Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A 1921 Constabulary Medal (Ireland) group of three awarded to Constable P. J. Gallagher, Royal Irish Constabulary, later Palestine Gendarmerie and Palestine Police, for his gallantry during an ambush at Connor Pass, Dingle, co Kerry, where, to fetch help for his wounded comrades, he ran down, in the dark, a mountainside so precipitous that ‘even people born and reared locally would hardly risk travelling down it in daylight. How they were not killed I cannot understand.’

Constabulary Medal (Ireland), 2nd type, ‘Reward of Merit Royal Irish Constabulary’ (Constable Peter J. Gallagher 71754. 1921) with integral top riband bar; General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Palestine, Palestine 1945-48, unofficial retaining rod between clasps (24 B/Const. P. J. Gallagher. Pal. Police.) minor official correction to unit; Colonial Police L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue, with Second Award Bar (24 British Const. Peter James Gallagher.) in Royal Mint case of issue, edge bruising to first, this good very fine, the rest about extremely fine (3) £3,000-£4,000

Provenance: Mick Leahy collection.

Constabulary Medal awarded 15 October 1921.

Colonial Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal Palestine Gazette 25 July 1940.

Colonial Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal Second Award Bar Palestine Gazette 1 July 1947.

Peter James Gallagher was born in co. Mayo on 18 December 1897. He voluntarily enlisted in the British Army during the First World War. His unit has not yet been traced, but Mayo was a main recruiting area for the Connaught Rangers (The 3rd and 4th Battalions of the Rangers spent the entire war in Ireland and Great Britain, seeing active service during the Easter Rising but never serving overseas). He joined the Royal Irish Constabulary at age 25 on 29 June 1920, describing himself as a Catholic clerk/ex-soldier. Gallagher must have lived in England after the Great War, because his service record states that he was recommended by the R.I.C.'s chief recruiting officer in Great Britain, R.I.C. District Inspector and Irish Guards Major Cyril Fleming, who worked in the army recruiting office at Great Scotland Yard in London.

Gallagher met the R.I.C.’s three requirements: though he was half an inch below the expected height of at least five feet eight inches, this was disregarded, due to the R.I.C.‘s manpower crisis; he was unmarried; and had an army rating of ‘Good’ or higher. For reasons of expediency and economy, the mainland recruits were initially issued with black-green R.I.C. uniform items along with 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. This mix ’n match look caused them to be dubbed ‘Black and Tans.’

Gallagher was assigned to the Limerick Police from 1 August 1920. There is no explanation on his record as to why he was at Dingle, co Kerry on 26 February 1921. Being unmarried, Tans were easier than members of the old R.I.C. to move around as the evolving security situation required, and Gallagher is certainly not the only Tan who worked outside of the county entered in his record.

The incident for which Gallagher was awarded the Constabulary Medal was reported in the local newspaper “The Liberator” of 1 March 1921: ‘About 7.30 p.m. last Saturday evening [26 February], a party of seven constables with Head Constable Maguire and District Inspector Captain Hamilton were ambushed at Coumcaoch on the Connor Hill road between Cloghand and Dingle. At this point, which is about 4 miles from Dingle, perpendicular cliffs hundreds of feet in height overhang the road, while from the other side a valley hundreds of feet in depth, abruptly descends. On the night in question the police, who were cycling at the time on their way to Dingle, were met by a hail of bullets from the cliffs overhead. The police at once dismounted, abandoned their bicycles on the roadside, and took cover behind the rocks. It was quite dark, especially in the shadow of the mountain, and to this fact the police owe their miraculous escape. Head Constable Maguire was somewhat severely wounded in the stomach, and Constables Stalford and Ganders sustained slight wounds. The attacking party, which was very strong, secured possession of one rifle as well as the bicycles. They escaped uninjured. A relief party from Dingle barracks, on hearing of the ambush, proceeded to the place and brought in their wounded comrades.’

Coum Caoc
The I.R.A. perspective on the ambush is contained in several accounts by members of the ambushing force. Witness Statement 1,079 by Patrick Fitzgerald states: ‘Tadhg Brosnan got a local girl to write to the District Inspector, R.I.C. Dingle, to inform him that a Sinn Féin Court was about to be held at Ballyduff Schoolhouse… The object of the letter was to draw the Tans to Ballyduff on a certain day, where an ambush had been prepared… The strength of the attacking party was about 50 men, six of whom had rifles while the remainder had shotguns. The position chosen was [among large boulders on the steep slope of] the high ground on one side of the road at a place called Coum Caoc (the crooked bend) on Connor Pass... The Tans were conveyed from Dingle by lorry. The lorry pulled up at the peak of the pass about half a mile from the ambush position... The Tans dismounded [sic], taking with them a number of bikes off the lorry. Having mounted the bikes they proceeded to cycle into the ambush position. The lorry with machine gun mounted remained at the top of the pass in charge of about three Tans. I, with three or four men, was located about 30 yards from the roadside. My instructions from Brosnan, who was in charge, was to open fire on the patrol in the first instance as it passed my position.

