 They turned out to be Black and Tans who had been placed under arrest by the soldiers (Constable Buchanan and Constable Evans) – they were made prisoners by the IRA.The ambush party took the British arms (including the Hotchkiss gun), burned the lorry and made their escape over the hill of Slieve Bawn.The IRA leaders—Pat Madden, Luke Duffy and Frank Simons—decided to kill the two Black and Tans, despite their offering to show the IRA how to use the captured machine gun.