The Troubles 7

THE

TROUBLES

T C O

R E OB

R 1 E B M 7 E T 9 P SE 1

Page 2

THE TROUBLES

THE TROUBLES

A CHRONOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND CONFLICT

I

t can often be a contentious issue of debate of when and how Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’ began, who and what is to blame, and even which event in case led us to where we are now. You can go back 30 years, or even 300 years and beyond for in reality Ireland has been engaged in conflict with England for centuries.

Therefore, in order to compile a chronological record of the modern Troubles - the term usually given to the most recent conflict, we must mark a defining point of start, which we have taken as partition itself and from which we began in Issue 1. In turn again, we feel it is equally important to give you the reader some understanding why events spiralled as they did into a bloody civil war.

This is not another view of the Troubles, this has been done and redone. This is the historical recording of events compiled by people from different parts of Belfast who lived through them. Our objective as local historians is to compile what we hope will be as near as possible a definitive reference to events as they unfolded through the last three decades.

In terms of research we have used as much material as possible and from diverse perspectives. We are confident that we have covered events as they were reported at the time. If however you feel that we have either left something out or indeed got something wrong we are more than happy to hear from you. As mentioned above this series of publications is the historical recording of the Troubles and all corrections are more than welcome.

GLENRAVEL PUBLICATIONS ASHTON CENTRE LEPPER STREET BELFAST BT15 2DN Tel: (028) 9020 2100 E-Mail: glenravel@mac.com

• •

Fax: (028) 9020 2177 Website: www.glenravel.com

This series of publications is designed to create a better historical understanding of what has become known as ‘The Troubles.’ Therefore for educational purposes you are more than welcome to use any material from them. All that we ask is that the source is acknowledged and a copy of the material sent to us after publication. We use material that has been placed in the public domain. We try to acknowledge all the copyright holders but sometimes this is not possible. If you claim credit for something that has appeared in this publication then we will be happy to know about it so that we can make the appropriate acknowledgements.

SOURCE MATERIAL PUBLICATIONS LOST LIVES David McKitterick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney & Chris Thornton This publication is used for the list of those who died at the back of each issue

NEWSPAPERS

INTERNET RESOURCES

BELFAST NEWSLETTER Various issues for period covered

CAIN WEB SERVICE http://cain.ulst.ac.uk

BELFAST TELEGRAPH Various issues for period covered

BBC ONLINE www.bbc.co.uk

IRISH INDEPENDENT Various issues for period covered

RTÉ ONLINE www.rte.ie

IRISH NEWS Various issues for period covered

ITN ONLINE www.itn.co.uk

IRISH PRESS Various issues for period covered

A STATE APART BBC Northern Ireland (CD Rom)

THE TROUBLES

SEPTEMBER 1971 Wednesday 1st September 1971 Wall of silence threatens inquiry A three-man team headed by Ombudsman Sir Edmund Compton has arrived in the North to begin its inquiry into allegations of brutality to detainees but a barrier of silence set up by the prisoners themselves could wreck the investigation. According to a statement purporting to come from the Crumlin Road “prisoners committee”, and issued from the Belfast office of the Civil Rights Association, there is to be no co-operation with the inquiry team. They will not co-operate, the statement says, unless there is a complete public inquiry, there is an “internationally accepted” chairman, there are judicial powers to summon witnesses and examine records, and that prisoners should be allowed legal representation.

The inquiry team announced today that every man would be asked if he had a complaint against the authorities. The detainees will, if they wish be able to give evidence to the inquiry team but will not be allowed to have legal or other representation.

There are now about 240 held in Crumlin Road prison and on the Maidstone at Belfast at Belfast docks.

Internment orders have not been signed so far. A statement by the inquiry team has made it clear that their investigation will apply to all 337 men arrested on the 9th August, including those subsequently released.

Wednesday 1st September 1971 Joe Cahill travels to America Leader of the Provisional IRA, Joe Cahill, has left on a five-week fund raising and publicity tour. Mr Cahill left for New York from Dublin Airport where normal check in procedures were waived and a security alert instigated by Aer Lingus resulted in all baggage being scrutinised before the plane departed.

Wednesday 1st September 1971 More detainees More people have been detained under the Special Powers Act. It is believed that about 12 people have had detention orders served on them. It is part of the “continued process” of detention which Prime Minister Mr. Faulkner referred to after the first big swoop.

A statement from the Student’s Union of Queen’s University said was a “further indication of the inhumanitarian, arbitrary and ill-advised use of internment without trial.”

Wednesday 1st September 1971 Soldiers attacked in South Armagh Soldiers who were putting up sandbags at Forkhill RUC Barracks in County Armagh have been fired at but no one was injured. An RUC spokesman said between 10 and 12 shots was fired but the fire was not returned. It is not known whether the shots were fired from the Northern or Southern side of the border.

Wednesday 1st September 1971 Soldier shot in city centre bar The soldier shot in a Belfast pub on Tuesday while having an off-duty drink is now “very seriously ill.”

An Army spokesman said today that Rifleman Christopher Wagstaff of the Royal Greenjackets was stated initially to be only slightly wounded in the shoulder. But since then he had been put on the “very seriously ill” list.

Rifleman Wagstaff and his mates, all in civilian clothes, were drinking in the Royal Bar in Ann Street at about 5.00pm. Two youths burst in and fired about three pistol shots hitting him in the shoulder. The Army regulations about off-duty activities in Belfast is they must be in groups of no less than four. An Army spokesman said he did not know if that would be allowed to continue. The two youths escaped leaving the gun. Responsibility for the shooting has since been claimed by the Official IRA. The shooting was an overture to a night of explosions and sporadic shooting incidents. In Whitecross, County Armagh, a bomb caused extensive damage to a building once used as an RUC barracks and in Newry a sewage control point in Bridge Street was badly damaged by a bomb. An explosion damaged two legs of an electricity pylon at Ballyblagh between Stewartstown and Coagh. In Derry, the seventh explosion since Saturday occurred in a butcher’s shop in Cedar Street.

Shortly after 10.40pm a soldier had a narrow escape when his patrol was ambushed in the Beechmount Drive area of Belfast. A bullet grazed the back of his head but he was only slightly injured. Shortly afterwards troops used rubber bullets against a crowd in Divis Flats. At 11.15 an RUC Land Rover was hit by four shots at La Salle Gardens, Falls Road. None of the crew were injured. A sniper, seen on the roof of the Broadway Cinema was fired on by an Army patrol in the area but no one was injured. Just before 1.00am 17 shots were fired at an Army patrol at the junction of Finaghy Road and Andersonstown Road.

Troops returned fire but there were no casualties.

Wednesday 1st September 1971 IRA street collections Sinn Fein (Gardiner Place) has hit out at a reported move by Irish Government to clamp down on illegal street collections by members of the Republican movement.

A statement said that the move illustrated the “hypocrisy of jack Lynch in that on one hand he declared support for the oppressed people in the North, while on the other hand, he institutes a campaign of harassment against those collecting for Northern relief, TOP - Mid Ulster MP, Miss Bernadette Devlin addressing an anti internment rally in the Guildhall Square, Derry BOTTOM - Firemen fight a blaze at a public house on Carlisle Circus after a bomb blast

Page 3

in the South.

Since the introduction of internment without trial in the North there had been extensive street collections in Dublin and other cities and towns in the Republic to help the dependents of detainees. But there also had been cases where collectors carried placards asking for money and guns for the IRA without any apparent action being taken by the police.

The Department of Justice in Dublin refuse to confirm or deny whether a directive had been issued by the Civic Guards Commissioner ordering firm action against people collecting without permits. But it was pointed out that the names and addresses of collectors had been taken with a view to instituting prosecutions.

Wednesday 1st September 1971 Protestant clergy should oppose ostrich-like security policy The Rev William Beatty, the Protestant Unionist MP for South Antrim, has said the time has come for all Protestant clergymen to openly oppose “the ostrichlike security policy of the Government”.

In a statement he said that the overnight bomb attack on Dunmurry Presbyterian Church hall showed that

Page 4

THE TROUBLES

church premises are no longer immune. Mr. Beattie said Catholic clergy should add pressure on the Government to stop “this awful destruction”. He added that if they don’t quit acting like Pilate at once, it can be reasonably assumed that they wish to be identified completely with the IRA”. He has also called on the Government to recruit a third force and “introduce a massive armed foot patrol” to protect property.

Wednesday 1st September 1971 Cabaret Club bombed At 6.30am a bomb ripped through Belfast’s latest cabaret club ‘The Talk of the Town’ at Bridge End causing extensive damage. Windows in the surrounding buildings, particularly the Sirocco Engineering Works across the road, were shattered.

A man was seen getting out of a car and planting the bomb. He got back inside the vehicle which was driven off in the direction of the markets. Seconds

later the bomb exploded. Inside the club was a scene of devastation. Security forces described the blast, which was heard for miles away as “fairly heavy” Wednesday 1st September 1971 Army patrol crosses the border again British troops have strayed over the border into the Republic once again. Two Army Land Rovers on patrol accidentally crossed the border and went inside the Republic’s territory for about 300 metres on an unapproved road at Bridgend near Derry on Monday morning. The crossing came less than 24 hours after a border incident when a corporal was shot dead and a trooper wounded in an IRA ambush after two Ferret scout cars had strayed over the border. An Army spokesman said, “ The patrol commander almost immediately realised his mistake, turned the vehicles round and returned across the border after spending approximately three minutes in the Republic.

Thursday 2nd September 1971 37 injured in four explosions Thirty-seven people were injured, some believed seriously, when four bombs rocked Belfast’s city centre, within a few minutes of each other. The injured, including many young girls, were rushed to two hospitals in a fleet of ambulances, as troops and police cordoned off city centre streets and firemen fought a blaze caused by one of the explosions.

Three bombs at the Bedford House complex in Bedford Street, near the City Hall, exploded only minutes after a bomb wrecked the front of the Unionist Party Headquarters in Glengall Street.

The blasts, at one of the busiest times of the day, threw the city centre into near-panic, as shoppers, and the injured fled from the explosions, and the air was filled with the sounds of wailing sirens of fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles.

More than 30 people were injured when three bombs exploded at Bedford House and young girls ran screaming from the building with blood running from cuts on their faces. Two of the injured were detained in the Royal Victoria Hospital where 22 people were treated for cuts and other injuries. Another 13 were treated at the City Hospital. Many of the injured lay on the ground outside Bedford House as troops and police tried to clear the area in case other bombs went off.

