View source for Reginald Dyer

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{{Short description|British Indian Army officer (1864–1927)}}
{{about|an officer of the British Indian Army|the commander of Dyer's Battalion|Royce Coleman Dyer|the English footballer|Reg Dyer}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]]
| name = Reginald Dyer
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CB}}
| image         = General-Reginald-Dyer.jpg
| image_size    = 240px
| caption       = Dyer {{circa}} 1919
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1864|10|09|df=yes}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1927|07|23|1864|10|09|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Murree]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_place   = [[Long Ashton]], [[Somerset]], England
| placeofburial = 
| allegiance    = [[British Empire]]
* [[Bengal Presidency|Presidency of Bengal]]
* [[British Raj|British India]]
| branch        = {{ubl|[[British Army]]|[[Bengal Army]]|[[British Indian Army]]}}
| serviceyears  = 1885–1920
| rank          = {{ubl|[[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] |
[[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier-General]] (temporarily)}}
| commands      = {{ubl|[[Seistan Force]]|[[25th Punjabis]]}}
| unit          = 
| battles       = {{ubl| [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] | [[Chitral Expedition]]|[[First World War]]|[[Third Anglo-Afghan War]]}}
| awards        = {{ubl| [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]|[[Mentioned in Despatches]] (2)}}
| laterwork     = 
| spouse        = Frances Anne Trevor Ommaney (m. 1888)
| children      = {{ubl|Gladys Mary b. 1889|Ivon Reginald, b. 1895|Geoffrey Edward MacLeod, b. 1896}}
}}
[[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] '''Reginald Edward Harry Dyer''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CB}} (9 October 1864{{snd}}23 July 1927) was a British military officer in the [[Bengal Army]] and later the newly constituted [[British Indian Army]]. His military career began in the regular British Army, but he soon transferred to the presidency armies of India.

As a temporary [[Brigadier (India)|brigadier-general]],<ref name="temp-bg" /> he was responsible for the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]] that took place on 13 April 1919 in [[Amritsar]] (in the province of [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]]). He has been called "the Butcher of Amritsar",{{sfn|Collett|2006}} because of his order to fire on a large gathering of people. The official report stated that this resulted in the killing of at least 379 people and the injuring of over a thousand more.<ref>[[Ferdinand Mount]], [https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n07/ferdinand-mount/they-would-have-laughed "They would have laughed"], in ''London Review of Books'' dated 4 April 2019, Vol. 41, No.7, pp. 9–12</ref> Some submissions to the official inquiry suggested a higher number of deaths.{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XuQC5pgzCw4C&pg=PA263 263]}} After the massacre, he served in the [[Third Anglo-Afghan war]], where he lifted the siege at Thal and inflicted heavy casualties on Afghans.<ref name="auto">{{cite book  |editor-first=Tom|editor-last=Lansford|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RgCejwEACAAJ|chapter="A" - "Anglo-Afghan War: Third (1919)" | title=Afghanistan at War: From the 18th Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century | publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] | publication-place=[[Santa Barbara, California]] | date=2017-02-16 | isbn=978-1-59884-759-8|page=49}}</ref>

Dyer later resigned. He was widely condemned for spearheading the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, both in Britain and India, but he became a celebrated hero among some with connections to the [[British Raj]].<ref>Derek Sayer, "British Reaction to the Amritsar Massacre 1919–1920," ''Past & Present,'' May 1991, Issue 131, pp. 130–164</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Bond |first=Brian |date=October 1963 |title=Amritsar 1919 |magazine=History Today |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=666–676}}</ref>

==Life and career==
[[File:major-dyer-1903.jpg|thumb|left|135px|Major Reginald Dyer at the [[Delhi Durbar#Durbar of 1903|Delhi Durbar of 1903]]]]

Dyer was born on 9 October 1864 in [[Murree]], in the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab province]] of [[British Raj|British India]], which is now in [[Pakistan]]. He was the son of Edward Dyer, a brewer who managed the [[Murree Brewery]], and Mary Passmore.{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=3}}<ref>Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series Ireland and the British Empire Kenny, Kevin 2004 Oxford University Press page 90</ref> He spent his childhood in [[Murree]] and [[Shimla]] and received his early education at the [[Lawrence College Ghora Gali]], Murree and [[Bishop Cotton School (Shimla)|Bishop Cotton School]] in Shimla.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chauhan |first=Pratibha |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/himachal/the-evil-cottonian-who-let-the-school-down-753414 |title=The 'Evil Cottonian' who let the school down|agency=Tribune News service |work=The Tribune |language=en|access-date=2 March 2020}}</ref> From eleven he attended [[Midleton College]] in [[County Cork]], Ireland,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imt.ie/news/amritsar-and-the-irish-connections-29-09-2009/|title=Amritsar and the Irish connections|date=29 September 2009|publisher=Irish Medical Times|access-date=13 April 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n23/mode/2up 9]}} before briefly studying medicine, at the [[Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=News from the archives: a recent accession|url=https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/news-archives-recent-accession/|access-date=6 June 2020|website=The National Archives of Ireland|language=en-US}}</ref> Dyer then decided to pursue a military career, and enrolled at the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst|Royal Military College of Sandhurst]], from where he graduated in August 1885. He was also fluent in a number of Indian languages as well as [[Persian language|Persian]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=III |first=H. W. Crocker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T4_mAgAAQBAJ |title=The Politically Incorrect Guide to the British Empire |date=24 October 2011 |publisher=Regnery Publishing |isbn=978-1-59698-629-9 |language=en}}</ref>

