An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 55 aggression was matched by Irish determination. Logistic resupply runs from Coy HQ ('the gravy train' as it became known) was critical and this too became a target. A soft-skinned ve- hicle taking an injured soldier to hospital was also fired on, and when the vehicle was put out of commission Lt Tony Bracken and Cpl Michael Jones helped the driver and patient to safety. Apart from At Tiri, there were four other very vulnerable Irish OPs in the Israeli Controlled Area (ICA). The occupants of three of these were successfully led out of the enclave by Capt Declan Lawlor in a covert night-time self-extraction, while the fourth compliment, at OP Ras, under Sgt John Power, was too remote and remained in situ, steadfastly refusing to surrender despite being isolated, having meagre supplies, and being subjected to constant harassment and frequent fire. Finally, permission arrived to respond in like manner to fires received, and when the occasion demanded this was done, much to the shock of the DFF. With negotiations failing, and instances of dangerous firing increasing, the time had come to retake the village. As Comdt Dave Taylor's orders to 'prepare to move in' spread, a certain calmness descended over the Irish; a quiet determination and an undeclared resolve. As a member of a supporting Fijiian platoon, Pte Sornai- valva, was being briefed by Capt Ainsworth, he was hit by DFF fire. Although immediately medevac'd under fire, he died from his wounds. Comdt Taylor knew that attack is about momentum and cal- culated that gaining the initiative lay in neutralising the DFF's centre of gravity in the village, the half-track. Using the flat roof of the platoon HQ house as a firebase, suppressive fires al- lowed an Irish AML 90 armoured fighting vehicle to come into play and neutralise the half-track. The firebase then 'lifted and shifted' its fire, allowing several mutually-supporting Irish ele- ments to surge forward. The fight was on, and in a short time the DFF were driven out of At Tiri after suffering one fatality and a number of wounded. Having been defeated and pushed out, the DFF immediately began shelling the village in reprisal. At the same time, 40km away, Naqoura, where UNIFIL HQ was located, was also subject to a mortar and small arms attack that lasted for four-and-a-half hours. A large number of buildings suffered dam- age, ten vehicles were destroyed, and three of It- alair's four helicopters were damaged by small arms fire and rendered unservice- able. No significant injuries to personnel were suffered. Six days later, two Irish soldiers, Ptes Tom Barrett and Derek Smallhorne, were killed in cold blood, and a third, Pte John O'Mahoney, was injured, when they were singled out as being Irish after the relief convoy they were driving to OP Ras with was stopped by DFF militiamen. This savage act of revenge shocked and outraged Irish and international opinion. The Battle of At Tiri erupted when the 'strange soldiering' of peacekeeping had to transform into no-holds-barred 'solid sol- diering'. At stake, tactically, was the village of At Tiri; operation- ally, the credibility of UNIFIL; and strategically, the will of the UN. Peacekeeping is soldiering with a difference and the Irish are good at it. We have established a hard-earned reputation as peacekeepers, one of the cornerstones of which was the Irish actions at At Tiri. It is by such actions, and others in the Congo, Kosovo, Chad and the Golan Heights, and elsewhere over the last 60 years, that this reputation was earned and maintained. Lt Col Dan Harvey (retd) served in the Defence Forces and on operations overseas for 40-years. He is the author of a number of books on the Irish Defence Forces, including Attack on At Tiri: Force Met with Force and his latest is Into Action: Irish Peacekeepers Under Fire, 1960-2014. Other books include Soldiers of the Short Grass: A History of the Curragh Camp, A Bloody Night: The Irish at Rorke's Drift and A Bloody Day: The Irish at Waterloo. An Irish AML 90 on patrol in South Lebanon, circa early 1980s. Photo: Military Archives An Israeli tank and APC passing through At Tiri. Photo: © http://kenslebphotos.net An Irish UNIFIL patrol near At-Tiri, circa 1990s. Photo: Mark Kelleher/News-Pics (Lebanon)

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