Standing Well Back
20th Century

Bimbashi Garland

Bimbashi Garland – The man who taught the Arabs about IEDs – a British Ordnance Corps officer and metallurgist.  Thanks to Leslie Payne for flagging this gentleman polymath to me.

Previous posts have detailed some of the remarkable polymaths who have played in the explosive field, like the Earl of Suffolk GC.  Major Herbert Garland OBE, MC FCS is another of these and it’s a remarkable story with real currency.   Herbert Garland was born in Sheffield in 1880. In the years before World War One he was employed firstly as a soldier – an “Ammunition Examiner” of the Ordnance Corps trained at Woolwich, posted to the Channel Islands and then to Khartoum,  then as a government explosives expert as a superintendent at an Army munitions laboratory in Cairo.  During this time his hobby was archeological metallurgy, and Cairo was certainly the place to follow that interest.

When the war started he joined the “Arab Bureau” along with TE Lawrence and a rag tag bunch of businessmen, spies, soldiers and intellectuals. The Arab Bureau’s role was a model of modern day irregular warfare and I’ll write about them more in the future. Basically they had a very broad remit to develop intelligence and undertake operations across the Arab world in support of Britain’s war aims.  It was a model of fusion between military and political activity that is rarely seen. Lawrence of Arabia’s activities where just a part of their activity.  As an organization it wasn’t without its critics who saw them as a group of amateurish and incompetent pro-Arab dilettantes.  It’s intruiging to me that quite a few of the Arab Bureau, including Lawrence, Garland and (the not famous enough) Gertrude Bell shared a common interest in archaeology. 

Garland, given a Special List commission,  became the Bureau’s explosive expert, despite a somewhat casual approach to explosive safety. He developed grenades and an improvised mortar systems to launch the grenades, which was used extensively at Gallipoli.  An image of Garland’s mortar is here

Garland also designed a range of IEDs used by Lawrence and Garland himself in the Arab revolt against Ottoman rule. In fact it would appear Garland was doing this work well before Lawrence joined the Bureau. Garland planted the IED that derailed the first Ottoman train near Toweira station in 1917, using an improvised pressure switch mechanism.  Interestingly he built and emplaced his IEDs so that they would not be spotted by Turkish troops employed to check the line before a train ran.

Garland was an Arabic speaker and earned high praise as a teacher of his dark arts.  I rather like this quote from Lawrence of Arabia about thim; Lawrence had travelled to Yenbo, the base of the Arab army under Feisal “where Garland single-handed was teaching the Sherifians how to blow up railways with dynamite and how to keep army stores in systematic order. The first activity was the better.”

In 1918 he was sent to Medina to accept the Turkish surrender.  Lawrence assessed Garland’s contribution to the revolt as “much greater” than his own.   Garland died in 1921, his health destroyed by the campaigns he fought in the Middle East – and it took his wife two years to claim a war pension, as at first the military pensions department refused to accept his illness was directly connected with the rigours of his wartime experience, riding with the Bedu across the deserts of Arabia.

I’m reminded of my favourite quote from The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, by T E Lawrence, and very possibly my favourite quote ever:

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.

Garland like his colleague Lawrence, was a dreamer of the day. Sua Tela Tonanti.

UK

100 years since British suffragettes used IEDs

The public perception of the suffragette movement, some 100 years ago, tends to see it as somewhat non-violent, all “handcuffing to the railings” and ladies throwing themselves in front of horses.  But a deeper dive into history shows that the suffragettes made use of IEDs between 1912 and 1914. Perhaps my wife who regards my blog with disdain as being “boring and irrelevant” : -)  will appreciate these stories.