When I looked out I saw two Tans pushing their bikes about 200 yards behind the main cycle patrol. At the same time I observed the machine gun mounted on the lorry directly above me... My reason for not opening fire was that I anticipated that the full patrol, once they reached the schoolhouse, would have to return again when we would be able to ambush them in a more compact body. [The cyclist patrol] proceeded to the schoolhouse which they raided, as well as the house and forge of an I.R.A. man named Sean Brosnan. Having done so, they proceeded to Castlegregory, about eight miles from the schoolhouse, where they went to the railway station with the object of procuring a train back to Dingle. As it happened, the train which they meant to catch had already left. After their visit to the station they spent five or six hours around Castlegregory. In the meantime, our scouts were active and kept us informed of the position. As the patrol was raiding the schoolhouse, the lorry, with machine gun, reversed and returned to Dingle.

‘At last our scouts informed us that the patrol were about to leave Castlegregory and were about to return to Dingle the same way as they had come. It was now very dark as the patrol appeared, coming towards the ambush position pushing their bikes. As they approached all I could see was the glow of cigarettes which they were smoking. This being my only target, I, as instructed, gave the order “open fire”. I and the men with me opened fire to which the Tans replied. Immediately firing became general. After about a quarter of an hour the Tans broke off the engagement.

The R.I.C. jumped the low fence on the side of the road and made down the mountain leaving nine bicycles behind. They made their way down the mountain side and crossed a river to Mullagh Bheal. The manner of their escape cannot be understood locally, because even people born and reared in the district would hardly risk travelling down the mountain side in daylight. How they were not killed I cannot understand because the road across the Pass is cut into the side of a steep hill.’

Not all of the R.I.C. men made the perilous descent down the cliff. Having found some reasonable cover just below the road, the three wounded men and several of their colleagues stayed in place, awaiting assistance, while District Inspector Captain Hamilton led the party who descended the cliffs to locate either a telephone or a vehicle to get a message to Dingle R.I.C. barracks requesting urgent help. Constables Gallagher and Gurr are known to have made the descent to Mullagh Bheal with D.I. Hamilton. Fortunately for the R.I.C., the I.R.A. contented themselves with collecting the equipment left on the road and then standing down, rather than conducting a night-time pursuit over challenging terrain.

Gallagher was awarded a First Class Favourable Record as well as the Constabulary Medal and continued to serve with the Royal Irish Constabulary until he was disbanded at Dingle on 10 February 1922. :-

The Palestine Gendarmerie
The newly-created British Mandate administration in Palestine had decided to set up the Palestine Gendarmerie as its main security force, so that the regular army could be withdrawn from the territory. The Gendarmerie consisted of two sections. One focused on civil policing and was comprised of local personnel, predominantly Arabs, Jews and Christians. The other was wholly British, tasked to deal with riots, inter-communal disturbances and major threats of a quasi-military nature. Following his pensioning from the Royal Irish Constabulary, Gallagher was recommended and accepted for the latter and joined on 16 March 1922.

The main body of around 650 men, 96% ex-R.I.C. and about 50% Irish-born, was formed and equipped at Fort Tregantle in Plymouth in April 1922. They were issued with military style uniforms, including black-green R.I.C. puttees and broad-brimmed Stetson hats, of the pattern used by Boy Scouts and by units of the Canadian army. Their rates of pay were generous, but only 50% of what they had earned in Ireland. They embarked on the S.S. City of Oxford at Devonport Dockyard, which docked at Haifa on 29 April 1922. The Palestine Gendarmerie British section was organised as six companies, all motorised, mostly in Model T Ford tenders (pickups), which were posted out in different towns, and a Headquarters at Jerusalem. Within days they were in action, skirmishing with bandits in the hills. Their first casualties were three men killed by Bedouin in 1923.
Within a year almost half of the original recruits had left, either due to dismissals or resignations in protest at the harsh conditions of their duties. Recruitment continued, but at the end of 1925 the British Section was ‘considerably below strength’ at only two-thirds of its original manpower. In 1926 the entire Palestine Gendarmerie was disbanded as an economy measure, and replaced by the newly established Palestine Police, a majority local (88%) force. Half of the British section was let go, but A. S. Mavrogordato, the British Deputy Inspector General in charge of the Palestine Gendarmerie, said: ’two hundred members of the former British constabulary, the famous “Black and Tans”, are to be retained for any sudden uprising.’ (New York Times refers).

In the Riot Squad – the British section of the Palestine Police
Gallagher transferred to the British Section of the Palestine Police on its formation, 1 April 1926. As an ‘original’ founder member, he was allocated collar number 24. He spent most of his career in the Motor Transport section, moving up from Ford tenders to armoured vehicles as the security situation steadily deteriorated. Initially he was based at Jaffa Urban and later transferred to Jerusalem, where he lived in the Greek Colony with his young family.

Still a Constable, Gallagher was awarded the Colonial Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in July 1940. The requirement was for 18 years exemplary service, so clearly his Gendarmerie service was counted. The threat of a German invasion of Palestine was very real in 1942, and the Police were formally incorporated as a unit of the British army. Their main adversaries, initially the local Palestinian Arabs protesting government immigration policies, became the violent factions that sought to establish a Jewish Nation in Palestine. Between November 1945 and 1 July 1946, the United Jewish Resistance killed 13 and wounded 63 Palestine Policemen. On 22 July 1946 the Irgun bombed the British administrative headquarters at the King David Hotel, Jerusalem, killing 90 people. Gallagher rose to become a First British Sergeant, left Palestine on his retirement leave on 1 September 1946 and was awarded a Second Long Service Award Bar in July 1947. He died on 16 April 1963.