ira commanders became concerned about the morale of their units as to many volunteers the auxiliaries seemed to be 'super fighters and all but invincible'. those victories which were won over the auxiliaries are among the most celebrated in the irish war of independence. on 28 november 1920, for example, a platoon of auxiliaries was ambushed and wiped out in the kilmichael ambush by tom barry and the west cork ira. a little more than two months later, on 2 february 1921, another platoon of auxiliaries was ambushed by seán maceoin and the longford ira in the clonfin ambush. on 19 march 1921 the 3rd cork brigade of the ira defeated a large scale attempt by the british army & auxiliary division to encircle and trap them at the crossbarry ambush. later still, on 15 april 1921, an officer named mackinnon, commanding officer of h company adric, was assassinated by the kerry ira.