Editing Death squad (section)

===== Irish War of Independence =====
As British authority in Ireland began to disintegrate, Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]] declared a [[state of emergency]]. In order to defeat the IRA, [[Winston Churchill]], the [[Secretary of State for War]], suggested the recruitment of [[World War I|First World War]] veterans into a paramilitary law enforcement group which would be integrated into the RIC. Lloyd George agreed to the proposal, and advertisements were filed in British newspapers. Groups of formerly enlisted men were formed into the [[Black and Tans]], so called because of the mixture of surplus military and RIC uniforms they were given. Veterans who had held officers rank were formed into the [[Auxiliary Division]] of the RIC, the members of which were higher paid and received better supplies. Members of both units, however, were despised by the Irish public, against whom the "Tans" and "Auxies" routinely retaliated against for IRA raids and assassinations.<ref>Guerrilla Warfare in the Irish War of Independence, 1919–1921, pp.178–181</ref>

Members of the [[Government of the United Kingdom]], the [[British rule in Ireland|British administration in Ireland]], and senior officers in the RIC tacitly supported reprisals as a way of scaring the Irish into rejecting the IRA. In December 1920, the British government officially approved certain reprisals against property. There were an estimated 150 official reprisals over the next six months. This further eroded support for British rule among the Irish populace.<ref>Coleman, Marie. ''The Irish Revolution, 1916–1923''. Routledge, 2013. pp.86–87</ref>

[[File:Outside the London and North Western Hotel in Dublin, April 21, 1921.jpg|thumb|A group of [[Black and Tans]] in Dublin, April 1921.]]

On 20 March 1920, [[Tomás Mac Curtain]], the nationalist [[Lord Mayor]] of [[Cork (city)|Cork]], was shot dead in front of his wife and son by a group of RIC officers with blackened faces.<ref name="tpc">{{cite book | last = Coogan | first = Tim Pat | author-link = Tim Pat Coogan | title = Michael Collins | publisher = Arrow Books | year = 1991 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/michaelcollinsbi00coog/page/123 123–124] | isbn = 978-0-09-968580-7 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/michaelcollinsbi00coog/page/123 }}</ref>

Enraged, Collins ordered the Twelve Apostles to hunt down and assassinate every one of the RIC officers involved in Mac Curtain's murder. On 22 August 1920, RIC District Inspector Oswald Swanzy, who had ordered the assassination, was shot dead with Mac Curtain's revolver while leaving a [[Protestantism in Ireland|Protestant]] church service in [[Lisburn]], [[County Antrim]]. This sparked a "[[pogrom]]" against the [[Catholic Church in Ireland|Catholic]] residents of the town.<ref>Coogan, p. 149.</ref><ref>'When the killing starts do you defend God or family?' [[Irish Independent]], [http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/when-the-killing-starts-do-you-defend-god-or-family-1462108.html Independent.ie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022075122/http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/when-the-killing-starts-do-you-defend-god-or-family-1462108.html |date=22 October 2012 }}, accessed 15/12/09,</ref>

On [[Bloody Sunday (1920)|Bloody Sunday]], Collins' men set out to assassinate members of a [[British intelligence agencies|British intelligence group]] known as the [[Cairo Gang]], killing or fatally wounding fifteen men, some of whom were unconnected to the Gang. In one incident, the IRA group was heard to scream, "May the Lord have mercy on your souls", before opening fire.<ref>T. Ryle Dwyer, ''The Squad and the Intelligence Operations of Michael Collins'', [[Mercier Press]], 2005. Pages 172–187.</ref>

Collins later said of the incident:

<blockquote>

My one intention was the destruction of the undesirables who continued to make miserable the lives of ordinary decent citizens. I have proof enough to assure myself of the atrocities which this gang of spies and informers have committed. If I had a second motive it was no more than a feeling such as I would have for a dangerous reptile. By their destruction the very air is made sweeter. For myself, my conscience is clear. There is no crime in detecting in wartime the spy and the informer. They have destroyed without trial. I have paid them back in their own coin.<ref>Dwyer, p. 191</ref></blockquote>

That afternoon, the Auxiliary Division opened fire into the crowd during a [[Gaelic football]] match at [[Croke Park]] in retaliation, killing 14 and wounding 68 players and spectators.

The hostilities ended in 1921 with the signing of the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]], which guaranteed the independence of the [[Irish Free State]].