Editors in peril

Madam, - With reference to Dermot James's recently published history of The Irish Times , an important missing element in the…

Madam, - With reference to Dermot James's recently published history of The Irish Times, an important missing element in the story might be of interest to readers.

On that infamous day in November 1920 which quickly became known as Bloody Sunday, the newspaper's future editor Robert Smyllie and his predecessor John E Healy were walking towards the office when they were "held up by a party of drunken 'auxies' who insisted that we were Sinn Féiners and, consequently, must be shot".

Smyllie, writing as Nichevo in an Irishman's Diary in November 1945, remembered that for some unknown reason the auxiliaries took them into Sir Thomas Myles's house where they "put us with our faces against the wall and our hands up in the hall-way".

Fortunately, Sir Thomas "sized up the situation in a flash, recognising us both, and promptly invited our captors into the diningroom for a drink, which they accepted with alacrity".

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Lady Myles quickly went to the telephone and rang up Dublin Castle to inform them what was happening.

About 10 minutes later, "during which 'John E.' and I were facing the wall in fear and trembling, and our heavily armed guards were punishing Sir Thomas's whiskey in the diningroom, there came a violent knock at the door, and when it was opened a party of British officers rushed in, released John Healy and myself, and took the whole party of 'Auxiliaries' into custody".

Amazingly, Smyllie added that he and the Auxiliary officer subsequently "became quite good friends" even though he "was what the Americans would describe as a 'tough guy' and, but for Sir Thomas Myles's bottle of whiskey, he probably would have been even tougher". - Yours, etc,

FRANK BOUCHIER-HAYES, Gortboy,  Newcastle West,  Co Limerick.