Following his graduation, Dyer was commissioned into the [[Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)]] as a lieutenant,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25506|page=4082|date=28 August 1885}}</ref> and performed [[riot control]] duties in [[Belfast]] ([[1886 Belfast riots|1886]]) and served in the [[Third Burmese War]] (1886–87). He transferred to the [[Bengal Army]], initially joining the [[Bengal Staff Corps]] as a lieutenant in 1887.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25766|page=6940|date=13 December 1887}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25883|page=7141|date=14 December 1888}}</ref> He was attached to the 39th Bengal Infantry, later transferring to the [[29th Punjabis]]. Dyer served in the latter in the Black Mountain campaign (1888), the [[Chitral (princely state)|Chitral]] [[Chitral Expedition|Relief]] (1895) (promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in November 1896)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26795|page=6276|date=17 November 1896}}</ref> and, after attending the [[Staff College, Camberley]] from 1896 to 1897,{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n47/mode/2up 33]}} the [[Mahsud]] blockade (1901–02).{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n51/mode/2up 37]}}

In 1901 he was appointed a [[Adjutant general|deputy assistant adjutant general]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27362|page=6489|date=4 October 1901}}</ref> In August 1903, Dyer was promoted to [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]], and served with the [[Landi Kotal]] Expedition (1908). He commanded the 25th Punjabis in India and Hong Kong and was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] in May 1910.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28362|page=3072|date=3 May 1910}}</ref>

During the [[First World War]] (1914–18), he commanded the [[Seistan Force]], for which he was [[mentioned in dispatches]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30360 |supp=y|page=11270|date=30 October 1917}}</ref> and made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (CB). He was promoted to [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] in March 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29924 |supp=y|page=1058|date=30 January 1917}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31787 |supp=y|page=2046|date=17 February 1920}}</ref> and was promoted to temporary [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|brigadier-general]] in February 1916,<ref name="temp-bg">{{London Gazette|issue=29509 |supp=y|page=2902|date=14 March 1916}}</ref> when he took command of a brigade,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30145|page=6185|date=22 June 1917}}</ref> and again in March 1918.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30617 |supp=y|page=4273|date=5 April 1918}}</ref> In 1919, about a month after the Jallianwala Bagh killing, Dyer served in the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]]. His brigade relieved the garrison of [[Thall, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Thal]], and inflicted heavy casualties on Afghans,<ref name="auto"/> for which he was again mentioned in dispatches.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31823 |supp=y|page=3278|date=12 March 1920}}</ref> For a few months in 1919 he was posted to the 5th Brigade at [[Jamrud]].{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n253/mode/2up 231]}} He retired on 17 July 1920, retaining the rank of colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32047|page=9148|date=10 September 1920}}</ref>

In 1888 Dyer married Frances Anne Trevor Ommaney, the daughter of Edmund Piper Ommaney, on 4 April 1888, in St Martin's Church, [[Jhansi]], India.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n31/mode/2up 17]}} The first of their three children, Gladys, was born in Shimla, India, in 1889. They also had two sons, Ivon Reginald, born 1895 and Geoffrey Edward MacLeod, born 1896.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n49/mode/2up 35]}}

==Amritsar massacre==
{{main|Jallianwala Bagh massacre}}

===Background===
In 1919, the European population in [[Punjab region|Punjab]] feared the locals would overthrow British rule. A nationwide [[hartal]] (strike action), which was called on 30 March (later changed to 6 April) by [[Mahatma Gandhi]], had turned violent in some areas. Authorities were also becoming concerned by displays of [[Hindu-Muslim unity]].<ref name=Chadha-1997>Chadha, Yogesh (1997). ''Gandhi: A Life'' John Wiley & Sons Inc. {{ISBN|0-471-35062-1}}</ref>{{RP|237}} [[Michael O'Dwyer]], the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, decided to deport major [[Political demonstration|agitator]]s from the province. One of those targeted was Dr. [[Satyapal]],<ref name=Chadha-1997/>{{RP|237}} a Hindu who had served with the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]] during the First World War. He advocated non-violent [[civil disobedience]] and was forbidden by the authorities to speak publicly. Another agitator was Dr. [[Saifuddin Kitchlew]],<ref name=Chadha-1997/>{{RP|237}} a Muslim barrister who wanted political change and also preached [[non-violence]]. The district magistrate, acting on orders from the Punjab government, had the two leaders arrested.<ref name=Chadha-1997/>{{RP|237}}

In protest at this action, demonstrators headed for the residence of Miles Irving, the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar. The deputy commissioner had given orders that protestors were not to be allowed to pass into the [[Civil Lines|civil lines]] (the civilian administrative area, effectively the "British area" of town). [[Picquet (military)|Army picket]]s fired on the crowd, killing at least eight protesters and wounding others. As a result, angry mobs formed, returning to Amritsar's city centre, setting fire to government buildings and attacking Europeans in the city. Three British bank employees were beaten to death, and [[Marcella Sherwood]], who supervised the Mission Day School for Girls, was cycling around the city to close her schools when she was assaulted by a mob in a narrow street called the Kucha Kurrichhan. Sherwood was rescued from the mob by (Indian) locals.<ref name=Chadha-1997/>{{RP|237–239}} They hid the teacher, who was injured in the beating, before moving her to the fort. Dyer, who was the commandant of the infantry brigade in [[Jalandhar]], was incensed that a European woman had been attacked and decided to take action. He arrived on 11 April to assume command.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n181/mode/2up 162]}}

