THREE MONTHS [ re; Mallory having been held prisoner by the IRA ]
Though I do not intend to get into graphic detail with this post, it is rather vital, I feel, to understanding his character, and so I will endeavor to at least give an overview to when this was and what it entailed.
To start, I should place when I think Mallory's time in Ireland occurred. While I am still debating how long his posting there had stretched [ apparently two and a half years is typical for a commanding officer posting ], what I have decided for certain is that I place his capture by the IRA as being in December of 1997***, with his rescue taking place late in March of 1998. He had just turned 35 in December when he was captured.
[ *** NOTE: I am uncertain what the Bond film meant by the "Hereford Regiment". If they meant the SAS, which is based in Hereford, that is typically only referred to as "The Regiment", based upon what I've seen. If they mean the Herefordshire Regiment, that is something else entirely. I am also aware that in 2009 the "Special Reconnaissance Regiment" was sent in to help gather intelligence on "dissident republicans". It was stated that they would have "no operational role, and would be held fully accountable, as required by the Saint Andrews Agreement".
However, I cannot imagine the government looking at someone who had been held hostage for three months by the IRA and allowing him to step into the position of head of SIS not even a decade later. The level of scrutiny he would be under even from 1997 would be unbelievable—and that would be with almost two decades between—but if it had been as recent as 2009, I just don't see any way that they would realistically have even entertained the notion. It would have been too much of a liability. ]
The treatment Mallory received at the hands of the IRA included but was not limited to:
being stripped down and made to remain naked, either for the purpose of others giving critique [ psychological torture, making someone feel vulnerable, dehumanizing them by breaking them down to parts rather than a whole ] or, at other times, to simply make him suffer the cold [ trying to break him down, because all he has to do is help them a little and they'll make sure he's more comfortable ].
having his hands tied more often than not, following a few attempts at escape; at times, his arms were also bound, as were his ankles; occasionally, had a rope around his neck both from a cinched hood and as another means of degradation.
vicious beatings that led to broken and cracked bones, as well as joints out of place.
noise torture [ more psychological warfare ]. It is used in part because it is unnerving, putting someone on edge, and often also used to prevent someone from being able to rest or to sleep. Out of it all, this is one of the ones that was the most difficult for him to endure.
This is not a comprehensive list. In my research, I could find no specific explanations, likely because most IRA captives—to my understanding—rarely made it more than a day, much less several months, so I had to pull from other sources.
And, to that point, Gareth Mallory was a Lieutenant Colonel, and it is implied that he was either the one over the Hereford Regiment or second-in-command of it at the time, which would mean that he had a great deal of operational knowledge as well as of the broader procedures and such.
This, I think, is the reason that they were so determined to break him and either get what information they needed from him or to turn him to their side, rather than outright killing him to send a message.
He was quite valuable—perhaps one of the highest ranking they had gotten hold of to that point—and they were determined to get the full value. You can kill anyone and send a statement. But if you could get all of the information from the one over the unit? If you could sway him to your side even? That would be accomplishing something for the cause.
Thankfully, one of the people Mallory had specifically taken under his wing right from the start of the assignment was a young man by the name of Jim Ellsworth, and that man had wholly devoted himself to finding and helping to rescue him.
Jim Ellsworth was a young soldier—the child of an English father and an Irish mother—who volunteered for Mallory's unit...
"I think you know why most have passed you for this particular assignment, Ellsworth, but I’m going to ask you outright, because I think you deserve the opportunity to state your case. Taking into account your ties, the nationality of your mother, why put in for this?”
“I won’t argue the point of if I think Ireland should be separate of England. Me way of speakin’ aside, I’m as much a part of one country as the other, and me parents and m’self have suffered the brunt of the whole ordeal. Me poor mother was disowned for havin’ the nerve to fall in love with an Englishman, for defyin’ her family to run off with him. So I understand the thing, and I understand how deep it runs. But, whatever anyone might think, whatever anyone might want, it’s gone too far… There’s innocent people gettin’ caught up in it. Grandparents. Parents. Children. People who aren’t soldiers, aren’t combatants, but they bleed and they die all the same. It isn’t right…”
He had decided on the spot that, regardless of what anyone else thought, he would accept Ellsworth into the unit under his direct command. When asked, he had stated the simple truth of it,
“Because I think he understands better than most why this has to stop.”
He had never regretted the choice.
What’s more, it had likely saved his life. [ excerpt ]
Indeed, it had saved his life.
After Mallory was captured, Ellsworth approached Majors Theo Stevens and Robert MacCall with a plan to rescue—not recover—the Lieutenant Colonel.
So much as there was a operational need to find Mallory—as well as the fact that both Stevens and MacCall considered him a friend as well—the complication they had was that they were uncertain where Mallory was being held, as it didn't seem to be with any of the locations that they did know about, based upon the chatter.
Ellsworth offered the solution. He volunteered to go deep cover in order to ingratiate himself with the local 'element' and to infiltrate and learn where Mallory was being held prisoner.
