Editing Black and Tans (section)

==Name==
The nickname "Black and Tans" arose from the improvised uniforms they initially wore. Due to a shortage of RIC uniforms, the new recruits were issued with a mixture of dark RIC tunics and caps, and [[khaki]] army trousers. Christopher O'Sullivan wrote in the ''[[Limerick Echo]]'' on 25 March 1920 that, meeting a group of recruits on a train at [[Limerick Junction]], the attire of one reminded him of the [[Scarteen]] [[fox hunting|Hunt]], whose "Black and Tans" nickname derived from the colours of its [[Kerry Beagle]]s.<ref name="Spellissy1998">{{cite book| last = Spellissy| first = Séan| title = The history of Limerick City| year=1998| publisher = Celtic Bookshop| isbn = 9780953468300| pages = 87–88 }}<!--| access-date = 9 August 2010--></ref> Ennis comedian [[Mike Nono]] elaborated the joke in Limerick's Theatre Royal, and the nickname soon took hold, persisting even after the men received full RIC uniforms.<ref name="Spellissy1998" />

Some modern sources refer to the Black and Tans as the "RIC Special Reserve", such as the Irish police researcher Jim Herlihy.<ref>[http://www.historyireland.com/volume-23/the-burning-of-cork-december-1920-the-fire-service-response/ "The burning of Cork, December 1920: the fire service response"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222103045/http://www.historyireland.com/volume-23/the-burning-of-cork-december-1920-the-fire-service-response/ |date=22 December 2015 }}. [[History Ireland]], November/December 2015 issue.</ref><ref>Reynolds, John. [https://ulir.ul.ie/bitstream/handle/10344/3618/Reynolds_2013_divided.pdf?sequence=5 ''Divided loyalties: the Royal Irish Constabulary in county Tipperary, 1919–22''. University of Limerick, 2013. p. 83] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222103943/https://ulir.ul.ie/bitstream/handle/10344/3618/Reynolds_2013_divided.pdf?sequence=5 |date=22 December 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Herlihy B&T">{{cite book |last1=Herlihy |first1=Jim |title=The Black and Tans: A Complete Alphabetical List, Short History and Genealogical Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Four Courts Press |location=Dublin}}</ref> However, historians agree that they were not a separate reserve force<ref>D. M. Leeson, ''The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920–1'' (Oxford University Press, 2011) p. 26</ref><ref name="Gannon review of Herlihy">{{cite web |last1=Gannon |first1=Seán William |title=Book Review: The Black and Tans: A Complete Alphabetical List, Short History and Genealogical Guide |url=https://www.theirishstory.com/2021/08/20/book-review-the-black-and-tans-a-complete-alphabetical-list-short-history-and-genealogical-guide/ |website=The Irish Story |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> but "recruits to the regular RIC"<ref>Richard Abbot, ''Police casualties in Ireland 1919–1921'' (2019), p. 81</ref> and "enlisted as regular constabulary".<ref>Charles Townshend, ''The Republic, The Fight for Irish Independence'' (2013) p. 102</ref> Canadian historian D. M. Leeson and Irish historian Seán William Gannon have not found the name in any historical documents.<ref>D. M. Leeson, "Phantom Force: The 'Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve,' ''History Ireland'', vol. 30, no. 5 (Sep/Oct 2022):14–15</ref><ref name="Gannon review of Herlihy" /> Leeson partly blames Wikipedia for promoting this misnomer.<ref name="Leeson Wiki">{{cite web |last1=Leeson |first1=David |title=Wikipedia, the Black and Tans, and the 'R.I.C. Special Reserve' |url=https://www.theirishstory.com/2022/10/14/wikipedia-the-black-and-tans-and-the-r-i-c-special-reserve/ |website=The Irish Story |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref>

===Definition===

As "Black and Tans" was not the official name of any RIC formation, there is some disagreement over which RIC men it should apply to.<ref name="Gannon formcomp">{{cite journal |last1=Gannon |first1=Seán William |title=THE FORMATION, COMPOSITION, AND CONDUCT OF THE BRITISH SECTION OF THE PALESTINE GENDARMERIE, 1922–1926 |journal=The Historical Journal |date=2013 |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=977–1006 |jstor=24528858 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24528858 |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> Some historians, such as David Leeson, Tom Toomey and Jim Herlihy, define "Black and Tans" as only those RIC recruits from Britain during the War of Independence.<ref name="Herlihy B&T" /><ref name="Leeson Wiki" /><ref name="Toomey B&T">{{cite web |last1=Toomey |first1=Tom |title=The Black and Tans - Who Were They? |url=https://irishistory.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-black-and-tans-who-were-they-black.html |website=Irish Republican History and Remembrance |access-date=15 March 2024}}</ref> Leeson argues that British-recruited police received less training, which took place at [[Gormanston Camp]] rather than the RIC depot in Phoenix Park.<ref name="Leeson Wiki" /> Herlihy says the British-recruited personnel were recruited differently and trained for a shorter time and considers them to have formed a "Special Reserve".<ref name="Herlihy B&T" /><ref name="Gannon formcomp" /> Others, such as William Lowe and Seán William Gannon, also include those recruited in Ireland during the conflict.<ref name="Gannon formcomp" /><ref name="Lowe" /><ref name="Gannon review of Herlihy" /> Gannon argues that records do not show a large difference in training time between British and Irish-recruited personnel, that both wore the black-and-tan uniform, and that they performed identical duties.<ref name="Gannon review of Herlihy" />

===Auxiliary Division===
During the war, the British government founded the [[Auxiliary Division]] of the RIC, which is sometimes conflated with the "Black and Tans".<ref name="warinpeace" /><ref name="harvey auxies">{{cite journal |last1=Harvey |first1=A.D. |title=Who were the Auxiliaries? |journal=The Historical Journal |date=1992 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=665–669 |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0018246X00026029 |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref><ref name="Lowe" /><ref name="Leeson Wiki" /> Some British politicians also occasionally conflated them at the time, such as [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]], [[Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet|Henry Wilson]] and [[Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel|Herbert Samuel]].<ref name="Gannon formcomp" /> However, while the "Black and Tans" were regular constables, the Auxiliary Division was a [[paramilitary]] [[counterinsurgency]] force which was operationally independent and composed of former British military ''officers''.<ref>Leeson, ''The Black and Tans'', p. 30</ref><ref name="Gannon formcomp" /><ref name="Leeson Wiki" /><ref name="Gannon review of Herlihy" /> Thus, academic sources generally distinguish the Auxiliaries from the "Black and Tans".<ref name="Gannon formcomp" /><ref name="Herlihy B&T" /><ref name="Gannon review of Herlihy" /><ref name="Leeson Wiki" /> At least some of the crimes attributed to the Black and Tans were actually the work of the Auxiliaries.<ref>{{cite news |last=Spain |first=Adam |title=Review of 'The Black and Tans' by DM Leeson |newspaper=Irish Independent |date=17 September 2011 |url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/review-history-the-black-and-tans-by-dm-leeson-26772652.html |access-date=2015-11-29 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208175256/http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/review-history-the-black-and-tans-by-dm-leeson-26772652.html |url-status=live }}</ref>