A small number of the IEDs contained dynamite rather than gunpowder.  Here’s a selection of a the few dozen or so that I have found records of:

  • In 1913 suffragettes planted a 5lb gunpowder IED in a house at Walton Heath in Surrey belonging to politician Lloyd George, severely damaging it, and the components of a second IED were discovered in the house. The device was believed to have been very crude and initiated by a candle burning down to a metal can of gunpowder, surrounded by nails.  A similar device was used at a house not far away Walton-on-the-Hill three weeks later.
  • Also in 1913 a dynamite IED was planted in St Paul’s Cathedral, but it failed to detonate.  An EOD team from the Chief Inspector of Explosives led by Major Cooper-Key of the Royal Engineers dealt with the device (after it had been placed in a  bucket of water (!!).  It contained ¾ of a pound of nitroglycerine, in a metal case. A small adapted watch and a battery were connected to an electric detonator.  However the electrical connection was faulty and the device failed.
  • On April 14, 1913, a small timed device was found attached to railings outside the Bank of England.
  • In January 1914 two IEDs with burning fuzes were planted in the Kibble winter botanical gardens in Glasgow. A night-watchman, came across one device with the fuze burning. He bravely cut the fuze off with a pocketknife.  Seconds later a second device exploded causing considerable damage.
  • On 11 June 1914, an IED hidden in a lady’s handbag was placed on the back of “King Edwards chair” or the coronation throne  in Westminster Abbey , the throne built around the historical “Stone of Scone”.  The device exploded causing minor damage and reportedly contained steel nuts as shrapnel.

The suffragettes also used letter bombs (and acid devices) posted to intended victims, as well as a significant series of straightforward arson attacks.

 

 

Update there’s a later post containing a more comprehensive list of suffragette explosive devices.

20th Century

Massive Explosion in New Jersey

….In 1916

Following the blog posts about Tunney and Eagan, a number of correspondents have asked for more detail about the German saboteur campaign in the US of the period. I’ve recently undertaken an analysis of this campaign (and one other from history) to compare current C-IED “Attack the Network” strategies with previous C-IED Attack the Network efforts.  The German saboteur campaign is fascinating not only for the parallels with modern terrorism and the lessons learned and since forgotten, but some very interesting operational aspects from both the enemy and friendly forces.

This campaign by German saboteurs saw a number of cells operating in the New York and New Jersey areas attack 47 factories, 43 ships and a number of docks and railway facilities over about a 2 year period from 1915- 1917. They used both explosive IEDs and incendiaries.  Many German ships were being blockaded in US ports by the British and the sailors provided ample human resources for the German authorities efforts to prevent the industrial might of the US from providing munitions for the French, British and Russians fighting Imperial Germany, before the US entered the war in 1917.

There were many interesting attacks which I will blog in the future. The biggest was an arson attack on the Black Tom munition loading facility on the New Jersey shoreline, right opposite The Statue of Liberty.  Incendiaries were set by German agents and there is strong evidence to suggest that some local watchman were paid to turn a blind eye, at the very least. Some time later the fire took hold and caused a detonation of 1000 tons of explosives. The Statue of Liberty was damaged, windows were broken across Manhattan and the explosion heard as far away as Philadelphia and Maryland. According to one source it was measured at 5.5 on the Richter scale. Remarkably few people were killed however.

 

 

After the war a reparations committee sat for many years and argued whether the Black Tom explosion was sabotage or not.  Eventually in 1939 the German government agreed to pay reparations – but WW2 intervened and a $50 million reparation was finally paid in 1979.

A memorial stone at the scene, within sight of lower Manhattan records the incident calling it “One of the worst acts of terrorism in American history”.

After the war the response to the German Saboteur threat was assessed in retrospect (leading eventually to the formation of the FBI under Hoover), and I rather like this quote from the former New York Police Commissioner, Tunney’s former boss:

“The lessons to America are clear as day. We must not again be caught napping with no adequate national intelligence organization. The several Federal bureaus should be welded together into one, and that one should be eternally and comprehensively vigilant.”

Arthur Woods, former Police Commissioner NYPD 1919

1900-1910

New York’s IED Task Force 1905-1919

The article below on Inspector Eagan garnered quite a response so here’s another interesting character for the same city, within a similar line of work. This is Inspector Thomas J Tunney.

