Cumming was a col comdt East Lancashires. o.c commanding kerry Forces, Ireland.
adopted practices of conveying civillian hostages in militray vehicles. He was shot dead in action against the I.R.A at Clonbania, co. cork, 5th MArch 1921.

did have Cumming's medals at one time.......

Please find below..hope it helps?

D.S.O. London Gazette 4 June 1917 (Lieut.-Colonel [Temporary Brigadier-General], Durham Light Infantry.
M.I.D. London Gazette 22 February and 10 September 1901; 15 May 1917; 20 December 1918.

Hanway Robert Cumming was born on 9 October 1867 and became 2nd Lieutenant, Durham Light Infantry, on 8 June 1889. He served in the Boer War and was present at the Relief of Ladysmith, including the action at Colenso; actions at Vaal Krantz, Pieter’s Hill, and Laing’s Nek (Despatches twice, Brevet of Major, medal with 4 clasps). During the Great War he commanded the 2nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, from August to November 1916, and also served on the Staff. He fought in Egypt from December 1915 to February 1916; France and Belgium from March 1916 to May 1917, and from March to Novemebr 1918 (Despatches twice, Brevet of Colonel, D.S.O., and Legion of Honour 4th class).

General Cumming was killed in the Sinn Fein ambush at Clonbanin, Co. Cork, which was carried out on the afternoon of 5th March 1921; Lieutenant Maligny, A.S.C., and two men were also killed, and one officer and five men wounded. Cumming, in a touring car, was in convoy accompanied by three Crossley tenders, containing an escort of the East Lancashire Regiment, together with a Rolls Royce Armoured Car, when it ran into a well planned ambush. The convoy was brought to a sudden halt by a hail of fire from a Hotchkiss gun and rifles.

‘The moans of wounded military were clearly audible above the din of battle. Soldiers taking cover by the roadside answered the shots directed at them from the north and south. A tall officer leapt from the touring car as it careered into the fence. In answer to an I.R.A. call to surrender, he defiantly replied: “Surrender to hell! Give them the lead,” as he dived for cover at the other side of the road. Those were the last words of Brigadier-General H. R. Cumming, D.S.O., for they had scarcely been uttered when he fell, shot through the brain by a bullet from an ambusher’s rifle. He was the first British General in Ireland to take civilian hostages on his lorries and his escort that day at Clonbanin carried a hostage who escaped during the fighting.’
He wrote his autobiography "A Brigadier in France" buy £8* from Naval & Military Press...

have had a long-time interest in Brigadier Cumming and his career, especially in Ireland. But of course, I have also read his interesting "A Brigadier in France", published postumously in 1922 by Jonathan Cape.
Over the years I have visited the Clonbanin ambush site in County Cork and paced it's lay out. I would recommend to anyone interested in the actual ambush that they obtain a copy of a book called "No Other Law" by Florence O'Donoghue, Irish Press Publications, Dublin, 1954. It deals with the ambush in some detail. I accept that the book is written from the IRA perspective of the time - but I wholeheartedly agree: let's leave politics out of this. (By the way, I believe that the book is quite difficult to obtain nowadays, but there are occasional copies on the market - I treasure my copy).
It is interesting to note that Brigadier Cumming was chairing a Parliamentary Court of Inquiry (by Royal Command) into events in Mallow, Co. Cork, which took place on 31st January - 3rd February, 1921, when he was killed at Clonbanin. There has been some speculation that his shooting was connected with that Inquiry. However, I am more inclined to the view (from my research) that he "was in the wrong place at the wrong time" as the ambush party had information that it was General Strickland who was in the military convoy.
If I can be of any further assistance, please let me know.

Colonel Commandant H R Cumming DSO, Commanding the Kerry Brigade
Lieutenant Maligny, Royal Army Service Corps
Lieutenant Eric Chilver Wilson, Bedfordshire Regiment

In response, the IRA was forced to set up full time guerrilla units (known as flying columns), both in order to avoid arrest and to assemble units capable of taking on British patrols. On 2 March, the Second Kerry Brigade set up its own flying column under Dan Allman and Tom McEllistrim. On 5 March, McEllistrim led 20 volunteers from the column to a successful ambush at Clonbanin, in which they co-operated with Cork IRA units, killing four British soldiers (including Brigadier General Cumming).