Forged in Blood And Steel

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POV of David Lloyd George

28-April-1921

’’Prime Minister, this is no longer an insurgency supplied by a few arsenal robberies that could not be evacuated from the fury of the Irish masses. This is serious. The attrition being suffered by the troops, police and paramilitary organizations we have in the area has reached the point where we will soon have to carry out a complete rotation of troops, because deaths are reaching extremely high numbers on both sides, while our punitive attacks are also increasing Irish reprisals’’ General Nevil Macready said.

’’I understand part of the situation, but I do not understand why this is getting out of hand. At one moment we had, at most, a few hundred dead between engagements. At what point did we go on to have thousands dead and dozens of clashes and ambushes every day? What happened to drive the Irish to such rage and make them begin fighting on every front?’’ I asked while trying not to shout at the general.

’’No... we do not know, Prime Minister. I have been trying to understand what has happened, investigating all military reports and trying to find out whether some case of negligence or cruelty by our troops against the civilian population was what provoked this increase in anger. But I find nothing. From one moment to the next, the Irish began attacking us in greater numbers, in more places and, in some cases, they seemed to know in advance the movements of our patrols, where our men could do little more than hold defensive positions that lasted only a short time because of the constant Irish attacks’’ said Hamar Greenwood, who was responsible for Ireland.

’’I have reviewed them as well, Lord Hamar, but you will understand that it is not of much use to me for you to tell me you have no idea what is happening. The only thing that is clear is that, from somewhere, the Irish have obtained far more will to fight’’ I said, somewhat annoyed, while looking at the men responsible for calming Ireland.

’’I am afraid it is not only will, Prime Minister. According to recent information obtained from some prisoners, not long ago the Irish obtained a large arsenal of Lee-Enfield rifles, as well as enormous supplies of ammunition that they are using right now. Perhaps Irish anger had already been sown and they simply did not have the means to show it. But, according to my own investigations with the local networks, we do not have the slightest idea how the Irish managed to bring in such a shipment of Lee-Enfields’’ Ormonde Winter said, looking very thoughtful while the others responsible for Ireland seemed to have no idea what the hell was happening on that island.

’’A large shipment of rifles, you say?’’ I asked while looking at the intelligence chief in Ireland.

’’Yes, that is correct, Prime Minister. As I said, we do not know too much because the Irish only began speaking of it recently, so my presumption is that it arrived not long ago. But where it came from, I do not know. The Irish control some of their southern ports and, although the Royal Navy controls a good part of the seas, it cannot watch them completely, so there is a real possibility that a ship transporting that weaponry managed to get through. But I do not know how they could have diverted the necessary means to transport such a quantity of rifles from the factories to Ireland’’ Ormonde said while placing a fist over his lips and continuing to think.

’’What... what about the serial numbers on the rifles? That could tell us where they were manufactured’’ Nevil Macready said while raising a finger.

’’According to the latest rifles captured from Irish hands, we have some that match arsenals that were looted, but others do not match at all. They have serial numbers, yes, but some correspond to Scottish garrisons, others to the colonies and others to completely different depots. That would mean there is an enormous network diverting and smuggling rifles into Ireland. But, of course, I have left that matter to the Home Secretary, because it is already outside my jurisdiction’’ the intelligence officer replied.

’’Great... simply great... From a small Irish insurrection, we now have chaos of smuggling inside the army itself... corrupt commanders... perhaps corrupt governors... simply great’’ I said while rubbing my temples and feeling as if my head was about to burst.

’’Good... I will gather the cabinet to speak about this and we will send more men and equipment to Ireland. We cannot lose against that group of potato peasants, so continue with your work and try to find out where that enormous flow of rifles is coming from with whatever means you have available’’ I said while trying to calm my breathing.

The three nodded, said their farewells and soon began their respective journeys back to Ireland to continue trying to bring that area under control.

I also did not take long to gather the members of the cabinet, because the case of Ireland was becoming something incredibly serious. There seemed to be an internal network giving the Irish the means necessary to fight against us and the IRA was taking more and more British lives, in the same way that we continued taking those of the Irish.

’’I need to know what is happening inside the country, because I have just learned that there is a possible corruption network inside the State selling weapons from arsenals spread across England, the Dominions and the colonies, only for them to end up in Ireland. That cannot continue happening. The Irish are reaching a level of violence where the number of dead increases considerably every day’’ I told the cabinet, although keeping my gaze mainly on the Home Secretary.

’’The investigations are advancing, Prime Minister, but this is a slow process because, so far, the arsenals seem to match their records. We still do not know whether it is a trick or whether everything is truly in order, so sending investigators to personally inspect the arsenals takes time and the investigation has not yet been completed. But, at least, the arsenals of Scotland, England and Wales are in order. Everything matches the registered numbers’’ explained the Home Secretary, Edward Shortt.

’’If supposedly there were rifles from Scotland and other places in the Home Islands appearing in Ireland, but the arsenals are complete, then I believe we are not speaking of corruption among commanders and governors, Prime Minister... This smells more like someone has manufactured rifles while trying to pass them off as originals. It could be some clandestine Irish workshop or something similar’’ Sir Laming Worthington-Evans said.