The blasts at the building, which houses the Ministry of Community Relations and the Arts Council, among other departments, are believed to have been caused almost simultaneously by three bombs planted in cars near the car park.

At least six people were injured when a bomb explosion blasted Unionist Party headquarters in Glengall TOP - People being escorted from the Royal Bar in Ann Street after soilders were shot in it MIDDLE - Wolfhill Mill in flames after a bomb attack BOTTOM - Evicted homes in Bryson Street

Street devastating the ground floor. The explosion, caused by a bomb placed at the front door, which has been kept closed since the last attempt to bomb the offices in August. Two members of staff received injuries from flying debris. Windows were smashed in the upper floors and in surrounding buildings, including the Europa Hotel.

The explosions threw the city centre into chaos, stopping traffic and brought hundreds of spectators to look at the rescue work.

Thursday 2nd September 1971 Women demand third force The Ulster Protestant Women’s Association this afternoon said that loyalist people “cannot take any more of this murder, bombings, explosions, shootings and destruction.” The association says it is giving the Government an ultimatum to have the B Specials brought back or a third force put into action.

Failing this the women of the association would organise themselves to protect their homes, lives and country.

Thursday 2nd September 1971 South buys 50 armoured cars Fifty armoured vehicles are to be purchased by the Irish government from a French company for £1m.

The decision follows a recommendation from Irish Army chiefs. The vehicles are expected to lead to the formation of a new “high mobility “ regiment, probably along the border. It is thought that the vehicles will carry heavy armaments such as heavy machine guns or a heavy machine gun with a light machine gun or cannon. The decision to buy the new vehicles was taken at cabinet level.

Thursday 2nd September 1971 Cahill’s gun mission hits snag in US IRA Provisional chief Joe Cahill faces an immigration hearing in New York today, which will decide whether he can tour the United States on a “money and guns” appeal. Cahill (51) was detained by immigration officials as soon as his Aer Lingus flight from Dublin landed at John F. Kennedy airport. Two policemen escorted him to an immigration booth where he was questioned for 90 minutes. The hitch in Cahill’s plans followed threats he made before his departure “to shoot as many British troops as possible.” Cahill is recognised as the most wanted man in the North since he came into the open to speak at what has become known as the “IRA Press Conference” in Ballymurphy.

Thursday 2nd September 1971 More guns seized by troops Gunmen and bombers have struck again in Belfast and elsewhere through out the night. The Ardoyne area of Belfast once more has seen serious rioting, a Dunmurry bacon factory has been put out of action, a blast hit the Antrim Road offices of the ITGWU, in Strabane a customs post was blown up and in Newcastle a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment was robbed of his rifle at his home by a gunman. Many other incidents were also reported,

THE TROUBLES

including seizure by the Army of five rifles and ammunition in Belfast searches.

In connection with arms found in a car at the Woodstock Road, a man appeared in Belfast magistrates Court. Two M1 Carbines, nearly 400 rounds of ammunition, two magazines and 28 feet of fuse wire were found during a house search. At Malcolm Street, Woodstock Road, three .303 rifles at 200 rounds of ammunition were seized from a parked car.

A Routine check at the Army’s Palace barracks, Holywood, uncovered a 15lb bomb in a toilet in the NAAFI building, which, if it had gone off could have injured the wives and children of soldiers. The building is in the nature of supermarket shopping facilities for the barracks, and the breach of security is under urgent investigation. The delayed device for exploding the bomb could have meant a blast at any time. The find was made about lunchtime. Experts dismantled the bomb. One possibility is that the gelignite could have been smuggled through the tight security at the barracks in small quantities and the bomb assembled inside. Intelligence staff are questioning civilian employees.

In Strabane a customs post was blasted and when troops arrived on the scene a crowd stoned them. The crowd was later dispersed but then another explosion rocked the border town when a garage at Railway Street was bombed and damaged.

In Derry shots were fired at a sentry post at Bligh’s Lane and in Eglinton Place area troops returned fire TOP - A building burns in Franklin Street after being firebombed BOTTOM - A newsagents shop in York Street after a firebomb attack

after a second shooting. No one was injured.

Youths smashed windows in Waterloo Place and troops pushed them back into the William Street area.

Rubber bullets were fired in an effort to disperse them.

Shortly after midnight troops patrolling the Fahan Street area came under fire from a machine gun.

In Newry the offices of the Newry Reporter were badly damaged by fire. As police rushed to the scene an explosion was heard. It is not certain if the fire was malicious.

In Newcastle a masked gunman burst into the home of a UDR private during the night and demanded his .303 rifle. The private whose name is not being disclosed, handed over the weapon and the gunman fled.

Belfast’s was the scene of the worst violence. In Ardoyne trouble flared up just before midnight. A crowd in Butler Street stoned troops and a soldier was slightly injured when a nail bomb was thrown in nearby Herbert Street. A petrol bomb was thrown in Brompton Park and in Alliance Road three shots were fired at troops from a vacant house. Fire was returned but no one was injured.

At Alliance Avenue an explosion damaged another empty house and nail bombs were thrown in separate incidents at Glen Road, Divis Street and Cliftonville Road. Four explosions badly damaged the Colin Glen bacon factory at Suffolk Road Dunmurry. Two charges were planted in the boiler room and one in a transformer. No one was injured.

Thursday 2nd September 1971 I won’t quit politics says Bernadette Devlin Miss Bernadette Devlin, who gave birth on Monday of last week, is to continue in politics. The 24-yearold Independent MP, in her first interview since the birth said she had no intention of giving up politics.

Miss Devlin said she was calling her daughter Roisin Elizabeth. Asked if she intended bringing up her daughter as a Roman Catholic, She said: “How I bring up my baby is my own business”. Miss Devlin, who is a strong advocate of integrated schools, was asked if she intended sending her daughter to a Roman

Page 5

Catholic School. She replied “By the time she is going to school, one would hope that this community will at least have progressed towards integrated education, not only on the basis of religion, but educationally and socially.

Thursday 2nd September 1971 Anti-internment Strike Pomeroy was transformed into a ghost town as a result of a one-day anti-internment strike. The strike, called by Catholic businessmen, was almost 100pc effective in the predominantly catholic town. Only three shops, and one pub, all owned by Protestants, opened for business.

Friday 3rd September 1971 UDR man killed near border An Ulster Defence regiment sentry died in a hail of submachine gun fire outside a police station near the border. Private Frank Veitch (23), of Mullagarrrow, near Kinawley, Fermanagh, was shot from a passing car. He died instantly. The gunmen, believed to number three sped off in the direction of the border.

In Derry an Army Major was shot in the stomach.

He was in charge of his Army unit and was shot in Abbey Street from the direction of the Little Diamond.

Page 6

THE TROUBLES

rd

Friday 3 September 1971 Army and RUC escape gunmen An Army sentry narrowly escaped death when a sniper’s bullet pierced his beret on the Springfield Road and the crew of an RUC vehicle was unhurt in an ambush in Belfast’s Donegal Road area. The soldier, who was on duty on the Springfield Road, was attacked by a sniper using a low velocity weapon.

He did not return fire. About six shots were fired at the RUC patrol vehicle. One of the bullets passed through a rear panel but none of the RUC men were hurt. The car used in the attack was driven away at speed towards the M1 motorway.

Friday 3rd September 1971 RUC women avert bomb attack Shortly after 7.00pm a smoking suitcase was found in a gent’s toilets at Water Street, Enniskillen, under the Town Hall. The male attendant rushed out and stopped two RUC women in a police car, who proceeded to stop traffic and clear the street. One of the RUC members was injured in the explosion, which wrecked the toilets and the two floors above them.

In Belfast a bomb exploded at a petrol station on the Cliftonville Road. Two cars and a petrol pump were badly damaged. Troops later found 10lbs of gelignite in an abandoned car in Landscape Terrace.

A small bomb was hurled at an armoured patrol in

Etna Drive area of Ardoyne after midnight. There were no casualties but windows in nearby houses were shattered by the blast.

There was a confrontation between the Army and civilians as men of the Royal Greenjackets moved into clear barricades in the Divis Flats complex. The Army said there was “some resistance” and one man was taken into custody. Soon after a single shot was fired at a man in the area who was believed to be carrying a rifle. It is not thought that the man who escaped was injured.

Four men were seen speeding off across the border in a car as a blast destroyed the customs post at Castlederg. A motorist parked at the Northern side of the border told the RUC that at least two men were armed with rifles. One of them broke open the door of the post, which had closed for the day, and planted the 20lb charge.

Coalisland was blacked out for a short time after another 20 lb charge wrecked a new sub-station, only a few hundred yards from the RUC barracks.

In Coleraine the RUC have emphasised that they are not attaching any political or religious significance to a fire, which destroyed 600 bales of hay on the farm of a civil rights supporter while he was at a meeting.

Friday 3rd September 1971 Airport alert for bogus nuns Extra security precautions are expected to be brought into force at Newcastle airport and other airports and ports through out Britain, following a warning that passengers disguised as nuns could be smuggling arms into Ireland. The warning was given, it is believed, to the Special Branch in Britain by RUC Special Branch chiefs. Now, Special Branch officers throughout England have been warned to keep a look out for bogus nuns.

Newcastle airport could be a target for arms smuggling. Every day except Sunday there are flights to Belfast and Dublin. Both flights are frequently used by nuns and priests.

Friday 3rd September 1971 ITGWU blast not the work of Republicans All the indications were that the recent explosion at the ITGWU offices “was not the work of any Republican organisation” the General Secretary of the union said in Dublin. In a statement issued from the Union headquarters at Liberty Hall said raiders had broken into the ITGWU premises on the Antrim Road, Belfast, and planted a bomb which exploded at 12.20am, causing a considerable amount of damage. There was no one on the premises at the time and there were no injuries. The General Secretary added: “It has been widely publicised that 34 memTOP - Troops hold back a Protestant mob away from Catholic school children MIDDLE - Troops clearing the scene of a bomb blast in Belfast city centre BOTTOM - Sergeant James Black lies injured in hospital after being shot by an IRA sniper in Derry

bers of the ITGWU have been detained without trial.

All indications are that this explosion was not the work of any Republican organisation.”

Saturday 4th September 1971 Soldier killed and two injured by mine blast A soldier has died nearly four hours after the Land Rover he was travelling in was blasted by a land mine near the border outside Newry. Two other soldiers in the vehicle, who were seriously injured, are in hospital in Belfast.

