[citation needed] The Tooreen was one of the first major ambushes carried out by the West Cork Brigade under Tom Barry.

[4] The Essex Regiment of the British Army was deployed to West Cork and had a reputation for violently raiding houses throughout the countryside and arresting people believed to be IRA volunteers.

They were also alleged to have tortured their prisoners in order to get information on the whereabouts of the flying columns, so this made them a despised enemy to the West Cork IRA.

[1] As the fight went on, the officer in command of the British troops, Captain Dixon, was shot in the head and killed as well as one of his men.

Later that night, members of the Essex Regiment went on a violent rampage through Bandon, destroying property and seeking out anyone they believed to be connected to the ambush.

[citation needed] Lt. Dixon was buried with full military honours in St. Paul's Catholic Church Dover.

[12] Sergeant Bennett was buried in St. Peter & St. Paul Church in his home village of Shorne, near Gravesend in Kent.