Major Sir Ambrose Joseph McGonigal KBE, MC & Bar
“Ambrose joined 12 Commando, looking for revenge over his brother’s death … One of his comrades later recalled that Ambrose had ‘an insatiable thirst’ for adventure and was ‘totally without fear”
In war and peace, Ambrose McGonigal lived an extraordinary life, with conflict never far away. During World War Two, he served as a Commando and in the SBS, while after it he served in Belfast as the most senior Catholic judge during the height of the Troubles.
I first came across the bravery of Ambrose McGonigal and that of his younger brother, Eoin, two years ago while researching the life of the legendary SAS officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne, DSO & three Bars. Mayne is arguably the bravest man never to be awarded the Victoria Cross and, had he enjoyed a more conventional career, that decoration might well have been bestowed upon him... but that’s another story for another day.
My research into Mayne’s life and career brought me into contact with Patric McGonigal, Ambrose’s eldest grandson whose new book on the brothers, Special Forces