===Events of 13 April===
{{Further|Jallianwala Bagh massacre}}
The event known historically as the Amritsar massacre occurred on 13 April 1919 in [[Amritsar]]. The date coincided with that of the annual [[Baisakhi]] celebrations which are both a religious and a cultural festival of the Punjabis, and would have attracted visitors from outside the city. On the morning of 13 April, Dyer issued a proclamation in English, Urdu and Punjabi at 19 locations around the city, and had handbills distributed, to the effect that a curfew was imposed, no processions were to take place, and that meetings of more than four individuals could be fired upon.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|pp=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n187/mode/2up 168–169]}} By 12:30pm that day, Dyer was informed that, in defiance of his orders, a meeting was to be held in the Jallianwala Bagh.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n189/mode/2up 169]}}

Dyer was determined to suppress disobedience in Amritsar. The proposed meeting was to take place in the Jallianwala Bagh, in defiance of the proclamation; Dyer saw this as an opportunity to, in his view, suppress rebels, and, as he claimed, do so in isolation from the general populace.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|pp=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n189/mode/2up 170–172]}} The meeting assembled at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled space of {{convert|6|to|7|acre|ha|0}} with five entrances, four of which were narrow, admitting only a few people at a time. The fifth entrance was that used by Dyer and his troops.  The organiser of the meeting was Dr Mohammed Bashir, who was later found guilty of inciting the attack on the National Bank.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n195/mode/2up 175]}} Seven people had addressed the meeting before Dyer arrived, including Brij Gopi Nath who read a poem inciting people to war.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|pp=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n195/mode/2up 175–176]}}

Dyer had at his command 50 troops, including 25 [[Gurkhas]] of 1/[[9th Gurkha Rifles|9 Gurkha Rifles]] (1st battalion, 9th Gurkha Rifles), 25 [[Pathans]] and [[Baluch people|Baluch]] and [[59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force)|59th Sindh Rifles]], armed with [[Lee–Enfield|.303 Lee–Enfield]] rifles.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n197/mode/2up 178]}} He also had two [[armored car (military)|armoured cars]] with machine guns, which were unable to pass through the entrance. Upon entering the Bagh, the general ordered the troops to shoot directly into the gathering. The shooting continued unabated for about 10 minutes,<ref>''Disorder Inquiry Committee Report,'' Vol II, p. 191.</ref> and the soldiers' supply of 1,650 rounds of ammunition was almost exhausted.<ref name=CommissionersI_II_56>''Report of Commissioners,'' Vol I, II, Bombay, 1920, Reprint New Delhi, 1976, p. 56.</ref>

Dyer is reported to have, from time to time, "checked his fire and directed it upon places where the crowd was thickest",<ref name=CommissionersI_II_56/> not because the crowd was slow to disperse, but because he "had made up his mind to punish them for having assembled there."<ref name=CommissionersI_II_56/> Some of the soldiers initially shot into the air, at which Dyer shouted: "Fire low. What have you been brought here for?"<ref>''Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, A Premeditated Plan'', Punjab University Chandigarh, 1969, p 89, Raja Ram; ''A Saga of Freedom Movement and Jallianwala Bagh'', Udham Singh, 2002, p 141, Prof (Dr) Sikander Singh.</ref> Later, Dyer's own testimony revealed that the crowd was not given any warning to disperse and he was not remorseful for having ordered his troops to shoot.<ref>See: ''Report of Commissioners, Vol I, II'', Bombay, 1920, Reprint New Delhi, 1976, pp. 55–56.</ref>

{{blockquote|The worst part of the whole thing was that the firing was directed towards the exit gates through which the people were running out. There were 3 or 4 small outlets in all and bullets were actually rained over the people at all these gates{{nbsp}}... and many got trampled under the feet of the rushing crowds and thus lost their lives{{nbsp}}... even those who lay flat on the ground were fired upon.<ref>Statement of Eyewitness Mr Girdhari Lal, who happened to watch the scene from the window of his house overlooking the Jallianwala Bagh: Ref: Report of Commissioners, Vol I, II, Bombay, 1920, Reprint New Delhi, 1976, p 1011.</ref>}}

The [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre#Hunter Commission|Hunter Commission]] report on the incident, published the following year by the Government of India, criticised both Dyer, and the Government of the Punjab for failing to compile a casualty count, so quoted a figure offered by the Sewa Samati (A Social Services Society) of 379 identified dead, comprising 337 men, 41 boys and a six-week-old baby,{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XuQC5pgzCw4C&pg=PA263 263]}} with approximately 1,100 wounded, of which 192 were seriously injured.<ref name="HumterMins">{{cite web |title=Amritsar: Minutes of Evidence taken before the Hunter Committee |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliament-and-empire/collections1/collections2/amritsar-hunter-commission/amritsar-hunter-commission/ |website=Parliament.UK |access-date=12 April 2019}}</ref> However other estimates,<ref name=HP23>{{Cite web|url=http://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/2719279?searchWord=&backquery=%5Blocation=&query=&filter_field_1=subjectCollection&filter_type_1=equals&filter_value_1=Home+Political&filter_field_2=department&filter_type_2=equals&filter_value_2=Home+Political::Deposit&rpp=20&sort_by=dc.date.accessioned_dt&order=asc%5D|title=Abhilekh Patal|website=www.abhilekh-patal.in}}</ref> from government civil servants in the city (commissioned by the Punjab Sub-committee of Indian National Congress),<ref>Report of Commissioners, appointed by the Punjab Sub-committee of Indian National Congress, Vol I, New Delhi, p 68</ref> as well as counts from the Home Political,<ref name=HP23/> cite numbers of well over a thousand dead. According to a Home Political Deposit report, the number was more than 1,000, with more than 1,200 wounded.<ref name=HP23 /> Dr Smith, a British [[civil surgeon#British use|civil surgeon]] at Amritsar, estimated that there were over 1,800 casualties.<ref>Report of Commissioners, Vol I, New Delhi, p 105</ref> The infliction of these casualties earned Dyer the epithet of the "Butcher of Amritsar".{{sfn|Collett|2006}}