’’I doubt it. According to what we have obtained from the prisoners, they speak of tens of thousands of rifles, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of Lee-Enfields’’ the Home Secretary replied.

’’Hundreds of thousands?’’ I asked, opening my eyes while staring fixedly at Shortt.

’’That is what some of the Irish prisoners say, Prime Minister’’ the Home Secretary replied.

’’This smells more like the support of another country that intends to strengthen the Irish rebels... A German attempt, perhaps? They already tried it during the war. It could be something similar’’ Winston Churchill said.

’’I doubt it. The Germans are going through an enormous political problem with the rise of new parties demanding that those responsible within the army be found for the defeat. They are putting numerous generals and officers on trial. Germany, right now, hardly has the stability necessary to organize an operation of such size, establish clandestine connections and coordinate the shipment of such large quantities of weapons to Ireland’’ the Foreign Secretary replied.

’’I do not know if this is the best moment to mention it, but recently one of our oil facilities in Persia has just suffered what appears to have been sabotage by local groups. We still do not know exactly what happened. Considering that we recently withdrew troops and officers after the Shah’s change of regime, it is possible someone simply took advantage of that weakness now that we have far fewer forces protecting the facilities’’ Laming Worthington-Evans said.

’’Yes, and we have also recorded an increase in disappearances among our men in Kuwait and Mesopotamia. Apparently, there is considerable discontent among the local Arabs and some of our prospectors have disappeared while working in the region. Although... well, there is also the possibility that the Baltic Germans are involved, because several of the men who disappeared in Mesopotamia had orders to carry out drilling and prospecting precisely near the areas where the Baltics are establishing their own oil operations’’ Churchill said.

’’Come on, Churchill. I know you do not like the Baltics, but they have proven to be a very important commercial partner in that region. There is a considerable amount of British capital invested in ports, factories and cities near Riga, in addition to a growing British population that has emigrated there in search of work. Their ruler has also shown great interest in continuing to deepen commercial ties with us. Recently, we even received a Baltic diplomatic mission that intends to convince us to remove the tariffs established through the Safeguarding of Industries Act. Pointing at them just like that seems rather absurd considering that, publicly at least, their economic interests are increasingly linked to ours’’ another minister replied.

’’But it certainly matches the kind of man we are talking about, does it not? The Devil of Masuria... Or have you already forgotten the death of Wilfrid Bliss Spender?’’ Churchill asked while looking at Laming Worthington-Evans.

’’Eh... well... his rise to fame is due mainly to unconventional operations, acts of sabotage and also the assassination of several Russian officers and generals during the war... So, yes, I admit that he meets some of the requirements for suspicion considering what is happening in Ireland’’ the War Secretary replied.

’’Yes, but what proof do we have? Because I remind you that we would be accusing our main commercial partner in the Baltic without a single concrete piece of evidence. Besides, for what happened in Persia there are many more possibilities: the Ottomans themselves, Persian revolutionaries, Persian nationalists, Arab tribes... we have two Arab States that practically hate us to death... and even Russia itself could be involved’’ the Foreign Secretary said while clenching his teeth.

’’Why the Russians? Those fellows owe a mountain of money in loans, but what else?’’ Churchill asked.

’’Because we did not grant asylum to Tsar Nicholas. That story about a group of German soldiers entering Alexander Palace and extracting the Russian imperial family in the middle of the revolution seems more true than ever because, according to what we know, the ruler of the Baltic ended up marrying a Romanov... almost at gunpoint, so they partially blame us for all of that. Too many things happened with the imperial family and now, with the new Tsar exercising enormous influence over Russia... well, there are many ultramonarchists inside the Russian army. So there is a considerable possibility that the Russians have returned to Persia, especially considering their recent reconquest of Baku and their return to massive oil extraction’’ I said while shaking my head.

’’It seems more feasible to me that some Americans have financed the Irish even further. According to what we know, many Irish-Americans continue donating millions of dollars to finance the Irish rebellion. Perhaps the arms shipments come from there as well’’ the Home Secretary said.

’’I do not know. I feel that young German noble has much more to do with all of this than it appears’’ Churchill said.

’’We cannot act based only on assumptions, Churchill. Focus on your work with the colonies. We have to continue extracting funds from them to pay the American loans. I need more soldiers sent to Ireland, as many as necessary to crush Irish resistance once and for all, and the naval presence in the Irish Sea reinforced. No ship must enter their ports again without us knowing what it carries inside. Mobilize whatever resources are necessary to house and supply the new troops. We have to end the Irish insurgency... permanently’’ I said after listening to the opinions of the cabinet members present.

’’How many men will we send to Ireland, Prime Minister?’’ Laming Worthington-Evans asked.

’’As many as necessary. I want this insurrection ended soon. If necessary, we will temporarily prevent reporters from entering and establish restrictions on the information leaving the island, but I want Ireland pacified... and I want those damned Irish peasants to go back to work instead of wandering around drunk and contributing nothing to society as they are doing now’’ I said, already quite annoyed by everything that was happening.

’’At your orders, Prime Minister. We will make the troop and naval movements necessary to fulfill the order’’ Laming Worthington-Evans replied.

’’You may withdraw now. And I want a full report on the investigation into those rifles’’ I said while rising from the chair and the others began withdrawing to return to their respective work.

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