The Official wing of the IRA in Dublin said members of its organisation planted and detonated the mine. They took responsibility for other “anti-personnel” operations in Belfast, which led to the wounding of British soldiers and policemen and also the extensive sabotage operations throughout the North over the last seven days.

Troops have begun a search of the nearby Derrybeg housing estate where batteries used to detonate the claymore-type mine was found. The Land Rover was

THE TROUBLES th

th

blown up at 1.45 as men of the 14 -20 Hussars patrolled along the Camlough-Newry Road from the Bessbrook direction. A large hole was blown in the roadway and after a search the batteries were found on the Derrrybeg estate. The dead soldier has been named as 18-year-old Trooper John Leslie Warnock of Wiltshire. th

Saturday 4 September 1971 Child killed during sniper attack Seventeen-month-old Angela Gallagher was helping her older sister, Paula, push a pram when she was cut down by a ricocheting bullet, while a second bullet passed through her sisters dress. The children were only yards away from their grandmother’s house in Iveagh Drive, Belfast, when a gunman opened up on an Army patrol in the area from a passing car. Sevenyear-old Paula said later: “Angela had just been learning to walk. She was holding on to the pram in front of me. I saw the soldiers, then there was a big bang, Angela fell down and I couldn’t get her up.

“She was too heavy to lift and I started to cry. I asked a big girl who was passing to pick her up and she carried her to the corner. A lady came up and took Angela. Then my mummy arrived and took her away.

“When the big bang went off, I felt something pull through my skirt and there was a hole in it,” she said.

Angela was one of a family of four. Her parents lived in Cavendish Street.

In a separate incident several hours later a gunman opened up on a British army patrol near the spot where Angela died. The shot, believed to have come from the direction of Iveagh Crescent, struck a land rover carrying Scots guards. The bullet struck the vehicle 12 inches behind the passenger door but did not penetrate. No one was injured. The Land Rover was travelling along Broadway at the time.

Saturday 4th September 1971 Second body found in burnt out store The RUC and British troops searching a burnt out store in Newry have recovered two bodies and believe a third may be buried beneath the mountain of rubble. The body of the first victim, a man, was found in the Hill Street drapery store in early hours of the morning. The find of a second body was made in the afternoon. It is a mystery as to what the two persons were doing in the store, as no one should have been on the premises at the time. It is believed that the fire may have been started maliciously.

Saturday 4th September 1971 4 injured in rush hour blast Four people were rushed to hospital in Derry following an explosion at an army post in Foyle Street – the city’s first rush hour bomb attack. None of the four, TOP - The scene outside the Belfast Prison on the Crumlin Road after an attempted escape by internees.

BOTTOM - Troops move into Donegall Place South to deal with a number of bomb warnings

who included a young boy suffering from a head wound, was seriously injured.

The gelignite charge extensively damaged an annexe at the rear of the Royal Sailors Rest, which is now being used as an army billet. Two ambulances were rushed to the scene.

Saturday 4th September 1971 Five RUC men injured in bomb attack At 10.23pm the Mace supermarket at Ballysillan Road was blasted by a 20lbs bomb causing severe damage. Two men were seen running away. This was followed by what the RUC described as a “cold blooded attempt” to kill five RUC men. Just before 10.30 the Telephone exchange on the Upper Newtownards Road, opposite the Ulster Hospital was damaged by a small explosive charge. Within a minute five men from Dundonald RUC barracks, a sergeant, two constables and two reserve constables ran out to drive to the scene. They were in the station car park when a bomb went off injuring them.

The blast broke windows and damaged the station wall. The five RUC men were all treated for shock and other injuries in Dundonald Hospital, and then discharged. Seconds after the station blast a third bomb went off at a bookies shop near the telephone exchange.

Apart from the RUC men, six civilians were treated in hospital as a result of the three explosions.

At 12.30 in the morning a bomb caused considerable damage to the Ulster unionist Labour Association at Albertbridge Road. A hall beside it, which houses the RAOB club, was also damaged, and windows at the rear of nearby Templemore Avenue maternity Hospital were smashed. No patients were injured.

Page 7

th

Saturday 4 September 1971 Troops attacked in Ardoyne There were a number of incidents in the Ardoyne area of Belfast during the night. In the first of these an Army patrol used CS gas to disperse a crowd which surrounded them in Butler Street. Shortly afterwards two nail bombs were thrown and four soldiers received minor injuries.

Shots were exchanged with a gunman in Kerrera Street and from then on troops came under sporadic fire from several points in the Butler Street-Elmfield Street area. Between 20 and 30 shots were fired at them without causing injury. The area was generally quiet until at about 2.30am a crowd of women started beating dustbin lids and blowing whistles. The Army withdrew and a spokesman said that the area calmed within minutes.

A burst of machine-gun fire was aimed at a patrol in the Oldpark Road-Gracehill Street junction at 2.45am.

Saturday 4th September 1971 No let up in IRA attacks Shortly after 3.00am the Belfast Telegraph offices at East Wall, Derry were extensively damaged by a bomb. A charge between 15 and 20 pound of gelignite was placed at the front entrance caused structural damage to the offices. It was the only incident to occur in the city during the night.

In Belfast two explosions rocked Ormeau Avenue at 6.30 in the morning. The first damaged the premises of Auto Electrical Engineers, and the other damaged a Belfast Corporation gas department showrooms.

Many windows in the area were broken but no one was injured.

Page 8

THE TROUBLES

Shortly after midnight, troops discovered a car in Finlay Street containing two timing devices, two detonators, 50 feet of fuse wire and a number of balloons.

Near Coalisland 16 shots were fired at an Army patrol at Gortgonis. No one was injured. In the village a sergeant and constable on duty found a crowd of about 50 attempting to tar and feather a man. They rescued him and were attacked by the crowd. They had to draw their revolvers to protect themselves before going back to their station.

In Enniskillen at 4.30am an attempt was made to burn down a petrol filling station on the Sligo Road. Later a UDR patrol in the area took a man into custody.

The garage was not seriously damaged.

Near Swanlibar, on the Fermanagh-Cavan border, the custom post at Mullan was badly damaged by an explosion in the early hours of the morning. An Army patrol went to the scene and on the way back found the road blocked. They turned into a side road to avoid what they believed to have been an ambush attempt.

Saturday 4th September 1971 Shots fired at home of Catholic family At Dundonald a private house occupied by a Catholic family was fired on from a passing car. Three bullets went through the door but no one was hurt.

Later more shots were heard in the area.

In County Tyrone an attempt was made to burn down Laghey Voluntary School at Killyman, a predominantly Protestant area. Damage was confined to one classroom where paraffin oil had been used to start the fire.

Saturday 4th September 1971 Refugees in Army camps The bulk of the Northern refugees in the South are now living in army camps at Kilworth, County Cork and Coolmoney, County Wicklow. More than 250 of the refuges, mainly women and children, were moved yesterday from the Royal Dublin Society to Coolmoney.

Monday 6th September 1971 Bomb theory in £100,000 fire Damage of about £100,000 was caused by a fire, which destroyed a large drapery store in Magherafelt.

The fire, which is believed to have been started by an incendiary device, was in the shop of Mr. R. A. Cuddy, Market Square. It started during the lunch hour and firemen from Magherafelt, Cookstown and Maghera prevented the flames from spreading to the adjoining National Bank premises and the shoe shop of Mr. William Houston, both of which had to be evacuated.

An incendiary device was also found in the hardware shop of Mr. Samuel James Scott, at Broad Street. It was found smouldering by a member of staff and the RUC toured the town with a loud hailer asking shopkeepers to search their premises.

Monday 6th September 1971 Republicans lash out at “Provo Front” An all out attack on the proposal to set up a ninecountry “Ulster Parliament” has bee made by the Six County Regional Executive of Republican Clubs, which claimed today that 22 out of 24 people elected to “Monaghan Parliament” are well-known members of the Provisional IRA “fellow-travellers” of Fianna Fail dissidents.

The “parliament” it says in the statement, is, in fact, “a front for the Provisional Alliance”. The statement accused the Provisional Alliance of “patent and crass hypocrisy” when it accused the Republican Movement of “playing politics with the lives and the future peace and prosperity of all our people of every class and creed.” It asked the Provisional members of the “parliament” to answer honestly the following questions: “Who is responsible for the killing and maiming of innocent men, women and children, by their criminal attacks on non-military targets? Who is it, by TOP - Scene of a bomb attack on an army sanger in College Court BOTTOM - An elderly resident of Cliftonville Parade is led away after a bomb attack on the grounds of Cliftonville Football Club

their diabolical activities have caused such horror and revulsion among all sections of the community, that any respect, credibility or support for the Republican movement ever had is being rapidly destroyed?

Who was responsible for the destruction of the Colin Glen bacon factory, which deprived hundreds of workers of their livelihood? Who is responsible, by the nakedly sectarian nature of their activities, for creating the conditions in which a religious civil war is virtually inevitable?”

The statement claimed that the “Monaghan Parliament” would be used in a “Lynch must go” campaign.

Monday 6th September 1971 Claymore type bomb explodes in Andersonstown A Claymore type device exploded in the Andersonstown area shortly after midnight. An army patrol was caught in the blast but there were no casualties. In a separate attack about 15 rounds of automatic fire were directed at a Scots Guards mobile patrol at the Falls Road-Springfield Road junction.

None of the soldiers were injured and fire was not returned.

THE TROUBLES th

Monday 6 September 1971 Gardai watch on grave vigil The Gardai kept a close watch on six men in khaki jackets and black berets who maintained a vigil until midnight on Saturday at the graveside in Dundalk cemetery of Mr. Patrick Hande, a leading member of the Official IRA. It is believed that the Gardai remain at the cemetery in order to prevent a volley of shots being fired. A bugler sounded the Last Post over the grave of Mr. Hande who died from injuries received in a traffic accident.

Tuesday 7th September 1971 Belfast man should be treated as a Political Prisoner says IRA The Provisional IRA has said that a Belfast man on remand in Mountjoy Jail, Dublin should be treated as a political prisoner and allowed to wear his own clothes. A statement issued by the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, Kevin Street, said that the leadership of the movement was “seriously concerned” that a “Republican prisoner” had been forced to wear prison clothes.