===Subsequent events===
The day after the massacre Dyer continued along confrontational lines, even though the city was quiet. He met with a delegation of Amritsar citizens to whom he directed the following speech, without having received their petitions or heard from them. Made to the delegation in [[Urdu]], the English translation of a segment of Dyer's statement is shown below, as given in Collett's ''The Butcher of Amritsar'':{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=270}}
{{blockquote|You people know well that I am a soldier and a military man. Do you want war or peace? If you wish for a war, the Government is prepared for it, and if you want peace, then obey my orders and open all your shops; else I will shoot. For me the battlefield of France or Amritsar is the same.}}
Dyer devised what even one of his generally supportive superiors, O'Dwyer, described as an "irregular and improper" retaliation for the attack on [[Marcella Sherwood]], designed, it seemed, to fall indiscriminately and humiliatingly on the local population. On the street where the assault occurred, Kucha Kurrichhan, Dyer ordered daytime pickets placed at either end. Anyone wishing to proceed into the street between 6&nbsp;am and 8&nbsp;pm was [[Crawling Order|made to crawl]] the {{convert|200|yd}} on all fours, lying flat on their bellies.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Susan Kingsley|title=Aftershocks: politics and trauma in Britain, 1918–1931|year=2009|publisher=University of California|isbn=978-1-4039-9333-5|pages=37|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t7eypXVnabIC&pg=PT49}}</ref> When questioned at the Hunter inquiry about this, Dyer explained his motivation:<ref>{{multiref2
| 1 = {{cite book|last=Talbott|first=Strobe |title=Engaging India: Diplomacy, Democracy, and the Bomb |publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8157-8300-8| page=[https://archive.org/details/engagingindiadip00talb/page/245 245]|url=https://archive.org/details/engagingindiadip00talb |url-access=registration |date=2004}}
| 2 = {{cite news |last1=Kumar |first1=Mayank |title=The Crawling Order: A sign of imperial British atrocities |url=https://sundayguardianlive.com/news/crawling-order-sign-imperial-british-atrocities |work=The Sunday Guardian |date=16 April 2022}}
}}</ref>{{blockquote|Some Indians crawl face downwards in front of their gods. I wanted them to know that a British woman is as sacred as a Hindu god and therefore, they have to crawl in front of her too.}} There was a curfew in effect from 8&nbsp;pm, so the order effectively closed the street for the full 24 hours. The houses and shops had no back doors, so the inhabitants could not go out without climbing down from their roofs. No deliveries or services were available to those effectively locked in, so no food or other supplies could be replenished, any sick or injured had no medical attendance, and normal rubbish and latrine sanitary services were absent. The trapped inhabitants included some of the individuals responsible for rescuing and attending to Sherwood, the assault victim. This order was in effect from 19 April until 25, or possibly, 26 April 1919. In addition, Dyer had flogging triangles erected in the street; on these, youths arrested for the assault, some of whom were not subsequently convicted, were publicly flogged in view of the residents.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n217/mode/2up 197]}}{{sfn|Collett|2006|pp=282–284}}

===Reaction in Britain and British India===
A [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre#Hunter Commission|committee of inquiry]], chaired by [[William Hunter, Lord Hunter|Lord Hunter]], was established to investigate the massacre. The committee's report criticised Dyer, arguing that in "continuing firing as long as he did, it appears to us that Colonel Dyer committed a grave error."<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HUo4AAAAIAAJ&q=hunter+report+bagh&pg=PA241 | title=Gandhi's Rise to Power: Indian Politics 1915–1922| isbn=9780521098731| last1=Brown| first1=Judith M.| date=26 September 1974| publisher=CUP Archive}}</ref> Dissenting members argued that the martial law regime's use of force was wholly unjustified. "Colonel Dyer thought he had crushed the rebellion and [[Michael O'Dwyer]] was of the same view," they wrote, "(but) there was no rebellion which required to be crushed."{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n295/mode/2up 273]}} ''[[The Morning Post]]'' claimed Dyer was "the man who saved India" and started a benefit fund which raised over £26,000 [[pound sterling|sterling]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/jallianwala-bagh-massacre-when-a-british-newspaper-collected-rs-26000-pounds-for-general-dyer/articleshow/68866316.cms?from=mdr|title=Jallianwala Bagh massacre: When a British newspaper collected 26,000 pounds for General Dyer|date=13 April 2019|work=[[The Economic Times]]|access-date=11 October 2021}}</ref> Sources differ on how much, if anything [[Rudyard Kipling]] contributed to this fund and some sources claim that 'the man who saved India' line came from Kipling.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130221/jsp/frontpage/story_16587696.jsp#.Ugh5LRZXTGA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225191140/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130221/jsp/frontpage/story_16587696.jsp#.Ugh5LRZXTGA|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 February 2013|title=History repeats itself, in stopping short|last=Thakur|first=Sankarshan|date=21 February 2013|work=The Telegraph|access-date=12 August 2013|location=Calcutta, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Kipling Sahib: The Raj Patriot|first=Subhash |last=Chopra|publisher=New Millennium|year=2016|isbn=978-1858454405}}</ref> Michael O'Dwyer, Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab from 1913 to 1919, endorsed Dyer and called the massacre a "correct" action.<ref>''Disorder Inquiry Committee Report'', Vol II, p 197</ref> Some historians now believe he premeditated the massacre and set Dyer to work.<ref>''The Massacre that Ended the Raj'', London, 1981, p 78, Alfred Draper</ref><ref>Rajit K. Mazumder, ''The Indian army and the making of Punjab'' (2003) pp. 239–240</ref><ref>John Keay, ''India: a history'' (2001) p. 475</ref><ref>Lawrence James, ''The Rise and fall of the British Empire'' (1997) p. 417</ref> Many Indians blamed O'Dwyer, and while Dyer was never assaulted, O'Dwyer was assassinated in London in 1940 by an Indian revolutionary, Sardar [[Udham Singh]] in retaliation for his role in the massacre.<ref name="video">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/indian-pop-video-honours-activists-udham-singh-1940-killing-british-official |title=Indian pop video honours activist's 1940 killing of British official |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=31 July 2015 |access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

