the elite ex-officer division proved to be much more effective than the black and tans especially in the key area of gathering intelligence. auxiliary companies were intended as mobile striking and raiding forces, and they scored some notable successes against the ira. on 20 november, the night before bloody sunday, they captured dick mckee and peadar clancy, the commandant and vice-commandant of the ira's dublin brigade, and murdered them in dublin castle. that same night, they caught william pilkington, commandant of the sligo ira, in a separate raid. a month later, in december, they caught ernie o'malley completely by surprise in county kilkenny: the ira officer was reading in his room when a temporary cadet opened the door and walked in; "he was as unexpected as death," said o'malley. in his memoirs, the commandant of the clare ira, michael brennan, describes how the auxiliaries nearly captured him three nights in a row.