5 March 1921: The Clonbannin Ambush on this day. A British Army convoy of three Crossley tenders and one touring car with circa 40 troops drawn from the East Lancs. Regiment making its way from Rathmore to Buttevant was attacked and brought to a halt by the IRA.

'The IRA ambush group was about 100 men from Newmarket Battalion Column (under Sean Moylan), a section of the Kerry No. 2 Brigade Column (under Tom McEllistrim), a section of the Charleville Battalion Column (under Paddy O'Brien) and the Millstreet Battalion Column (under Con J Meany)'

https://www.cairogang.com/soldiers-killed/cummings-ambush/cummings-ambush.html

The British suffered four dead incl. the GOC Kerry Brigade acting Brigadier General H. R. Cumming, D.S.O. who was shot down as he attempted to seek cover in a roadside ditch. He was the most senior ranking British Officer to be killed in the War of Independence. 

The ambush had been planned well in advance drawing in IRA men from Kerry and north Cork. The plan was to us a Hotchkiss machine gun and roadside mines to bring the column to a halt and eliminate the occupants or at least to inflict numerous casualties on them.

‘We were under Command of Thomas McEllistrim and when we got to Clonbannin we found we were on a big job. Sean Moylan (later became a TD for North Cork) with the North Cork column joined us. He took charge of the operation.’ 

Volunteer Denis Prendiville

https://www.cairogang.com/soldiers-killed/cummings-ambush/cummings-ambush.html

When the convoy came into view the men were in cover waiting to open up and immediately the Rolls Royce Armoured car ran into a roadside bog and became stuck there. 

The open touring car in which General Cumming was an occupant was also hit. 

The first shots put the touring car out of action and it swirled across the road out of control. The armoured car collided with the tourer, and the driver in attempting to avoid the collision, drove the armoured car on to soft ground at the side of the road where it got bogged...

The British were seeking cover be the roadside, an Officer who had being in the tourer Jumped for cover, but he did not reach it.  He was shot.  We learned later that he was Brigadier General Cummins.

 Prendiville

However the soldiers in the armoured car were able to get their Vickers machine gun working and they were able to rake the positions of the Volunteers so that it was difficult for them to position themselves to continue firing without risk of death or injury. Indeed most of the soldiers on the British side seem to have done the same thing. With the IRA Hotchkiss packing up the British had the upper hand but they too could not expose themselves much either. 

They probably owed their survival to the initiative of one Major Congreve who took command after Cumming was shot dead and worked his way along the column stiffened their resolve to hang on. Eventually the Armoured car was able to free itself from the side of the road and made a dash for it to get help and direct a relief column to rescue the trapped men. 

Major Congreve was awarded an OBE for his part in this action.

'When Colonel Cumming and his convoy were ambushed in Kerry it was largely due to Major Congreve’s bravery and grasp of the situation that the entire convoy was not annihilated. He proceeded for upwards of 800 yds under heavy fire, up and down the column, organising attacks on the rebels with entire disregard for his own safety”.

https://www.durhamatwar.org.uk/story/14102/

The Volunteers eventually ran short of ammunition and after a few hours had to withdraw to safety, however they had suffered no fatalities and left four dead British dead behind them, two Officers and two other ranks.