by Tom Mahon
Twomey wrote to George that: ‘Arms and ammunition can be purchased from Horace Soley and Co. 3 Jewin Street, London.’70 George replied: ‘That man [Horace Soley] will not let you or any other person have stuff unless you can produce the necessary papers. Then he would sell as much as he could get hold (at a price).’71
One of the more unusual items George sent over was a motorbike that was required by the IRA in Armagh. In April 1926 Twomey wrote to ‘M’: ‘Regarding [the] motorcycle you wished to dispose of, you could send it to: Mr H Magee, Motor and Cycle Agent, Edward Street, Lurgan. Give me notice before sending [it]. Make a good bargain. I presume this can be sent through [to Northern Ireland] direct. Do not send except it is the good value you represented it to be.’72 The next mention of a motorbike was in January 1927, when Twomey asked George if he had already sent the bike. Presumably this was the same bike that was referred to almost a year earlier. On 7 February, George wrote that he would ‘send it some time this week’.73 A month later the ever efficient George wrote that the bike ‘will be sent on Monday the 7th [of March]’.74 Finally, in mid March, the IRA commander in Armagh reported: ‘I received the bike and had £1 3 [shillings] carriage [shipping fee] to pay, had also to get the back stand fixed, it was smashed, had also the get the foot boards and back brake fixed and she isn’t going yet. I think she needs overhauled [sic]. I have told the mechanic to put her in going order.’ He ended with ‘P.S. There was no lamp on the bike either.’75 Given the state of the bike on its arrival in Armagh, either George was cheated when he bought it, or he got a bargain and pocketed some of the IRA’s money for himself.
The OC also sent over a steady supply of military books. These were meant both for Moss Twomey and the headquarters staff, and also for the libraries supposed to be kept by individual IRA units. In March 1926 the chief of staff sent an order for a total of 134 training manuals, ranging from twelve copies each of Practical Musketry Instructions and Machine Gun Training to one copy of Smoke Tactics by Lieutenant Colonel Worrall.76 Twomey found The Journal of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies to be ‘quite good’ and asked George to send it on to him each quarter.77 The Royal United Services Institute is a highly influential advisory authority to the Ministry of Defence.78
Twomey regularly read books on military strategy and among those he requested were: The Wilson Diaries by Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson and The Science of War.79 Field Marshal Wilson was chief of the imperial general staff in 1918. After the First World War he retired from the military to become a Unionist MP for North Down, only to be assassinated in the streets of London by two members of the IRA in 1922 [who were later hanged].80 The Science of War was a collection of essays by an eminent British military historian, Colonel G. F. Henderson, who argued against the dangers of ‘untrained’ civilian leaders who ‘overruled Generals as they pleased’ during time of war.81 This was a line of argument likely to have found great sympathy among the IRA’s leadership!
George may have simply borrowed some of the books from a library, as Twomey once wrote: ‘I got those two books you sent me, for which many thanks. Mention if I am to return them to you at once, but I will have them read within a week if this will do.’82
George also had some issues of the IRA’s paper An tÓglach printed in London and then sent over to Dublin for distribution. An tÓglach was the official organ of the IRA and contained helpful advice on military tactics. It differed from the more widely available An Phoblacht, which was a newspaper meant for the general public. In October 1926 George wrote: ‘I sent 1,000 copies of An tOglach [over] during the week. Did ye receive them?’83 A few months later George sent a ‘packet of papers weighing eleven pounds to Parsons’ [Newsagents], Baggot Street [Dublin]. Let me know when they arrive and I will send the remainder.’84
Passports
One task that the OC. Britain was very successful at was procuring false passports or, to be more accurate, passports in false names. These passports were needed by IRA and Sinn Féin delegates and emissaries travelling abroad and by volunteers emigrating to America who were ineligible for legitimate passports; on occasion the IRA also provided passports to Soviet agents.
