There were many ambushes in county Cork during the War of Independence where IRA battalions caught the military by surprise.

One such occasion occurred in August 1920 about four miles from Cork at a place called Ballyvolane, where nine military personnel who were being driven on patrol were ambushed by the IRA. During the attack five soldiers were wounded in what was a carefully executed attack. As the military passed a section of the road a bomb was thrown at the lorry and five soldiers were injured in the blast. The injured soldiers made their way to a field where a Lewis gun opened fire on them. The explosion was returned by the military with rifle and revolver fire. One of the most interesting aspects of this attack was that an aeroplane which was accompanying the lorry hovered overhead. Eventually, the aeroplane returned at full speed to Victoria Barracks and raised the alarm that the military convoy was under attack. Several lorries of military personal, the Staffordshire Regiment were quickly on their way and they carried out an extensive search of the area, but few clues could be found as to who carried out the attack and no arrests were made. Interestingly, in the search that followed five German made revolvers were found amongst other ammunition left at the ambush site.  

Source: Irish Independent 1905-current, 02.08.1920, page 6

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