmicheal in County Cork, killing all 18 of them. This action marked a significant escalation of the conflict, with all of the province of Munster being put under martial law. Tom Barry and the West Cork flying columns were to engage the Black and Tans and the Auxilaries once again at Crossbarry. This engagement would cost the IRA three volunteers and the Crown forces over sixteen dead and many more wounded.