Dyer was met by the Adjutant-General of India, Lieutenant-General [[Havelock Hudson]], who told him that he was relieved of his command. He was told later by the Commander-in-Chief in India, [[Sir Charles Monro, 1st Baronet|General Charles Monro]], to resign his post and that he would not be reemployed.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yehassAM-t0C&dq=General+Sir+Havelock+Hudson+Amritsar+massacre&pg=PT105 |title=Mariners, Merchants and the Military Too|first=Phillip E.|last= Jones|year=2011|publisher=P. J. Publishing|isbn=978-0956554949}}</ref> He was heavily criticised both in Britain and India. Several senior and influential British government officials and Indians spoke against him, including:
*[[Pandit Motilal Nehru]], father of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], the first [[Prime Minister of India]], who called the massacre the "saddest and most revealing of all".<ref>Valentine Chitol, ''India Old and New,'' London, 1921, p. 312</ref>
*[[Rabindranath Tagore]], the first Asian Nobel Laureate and distinguished Indian educator, who renounced his knighthood in protest against the massacre and said, "a great crime has been done in the name of law in the Punjab".<ref>''Tribune'', Lahore, 16 April 1919, see Government of India, Home Department, Political Deposit, August 1919, No 52, National Archives of India, New Delhi.</ref>
*[[C. Sankaran Nair|Shankaran Nair]], who resigned his membership of the Viceroy's Executive Council in the Legislative Council of Punjab in protest of the massacre.<ref name="PunjabLC">Punjab Legislative Council Proceedings, 23 February 1921, Vol I I.</ref>
*Punjab Legislative Council members Nawab Din Murad and Kartar Singh, who described the massacre as "neither just nor humane."<ref name="PunjabLC" />
*[[Charles Freer Andrews]], an [[Anglican]] priest and friend of Gandhi, who termed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as a "cold-blooded massacre and inhumane."<ref name=HP126-194>''Home Political, K. W., A'', 20 June 1920, Nos 126–194, National Archives of India, New Delhi.</ref>
*Brigadier-General Herbert [[Conyers Surtees]], who stated in the Dyer debate that "we hold India by force – undoubtedly by force".<ref>Arthur Swinson, ''Six Minutes of Sunset'', London, 1964, p. 210; cited in ''Psycho-Political compulsions of Jallinawala Bagh'' by Gurcaharan Singh, op cit, p. 156.</ref>
*[[Edwin Samuel Montagu]], the [[Secretary of State for India]], who called it "a grave error in judgement". In a debate in the House of Commons, he asked, "Are you going to keep your hold on India by terrorism, racial humiliation, subordination and frightfulness, or are you going to rest it upon the goodwill and the growing goodwill of the people of your Indian Empire?"<ref name=HP126-194/>{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=380}}
*[[Winston Churchill]], at the time Britain's Secretary of State for War, who called the massacre "an episode without precedent or parallel in the modern history of the British Empire{{nbsp}}... an extraordinary event, a monstrous event, an event which stands in singular and sinister isolation{{nbsp}}... the crowd was neither armed nor attacking" during a debate in the House of Commons. In a letter to the leader of the Liberals and former Secretary of State for India, the [[Marquess of Crewe]], he wrote, "My own opinion is that the offence amounted to murder, or alternatively manslaughter."{{sfn|Collett|2006|pp=382–383}}<ref>{{cite hansard| house=House of Commons|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1920/jul/08/army-council-and-general-dyer#column_1725|date = 8 July 1920|column_start = 1725|column_end = 1726|speaker= Mr. Churchill|position= The Secretary of State for War|title=Were we right in accepting, as we have done, the conclusion of the Army Council as terminating the matter so far as Colonel Dyer was concerned, or ought we to have taken further action of a disciplinary or quasi-disciplinary character against him?}}</ref>
*Leader of the Liberal Party and former Prime Minister [[H. H. Asquith]], who observed: "There has never been such an incident in the whole annals of [[Anglo-Indian]] history, nor, I believe, in the history of our empire since its very inception down to present day. It is one of the worst outrages in the whole of our history."<ref>''Hansard'', 5th sec. Commons, quoted by Derek Sayer, British Commemoration of Amritsar Volume, Patiala, 1997, p. 24.</ref>
*[[B. G. Horniman]], who observed: "No event within living memory, probably, has made so deep and painful impression on the mind of the public in this country [Britain] as what came to be known as the Amritsar massacre."<ref>''Amritsar and Our Duty to India'', London, 1920, B. G. Horniman, p. 7.</ref>