The simplest way to create a fake passport was to merely swap out the photograph on a legitimate passport. Seán MacBride did this for Éamon de Valera when he removed the photograph from a priest’s passport and substituted one of de Valera dressed in clerical garb.85
Another method was to submit a passport application form in a false name to an office of the travel agents, Thomas Cook and Sons, who then forwarded the application to the government’s passport office. The address given for the applicant was that of an IRA sympathiser. The application was also signed by a referee, verifying the identity of the applicant. Passport referees were expected to be a designated ‘respectable’ member of the community such as a priest or medical doctor. On one occasion the IRA forged the name of an alcoholic doctor, Dr Gately, and on other occasions a sympathetic priest signed the form. Presumably the forms were accompanied by a forged birth certificate. When the passport was issued, an IRA agent, giving a false name, collected it at the travel agents.
This was the technique used to get a passport, issued in the name of ‘Ethel Chiles’, for the Soviet agent Kate Gussfeldt. Gussfeldt was arrested soon after her arrival in Britain and the British secret service or MI5 (who had an informer in the London IRA) were aware of the IRA’s involvement. They falsely believed that the passport scheme was a ‘private venture’, orchestrated by IRA officers in Britain to enrich themselves and wasn’t approved by GHQ in Dublin. On her passport application ‘Ethel Chiles’ gave her address as 62 Rendlesham Road, which also happened to be that of the Woods family, ‘whose connection with the Irish Republican Movement is well known’. MI5 reported that Gussfeldt was ‘an important agent … in connection with the Irish Republican Intelligence Service’. After her arrest and brief imprisonment Gussfeldt was deported back to Germany (for further details see the Appendix 2).86
One person who acted as a referee for IRA volunteers was Fr Martin McKenna, an Irish Catholic priest in Britain. In 1926, after the police discovered his association with the IRA, he sent a letter to ‘M’: ‘I tried to get into touch [with IRA headquarters] through Bob, but did not succeed. The [British] authorities got at my superiors and ordered me to leave the country. [I’m] barred [from the] USA and [I have] fixed [up] New Zealand. I have booked [passage] for New Zealand via Canada and am going home at once … It [the trouble] is all about [the] passport I spoke of. Also evidently my name was used extensively for recommendations.’87 Before leaving for New Zealand Fr McKenna wanted to contact GHQ in Dublin and also ‘touched you [OC. Britain] for some cash and stated it was wanted for official purposes’.88 Twomey wrote directly to the priest: ‘Dear Rev. Father, I … am very sorry indeed to learn what has occurred. I believe you would like to see some of us before you would leave … If you come to Dublin call to 23 Suffolk Street and ask to see Art O’Connor [president of Sinn Féin]. If by any chance he should not be there, call to Miss O’Donel [Peadar O’Donnell’s sister-in-law], 24 Eccles Street.’89
Twomey wrote to ‘M’ that the prominent Sinn Féin leader, Fr Michael O’Flanagan, required a passport: ‘Fr O’Flanagan may call to O’Donoghue’s next week to meet you, regarding a passport. If he wants a camoufaged one proceed to get it, but tell him it may take time. Do not give it to him until you hear from me.’90 The reference to a ‘camouflaged’ passport probably refers to one issued in a false name. ‘M’ replied to Twomey: ‘I note your instruction.’91 On another occasion Twomey asked George for passports for himself and Seán Russell for their proposed trip to Moscow in 1927.
In September 1927 Twomey told George that the ‘OC [of the] Dublin Brigade is going to London on holidays. He will be staying at Ernie Noonan’s. Go to see him after Sunday. I am giving him a few messages for you.’ The Dublin OC was most likely Mick Price, and he was to bring with him photographs of a colleague who needed
a passport: ‘Get [a] passport for [the] person he has photos of. If you can, keep one photo safely. Get [visas for the] usual countries on [the] passport.’
Welfare
Not surprisingly, given the economic hardships they faced, IRA men in Britain sought financial support from the organisation – while additionally men on the run and escaped prisoners sent over to England had to be cared for until they could find work. The OC. Britain tried to organise accommodation and work for the most deserving cases. Additionally, there were IRA men temporarily in Britain on their way to America. Aside from bona fide cases of hardship, there were also the malingerers and chancers.
