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The Sherwood Foresters made good progress into Dublin until the head of their column reached the intersection of Haddington and Northumberland Roads. There Grace and Malone opened fire upon the advancing soldiers. The battle had begun. The majority of British soldiers, however, were still on the march—more than a kilometre behind where the fighting would start.
It was reported that as many as ten British troops fell in the first round of firing, including four officers. While this is often characterised as an ambush Brigadier General Ernest Maconchy , the officer in command of the Foresters, disagreed with this characterisation. In his eyes, his men in Dublin were no more ‘ambushed’ than Western Front soldiers making a charge into no-man’s-land.
Captain Dietrichsen was among the first mortally wounded alhough the heavy fire from Northumberland 25 would inflict casualties upon all ranks.
(The Irish Press, 1965; The Kerryman, 1916; Papadopoulos & Schreibman, 2022)