Troops fired rubber bullets and CS gas to disperse groups of stone throwing youths in the Lenadoon Drive area. Shortly after 11pm there was an explosion at Summerhill Park. There was little damage although the blast shook a block of flats. The bomb is thought to have exploded in the roadway.

In Strabane about 50 youths stoned the RUC barracks and set fire to two parked cars. Troops arrived on the scene and the area was reported to be quiet by 2.00am.

At Coalisland, about 150 people protested about internment outside the local RUC barracks. There were no incidents Five explosions rocked Belfast on Saturday night.

The biggest was at Lipton’s Supermarket on the Cliftonville Road. There was extensive damage and two people were treated for shock and cuts. Earlier a small bomb damaged a football clubhouse in Mayo Street. Shortly after that, a bomb was thrown from a car in Louisa Street. It struck the pavement and many nearby windows were smashed by the blast. A homemade device shattered a window at a motor firm in Short Strand and two electricity pylons were damaged by explosions. One pylon was blown across the road but electricity supplies were not affected.

Gunmen opened fire on soldiers in a number of incidents throughout the city, but there were no casualties. Nail bombs were hurled at troops in the Ardoyne area and they were also attacked by sporadic gunfire.

TOP - A electricity pylon lies on its side in the Whiterock area after being bombed.

BOTTOM - A Loyalist rally at the City Hall in Belfast

Tuesday 7th September 1971 Tricolour at fire victim’s funeral Four young men marched on each side of the Tricolour draped coffin at the funeral of one of the Newry fire victims. He was 27-year-old Brian Leo Hamill, of Mourneview Park, Newry. More than 500 attended the funeral. Hundreds lined the footpath.

Hamill was burned to death along with 16-year-old Eamon Henry, of Derrybeg Drive, Newry, in a fire which destroyed Protestant owned shop on Saturday morning.

Tuesday 7th September 1971 Gunfire in the Bogside Close to 900 children from two schools on the fringe of Derry’s Bogside were sent home at lunch hour as sporadic gunfire echoed through the Bogside. The Army reported gunfire at several points in the area and said there had been no military casualties.

Two separate shooting incidents were reported by the Army in the Westmoreland Street two bursts of au-

Page 9

tomatic fire was reported around noon and 4 minutes later four single shots were fired at Eglington Place.

Around the same time a lorry was hi-jacked in Francis Street.

Tuesday 7th September 1971 Shopping bags being searched All shoppers carrying bags are being searched at entrances to Robinson and Cleaver, the Belfast city centre store. The search, carried out by security staff, is the latest move in the store’s efforts to beat the bombers. The store’s general manager said that they have been taking the precaution of searching peoples bags for almost a week and have had no adverse comments from customers.

Tuesday 7th September 1971 20,000 back call to drive out the IRA A proposal for a third force to deal with the IRA was welcomed by 20,000 workers at a public meeting in a city park. The proposal was put forward by Ian Paisley who was cheered when asked for volunteers “to stand shoulder to shoulder” and drive out the IRA. Also speaking at the meeting was Mr. William Craig.

Page 10 th

THE TROUBLES

Tuesday 7 September 1971 Shots were fired at troops in Belfast during three separate incidents in the city but the city had a respite from the nightly spate of bombings which have become the trademark of the current IRA campaign.

Two gunmen fired about 25 shots at a sandbagged Army sentry post in the Roden Street area. The shots, from a machinegun and a pistol, were fired from Blackwater Street and Burnaby Street. There were no casualties and the Army did not return fire.

Earlier two soldiers were injured by a burst of automatic fire in the Ardoyne area as their platoon was carrying out a search. The soldiers were in Butler Street when the gunman opened up from an alleyway off Fairfield Street. They were not seriously injured and the Army fired back as the gunman made his escape through the maze of narrow streets. An armoured personnel carrier was fired on from Glenview Street in the Oldpark area but there were no casualties.

Shortly after 3.00am a 10-15 lb bomb was thrown through the window of the Traveller’s Rest public

house near Derriaghy. The front wall blew out and the roof collapsed but the lounge bar in the building was not damaged. A second explosion occurred at Forkhill, County Armagh, where a charge of 5-19 lbs blew in windows and caused minor damage to a ministry of agriculture office. The RUC are investigating reports of three shots heard a few minutes later from the direction of the border Tuesday 7th September 1971 Schoolgirl shot dead by Army In a statement today on the shooting of a schoolgirl during rioting in the Bogside area of Derry, the army said they returned fire and in each case it was aimed at one individual gunman. In neither case was anyone else in the line of fire.

“In the first case the gunman who fired at the Army was seen to be hit. There were no casualties among the security forces.”

The schoolgirl, 14-year-old Annette McGavigan, of Drumcliffe Avenue in the Meenan Park estate in the Bogside was later dead on admission to Altnagelvin Hospital, where she had been taken by a civilian ambulance. The incident happened at 6.00pm.

The Army statement said that shortly after this they were deployed in the William Street area after a crowd began stoning a bakery in William Street. At 6.10pm two gelignite bombs were thrown at the Army in the area at Abbey Street, but there were no casualties.

Over the period of 20 minutes there were three shooting incidents during which nine semi-automatic shots were fired at troops from the area of Eglington PlaceBlucher Street. Fire was returned by the Army on two occasions. The Army statement said the hospital report was that the girl had been struck by a high velocity bullet in the neck. The Army say they are investigating the matter.

Annette was one of a family of seven of Mr. and Mrs. William McGavigan, and she was a pupil of St. Cecilia’s Secondary School. A friend of the dead girl who spoke to her shortly before she was shot said that Annettte had told her she wanted to get a rubber bullet for her collection of riot souvenirs.

About 200 assembled later in the night in Creggan Estate with the intention of holding a protest march to Victoria RUC Barracks, but decided against it fol-

lowing a report that there was gunfire in the Blucher Street-Little Diamond area. Black flags latter appeared on houses in the Bogside The incidents all began after the court hearing of cases against Mr. John Hume and Mr. Ivan Cooper. Stones were thrown by opposing factions at the Long Tower Street-Fountain Street junction. A small group of Protestant children, said to have been shouting abuse at the crowd, were attacked by a section of the crowd.

One soldier was injured throughout the night.

The Provisional IRA has denied responsibility for Annette’s death and has placed the blame on the British Army. A statement issued in Dublin through the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, Kevin Street, said: “British occupation troops killed a young girl in Derry last night after IRA volunteers had used nail bombs against them. The British statement that the girl was killed in crossfire is not true.”

Wednesday 8th September 1971 Gunmen raid bank in Falls area Four armed men escaped with an undisclosed sum of money after a raid on another bank in Belfast. The gunmen, who were not masked, held up the staff of the Northern Bank at Divis Street, shortly after it opened. The RUC believe that a fifth man may have been waiting in a car parked outside the bank at the corner of Percy Street. This was the second bank raid in the area in three days. On Monday five armed men got away with between £2,000 and £5,000 from a bank at Andersonstown.

Wednesday 8th September 1971 Bomb found in Derry Army bomb experts made safe 16lbs of gelignite, which was planted at a transformer near the junction of Infirmary Road and Francis Street. The gelignite was packed in a plastic briefcase and inside the Army experts found four feet of burned out fuse.

Wednesday 8th September 1971 Film star and Swami visit the North Film star Peter Sellers and the Indian religious leader Swami Vishnu visited the north at the start of their tour of major cities of the world which was aimed at bringing world attention to the superficiality of man made boundaries and show the way to inner peace through Yoga self discipline.

One of their first calls in Belfast was at Cavendish Street where Mr. Sellers gave a bunch of flowers to Mrs Gallagher, whose 17-month-old daughter was killed by a gunman. After the Gallagher visit the Swami’s party went to the home of the Rev Ian Paisley but he was not there. The Swami told Mrs Paisley that he hoped her husband would place more emphasis on peace in the future.

TOP - A resident of Louisa Street boards up his windows after they were shattered in a bomb blast BOTTOM - Clearing rubble away from the Bluebell Bar in Sandy Row after an explosion

THE TROUBLES

swept through the shopping centre. A paint shop was gutted, a pharmacy extensively damaged as well as a branch of the Hibernian bank.

At the British Legion hall at Stewartstown Road a medium charge caused extensive damage. Over 30 people were injured in May when a bomb exploded during a dance in the hall.

At Hillhead near Castledawson there was an explosion at a garage and charges were also placed in the cabs of two milk lorries parked outside the garage.

They were badly damaged.

An explosion in the Forkhill area of County Armagh was traced to the local technical school where a door was blown off its hinges. The school is used by the ministry of health and social services for benefit payments as well as evening classes. An explosion was heard at 2.00am in the Silverbridge area outside Newry has not been traced.

Men of the Royal Greenjackets found a number of weapons and ammunition during a search operation in the markets area of Belfast. The find included three revolvers, over 70 rounds of assorted ammunition 25 detonators and ten yards of fuse.

Six men were helping Carrickfergus RUC after they were detained during intensive vehicle searching operation on the approaches to the town. Fourteen men were taken into custody but eight were released.

It is understood that those detained were on their way home from local factories when they were stopped.

Wednesday 8th September 1971 94 shots fired at Army About 94 shots were fired at the Army between the hours of 6.00pm and midnight from the Bogside area.

Crowds of youths ranging from 10 to about 80 in numbers roamed the Bogside during the night stoning at troops at various points in the Bogside. During the night a total of 140 petrol bombs and four gelignite bombs were thrown at troops. Only two soldiers received minor injuries and were treated on the spot. The rioting was at its height after an antiinternment meeting in the Bogside ended about 9.30pm. The shooting came mainly from gunmen in the Kildrum Gardens area, at the Bligh’s Lane post, and in the William Street-Little Diamond area. The Army did not reply at any time.

Wednesday 8th September 1971 Legion hall attacked There have been two explosions in Belfast and others in Suffolk, Forkhill and outside Castledawson.

The biggest was at G.S. Tyres in the Donegal Road area of Belfast where about 10 lbs of explosives were placed inside the building. A fire later swept through the factory. A number of women in nearby flats were evacuated and some were treated for shock.

After 2.00am a small charge was placed outside a vacant shop at the Avoca shopping centre, Andersonstown exploded. Apart from broken windows there was little damage. But three hours later a blaze which the RUC think was started maliciously

Thursday 9th September 1971 British Army Captain dies in Orange Hall blast An army Captain, who was a member of the Royal Ordnance Corps, was killed and two other members of an Army bomb disposal squad were severely shocked in a bomb explosion at Castlerobin Orange Hall, near Hannahstown. Captain David Anthony Stewardson (29), of West Lothian, Scotland, was dead on arrival at Lagan Valley Hospital. He was married.