One of the latter was Dennehy, a veteran who came to England and soon sought charity from the IRA. He was possibly a member of the Dennehy family of Midleton, County Cork, several members of which had been actively involved in the IRA during the Anglo-Irish War.92 Within days of his arrival in Britain, ‘M’ had found him bed and board free of charge in Southampton, but he ‘became cheeky and not behaving as he ought to, he was compelled to quit’ three weeks later. ‘M’ then got him a job at the seaside resort of Ilfracombe, where he received £1 and 5 shillings a week including accommodation: ‘He worked in this job for 3 months and was sacked on being discovered reading the private correspondence of the manager.’ ‘M’ yet again got him a job, this time in a hotel – with a weekly salary of £1, living in. However, ‘the chef when calling him one morning pulled the clothes off him and getting out of bed he struck the chef, who called the boss and had him sacked.’ Returning penniless to ‘M’ he received £10.93 Dennehy sent word of his supposed plight back home and the influential P. A. Murray was enlisted to seek help from Twomey.94 On hearing ‘M’s’ side of the story Twomey remarked: ‘I am sure you are not sorry to be rid of this chap though you may take it for granted he will have a lot of moans – but that doesn’t matter.’95
Another volunteer who looked to the IRA for support was ‘Ted’, who was a ‘very reliable person’ employed full time by the OC. Britain since 1925. His job was probably to assist George in collecting equipment and information on military technology for the Soviets. However, in November 1926 when the Russians decreased their monthly payment he was let go. George felt that ‘Ted’ had ‘been treated very fairly and got a month’s notice’. He added: ‘Now he does not seem to want work and thinks he is entitled to the £3 [per week] when out of work’, ‘some months ago he got married and since then he seems to be all out of cash’. A distraught ‘Ted’ wrote to Moss Twomey complaining that because of his work for the IRA he couldn’t get another job; he had no references, no insurance cards, and Scotland Yard detectives had called to places where he had worked previously, leaving word to phone them if he was sighted. He added: ‘If I should get a job where they won’t bother about a reference, it means the job is no good, that they can’t keep a staff. I should get at the most a £1 per week and a pound a week isn’t much use to a married man.’ He went on to ask Twomey to pay or loan him the passage to America. Twomey wrote to George: ‘Do not allow him to pester you. Make very clear to him that you are not to be intimidated.’96 Twomey wrote a polite and sympathetic letter to ‘Ted’, but behind his diplomacy the bottom line was that he was on his own: ‘I am very sorry to hear of the position in which you find yourself. I assure you that it was sheer financial necessity [that] compelled us to dispense with your services on whole time work. Here at home we were compelled to cut down staff to the barest minimum and we can only afford to maintain a couple of whole time officers for the whole organization. If it were possible I would be very glad to help you out of your difficulties but I regret I am not able to do so now. I assure you we appreciate your services in the past and I hope you will continue to give voluntary [sic] what services you can to the organization.’97
A third example was that of an IRA prisoner rescued from Mountjoy who had ‘lung trouble’, presumably TB. Twomey wrote to ‘M’ that he ‘is now fit to leave hospital [in Ireland] … Could you fix him up with a friend outside [of] London [in the] south of England if possible. [His] name will be ‘Courtney’. Send the arrangements you made. I will be responsible for expenses of upkeep. Get a good place, but as cheap as possible.’98 Worried about his health, Twomey wanted him looked after in the south of England, where the fresh air and brighter climate was regarded as more therapeutic than the air of the inner cities or the north. ‘M’ reported back that he was able to find him a ‘suitable place’.99
Twomey went on to request ‘M’s’ assistance to get ‘Courtney’ to America, despite being barred from entry, both as an escaped prisoner and as suffering from TB: ‘Would there be much difficulty in this man getting a passport for America? [The] doctor says it would now be hard to detect he has lung trouble. It may be as well if you moved to get him one when he arrives [in London].’100 ‘M’ replied: ‘I don’t expect any difficulty [in getting him a passport]’,101 and five months later in October 1926, he reached the US, though the IRA representative in New York, ‘Jones’, complained that he had to spend $150 for his train fare to the coast, presumably to California, where he could benefit from the hot dry air. ‘Jones’ went on to grumble that ‘in future no man should be sent here officially unless it’s absolutely necessary.’ Andy Cooney replied from GHQ: ‘This is terrible. This man has now cost [us] sufficient to keep the whole thing going for three months, and notwithstanding this, he complains of being badly treated. Make it perfectly clear that outside of the $150 he will not get one cent more. I will have the total cost compiled and sent [to] you in case there are any complaints.’102