Gandhi referenced Dyer and the massacre in his 1927 letter on moral justifications of violence, especially in the context of religion: 

<blockquote>"General Dyer himself surely believed that English men and women were in danger of losing their lives if he did not take the measures he did. We, who know better, call it an act of cruelty and vengeance. But from General Dyer’s own standpoint, he is justified. Many Hindus sincerely believe that it is a proper thing to kill a man who wants to kill a cow and he will quote scripture for his defence and many other Hindus will be found to justify his action. But strangers who do not accept the sacredness of the cow will hold it to be preposterous to kill a human being for the sake of slaying an animal (sic)."<ref>{{cite web |title=Letter to Deveshvar Siddhantalankar |url=https://archive.org/details/HindSwaraj-CWMG-033/page/358/mode/2up |website=Collected Works of Mohandas Gandhi |access-date=24 April 2025 |location=CWMG, Vol. 033 |page=358 |language=English |date=1927}}</ref><ref name="o647">{{cite web | title=The perpetrator of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre General Reginald Dyer | website=Satyaagrah | date=1919-04-13 | url=https://mail.satyaagrah.com/shorts/shorts-history/1343-the-perpetrator-of-the-jallianwala-bagh-massacre-general-reginald-dyer-was-forgiven-by-mohandas-gandhi-as-an-exercise-of-forgiveness-or-love-to-nurse-dyer-back-to-life-if-he-was-suffering-from-a-physical-malady | access-date=2025-02-09}}</ref></blockquote>

During the Dyer debates in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, there was both praise and condemnation of Dyer.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1920/jul/08/army-council-and-general-dyer Army Council and Colonel Dyer] Hansard, 8 July 1920</ref> In 1920, the British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] Conference at Scarborough unanimously passed a resolution denouncing the Amritsar massacre as a "cruel and barbarous action" of British officers in Punjab, and called for their trial, the recall of Michael O'Dwyer and the Viceroy, [[Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford|Lord Chelmsford]], and the repealing of repressive legislation.<ref>''The Times'', London, 25 June 1920, cited in Sayer, ''British Reaction of Amritsar massacre'', 1919–20, Reprint in ''Jallianwala Bagh Commemoration Volume'', Patiala, 1997, p. 41</ref>

===Dyer's response and motivation===
Dyer wrote an article in the ''Globe'' of 21 January 1921, entitled, "The Peril to the Empire". It commenced with "India does not want self-government. She does not understand it." Dyer wrote later that:{{sfn|Collett|2006|pp=406–407}}
*"There should be an eleventh commandment in India - "Thou shalt not agitate'. All that the cultivator and the factory worker want is just and clear laws applicable to all alike. He does not always know why his passions have been roused and whether he is being misled, who is there to tell him but the [[Sahib#Colonial_and_modern_use|Sahib]]? And now it seems that the Sahib is not allowed to tell him. He does not want an exchange of rulers."
*"India will not be desirous or capable of self-government for generations, and when self-government does come, it will not be the leaders of revolt who will rule. The very names of most of the extremists smell in the nostrils of Indian manhood."
*"Self-government for India is a horrible pretence which would set the people of the country at each other's throats long before the beginnings of constructive work were made possible. Under self-government, India would commit suicide; but our politicians would be guilty of murder as associates in the crime."
*"Gandhi will not lead India to capable self-government. The British Raj must continue, firm and unshaken in its administration of justice to all men, to carry out the job it has taken in hand."{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XuQC5pgzCw4C&pg=PA407 407]}}

In his official response to [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre#Hunter Commission|the Hunter commission]] that inquired into the shooting, Dyer was unremorseful and stated: "I think it quite possible that I could have dispersed the crowd without firing but they would have come back again and laughed, and I would have made, what I consider, a fool of myself."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/sep/20jal.htm|title=Rediff On The NeT: General Dyer hardly remorseful for Jallianwala massacre|website=www.rediff.com}}</ref>

However, in his account of the massacre, [[Nick Lloyd (historian)|Nick Lloyd]] comments that although Dyer later claimed to have undertaken the massacre to "save" British India, he had had no such idea in his mind that fateful afternoon. As well as being "dazed and shaken up" – hardly the response of a soldier who had had murder in his mind – all the witnesses recall how Dyer "was unnerved and deeply upset about what had happened".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lloyd |first1=Nick|title=The Amritsar Massacre: The Untold Story of One Fateful Day |date=2011 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-0857730770 |edition=Rev |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6X3AgAAQBAJ |access-date=2 July 2018}}</ref>

[[Nigel Collett]] – author of the biography ''[[The Butcher of Amritsar]]'' – is convinced that the Amritsar massacre preyed on Dyer's mind from the very day he opened fire. "He spent the rest of his life trying to justify himself. He persuaded himself it had been his duty to act as he did, but he could not persuade his soul that he had done right. It rotted his mind and, I am guessing here, added to his sickness."<ref name=NigelCollet>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050605/asp/look/story_4823931.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060315082735/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050605/asp/look/story_4823931.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 March 2006|title=Dyer consequences – interview with Nigel Collett}}</ref><ref name=ButcherofAmritsar>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/a-family-man-whose-bloody-disposition-sent-the-british-into-a-spin/201603.article |title=A family man whose bloody disposition sent the British into a spin: The Butcher of Amritsar|date=24 February 2006|magazine=[[Times Higher Education]]}}</ref>