Within the first month, he shaved his head, grew out a thick beard, and he went on a strict diet with a strenuous training regimen to bulk up and change his physique, that he would look completely different. He underwent boxing training with MacCall. He spoke English only when speaking to those who didn't speak The Old Tongue, which he favored both in his general speech and in his writing to be certain he would have no issues in utilizing it.
By the second month, a good Volunteer by the name of Aodhán Gallagher arrived in town, looking to find a place for himself in the Cause. His amiable nature and zeal for the Cause earned him friends, and he soon found himself introduced to certain folk and, later, to be invited to meetings.
It was in the third month that he was finally able to locate Mallory, and he got the information to Stevens and MacCall. They instructed him to work up a plan based on what he knew of the layout and the numbers, and they double-checked it to be certain it was operational. It was at the end of February when they made their move and raided the place.
The first thing that Ellsworth did was get to where Mallory was being held, to be certain that he wouldn't be killed in the chaos or by someone desperate to make a final play.
Three months they held him, and he had reached the point where he was certain he would die there.
Then, one day, even through the noise over the speaker in the corner of his cell, he’d heard the distinctive sound of flash bangs. Smoke had filled the air, creeping even under the door and into the room of his confinement, and that coupled with the pneumonia in his lungs had left him coughing and gasping for breath. He had heard gunfire, though, and for the first time since his nightmare began, he had felt something akin to hope flaring in his chest once more.
He had all but dragged himself across the room towards the door. Hands still bound together and coughing so much that he could barely see, still he had intended to seize whatever opportunity he could to fight, to escape, or to die in the attempt. It had been too long. He needed to get out of that place. He needed to get home. He needed to sort things with Danielle, maybe even propose to her.
When the door of the cellar had opened, he had thrown himself at the person, only to be caught and held instead. He had struggled and tried to fight against them, until a thick Irish accent broke through even the rush of the adrenaline.
‘Woah there, Colonel! S’alright! S’alright!’
It wasn’t just any Irishman, not one of the voices of those who had tormented him for so long. He knew it the moment he heard it, even before the man briefly brought down his mask to reveal the face of one Jim Ellsworth.
‘Come on, Mallory. Let’s get you out of this shithole.’
Bloodied and bruised, his left arm broken, several ribs busted, every breath feeling almost like he was drowning, still when Ellsworth had cut the rope binding his wrists together, he had accepted the pistol the younger man placed into his good hand. Stumbling and staggering, still he had done what he could to aid in securing his escape.
They hadn’t lost anyone that day, and that particular cell had been decimated beyond repair. [ excerpt ]
I intend to make another post in regards to what followed, but, even after Mallory was rescued, Jim Ellsworth stuck with him. He is largely responsible for helping Mallory recover. The man supported him through a lengthy physical recovery, as well as through the fact that Mallory's love, Danielle, left him—citing that she wouldn't go through that again—and through the even worse hit it was when the military chose to medically discharge him***.
[ ***NOTE: Out of respect to Mallory and what he had endured, the military officially claimed the medical discharge was due to the physical injuries he suffered, but when he pushed back and insisted that he would be fine, they quietly informed him that there was also concern for his mental health/stability after three months a prisoner, otherwise they might have given him a posting as an expert instructor somewhere. A soldier to his core, Mallory was absolutely devastated by it, and it was a Rough Time for a while. ]
Now, all of that being said, here are the lasting effects from Gareth Mallory's time held prisoner by the IRA:
slight scarring at the sides of his neck from rope, as well as more pronounced scarring on his wrists, arms, and ankles.
scarring of cigarette burns and other small, random scars in various places such as his arms, shoulders, and chest.
both shoulders are in rough shape and can slip if he doesn't maintain his regular exercises to mitigate the damage.
likewise, he has a bad knee that sometimes gives him trouble in the cold or the rain, though he will force himself to walk normally regardless.
Slight problems with neck and back in terms of alignment after all of the rough treatment. Lower back has discs that occasionally give him difficulty, but, again, he'll just push his way through it.
evidence on x-ray of repeated breaks around his ribs and a bad break on his left arm.
has scarring on his lungs from a bad bout with pneumonia while held prisoner.
before discharge from hospital, his long-term lover, Danielle, left him citing that she wouldn't go through that again.
after discharge from the hospital, was medically discharged from the military.
after his lover leaving him and the military 'abandoning' him, he went through a very rough span of time that included drinking more alcohol than he usually would and severe depression as he struggled to find the will to keep going when his whole world had been turned upside down.
often sits in silence at home due to the noise torture.
is more aloof, sharp, and cynical than he was prior to his capture and subsequent torture.
hypervigilance that results in him almost always having an increased awareness of his surroundings and everyone around him.
difficulty falling and staying asleep, sometimes even slight noise will wake him.
though they are fewer in occurrence now, still sometimes has absolutely horrific night terrors that occasionally have him thrashing about or yelling or sitting bolt upright in the bed having to ground himself again and to remember where he is.
occasionally vivid flashbacks, though exceedingly rare these days.
Again, this is not a comprehensive list, but an overview.
So many traits and so many aspects of himself he can place solidly either before or after his time held by the IRA... [ excerpt ]