In Dublin a spokesman for the Provisional wing of the IRA has stated that they carried out the operation, which resulted in the death of Captain Stewardson. It is understood he received his fatal injuries as he was leaning over the bomb before defusing it. Earlier he and members of his squad with the assistance of the RUC cleared people from the immediate area. The bomb had been found in the hall shortly after 9.00am. His death is thought to be the first involving a member of the bomb disposal squad which has been responsible over the past two years for dismantling and rendering armless hundreds of explosive devices throughout the North. The blast went almost unnoticed by local people because TOP - Troops pay their last respects in their Flax Street depot to Corporal Peter Herrington who was shot dead by an IRA sniper in the Ardoyne area of North Belfast BOTTOM - Funeral of 18 month old Angela Gallagher who was struck by an IRA bullet during an attack on a military patrol

Page 11

there are two quarries nearby and people are used to explosions.

Thursday 9th September 1971 Army alleges gunmen are using civilians for cover Gunmen in Derry have evoked new tactics to provoke troops into causing civilian casualties the Army has alleged. An Army statement has said several gunmen using three rifles and two Thompson submachine guns fired more than 100 shots at Army posts from a number of different points in the heavily populated Bogside and Creggan estates.

Using the civilian population as cover they subjected the Army posts to accurate fire which could not be returned without risk of injuring civilians. The statement added: “Where the Army was able to identify muzzled flash, fire was returned. A total of 12 rounds were fired at such targets using telescopic night sights to ensure that the targets were positively identified before the fire was returned”. The Army said that in support of the gunmen a number of other people used rifle shot simulators in a vein attempt to get troops to fire at the sound.

Thursday 9th September 1971 Cahill deported from America Provisional IRA leader, Joe Cahill has been arrested

by Irish Special Branch officers when he arrived at

Page 12

THE TROUBLES

Dublin airport. Cahill had just lost his week long battle to tour the United States. He told reporters on his flight home “The arranged tour is going ahead and a deputy will arrive in America to take my place.”

Cahill went on to say “This week hasn’t been wasted.

If I had been allowed in there wouldn’t have been as much publicity. The maximum of publicity has been achieved.

Friday 10th September 1971 50 guns taken in raid A consignment of 50 new double-barrelled shotguns has been stolen from a top security shed in Dublin’s dockland. The guns which had just arrived from Germany were stolen during the night. Two panels of the shed’s heavy doors were removed by the raiders who took the weapons from five cases. An investigation into the incident is being carried out.

Friday 10th September 1971 Bombers attack yet another RUC barracks There has been yet another attack on an RUC barracks, the third within 24 hours and a number of ex-

plosions have occurred, the largest being at a Belfast match factory.

The attack on the RUC barracks in Comber, County Down, was made about 8.00pm when two youths threw one bomb over the wall of the station and left a second on the pavement outside the building. The burning fuse was smelt by a constable who raised the alarm and the station sergeant’s wife and daughter were evacuated from the building. No one was injured in the attack.

In another attack, bombers severely damaged the match factory of Maguire and Patterson on the Donegal Road. It was 3.10pm when four masked gunmen entered the building and bound and gagged two watchmen. They planted four bombs in the machine room before leaving the factory taking the watchmen with them. The explosions caused severe damage and also started a blaze which was quickly brought under control by the fire brigade.

Earlier in the night, two small charges of gelignite were planted at the front door of the HM Stationary stores in Stanley Street. Damage was slight.

Stewart’s supermarket at the junction of Finaghy Road South and Lisburn Road was damaged by a 20 lb bomb. Windows in the surrounding area were shattered by the blast and at 3.00am Carnagh Orange Hall near Keady was the target of another bomb attack.

During the night soldiers in Belfast came under fire on a couple of occasions. In College Square North six rounds were fired at a patrol. Fire was returned but no one was hurt in the shooting. Shots were also heard in the early hours of the morning at Broadway, Donegal Road and Panton Street in the Lower Falls area but the Army say they were not involved in the shooting Friday 10th September 1971 Riots after boy’s death Eyewitnesses to an accident in which a young child was knocked down and killed by a speeding army vehicle say the military vehicle failed to stop and a second army vehicle stopped briefly to look at dying child before it too drove off.

In riots following the Derry boy’s death five gelignite bombs and 50 shots were fired in attacks on the Army at Foyle Road.

About 250 rioters gathered at the Foyle RoadCarrigan’s Lane junction, the scene of the accident in which Gary Gormley was killed around 8.00pm.

A hole was knocked in the wall of the Army quarters which is beside a petrol filling station. A fire was started but was quickly put out. The attacks continued until about 2.00am, and during the night the Army replied with about 10 shots against sniper fire.

The rioters built a barricade in Bishop Street near St. Columb’s College, and many youths in the area were seen making petrol bombs. About 150 women marched from the Bogside to a city centre post to protest over the young boy’s death. The boy was TOP - Bomb damage to the British Legion Hall at Suffolk BOTTOM - Hastings Street Barracks after an IRA attack

one of six children of Mr. And Mrs. Don Gormley; Mrs. Gormley was taken to hospital for treatment for shock after the accident.

Eyewitnesses have said that the Army personnel carrier which struck the boy was travelling at a “powerful speed” and failed to stop after the accident. They also said that a second Army vehicle travelling behind stopped and two soldiers jumped out, but that the vehicle drove off quickly after they looked at the child.

An Army statement said that, according to reports, four children were at the scene of the accident, two on either side of the road. “The three-year-old started to run across the road. The driver of the vehicle applied his breaks but was unable to avoid the boy. Both vehicles halted immediately so that assistance could be given to the injured boy. An ambulance summoned by the army arrived and the boy was removed to the hospital where he was found dead on arrival.

This is the second local child to be killed in a accident involving an Army vehicle in about six weeks.

On 24th July Damien Harkin was killed at the junction of Westland Street and Blucher Street.

Also in Derry, explosions have damaged the offices of the Development Commission’s rates department at Bank Place, off Shipquay Street and Thompson Edwards garage at Strand road. Windows in Derry’s Technical College opposite were blown out.

Friday 10th September 1971 Bomb planted during riot Men of the Grenadier Guards and the Green Howards have come under attack from stone throwing youths as they patrolled the Crumlin Road area shortly before midnight. At one stage three shots were fired at troops from behind a crowd in the Butler StreetKerrera Street area. As the battle raged from street to street a bomb was planted in the Mountainview Filling Station only a few hundred yards from the Grenadier Guards, Queen’s company headquarters in the Ardoyne Bus Depot. Army officers believe the riot was planned to draw troops away so that the bomb could be planted. The filling station was not badly damaged.

Friday 10th September 1971 Traffic light won’t be replaced Belfast Corporation’s police committee is not to replace a number of the traffic lights smashed during recent disturbances in the city. They include traffic lights at Falls Road, Northumberland Street, Ardoyne, Divis Street, Ormeau Avenue and Cromac Street.

The chairman said it would be a waste of public money to replace these lights again. Some have had to be replaced as many as 15 times in the last two years.

Friday 10th September 1971 New loyalist branch formed A hurriedly called inaugural meeting of a Bangor branch of the Ulster Loyalist Association last night elected Mr. William Craig and Ian Paisley, among others, as vice-presidents of the branch.

The others are: Mr. Desmond Boal, Mr. John

THE TROUBLES

McQuade, the Rev. William Beattie, Mr. James Molyneaux, the Rev. Martin Smyth and Capt Austin Ardle.

Elected president was Mr. George Green, chairman of the Ulster Special Constabulary Association.

Other appointments: chairman, Mr. Bruce Mulligan; vice-chairman, Mr. Campbell McCormick; secretary, Mr. David Lyle; treasurer Mr. Hugh Johnston; press officer, Mrs Beryl Holland; recruiting officer, Mr. Richard Weir.

The meeting passed the resolution that the “USC” or like force under the control of the Northern Ireland Government must be recalled to save Ulster from the bloodthirsty Republican conspiracy which is launched against us. Furthermore, we affirm that Harold Wilson, in his open nationalistic bias has fuelled the fires of this Republican conspiracy.”

Saturday 11th September 1971 Two men injured in Ardoyne gun battles Two men were wounded and another four held by the Army in a number of gun battles in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. An injured man was taken by ambulance to the Mater Hospital where it is understood to be serious but not critical. No soldiers were hit in the exchange of fire.

The Army said that at 1.15am a patrol of the Green Howards was fired on in Butler Street. Fire was returned and a man was hit. After treatment at the nearby Holy Cross school in Butler Street, the man was taken by a Knights of Malta ambulance to the Mater Hospital. Shortly after this about five men opened fire from nearby Fairfield Street on the troops in Butler Street. The soldiers returned fire and one of the men was seen to be hit. In a follow up search of a house in Fairfield Street, four men, ammunition and an automatic weapon was seized. Blood marks were found in the area but the wounded man, thought to have been hit in the arm or side could not be traced.

Troops were shot at on a number of other occasions in the area during the night.

Elsewhere in Belfast there were explosions and reports of attacks by gunmen, including one on Lisburn Road RUC barracks but it lasted only a few seconds with only about four shots fired at the front and back of the building.

At the Bog meadows an electricity pylon was dislodged by an explosion momentarily affecting the supplies throughout the North.

The first shots of the night were heard around 9.00pm in the West Circular Road. These were followed by automatic fire in Ardoyne. It is not known what the targets were.

Between 10.00 and 11.00pm a pipe bomb damaged a house at Oldpark Road and broke windows in other homes in an attack considered by the RUC to be inTOP - Bomb attack on Victoria Street MIDDLE - Bomb attack on a shopping complex in Andersonstown BOTTOM - Movie star Peter Sellars on a peace visit to Unity Flats with Indian religious leaders

timidatory. At Ligoniel the Army dealt with crowd trouble following a dispute Wolfhill Tavern. Later in the night, at 2.50am Ligoniel Orange Hall was extensively damaged by a bomb which also affected surrounding houses and business premises.