Collett quotes Dyer on the motivations that drove him to act as he did:{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=328}} "It was no longer a question of merely dispersing the crowd but one of producing a sufficient moral effect, from a military point of view, not only on those who were present but more specially throughout the Punjab. There could be no question of undue severity. The mutineers had thrown out the challenge and the punishment, if administered at all, must be complete, unhesitating and immediate."<ref name=colletreviewlloyd>{{cite web|url=https://ourtribes.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/my-review-of-nick-lloyds-book-on-the-amritsar-massacre/|title=Nigel Collet's Review of Nick Lloyd's Book on the Amritsar Massacre|date=17 July 2012}}</ref>

Historian [[Gordon Johnson (historian)|Gordon Johnson]] comments that 
<blockquote>...{{nbsp}}Dyer's actions ran counter to Army regulations. These required that force should be constrained by what was reasonable to achieve an immediate objective; minimum, not maximum, force should be deployed. Moreover, proper warning had to be given. On 13 April 1919, as demonstrated by Collett, Dyer ignored this. While he may have believed the Raj was threatened, and may have thought the mob was out to attack him and his soldiers, this does not justify his cavalier abuse of procedure and his indifference to Indian suffering. In so behaving, he brought not only death to the innocent but also destroyed himself and undermined the empire in which he took so much pride.<ref name=ButcherofAmritsar/> </blockquote>

==Later life==
Churchill, the then [[Secretary of State for War]], wanted Dyer to be disciplined, but the [[Army Council (1904)|Army Council]] superseded by him decided to allow Dyer to resign with no plan for further punishment. Following Churchill's speech defending the council's decision and a debate in Parliament, on 8 July 1920 MPs voted for the government by a majority of 247 to 37; a motion calling for approval of Dyer's actions was defeated by a majority of 230 to 129.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/churchill/am-man.htm | title=Background and Commentary of Winston Churchill's 1920 British House of Commons Amritsar Massacre Speech}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/churchill/amritsar.htm|title=Winston Churchill – Amritsar Massacre Speech – July 8th 1920, House of Commons}}</ref>

Having been born in India and educated in Ireland, Dyer then settled in Britain. He was presented with a gift of £26,000 sterling, ({{Inflation|UK|26000|1920|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}), which emerged from the fund raised on his behalf by ''[[The Morning Post]]'', a conservative, pro-imperialist newspaper which later merged with ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''. A "Thirteen Women Committee" was constituted to present "the Saviour of the Punjab with the sword of honour and a purse". Large contributions to the fund were made by civil servants and by British Army and Indian Army officers, although serving members of the military were not allowed to donate to political funds under the King's Regulations (para. 443).{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=390}}

The ''Morning Post'' had supported Dyer's action on the grounds that the massacre was necessary to "Protect the honour of European Women".<ref>Morning Post, cited in Derek Sayer, ''British Reaction of Amritsar massacre'', 1919–20, reprinted in ''Jallianwala Bagh Commemoration Volume'', Patiala, 1997, p. 45.</ref>

Many Indians, including [[Nobel Laureate]] [[Rabindranath Tagore]], were outraged by the fund for Dyer, particularly due to the families of the victims killed at the Jallianwala Bagh, who were still fighting for government compensation. In the end, they received Rs 500 (then equal to £37.10s.0d; {{Inflation|UK|37|1920|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) for each victim.{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=392}}

Dyer acquired a farm at Ashton Fields, [[Ashton Keynes]], [[Wiltshire]], which was still given as his address when he died,<ref name=probate>{{cite web|title=Probate Index for 1927: DYER C. B. Reginald Edward Harry of Ashton Fields Ashton Keynes Wiltshire died 23 July 1927 at St Martin's Long Ashton near Bristol|website=Probate Search Gov.uk| access-date= 17 April 2019 |url=https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/}}</ref> although in 1925 he had bought a small cottage at [[Long Ashton]] on the outskirts of Bristol and spent his last two years there, while one of his sons lived at the farm.<ref name=ghosh>{{cite news|first=Swagata |last=Ghosh|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/sunday-chronicle/cover-story/100416/the-last-days-of-reginald-dyer.html |title=The last days of Reginald Dyer| date= 10 April 2016 |work=Deccan Chronicle|access-date= 17 April 2019}}</ref>

Dyer suffered a series of strokes during the last years of his life and he became increasingly isolated due to the paralysis and speechlessness inflicted by his strokes. He died of [[cerebral haemorrhage]] and [[arteriosclerosis]]{{sfn|Collett|2006|pp=420–424}} on 23 July 1927.{{sfn|Colvin|1929|p=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n337/mode/2up 316]}} On his deathbed, Dyer reportedly said: {{blockquote|So many people who knew the condition of Amritsar say I did right{{nbsp}}... but so many others say I did wrong. I only want to die and know from my Maker whether I did right or wrong.{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=}} }} The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative-leaning]] ''Morning Post'' defended him in an article titled "The Man Who Saved India", where they wrote that Dyer "did his duty, regardless of consequences".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Prisha |title=Explained {{!}} What happened to General Dyer – the butcher of Jallianwala Bagh? |url=https://www.wionews.com/india-news/explained-what-happened-to-general-dyer-the-butcher-of-jallianwala-bagh-581900 |access-date=7 January 2024 |website=[[WION]] |date=13 April 2023 |language=en-us}}</ref> The [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal-supporting]] ''[[Westminster Gazette]]'' wrote a contrary opinion: "No British action, during the whole course of our history in India, has struck a severer blow to Indian faith in British justice than the massacre at Amritsar."{{sfn|Collett|2006|p=431}} Although still owning property in Wiltshire, Dyer died at his cottage in Somerset, St Martin's, [[Long Ashton]], near Bristol.<ref name=ghosh/> He left an estate valued at £11,941, {{Inflation|UK|11941|1927|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}.<ref name=probate/>

