King's Own Royal Regiment Museum

Bandsman Mark Percival

At 9.10am on 17th May 1921 a Crossley tender was ambushed by a group of men of the Irish Republican Army who had been concealed behind a wall in Gratten Crescent, Inchicore.  Bombs were thrown and fire opened.  Private Percival's brother was the Non-commissioned officer in charge of the lorry.  Seven or eight IRA men were in the ambushing group.  One soldier, Bandsman Mark Percival, was killed and another injured.  The soldiers returned fire, with unknown results. 

Bandsman Percival died of wounds in King's George V Hospital, Dublin, having been shot in the chest whilst on duty in an escort vehicle.

A Dublin newspaper reported:

A Soldier Killed and Another Slightly Wounded

The Military GHQ, Parkgate, issued the following communiqué yesterday:-
"At 9.10 am today, a Crossley tender containing troops was ambushed by a number of civilians concealed behind a wall in Grattan Crescent, Inchicore.  One soldier was killed, and one slightly wounded.  The fire was returned, but the affect is not known"
Our reporter, who made inquiries in the district, states that great military activity prevailed in the neighbourhood after the ambush.
A young boy named Gray was arrested when standing at the door of his house.  A military officer watched the passengers alighting from a tramcar at the terminus.  Amongst them was a young school girl, who was carrying a parcel.  This officer approached her and asked her what was in the parcel.  This girl became frightened, and ran away, with the officer in pursuit.  An armoured car and a lorry joined in the chase, but the frightened girl succeeded in reaching a convent.
On examining the parcel the officer found it contained the schoolgirl's lunch.  Her name is Mai Guilfoyle, and she is fourteen years old.
The place where the ambush occurred is partly a rural road with shrubberies at each side.  It is known as Grattan Crescent road, and runs from near the tram terminus in the direction of Inchicore railway works.  The attackers were estimated at seven or eight men.  They were concealed in the shrubbery, and when the tender came along from the direction of Richmond Barracks they opened fire on it, says our correspondent.
Two men in the lorry were seen to fall after the first volley.  The other soldiers returned the fire, and after a brief interchange the attacking party withdrew, and the lorry returned towards barracks.

Firing party at the funeral, on 21st May 1921, of Bandsman Mark Percival, number 3645255, 1st Battalion, King's Own, who was shot in Dublin, 17th May 1921.  Bandsman Percival had enlisted in the army on 13th August 1919 and later transferred into the King's Own.
Accession Number: KO1479/03