George helped others, including the veteran whom he gave a loan to, and who later claimed he couldn’t repay it as it was stolen from him.103 George was reluctant to press him, and wrote to Twomey: ‘You have no idea how much this man has done for the movement and I assure you that I do not like to have to ask him for the refund of the other money, but I suppose it must be done.’104 In the end Twomey largely agreed to back down, writing to George: ‘We do not wish to unduly press him but I certainly think he should repay the amount of the refund [sic] of the ticket.’105
Another man on the run (who was likely Stephen Murphy, an escaped prisoner) had difficulty initially getting a job and Twomey wrote: ‘Send Murphy home if he has no job or [an] immediate chance of one.’106 However, George reported: ‘I got him fixed up in a job … and he has been working every day since. The job is likely to last at least twelve months, if he cares to stick it. The pay is 1/3 [1 shilling 3 pennies] per hour.’107
Men on the run had to be constantly vigilant as the gardaí were known to work closely with their colleagues in Britain. The Manchester IRA reported that a ‘CID’ officer from Enniscorthy was in Britain looking for men on the run, while the IRA’s Liverpool intelligence officer wrote that the Free State had agents in the city and in addition had men on board boats looking for evidence of weapons smuggling.108 The Garda Special Branch monitored the post in Ireland, and ‘men on the run in England who have been foolish enough to send photos to their friends in this country [Ireland] have had their photos abstracted and [the] letters arrived without them.’109
In May 1927 two IRA volunteers, Hugh Rogers and Frank Boyle, escaped from Belfast prison and Scotland Yard detectives suspected they were in hiding in London, in the Camden Town and Southgate neighbourhood where ‘they are known to have associates’.110 In the Lake District, police arrested Jim Ryan, who was wanted in connection with the killing of Garda Ward during the IRA’s barrack raids and was extradited to stand trial in Ireland.111
George, IRA Officer Commanding, Britain
George’s tenure as OC. Britain was largely marked by disappointments and failures and he had a testy relationship with many back in GHQ. In November 1926 he angered Seán Russell by his failure to follow standard procedure on sending a consignment of explosives to Dublin. The Soviet agent ‘James’ was critical of the support and information he was getting in London and soon afterwards the Russians decreased their month
ly payments, setting off an immediate financial crisis. Andy Cooney rushed to London to meet with ‘James’; Cooney was obliged to go as Twomey was serving a short time in prison in Dublin. The Russians however were non-committal to Cooney and refused to either adequately fund the IRA or to formally break off the agreement.
It was in these circumstances that headquarters sent George a letter instructing him to close up his station and report back to Ireland before Christmas. Though unsigned, it was most likely written by Andy Cooney, who took over the running of the IRA during the period of Twomey’s imprisonment. Cooney proposed that following George’s departure the IRA should continue a smaller operation in London, which was needed to smuggle explosives, get false passports, etc. He recommended to George that: ‘A substitute to do odd jobs, that may be necessary, is advisable … He should be put in touch with [the] method of procuring passports, also with all [the] people useful for getting men away. All available particulars [concerning] resources for procuring stuff [explosives] should be supplied to him. None of the London crowd I met appear to be suitable [as your replacement] with the exception of O’Duffy … Whether [you’re] leaving [London] for good or not, call to Dublin on [your] way home for [the Christmas] Holidays … Do your utmost to conserve cash, we are in desperate straights just at present … Some of the stuff you have will be needed here if you are leaving, particularly the camera. You could bring this over with you.’
George replied that he was unable to recommend a replacement: ‘I don’t think any of the present crowd would do.’ He felt that he couldn’t introduce his contacts (for getting explosives, etc) to any substitute: ‘As you know I was dealing with all my connections as an individual – and all connections were outside the organization [the IRA], so you see I could not possibly introduce another to them.’ He continued: ‘It is not my intention to remain at home [in Ireland]: as you know there is nothing there for me to do. I will have to try and find some sort of employment here; and while here I will be only glad to help in any way I possibly can. Unless I receive the money due [me, from headquarters] … for books etc. I will not be able to go home at Xmas.’112