==In popular culture==
In 1977, Dyer was depicted in the Indian film [[Jallian Wala Bagh]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/jallianwala-bagh-102-anniversary-looking-for-traces-of-the-massacre-in-bollywood-7271249/|title=Jallianwala Bagh's 102nd anniversary: Looking for traces of the massacre in Bollywood|date=14 April 2021|newspaper=Indian Express|access-date=9 February 2025}}</ref>

In the 1982 Oscar-winning film [[Gandhi (film)|Gandhi]], Dyer was portrayed by [[Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Gandhi (1982) - Box Office Data, DVD and Blu-ray Sales, Movie News, Cast and Crew Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gandhi-(1982)#tab=cast-and-crew |access-date=5 October 2023 |website=The Numbers}}</ref>

R. E. Dyer was a character in Salman Rushdie's 1981 novel [[Midnight's Children|Midnight’s Children]], which dramatises the Amritsar massacre.<ref>{{cite book|first=Salman|last=Rushdie|title=Midnight's Children|page=35|year=1995|publisher=Everyman|isbn=978-1857152173}}</ref>

Dyer's actions in Amritsar are mentioned in [[The Great Indian Novel]] by [[Shashi Tharoor]] and by [[Nigel Collett]] in his 2005 historical biography [[The Butcher of Amritsar]].<ref>
{{cite news|last=French|first=Patrick|title=History: The Butcher of Amritsar by Nigel Collett|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/culture/books/article89459.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051312/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/culture/books/article89459.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 March 2016|newspaper=Sunday Times|date=24 April 2005}}
</ref>

Dyer was also depicted in Indian films such as [[The Legend of Bhagat Singh]] (2002),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://somindram.com/actors/richard-as-reginald-dyer-who-ordered-gurkha-soldiers-to-open-fire-on-an-unarmed-gathering-of-people-at-jallianwala-bagh|title=Richard as Reginald Dyer, who ordered Gurkha soldiers to open fire on an unarmed gathering of people at Jallianwala Bagh|publisher=somindram|access-date=9 February 2025}}</ref> and [[Sardar Udham]] (2021).<ref name="x651">{{cite web | last=Gupta | first=Shubhra | title=Sardar Udham review: A turbulent slice of India’s colonial past | website=The Indian Express | date=2021-10-17 | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/sardar-udham-movie-review-a-turbulent-slice-of-indias-colonial-past-7573877/ | access-date=2025-04-13}}</ref>

Dyer was portrayed by Alex Reece in the 2025 web series [[The Waking of a Nation]].<ref name="t739">{{cite web | title=The Waking of a Nation teaser: Ram Madhvani set to explore the Jallianwala Bagh ‘conspiracy’ in new show | website=The Indian Express | date=2025-02-10 | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/the-waking-of-a-nation-teaser-ram-madhvani-set-to-explore-the-jallianwala-bagh-conspiracy-in-new-show-9828117/ | access-date=2025-04-12}}</ref>

Dyer was portrayed by [[Simon Paisley Day]] in the 2025 film [[Kesari Chapter 2]].<ref name="c760">{{cite web | last=Khan | first=Lubna | title=Kesari Chapter 2: Ananya Panday Plays Dilreet Gill, R Madhavan’s FIRST Look As Neville Mckinley Unveiled | website=News18 | date=2025-03-28 | url=https://www.news18.com/movies/kesari-chapter-2-ananya-panday-plays-dilreet-gill-r-madhavans-first-look-as-neville-mckinley-unveiled-9278795.html | access-date=2025-04-12}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.208303/page/n5 |title=The Life Of General Dyer|last=Colvin|first= Ian|author-link=Ian Colvin|date=1929|publisher=William Blackwood And Sons|location=London}}
*{{cite book |first=Nigel |last=Collett|title=The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XuQC5pgzCw4C |date=2006 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-575-8 |url-access=limited}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Draper |first1=Alfred |title=Amritsar: The Massacre That Ended the Raj |date=1981 |publisher=Littlehampton Book Services Ltd |location=London|isbn=978-0-304-30481-3}}
* {{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32947 |title=Dyer, Reginald Edward Harry (1864–1927) |first=T. R. |last=Moreman |date=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/32947 |access-date=7 January 2008}}
* {{cite book |author1=((Hunter Committee)) |author2=(("Disorders Inquiry" Committee)) |title=Report of the Committee Appointed by the Government of India to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab 1919–1920 |date=1920 |volume=I–III|url=https://archive.org/details/report-disturbances-punjab/page/n7/mode/2up?view=theater |id= (Cmd. 681) [1920]}}

==External links==
* [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1920/jul/08/army-council-and-general-dyer Army Council and General Dyer] 8 July 1920, UK House of Commons
* [http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/churchill/amritsar.htm Winston Churchill's Amritsar Speech], 8 July 1920, UK House of Commons
* [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/mar/14/sir-michael-odwyer-assassination#S5CV0358P0_19400314_HOC_315,14 Michael O'Dwyer (Assassination)] 14 March 1940, UK House of Commons

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