Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

‘We’ll have roast Peeler for breakfast’: A 1920 Constabulary Medal (Ireland) awarded to Constable P. C. Watson, Royal Irish Constabulary, one of the first Black and Tans, for his gallantry during the defence of Hollyford Barracks against a most determined I.R.A. attack led by Ernie O’Malley, Seamus Robinson and Sean Treacy on 11-12 May 1920, using gelignite stolen in the famous Soloheadbeg ambush

Constabulary Medal (Ireland), 2nd type, ‘Reward of Merit Royal Irish Constabulary’ (Constable Peter C. Watson 70461. 1920) lacking integral top riband bar, edge bruise and contact marks to reverse, very fine £2,400-£2,800

Provenance: Sotheby’s, October 1987.

Constabulary Medal awarded 29 May 1920.

Peter C. Watson was born in mid/east Lothian, Scotland on 12 July 1893, and joined the Royal Irish Constabulary at the age of 26, on 25 February 1920. He described himself as a Presbyterian who had worked as a law clerk, and an ex-soldier. After just a fortnight of police training, he was assigned to serve in Tipperary (South Riding) from 9 March 1920.

Irish Republicans had long recognised that ‘The R.I.C were the eyes of the British army’ and since 1916 they had mounted a steadily increasing campaign of intimidation, ostracism and then violence to diminish the R.I.C.’s ability to recruit and retain manpower and to break its morale, especially in rural areas. The smaller R.I.C. posts, usually composed of a mere handful of men in a rented house with no fortification whatsoever, had become sitting ducks for Republican attacks. On 9 November 1919, orders were issued to abandon as many stations as were needed to bring the remainder up to a minimum of six men (later increased to over 10). On 27 December 1919, the R.I.C. Inspector-General authorised the recruitment of ex-servicemen on the British mainland. The first men recruited as a result appeared in the R.I.C. General Register six days later. For reasons of expediency and economy, Watson and the other mainland recruits were initially issued with dark green R.I.C. uniform items and war-surplus military khaki tunics, trousers and coats. They wore these in varying combinations, the most popular being R.I.C. cap, tunic and belt, with khaki trousers and coat. This mix ’n’ match look caused them to be dubbed ‘Black and Tans.’

Just a few weeks after joining, Watson was serving in ‘bandit country’ - the R.I.C. barracks at Hollyford, co. Tipperary. As in any contemporary British military unit, the Tans lived and worked alongside their Irish colleagues, although their accents, religion and multi-coloured uniforms set them apart. Their lack of police training meant that they tended to be assigned a greater share of quasi-military tasks such as raids, searches, guard or escort duties.

The Attack on the Hollyford Barracks, 11-12 May 1920
Hollyford barracks was a well-built, isolated, two-storey house, situated on rising ground which commanded the town, river and roads below. It had a garrison of 10-12 R.I.C. men, and had just been fortified by British army engineers, who cut loopholes into all its external and internal walls, protected the windows with steel shutters and installed armoured doors. The R.I.C. Sergeant in command at Hollyford was especially skilful at leading joint R.I.C. and military raids to identify and capture local I.R.A. leaders.
The ‘big men’ of the Munster I.R.A., especially those who had killed two R.I.C. constables who were guarding a consignment of gelignite at Soloheadbeg in January 1919, were determined to mount a large-scale attack using some of the stolen gelignite. Their aim was to eliminate Hollyford barracks as a base for the R.I.C. Sean Treacy was particularly keen on this, as he had previously passed the barracks twice a day on his way to-and-from his mother’s house to attend school. The Soloheadbeg assassins were supported by Ernie O’Malley, who in February 1920 had led the first successful I.R.A. attack on an R.I.C. barracks – at Ballycurtain, where explosives had been used to breach a party wall, allowing the I.R.A. to rush through the breach, overwhelm the defenders and make off with their weapons and ammunition.

A detailed, objective account of the attack at Hollyford is given in Raids and Rallies by E. O’Malley. Briefly, almost 70 I.R.A. men took part. From midnight, gunmen commanded by Treacy surrounded the four sides of the barracks and began slow, steady sniping at its shutters and loopholes. O’Malley and Seamus Robinson used ladders to reach one end of the ridge of the roof, where they smashed holes through the slates. They poured in over 50 gallons of paraffin and large quantities of petrol to set the rafters alight, threw in improvised gelignite bombs and sniped downwards. ‘As I sat on the chimney I heard a man shout at the police “We’ll have roast Peeler for breakfast!” The next variant of the threat had an accompaniment of yells… The only threat which I thought was of use was our determination to capture the post.’ For tactical reasons, only limited amounts of gelignite could be used in the attack (also, that the Soloheadbeg sticks had been hastily concealed under poor conditions for 15 months since the killings, and most had frozen as a result).

The R.I.C. defenders replied with rifle shots and Mills No. 36 grenades fired from a modified service SM Lee-Enfield rifle. The garrison shot off flares from Verey pistols to summon assistance, as their phone line had been cut. The police garrison did not lose its nerve, conserved its ammunition and was able to keep control of the entire lower storey and half of the top storey of the barracks. The roof did not collapse, and the wind, instead of fanning the flames, almost caused the two I.R.A. commanders on the roof-top to be incinerated. At 7 am they called off the attack and withdrew. Neither side had suffered more than minor injuries. However, when R.I.C. and British army reinforcements arrived, the victorious but exhausted garrison was evacuated and the damaged building abandoned.

Watson was awarded the Constabulary Medal on 29 May 1920, together with a First Class Favourable Record. He continued as a Tan in Tipperary, but was fined two pounds for an unspecified offence in December 1920. Watson resigned from the R.I.C. on 28 February 1921, after a year of active service. His record was endorsed with the words ‘Dissatisfied and Disagreeable.’