At about 11.00pm a nail bomb was thrown at Army vehicles at the junction of Dawson Street and the Antrim Road damaged the Land Rover and injured the driver. He was taken to the hospital unconscious but is said not to be seriously hurt. At 2.00am a couple of small-bore bullets were fired at Oldpark RUC Barracks and at 12.50am a small charge of explosives damaged the premises of David Brown Tractors, at Upper Dunmurry Lane. Windows in nearby houses were smashed.

At Coalisland, after anti-internment picketing of the local RUC barracks, and meetings attended by Miss Bernadette Devlin, there were three bursts of automatic fire in the vicinity of the barracks. At 1.55 a nail bomb was thrown at the station and nails went through a window of the married quarters. No one was injured.

Saturday 11th September 1971 Personal radar sets for border troops Personal radar sets are to be issued to troops patrolling the 300-mile border. The battery-powered sets have a range of several miles and can detect any moving object. They are French and will be used on a six-month trial period in the North before a newer British version is introduced.

The Ministry of Defence recently decided that the British Army of the Rhine should be equipped with personal radar sets and reports on the sets used in the North will be made to BAOR. The sets, which weigh only a few pounds, will be particularly valuable to troops at night and will back up the night scope and infrared detection aids.

th

Page 13

Saturday 11 September 1971 Massive bomb defused in Derry One of the most lethal anti-personnel bombs yet planted was successfully defused by an army bomb disposal squad in Derry. The bomb, incorporating 45 lb of gelignite and a similar amount of scrap metal, set to go off by a trip wire, was placed on the railway line between Foyle Road and the riverbank. Had the bomb gone off it would have killed people within a 100 yard radius, said an Army spokesman. While the Army experts were engaged in the delicate task of rendering the device harmless they had to endure a constant barrage of stones thrown by a number of youths.

Page 14

THE TROUBLES th

Monday 13 September 1971 Two RUC men survive gun attack Two RUC men had to dive for cover as a gunman opened up fro a passing car, crowds attacked an RUC barracks and there were five explosions in Belfast overnight.

Trouble came in the wake of a large anti-internment rally at Casement Park. As it was breaking up over 500 youths began stoning the nearby Andersonstown RUC barracks. Troops used CS gas and rubber bullets to break up the rioters.

Two RUC men on duty at Finaghy Road North were forced to dive for cover as a gunman with a sub-machine gun fired from the window of a passing Ford Cortina. The RUC men returned fire with their revolvers and a magazine fell from the car. One of the policemen was rushed to the City Hospital after the incident. While rushing for cover he fell 25 ft down a railway embankment and injured his back.

Earlier a car pulled up outside Woodvale Interdenominational Youth Club and a man placed a smoking parcel outside the club. The care drove off at high

speed and the device exploded causing extensive damage to the building.

Shortly after 9.00pm a very small charge, placed at the rear wall of the Botanic Inn, exploded. A wall was demolished and several windows were smashed by the blast.

Soon after three people were treated for shock in the Mater Hospital after an explosion at the Spar food market in Braehill Park, Upper Crumlin Road.

A fire spread through the printing works owned by Brough, Cox and Dunn Ltd., at Stanhope Street after 10-15 lb of gelignite exploded in the building. A small charge thrown into the rear of a garage at Clifton Street caused little damage.

There were three blasts in Newry over the weekend but damage was slight. A loud bang heard on Sunday, was not traced for several hours. It was at an electricity transformer at Murphy Crescent but only slight damage was caused to a fuse box. Two separate charges blasted the Cars Motor Showrooms at Warrenpoint Road. Damage was superficial.

There was arson at Stewartstown Methodist Church,

County Tyrone. The fire-raisers entered the church by breaking a window in the vestry. The pulpit and organ were damaged in the attack.

On Saturday night a booby-trap device was discovered at a petrol Station at Stoneyford, near Lisburn.

An anonymous telephone call told the filling station owner that a bomb had been left on the forecourt.

Bomb disposal experts managed too detonate it and nobody was injured.

In Belfast there were explosions at the Ulster Bank in Waring Street and at the Hopefield avenue premises of Catherwood and Sons. The bomb which blasted the bank was placed on the front steps but only superficial damage was caused to the building.

Tension was high in the city following confrontations between groups of Protestant and Catholic youths at Short Strand and Ardoyne. A pipe bomb was thrown at an Army vehicle in Ardoyne and later a nail bomb exploded as a military patrol drove through the New Lodge Road-Lepper Street area. There were no casualties in either incident.

Monday 13th September 1971 Army and Government deny reports of new internment camp The Army and Ministry of Home Affairs today denied a statement purporting to come from the Maidstone prison ship detainees that a “new concentration camp” is nearing completion outside Lisburn.

The statement claimed the camp, with gun turrets was nearing completion two miles south of Lisburn and could be seen from the M1. When completed it would accommodate 1,000 prisoners.

A Ministry spokesman, commenting that there had been a lot of speculation about the building referred to, said that the Army had been extending the place.

It was not however designed for internees but troops.

An Army spokesman said that the building was at present occupied by troops and it was extremely unlikely it would be used for any other purpose. “As far as we know it will continue to be occupied by military units.” He added.

The purported detainees statement urged people to “resist further internment and on no account to condone he internment of Protestants.” It claimed that Mr. Brian Faulkner was on the point of interning Protestants “in order to appear impartial before the world and to attempt to placate outraged Catholic opinion.”

Monday 13th September 1971 Hunger strike at Armagh Jail Prisoners in Armagh jail have gone on hunger strike after reading that they were supposed to do so in a Belfast newspaper. All the strikers are men.

The hunger strike, a protest against internment and the holding of political prisoners began on Sunday TOP -Two men are taken to hospital after being injured in bomb blasts in Belfast city centre BOTTOM - Moffatt’s Bar on the Shankill Road after being destroyed by an explosion

THE TROUBLES

when 32 men refused to take their breakfast. This morning 18 were still refusing to eat. A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs said the prisoners new nothing about the hunger strike until they read about it in the Irish News but they then decided to make their protest. He statement which appeared in some newspapers over the weekend said they were members of the Political Prisoners Justice Association. th

Monday 13 September 1971 Soldiers escape sniper attack Three soldiers had a narrow escape when a hidden sniper opened fire as two officers were inspecting bomb damage in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. A company sergeant major in the Green Howards had the luckiest escape when one of three shots grazed his face.

Shortly before the shooting a bomb was thrown from a passing car outside the Holy Cross Church. It exploded on the pavement and caused little damage.

Army patrols rushed to the scene and two officers went over to inspect the damage. Then the gunman opened fire. The officers, a Grenadier Guards captain and a Green Howards company commander, dived for cover. He sergeant major was still in his vehicle when one of the bullets nicked his cheek. The Army think the bomb may have been a ruse to lure troops into the area so that the sniper could open fire.

Monday 13th September 1971 Death at Pylon RUC detectives are investigating the death of a 29year-old man at a bomb damaged electricity pylon in Belfast. He was Mr. James Burt, unmarried, of Rodney Drive, off the Donegall Road. He died on the way to hospital at the pylon at the Bog Meadows.

Three other men from Rodney Parade area are also being treated in hospital after the incident.

Tuesday 14th September 1971 Soldier shot by sniper fire in Derry A soldier has wounded by sniper fire in Derry. He has been shot in the neck and has been described by the RUC as being “seriously ill.” He was hit by a single sot while on duty at Bligh’s Lane Army post on the fringe of the Creggan Estate. The soldier is from the 45th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery. An Army spokesman said the shot was fired from Eastway Gardens and the wounded man was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital.

Earlier two shots were fired at soldiers repairing barbed wire fence around the post. An Army spokesman said a man with a pistol was seen to fire one shot from Eastway Gardens. The fire was returned but it is not thought that the man was hit. Shortly afterwards a man with a rifle fired a shot from Demense Gardens at troops in the same area and was seen to escape in a white car. The shot was not returned.

Three shots were also fired in the Whiterock area of Belfast but no one was reported injured. An Army spokesman said that troops heard the shots shortly after 9.00am but it is not know who they were di-

rected at. Other soldiers, who were investigating a suspicious object at a post office in the area at the time, found that it contained a brick. It had been marked with the words bomb. A crowd gathered at the scene and a number of shots rang out from the direction of Divismore Way. The Army spokesman said that t would appear to be “a deliberate attempt to lure police and soldiers into a trap.”

Tuesday 14th September 1971 “Is your car terrorist proof” campaign “Is your car terrorist proof” asks the Northern Ireland Government in an advertisement campaign. The advert points out that almost without exception, the gunman, the bomber, the arsonist and the bank robber rely on stolen cars. Motorists are advised to “act now” and make their cars thief proof. The RUC say that between 1st January and 31st August this year 5,188 cars were stolen in the greater Belfast area.

Most of the vehicles have been recovered, but 345 cars 98 good vehicles and 80 motorcycles are now regarded as lost. The RUC have pointed out that the most popular cars are common cars in the most common colours. Distinctive cars in unusual colours tend to be avoided.

Tuesday 14th September 1971 Army is using children as cover The principal of a Derry primary school has accused the Army of deliberately using children going to school for cover for troops repairing the perimeter fence at an Army post.

Mr Hugh Kelly, principal of St. John’s primary school, which has about 750 children on its rolls said that there was some trouble near the Bligh’s Lane Army post just after o’clock. He went to see what happened and saw a Saracen armoured car chasing the kids on the roadway. He said he approached the officer in charge why the repair of the fence could not wait until the children had gone to school. He said that the officer told him that he believed it would be safer for his men to do the work at this time as his men were in danger from sniper fire.

Mr. Kelly added “They are using the kids as cover.

The Army must be moved out of there. The children are not getting the chance to settle down to their studies at all.” He also stated that the Army is using CS gas indiscriminately and a number of canisters have actually landed in the school grounds.”

Tuesday 14th September 1971 Night of bomb attacks There were nine civilian casualties in a night of bomb attacks. In Belfast and Coalisland RUC barracks came under attack.

Four people, including a woman was rushed to hospital after an explosion at 33 Bann Street, Belfast.

Three of them are suffering from serious burns and TOP - Protesters outside the Belfast Prison on the Crumlin Road against internment BOTTOM - Clearing up the Patterson Match Factory, Donegall Road, after a bomb attack

Page 15

are detained in the Royal Victoria Hospital.

In The Braehill area, groups of Protestant youths roamed the area breaking the windows in houses belonging to Catholics.

Two explosions on the second floor of the Wolfhill Mill complex, occupied by three textile firms, started a fire which gutted the building.