 

In 1905 the NYPD set up an organization to deal with the emerging threat of IEDs from the Italian “Black Hand” extortion gangs. This “Italian Squad” led by the famous New York Italian Cop Joe Petrosino played a significant and successful role in addressing the threat. In many ways they were an “IED task Force”. Tunney was assigned to this squad as a young police officer.

Petrosino was eventually assassinated while on a mission in Italy in 1909.

In August 1914 the NYPD Commissioner formed a “Bomb Squad” made up in part from the remnants of Petrosino’s Italian squad. Thomas J Tunney was assigned to command the Unit.  To be clear this was not a bomb disposal unit at the time but, in essence, a detective division.

Tunney’s job initially was to continue the focus on Italian/mafia extortion gangs using IEDs, and the continuing anarchist revolutionary threat – and the emerging threat from German saboteurs.  Tunney coordinated a significant effort from his team of 34 detectives, and led the use of double agents and detectives working under cover as well as extensive surveillance operations..   His team prevented an attack on St Patrick’s cathedral by some anarchists in 1915 when the bomb planters were arrested “in the act” by undercover police officers, one of whom pulled the fuse from the IED to prevent the explosion.

Tunney’s work expanded significantly in 1917 to counter the IED threat from German saboteurs. As the US entered the war Tunney was transferred directly into the Military Intelligence Service, along with 20 of his squad and indeed along with a number of senior NYPD officers. A significant proportion of the Military Intelligence Service (which before the war had consisted of three people) was then assigned in essence to Homeland protection duties to counter the German IED threat.

This military Unit, with Tunney as a Major had significant responsibilities for Investigations and security, combining some of the modern roles of Police, DHS and FBI in one unit.  I think we can tell from Tunney’s stern demeanor that he was a competent man, and indeed the press reports of the time rate him very highly.  Tunney toured the nation establishing special squads to deal with the German saboteur threat and the remaining threat from anarchists and other revolutionaries.

In 1919 he returned to the NYPD and wrote a book about his investigations, available on line here.  However at this time he fell foul of NYPD politics (!) was demoted and assigned to the pickpocket crime division. His deputy, Barnitz, was also demoted, and assigned back to uniform.   Tunney soon resigned and set up a private detective agency.

The following year saw a very significant VBIED attack on Wall Street, which as a crime was never solved. It is tempting to think that had Tunney been in charge he might have got to the bottom of it.

I have gathered some significant material on the German saboteur’s IEDs of 1915-1917 in New York and New Jersey (and elsewhere in the US) and will return to this subject in future blogs.

19th Century

The EOD operator who dealt with more IEDs than anyone else

I’ve been researching the IED history of New York, and it’s pretty fascinating.  I think there have been more IEDs in New York’s history than any other city in the world – it’s certainly up there with Baghdad and Belfast. I’ve already posted some details earlier about the Irish revolutionaries based in New York, in the 1880s and in fact there were two IED training schools in Brooklyn alone in those days, sending IEDs and trained bomb makers to England.  In the early 1900’s Italian extortion gangs used IEDs extensively in the city, and later there were anarchist devices and a very extensive IED campaign by German saboteurs between 1915 and 1917.  There’s lots of great stories, which I’ll put up posts about in coming weeks. For now here’s an image of Inspector Owen Eagen, of the New York Fire Department Bureau of Combustibles, who was in effect New York’s Bomb Tech between 1895 and 1920.  He dealt with over 7000 (yes seven thousand) IEDs between 1895 and 1920.  He lost a couple of fingers along the way.  I think you can tell by the jaunty angle of his hat and the twinkle in his eye that he was a guy who enjoyed the good things in life and maybe the occasional lunchtime tipple.  He has on the desk at his side, I think, a German incendiary IED.  He died in 1920 from “acute indigestion” whatever that means.  As an aside there was an NYPD police bomb squad from 1914, but they focused more on the investigations rather than the render safe.

Eagen was a remarkable man.

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