2nd Lt Richard James Story

1902 Born Tyrone, Ireland

1911 census at 5 Pembroke Road Clifton (his father Evelyn J Story is absent)

1922 Mar 1 Joined his regiment from Sandhurst

1922 Aug 30. King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. Lieutenant Story, a native of Wrington Somerset, was found at 11.35pm on Wednesday the 30th of August 1922 near Island Bridge Dublin, he had been shot in the head. Initially it was suspected, and some witnesses testified, that Storey had shot himself but Storey’s revolver was produced in evidence and testimony given that the gun had not been fired for several weeks. A verdict of death due to laceration of the brain caused by a bullet fired by some person unknown was returned.

Hughes-Hallett, then a company commander in KSLI, writes in British Voices "We had one subaltern, Story, murdered one night after dining in another mess. His car was deliberately rammed by another filled with armed men, who just shot him and left him lying there. His uncle lived in Merion Squsre, which I gather was excuse enough to shoot him"

Whatever the truth was, it was a lot more complicated than that.One can establish

• Lt Story left the Marlboro' Barracks where he had dined in the officers mess at about 10.40pm.
• He had had a considerable amont to drink
• He was carrying a .32 automatic pistol
• At 11.00pm a Private of the Northants Regt saw on Infirmary Rd a wrecked car (Story's) on the left side of the road, and a taxi in the middle of the road. The accident was half way between Parkgate St and Island Bridge
• The Northants Private saw two men , and heard one (the taxi driver) say "If you had kept the right side of the road this would not have happened." The taxi driver was to claim that Story hit him when Story was driving without headlights and on the wrong side of the road.
• 5 minutes later he heard a shot, but the two men were still there.
• He said the taxi only had 2 small oil lamps as headlamps.
• The medical witness said it was improbable that the wound was self inflicted
• An armourer sergent who had examined the gun said it had not been fired for some weeks.
• The single bullet that killed Story was the same calibre as his gun, but was a common calibre.
• Another Private soldier gave evidence that he came across the accident, and found Story on the ground dead with his revolver on his chest. The taxi driver was distraught.
• This Private and a second Private swore that before they reached the scene of the accident, they saw a car with bright headlights approach, someone call halt, that car slow, the sound of a shot, then the car speeded off.
• The coronor said that in his opinoion the taxi driver knew a lot more than he could or would tell, but ironically absolved him from any blame.
• It seems clear that Story did not die in the crash, and was able to walk and talk. It seems that a car driven by someone else did stop at the scene of the crash, then drove off. The shot could have been fired by either the driver of that car, the taxi driver or Lt Story.

British soldiers killed in Ireland