On This Day
1919 — Fatal air accident at Baldonnel
Richard Balfour Bourne who died in a flying accident in 1919, aged 22
RAF airman Richard Bourne died following a flying accident at Baldonnel aerodrome, Co. Dublin — one of the quiet military deaths of the period that rarely reached the history books but affected garrison-town life.
Historical significance: A reminder of the routine human cost of the British military presence beyond combat.
Sources:
1920 — Disappearance of Auxiliary cadets Agnew and Mitchell, Cork
Martin Corry has been described in a documentary as the chief executioner for the Cork IRA between 1920 and 1922
Auxiliary cadets Bertram Agnew and Lionel Mitchell, stationed at Macroom, were reported missing in Cork city. The IRA had captured them at the Johnson and Perrott motor works, interrogated and killed them; their bodies were never found. One of the few IRA operations targeting Auxiliary officers in their own city, showing the intelligence war behind the front line. NOTE: Some accounts give this happening on the 6th November while others give the 16th November.
The video is Sing Sing prison where members of the Knockraha IRA would interrogate prisoners explained by historian Davy Holden.
1921 — Craig wins concessions at the War Office
James Craig (centre) with his cabinet in 1921
James Craig visited the War Office and secured security concessions — including control of policing arrangements to maintain order in the six counties — before formally rejecting any all-Ireland parliament and any reduction of the six-county area, with Carson and Bonar Law backing him. This shows how unionist intransigence, backed by Tory opinion, foreclosed the all-Ireland options being explored in the Treaty talks.
References
1. Irish History 1919–1923 Chronology (n.d.) ‘November 1919’ [Entry for 6 November 1919]. Available at: http://irishhistory1919-1923chronology.ie/november_1919.htm (Accessed: 2 November 2026).
2. Irish History 1919–1923 Chronology (n.d.) ‘November 1920’ [Entry for 6 November 1920]. Available at: http://irishhistory1919-1923chronology.ie/november_1920.htm (Accessed: 2 November 2026).
3. Irish History 1919–1923 Chronology (n.d.) ‘November 1921’ [Entry for 6 November 1921]. Available at: http://irishhistory1919-1923chronology.ie/november_1921.htm (Accessed: 2 November 2026).
4. Kelleher, L. (2013) ‘Former TD “chuckled” about IRA executions’, Irish Examiner, 19 March. Available at: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20225871.html (Accessed: 2 November 2026).
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