#OnThisDay 1921 The West Waterford IRA ambushed a train carrying jurors at Durrow, hoping to lure out the British Army. Soon enough, The IRA were engaged with 300 enemy, killed two, wounded more & managed to extract themselves without losses.
#OnThisDay 1916 Captain William Thomas Lyons from Belfast, was killed in action along with his Colonel and second-in-command when a shell landed on their dugout near the Bluff, St. Eloi. Lyons was serving with the 10th Bn Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was 35.
#OnThisDay 1920 British spy John Charles Byrnes AKA Jack Jameson, ‘The Best Secret Service man we had’, was shot dead in Drumcondra by the Squad. He managed to infiltrate the IRA & met Collins, who liked him. But Byrne was fed false intel which blew his cover.
#OnThisDay 2002 Thomas Shaw, the last WW1 veteran from Ireland passed away. Shaw, from Belfast, joined the Royal Irish Rifles at 15 in 1916. He missed the Somme as his brother, an MP, randomly found him & sent him home. Thomas rejoined & fought at Ypres.
#OnThisDay 1915 Pte Thomas Hope from Mullingar was executed at dawn for desertion. In December Hope was told his two brothers had been killed & he left his post. He was captured, escaped & then arrested acting as an MP. He was not defended in his trial.
