Cairo Gang

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The Cairo Gang, officially the Dublin District Special Branch (DDSB) or D Branch, was a group of British military intelligence agents who were sent to Dublin in 1920 during the Irish War of Independence to identify prominent members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) with, according to information gathered by the IRA Intelligence Department (IRAID), the intention of disrupting the IRA by assassination. It was originally commanded by British Army General Gerald Boyd. Twelve D-Branch members, including British Army officers, Royal Irish Constabulary officers and a civilian informer (although some victims' links to the British establishment have been contested), were simultaneously assassinated in Dublin on the early morning of Sunday 21 November 1920 by the IRA assassination unit known as The Squad. The operation was a meticulously planned decapitation strike masterminded by Michael Collins. The 14 deaths were the first killings of what was later dubbed Bloody Sunday. Tim Pat Coogan's biography...

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