An 11-year-old was treated for shock after an explosion at McCune Bros. Electrical and hardware shop on the Shore Road. About 10 lbs of explosives were used.

Two civilians were cut by flying glass after a bomb placed at the front of the library and health centre on North Circular Road. Exploded, wrecking the building. Three parked cars were also damaged.

After an earlier explosion at a shop fitters premises in Kent Street two people in the building had to be treated for shock and lacerations.

A small bomb discovered in the Lepper Street area was defused by army experts. The RUC think it was left by youths fleeing from a military patrol and at Woodvale Road another small charge damaged a vacant House.

Soldiers were fired on four separate occasions. A roof top sniper’s bullet grazed a soldier’s hand in the O’Neill Street-Odessa Street area. Other members of the patrol fired two shots at the gunman as he made his escape. There was a burst of automatic gunfire from a car as it passed an Army patrol in Cyprus Street. The soldiers managed to fire four shots at the vehicle before it raced out of sight.

At 10.00pm four shots were fired at a patrol in Leeson Street and the Army returned the fire. A shot was also fired at an armoured personnel carrier near the

Page 16

THE TROUBLES

Mater Hospital. There were no casualties in either incident.

In the early hours of the morning a man was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital with what are believed to be gunshot wounds. The RUC are investigating the matter.

Two Orange Halls were the targets of bombers. At Stewartstown, Tyrone a bomb was thrown at the hall from a passing car causing slight damage. And at Falls Orange Hall, Suffolk 2-3 lb of explosives slightly damaged the building.

At Coalisland there was a three hour sustained attack on the RUC barracks. A group of 25-40 youths threw 11 petrol bombs, and rolled burning types down hill into the station yard. Troops fired rubber bullets CS gas and flares to break up the crowd. No arrests were made and there were no casualties.

Tuesday 14th September 1971 Call to intern MPs The Diamond and Portadown divisions of the Ulster Protestant Volunteers have issued a call to the Government for the internment of four MP’s at Stormont.

They are: Mr. Austin Currie, Mr. Gerry Fitt, Mr. Ivan Cooper and Mr. John Hume. The call, which is con-

tained in a resolution passed at a big meeting in Portadown of the divisions, described the four MP’s as “promoters of civil unrest.”

Wednesday 15th September 1971 Experts give CS gas the all clear A clean bill of health for the disciplined use of CS gas has been given by a committee set up to study its effects. Their report, the second of the Himsworth Committee into the qualities of the gas and its wider use in the North of Ireland, says that only under quite exceptional circumstances could extensive doses of CS gas cause serious damage or death. In the conditions of civil operations with disciplined troops or police it was highly improbable that such conditions would arise.

The committee found no evidence that the young or elderly were especially susceptible to its actions nor was it considered that the CS affects the course of pregnancy or production of congenital abnormalities.

The committee concluded that the claim that CS gas was especially dangerous because of its ability to produce cyanide in the body had been proved irrelevant and those effects could only arise if CS were injected into the blood stream.

Wednesday 15th September 1971 Internment order for 219 detainees signed Orders for the internment of 219 men held in detention under the Special Powers Act have been signed by the Prime Minister, Mr. Faulkner. Other detainees – they are held in Crumlin Road Prison and on board HMS Maidstone at Belfast docks – have been released on the direction of the Attorney General.

Some of them including People’s Democracy leaders were allowed out last night. The cases of a number of the detainees are still under consideration.

Wednesday 15th September 1971 Three held after arms find Two men and a woman have been arrested after the discovery of three pistols, three magazines of ammunition, ammunition, fuse and other items were found during a dawn search. It s understood that three houses in the Turf Lodge and Andersonstown area were searched and the haul was all found in the last house searched.

Wednesday 15th September 1971 Soldiers killed in ambush Two soldiers and a civilian died in and another three soldiers and three civilians were wounded as the IRA stepped up its campaign on troops. The death of a man suffering from gunshot wounds at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry brought this year’s civilian casualty toll to 48. Twenty-two soldiers, including two UDR men have now died this year.

The first of the attacks launched against troops took place in Derry when Sgt James Black (25) from Yorkshire was hit in the neck near the Bligh’s Lane post.

He is said to be seriously ill in Hospital.

Later Sgt. Martin Leonard Carroll (26) also of the 45 Medium Royal Artillery, from North Wales, was shot at the post by a sniper firing from Eastway Gardens.

In Belfast Private Paul Stephen Carter was shot as he guarded an Army vehicle carrying supplies to the Royal Victoria Hospital. He is very seriously ill and it is believed the gunman fired a machine gun at him from a passing car.

Shortly after 7.00pm Guardsman Stephen Maguire was seriously wounded in the neck outside the Henry Taggart Memorial Hall at New Barnsley.

The second soldier to die was Private John Ronald Rudman (21) from Durham. He was in a three-ton truck travelling from Dungannon to Coalisland. At Edendork the IRA launched an attack on the lead vehicle with small arms fire and the lorry came under a hail of machine gun fire. The soldier died in the South Tyrone Hospital. Two other soldiers were slightly injured in the attack.

The civilian who died in Derry has been named as William Francis McGrenary of Francis Street. The RUC said he died shortly after 3.00am from gunshot wounds. He was discovered in a van on Craigavon Bridge after soldiers shot a man they claim was raising a gun to his shoulder as if to fire at troops in Bligh’s Lane.

LEFT - Bomb attack on the Wolfhill Mill, Ligoniel

THE TROUBLES th

Wednesday 15 September 1971 IRA Kills British Army sergeant Thee IRA in a statement purporting to come from the Derry Command of the organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing of Sergeant Martin Carroll on Tuesday afternoon. The statement said the killing was carried out by an active service unit in the Bligh’s Lane area in retaliation for “brutality to young children on their way to school by the British Army.

The statement underlines a theory being considered

by IRA chiefs that the IRA have now declared war on individual soldiers.

The Provisional IRA in Dublin has claimed it was responsible for the death of Private John Rudman, killed in an ambush at Edendork, near Coalisland last night.

The Army believes IRA marksmen, using high velocity rifles are now concentrating on trying to kill individual soldiers. Many of the soldiers killed or seriously wounded in recent weeks have been hit in the neck or head from single shots fired by snipers.

Wednesday 15th September 1971 Republican funeral for man electrocuted at electricity pylon.

The funeral of James Burt, the man who was electrocuted a bomb damaged electricity pylon in the Bog Meadows has taken place. A tricolour draped the coffin as the cortege made its way to St. John’s chapel on the Falls Road. While the cortege made its way to the church, soldiers patrolling the Donegal Road stood to attention and raised their berets as a mark of respect. 250 mourners followed the funeral procession. At the gates of Milltown Cemetery Army cameramen took photographs from a heavily guarded billet in Falls Road bus depot.

Among the wreaths placed on the grave was one from D Company, Belfast Brigade, IRA.

Wednesday 15th September 1971 Explosion at Pylon An explosion heard in the Castledawson area on Monday night has been traced to an electricity pylon at Creagh. Three legs of the pylon were damaged tilting it to one side. The lines were not carrying electricity.

Thursday 16th September 1971 Internment camp at Long Kesh Most of the 219 internees, at present at Belfast Prison and the former depot ship Maidstone, will be transferred to a new internment camp at Long Kesh, near Lisburn. It is almost certain that the move will be carried out within the next few days despite the official silence from the Army and Ministry of Home Affairs.

The new camp, which is now almost complete, has been built on the site of the former airfield at Long Kesh. Accommodation, which is believed to be for the internees, has been erected inside the barbed wire compound, flanked with sentry turrets.

th

Thursday 16 September 1971 Gunman shot in New Lodge A gunman, it has been claimed, has been shot in the New Lodge Road area, after troops came under fierce automatic fire as they moved a barricade. An Army spokesman said the shooting began after an articulated lorry was hi-jacked by armed men at Sussex Street and driven to the New Lodge Road to form a barricade. As men of the Duke of Wellington Regiment began the task of moving the lorry, they came under fire from two gunmen using automatic weapons. More than a dozen shots were fired, probably from a Thompson sub-machine guns and a soldier returned fire.

The shooting came almost three hors after Pte Carter, of 2nd Battalion, Queens Regiment, died in the Royal Victoria Hospital. Pte Carter had been guarding a rations lorry when he was shot in the abdomen.

About six shots were fired at the joint Army-RUC post at New Barnsley but no one was injured. And at the junction of Grosvenor Road and Arundel Street, and also at Louisa Street off the Oldpark, troops came under fire from passing cars. Shortly before 9.00pm a man was seen with a machine gun in the Carlisle Road area of the New Lodge but he escaped. In Townsend Street a sniper fired at a sentry but the soldier was not injured. Other soldiers came under fire at Glenview Street off the Oldpark.

Nail bombs were also thrown in the New lodge and at Herbert Street in Ardoyne.

Thursday 16th September 1971 Woman bombs Lisburn RUC station It is understood that in spite of the fact that the RUC had the Castle Street Barracks under watch, a woman placed a hold all at the front door before escaping.

After planting the 5-10 lb bomb at around 12.30am, she escaped with a man in a Cortina car. An RUC man on duty outside fired two shots but it is not thought that anyone was hit. The area around the station was sealed off and an army expert, who was using a long connection, pulled the bomb away from the front door. The bomb then exploded and two policemen were treated in hospital for shock and back injuries.

Andersonstown joint Army-RUC barracks came under machine gun attack at 7.00am in the morning and prior to this Glenravel Street barracks was hit by rifle fire but no one was injured.

Thursday 16th September 1971 IRA warning The Provisional IRA has warned members of the public to avoid travelling near Army vehicles as they say they are liable to be attacked at any time. The public was warned also to avoid business premises frequented by Servicemen.

TOP - Rioting in Ballymoney Street, Oldpark MIDDLE - A little girl after being struck by an army rubber bullet in Ardoyne BOTTOM - Bomb attack on the library on the North Circular Road

Page 17

In a statement issued in Dublin the Provisionals said that over the previous seven days they were responsible for the deaths of four service men, including one officer and for wounding 12 soldiers and one RUC man. They claimed that only one member of their organisation was wounded in the same period.

Friday 17th September 1971 Internees caught trying to escape Five men being held under the Special Powers Act in Crumlin Road Prison, Belfast made an unsuccessful attempt to escape. They reached the top of the outer east wall using sheets tied together when they noticed prison staff on the other side barring their way. Instead of leaping to freedom they were forced to jump back into the grounds of the jail where a

Page 18

THE TROUBLES

Gaelic match was being played. All the men were then returned to their cells in C wing, which is reserved for political prisoners.

