My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleythis better than Sir Henry Wilson. To have made a proper job of it in the way of aregular army would have demanded a very large force. For instance, we reckoned thatto drive efficiently the Wick-low Hills—always the main hideout of the guerrillas—would have needed at least 100,000 men. To complete the task as a regular militaryoperation would have required more troops than were available and have been anopen demonstration of military force, at once alerting and challenging world opinion.The force available was inadequate and world opinion was un-propitious for anythingbut an operation by stealth. Faced both with the limitations of their political situationand of the forces available, the government fell into the decision to use irregulars,who could fight in an altogether different way; the way not of a military operationagainst the guerrillas themselves but of terrorism to break the morale of the civilianswho supported them. The Black and Tans were the arm created for their purpose, butit was an answer to the government's problem which in the end made things far worse.The Irish as fighting men had become very good indeed. They were making monkeysnot only of the Black and Tans but of the whole administration. It may not have beentrue that Michael Collins, dressed as a charwoman, was able to read the papers on thedesk of Sir John Anderson, then Under-Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant in DublinCastle, but he was certainly better informed than his antagonist. This favourite son ofthe Home Office, later described by his admirers as the Tiger of Bengal, was findingthe Irish air not nearly so congenial as his later experience of the gentle clime of India,where eventually he was able to play the strong man with more success. Baffled andlooking foolish, defeated and suffering heavy losses, the Black and Tans faced asituation in which firmer characters and stronger discipline have been known to breakdown in this modern world, which has so often witnessed the tragic and the horrible.Confronted with triumphant guerrilla tactics by a weaker force supported by a civilianpopulation, the dominant force is often tempted to employ two instruments: tortureand terror. Torture to obtain information—especially of coming ambushes—and terrorto force the civilians to betray the guerrillas, or at least to deny them assistance. TheBlack and Tans were the first of many to succumb to that vile temptation, but in theIrish they met a people of particular fortitude.This most horrible phenomenon of the modern world—torture and terrorism—thereturn of man's darkest ages which we thought would never recur—has appeared inthe last half century among many peoples. It is a tragedy which requires close analysis,because it is essential to the health of our continent and of the world that it should bebrought to an end. Many matters in the Irish story were simple, but this problem isnever simple. The terrible fact is that on both sides men who did vile things wereoften idealists. There is, of course, always a small minority among all peoples wholike being brutal if they get the chance; the number may vary in different countriesand on diverse occasions, but it is always there. They are not the real problem,because society can always deal with this sadistic criminal element if it has the will.The real question is presented by those who do vile things for ideal reasons. This isthe stark challenge to leadership, for leadership bears the prime responsibility byreason of the ideas formulated and the law, rule or discipline enforced.Among the Black and Tans were many idealists—as I later knew from personalexperience of some of them—who believed they were fighting for their country andregarded the Irish as a treacherous enemy. It was a minority, as always, whocommitted the outrages, and much was quite unknown to the majority. They detested135 of 424