Editing Michael Collins (Irish leader) (section)

==Assassination of Sir Henry Wilson==
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2018}}
Six days after the Pact elections, [[Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet|Sir Henry Wilson]] was assassinated by [[Reginald Dunne]] and [[Joseph O'Sullivan]]—two London-based IRA volunteers, who had served in World War I, in which O'Sullivan had lost a leg—outside Wilson's home at 36 Eaton Place at approximately 2:20 pm. He was in full uniform as he was returning from unveiling the [[Great Eastern Railway War Memorial]] at [[Liverpool Street station]] at 1:00 pm. Shot while he crossed the pavement from a parked taxi to the door of his house, Wilson suffered six wounds - two of them fatal - to the chest.<ref name=jeffery281-3>Jeffery 2006, pp. 281–3.</ref> Two police officers and a chauffeur were also shot as the two assassins sought to avoid capture. They were then surrounded by a crowd and arrested by other policemen after a struggle. Dunne and O'Sullivan were convicted of murder and [[hanged]] on 10 August 1922.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.digitalfilmarchive.net/archive/sources/G000641IN.doc|title=Murdered by Sinn Fein|newspaper=Belfast Telegraph|date=23 June 1922|access-date=20 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930205037/http://www.digitalfilmarchive.net/archive/sources/G000641IN.doc|archive-date=30 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1922-06-23/10/1.html?region=global#start%3D1922-06-20%26end%3D1922-06-30%26terms%3DHenry%20Wilson%20Murdered%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Henry+Wilson+Murdered/w:1922-06-20%7E1922-06-30/1%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Henry+Wilson+Murdered/w:1922-06-20%7E1922-06-30/2%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Henry+Wilson+Murdered/w:1922-06-20%7E1922-06-30/4 |title=''The Times, 23 June 1922, pg. 10'' |website=[[The Times]] |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923035056/https://account.thetimes.co.uk/login?state=hKFo2SBwcFJHd1N3RGh5eFRzcWxqUURNbm9lNy12V0xtZkRpbqFupWxvZ2luo3RpZNkgZWFQZ2NVWjRXNUxTRjZndVRnQlZGR3l6bVdHanloaXqjY2lk2SBEbXNVM0JCbXltb1VYT1JuWG9xcXJxaUJMTEtJNkl2Sg&client=DmsU3BBmymoUXORnXoqqrqiBLLKI6IvJ&protocol=oauth2&prompt=login&scope=openid%20profile%20email&response_type=code&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Flogin.thetimes.co.uk%2Foidc%2Frp%2Fcallback&nustate=eyJyZXR1cm5fdXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhldGltZXMuY28udWsvYXJjaGl2ZS9hcnRpY2xlLzE5MjItMDYtMjMvMTAvMS5odG1sIiwic2lnblVwTGluayI6Imh0dHBzOi8vam9pbi50aGV0aW1lcy5jby51ay8ifQ%3D%3D#start%3D1922-06-20%26end%3D1922-06-30%26terms%3DHenry%20Wilson%20Murdered%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Henry+Wilson+Murdered/w:1922-06-20%7E1922-06-30/1%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Henry+Wilson+Murdered/w:1922-06-20%7E1922-06-30/2%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Henry+Wilson+Murdered/w:1922-06-20%7E1922-06-30/4 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A British Army [[field marshal]], Wilson had recently resigned his commission and been elected an MP for a constituency in Northern Ireland. He had a long history as one of the chief British leaders opposing Collins in the Irish conflict. At that time Wilson had served as military advisor to the Northern Ireland government led by [[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|James Craig]], in which role he was seen to be responsible for the B-Specials and for other sources of loyalist violence in the north. The debate concerning Collins' involvement continued in the 1950s when a number of statements and rebuttals on the subject were published in periodicals. These were reprinted with additions in Rex Taylor's 1961 book, ''Assassination: the death of Sir Henry Wilson and the tragedy of Ireland''. Participants in that discussion were Joe Dolan, Florence O'Donoghue, Denis P. Kelleher, Patrick O'Sullivan, and others.<ref>Taylor, Rex. ''Assassination: the death of Sir Henry Wilson and the tragedy of Ireland'', (London 1961)</ref>