28th June 1920
Wellington Barracks, Jullundur, India
4,500 miles away from Ireland, a key episode in the Irish War of Independence begins - The Mutiny of the Connaught Rangers. It begins in the army barracks in Jullundur (modern day Jalandhar, near Pakistani border) 1/7

At 8am 4 Irish troops inform a trusted superior that they wished to down arms and leave the army in protest at what was happening in Ireland. Among them was Joe Hawes, who had witnessed the RIC harshly break up a hurling match whilst on leave in Clare.

The night before he spoke with William Daly and he said that what they were doing in India was the same as what the Black and Tans were doing in Ireland. Heavy on their minds, no doubt, was the fact that Amritsar was only 50 miles away from their barracks

Hawes was joined by Patrick Gogarty, Christopher Sweeney and Stephen Lally in downing arms and refusing to parade. Within hours, a further 31 men had joined the initial 4 in the Guard Room. Colonel HRG Deacon tried to convince the mutineers to stop their protest

Hawes defiantly told Deacon that all of the honours that the Rangers had amassed over the decades were for England, and none for Ireland. To Deacon's horror, he lost control of his troops as the Union Jack was replaced with an Irish tricolour

With practical control of the Wellington Barracks in Jullundur now in Irish mutineer hands, word was sent to other Connaught Rangers' Barracks in Jutogh and Solon - Monaghan man Frank Geraghty was the messenger to Solon.

For more information on the first day of the mutiny check out the wonderful account on by Conor Kostick on https://independentleft.ie/connaught-rangers-mutiny-1920/