Beschreibung:

The deeply poignant ‘Kilmichael Ambush 1920’ Family Group to Lieutenant C. J. Guthrie, Royal Air Force, later Temporary Cadet, Auxiliary Division, Royal Irish Constabulary, and his wife Staff Nurse I. H. Guthrie, née Peach, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, who met in Egypt, married after demobilisation and went together to Macroom, co. Cork, Ireland, as they were expecting a baby. Guthrie drove the second of two Crossley Tenders that were ambushed by an Irish Republican Army unit commanded by Tom Barry on 28 November 1920; he was the only ADRIC man (out of 18) who managed to escape from the killing zone, despite reportedly being wounded; he made his way alone, on foot, in pitch darkness and driving rain, through hostile territory back towards Macroom; he was intercepted by I.R.A. members just two miles from safety. One of the ‘Disappeared’, his fate was unknown; extensive searches for him drew a blank; his wife returned to England and gave birth to their daughter. In 1922 the Irish government admitted that the I.R.A. had shot Guthrie and disposed of his body in a bog British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. C. J. Guthrie. R.A.F.) in named card box of issue, surname officially corrected, extremely fine British War and Victory Medals (S. Nurse I. Peach.) in named card box of issue, and with Q.A.I.M.N.S. Reserve Cape Badge, and two War Office letters regarding enlistment and termination of recipient’s employment with the Q.A.I.M.N.S. Reserve, virtually mint state (lot) £1,200-£1,600 Footnote M.I.D. London Gazette 30 July 1920. Note: Much has been written about the Kilmichael ambush, both during the Anglo-Irish War and subsequently. Some is inaccurate, being strongly influenced by either British or I.R.A. mythology. Recommended reading, which focuses on the facts about the fighting around the second Crossley, is: I.R.A. Witness Statement 1,234 by Jack Hennessy, pp 4-6, August 1955; Kilmichael: A Battlefield Study by Sean A. Murphy, a small arms specialist and retired Commandant of the Irish Defence Forces, 2014; Green Tears for Hecuba by Patrick Twohig, a Catholic priest who knew the place and people well, 1994; theauxiliaries.com by David Grant, which includes helpful photographs, maps and original documents. Cecil James Guthrie was born on 9 March 1899 at Dysart, Fife, Scotland, the son of an affluent solicitor. His mother died in 1906. He studied at Kirkaldy High School and George Watson College, Edinburgh, before attending Edinburgh University to read law. On reaching his 18th birthday, he joined the Royal Flying Corps in May 1917 and was appointed Second Lieutenant on 30 August. He was posted to successive training units in England and, from September 1917, Training Squadrons in Egypt. For most of the time he was based at El Amiriya near Alexandria and also attended courses at Heliopolis near Cairo. Guthrie became a Lieutenant on the formation of the RAF on 1 April 1918. He spent a month in hospital (27 September to 26 October 1918) and it was probably then that he met Irene Peach, a Staff Nurse in Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, who had arrived in Egypt in August 1917. Active Service on the North-West Frontier Further east, in India, 114 Squadron RAF flew BE 2 (c and e variant) reconnaissance and ground attack aircraft. The squadron’s designated role was ‘Cooperation of Aircraft with the Army’ and most of its planes were dispersed across north-west India, to deal with mounting unrest on the Frontier and in the Punjab, which came to a head at Amritsar, 10-13 April 1919. 114 Squadron was managed from two locations, Quetta and Lahore, and was quickly bought up to full established strength, as it was being used for dispersing riotous crowds or hostile tribesmen by strafing and bombing. Guthrie, who by now had a great deal of flying time on BE 2s (he had been appointed as a junior instructor), was posted to 114 Squadron, apparently to the Flight based in Quetta, arriving on 13 April 1919. Th