Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A 1920 Constabulary Medal (Ireland) awarded to Constable J. D. ’Jock’ Brown, Royal Irish Constabulary, whose gallantry and quick thinking saved the lives of the men riding in his Crossley tender after it was ambushed in Shevry, Tipperary, on 9 November; Unusually, his talent was recognised by both his R.I.C. hierarchy and his I.R.A. adversaries

Constabulary Medal (Ireland), 2nd type, ‘Reward of Merit Royal Irish Constabulary’ (Constable John D. Brown. 71768. 1921) lacking integral top silver riband bar, edge bruising, polished, therefore very fine £2,400-£2,800

Constabulary Medal awarded 22 February 1921.
The original recommendation states: ‘At 4:30 p.m. on 9 November 1920, a Crossley car driven by Constable Brown was ambushed near Shevry, co. Tipperary, by about 100 armed men who blocked the road by two carts tied together. Bombs were hurled at the car and police, and about 60 or 70 rifle and revolver gun shots were fired at them. The police promptly returned the fire and Constable Brown putting on speed rushed the carts, took one of them on the bonnet of the motor, and got safely through. The Constable by his nerve and cool driving undoubtedly saved the whole party.’

John D. Brown was born in Scotland on 7 November 1893. He was recruited in Glasgow, joined the Royal Irish Constabulary on 30 June 1920 and served with the Tipperary Police from 8 July 1920. He often drove an R.I.C. Crossley tender, a versatile light pick-up-type truck with back-to-back bench seats along the length of its rear flat-bed, which could carry both a squad of armed men and some cargo. For his actions in neutralising the Shevry ambush by his defensive driving skills, he was awarded the Constabulary Medal on 22 February 1921, a First-Class Favourable Record and a grant of £5.

James Leahy, a member of the secret Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Army, commanded the ambushers at Shevry. He submitted a Witness Statement in 1956 which is now held by the Irish government’s Bureau of Military Affairs. Leahy stated: ‘Towards the end of October 1920, an attack, for which elaborate preparations had been made by the 3rd Battalion, was cancelled by me at the last moment. This was to be an attempt to capture and destroy Shevry Barracks which was held by about 15 policemen. Details of the layout of the barracks had been supplied to Jim Stapleton by a local postman, Paddy Boyle, who pretended friendship with the police while, in reality, he was an intelligence officer of ours… Eight or ten days afterwards, we prepared for another operation in the same locality which also turned out to be abortive. A single lorry was still bringing rations and other supplies from Thurles to the Shevry police. About 9 November 1920, an ambush was prepared at Ballyboy, outside Upperchurch, to attack this lorry which normally was carrying a mixed force of police and soldiers numbering between ten and twelve. A horse cart was placed across the road to act as a barricade and the attacking party, about 15, were mostly belonging to the Upperchurch company. I was in charge myself.’

Leahy’s statement may under-report the number of I.R.A. gunmen present at the ambush, as around fifty had been mobilised only a few days before to attack a similar target, the fifteen R.I.C. men in the Shevry police barracks, and reliable information was available to the I.R.A. about the number of armed men likely to be riding in the target vehicle. Leahy was a meticulous planner, not a reckless commander who took unnecessary risks, his witness statement was made 35 years after the event, and this section of it covers actions which were unsuccessful as far as the I.R.A. were concerned. Leahy continues his account of the ambush:
‘At about 4 o’clock in the evening, just as the lorry was approaching the barricade, one of my men accidentally discharged a shot. This alerted the driver, a highly competent one, too, who was known to us as “Jock”. On hearing the shot, he accelerated the vehicle which crashed its way through the cart and then drove off at top speed. Though we fired several shots the enemy had no casualties.’

Brown gained 3rd Class Favourable Records on three subsequent occasions in 1921, and left the R.I.C. when it was disbanded in March 1922.