Friday 17th September 1971 Swoop on IRA suspects Sixteen men, suspected of being members of the IRA have been arrested in Derry and been taken away for questioning. It is thought to be part of the continuing detention-internment procedure which started on the 9th August.

Friday 17th September 1971 Soldier guarding bomb squad is shot dead A soldier was shot dead and two injured, one seriously when gunmen opened fire on troops guarding a bomb disposal officer who was dismantling a 2 lb bomb. The soldier who was killed was the fourth member of the Green Howards to die since the regiment arrived here two months ago.

The shooting happened just after 8.00am when a woman reported that a bomb was lying at the junction of Flax Street and Brompton Park. A disposal officer was called in to deal with the device, believed to have been placed in an old tyre. As he worked on the bomb his escort from the Green Howards came under attack from a gunman at the end of Etna Drive,

who fired between 7 and 10 shots. One soldier died immediately, another was seriously injured and a third received a flesh wound. The troops did not return fire, but dived for cover as the street, deserted save for the patrol, was raked with fire Friday 17th September 1971 Man found shot dead in car The man found shot dead in a car on a street off the Shankill Road has been named by police. He was Mr. James Nelson a 46-year-old docker from Highfield Drive, Belfast. He was discovered shot through the head and slumped over the wheel of a white Vauxhall car Victor in Downing Street.

Friday 17th September 1971 Soldiers under fire Soldiers were fired on several times in Belfast and the bomb and arson campaign continues unabated.

Gunmen using automatic weapons fired at least 15 shots at Army observation posts near the Falls Road bus depot. Flares were used to illuminate the Falls Park in a bid to locate the gunmen but they escaped into the darkness.

A soldier was slightly injured when three shots were fired at an armoured personnel carrier near St. James’s park in the Donegall road area. The Army did not return fire.

In Havana Street the Army shot back after a gunman opened up on a foot patrol. Later soldiers searched houses in the area but nothing was found.

Another Army foot patrol was shot at in the Tullymore Gardens area. Eight shots were fired and soldiers returned fire but the sniper escaped.

There were no casualties when gunmen opened fire on a vehicle patrol as it approached the Monagh Road-Springfield Road junction.

Two bombs were hurled at the Army post in the Vere Foster school in the Ballymurphy area after 8.00pm but there were no casualties. Another explosion in the area was at a house occupied by the Army in Springmartin Road. A number of neighbouring houses were slightly damaged by the blast. A bomb placed at the front of Wolfhill Service Station, Upper Ligoniel Road damaged the interior of the showroom and a number of cars in it.

A vacant house in Mulhouse Street was slightly damaged by an explosion just after 9.00pm and an explosion heard in the Ballymurphy area just before 2.00am has not been traced. A 40 lb bomb was discovered at the multi-storey car park in Franklin Street. It was found that its timing device had failed just 12 minutes before it was due to detonate.

In Derry a charge of between 5 and 10 lb of gelignite damaged the office of Mr. Roderick Campbell, solicitor in Castle Street and shattered hundreds of windows in the area. The next door office of Crown solicitor Mr E. H. Babington was also damaged.

TOP - Bomb attack on St Columban’s School, Oldpark MIDDLE - Rioting on the Oldpark Road BOTTOM - A British soldier in the Oldpark area of North Belfast

Friday 17th September 1971 Arms find in Tyrone Guns, gelignite and ammunition were found by the RUC in the Carrickmore and Mullasin areas of MidTyrone after a series of searches. This followed the detention for questioning of five men after an explosion at an electricity pylon. They first discovered 45 lbs of gelignite in a riverside dugout near Carrickmore. And later in two more dugouts and a hay shed further searches revealed a haul which included three revolvers, a shotgun, detonators and fuse wire, about 200 rounds of ammunition, a practice rocket and grenade and smoke mortar.

Saturday 18th September 1971 RUC man killed in Strabane A 20-year-old RUC man was killed in a shooting incident in Strabane and his 22-year-old colleague is fighting for his life. The man who died, Constable Robert Fredrick Leslie, is the sixth RUC man to die

THE TROUBLES

since August 1969. He was posted to Strabane from the training depot five months ago and was shot along with is radio operator colleague as they walked through the centre of Strabane shortly after midnight.

Although the RUC are said to be looking for a car, it is believed that the gunman fired his automatic weapon from a standing position on the ground.

Saturday 18th September 1971 Army post destroyed –soldiers buried in rubble In another night of bombings and shootings throughout the North, a bomb ripped through an Army observation post on Belfast’s Newtownards Road and two soldiers were injured after being buried in the debris.

The RUC say that about 20 to 30 lbs of gelignite was used in the Army post blast. The bomb was placed in an unoccupied dwelling in Seaford Street and a bookmaker’s premises nearby was extensively damaged. Two civilians were also taken to hospital and a third soldier was treated for shock. Troops who arrived on the scene had to claw through rubble to reach one of the soldiers who was badly injured.

At 8.04pm, a 10lb bomb was thrown from a passing car at the premises of Spendlove Jebb on the Grosvenor Road. Much of the front of the building was blown in and there was severe structural damage. No one was injured, but nearby property was damaged.

Shortly after nine o’clock, eight shots were fired at Springfield Road RUC Barracks. The RUC said the shooting came from the Falls Road-Springfield Road direction. No one was injured.

At 12.45am, rival crowds gathered in the Louisa Street area of the Oldpark Road. There were about 100 people in each crowd and the RUC say about 50 shots were fired. At least one man was taken to hospital suffering from gunshot wounds. When the Army moved into the area there was more shooting and the fire was returned by the military. Crowds continued to roam the area and later petrol bombs were thrown in Cliftonpark Avenue.

At 2.15am, there was an explosion in Southport Street, also in the Oldpark area. A pipe bomb was thrown through a window into the front room of a house. A woman was treated for shock. The RUC said that a small amount of gelignite was used in the attack In Lurgan an explosion was heard at 11.30pm in the area between the Shankill and Wakehurst estates. The RUC say petrol bombs were thrown into Wakehurst estate from the Shankill. Shots were fired at the Police and Army and rioting went on until about 2.30.

A soldier was taken to hospital after being injured by a nail bomb. The RUC say that at least six nail bombs were thrown.

The Army say that the condition of the Scots Guardsman injured by automatic fire in Tullymore Drive, Andersonstown is comfortable. About seven to ten rounds of automatic fire were directed at soldiers in a foot patrol. They returned fire but the gunmen escaped in a car.

Troops have come under fire at two points in Derry’s Bogside. The shootings occurred at Bligh’s Lane and

Southway. About a dozen shots were fired at each point but no casualties were reported.

At Kilcoo, between Castlewellan and Rathfriland a £5,000 transporter owned by the East Down Combine, the homing pigeon organisation, was hi-jacked and burned. The transporter was loaded with 1,000 pigeons which were on their way to Dungarvan, near Waterford, where they were to be released. The birds were taken off the vehicle and were not harmed. The driver was also unharmed. It is not known how many men were involved in the attack.

Monday 20th September 1971 100 lb mine is detonate under Army vehicles The crews of four Army vehicles narrowly escaped death when a massive 100 lb land mine was detonated under the road they were travelling along.

Soldiers in three Ferret scout cars and a Land Rover escaped unhurt when the bomb exploded leaving a hole 15 feet deep by 10 feet wide. The bomb exploded between two of the scout cars, which were travelling about 70 yards apart on a road three miles outside Clougher, County Tyrone. The nearest vehicle was only 10 feet away and suffered only a broken windscreen.

Men of the 17th/21st Lancers stationed at Omagh were accompanying men of the Royal Engineers who are doing reconnaissance work in the area. One of the sappers got out of the land Rover to inspect an unapproved road leading over the border. It was then that he spotted a man hiding in a field with the batteries.

The man was forced to detonate the bomb prematurely and flee in the direction of the border. An examination of the area revealed that the IRA had tunnelled under the road, placed a massive charge of gelignite and then detonated it using two car batteries.

Monday 20th September 1971 Soldier shot by dum-dum bullet A soldier on duty at an observation post in the Foyle Road area of Derry was wounded by sniper fire in the early hours of the morning. Army spokesman said he was hit in the back by a dum-dum type bullet and is very seriously ill in Altnagelvin Hospital. The spokesman said the nose had been filed down to produce the dum-dum effect. It was the first time that a dum-dum bullet had hit a soldier in the North.

Monday 20th September 1971 Gelignite found in Royal Navy hangar A man was being questioned by police after a quantity of gelignite, detonators and fuse wire were found in one of the hangars at the Royal Naval Aircraft Yard at Sydenham. A spokesman at the yard confirmed TOP - Bomb attack on the sentry post at Hastings Street Barracks MIDDLE - Firemen damping down the smouldering remains of Kenneth McClelland’s house, Dunmarry after a fire bomb attack BOTTOM - Troops watch for snipers as a factory burns in Ardoyne

Page 19

Page 20

THE TROUBLES

that explosives had been found in a hangar and that an employee was being questioned. No other details are available.

Monday 20th September 1971 Gun battle in the Bone A major gun battle in the Bone area of Belfast began shortly before 8.00pm on Saturday night when troops of the Green Howards came under fire. The troops returned fire and at least two civilians were reported shot and dragged away by companions. At the time soldiers were keeping hostile crowds apart. Later a third gunman was seen to fall when troops returned fire. Again he was pulled away. One man suffering from gunshot wounds was taken to the Mater Hospital.

The RUC barracks at Oldpark came under attack from the front and rear by IRA gunmen but no injuries were reported. Fire was returned by an RUC man using the new repeater-type shotgun recently issued to all stations.

Pipe bombs were hurled at troops on a couple of occasions during the night but no one was injured. The area was reported quiet by 4.30am.

Two soldiers were slightly injured when their armoured car was fired on in St. James’ Road in the Falls area. Three blasts also occurred at a school, public house and bank. The largest explosion was at the Dunmurry Inn, where between 15-20 lbs of ex-

plosives caused extensive damage to the building.

The Finaghy branch of the Provincial Bank of Ireland was damaged by a 15 lb bomb and a small charge caused slight damage to the Oliver Plunkett School in Andersonstown.

At Beleek, the largest bomb used by the IRA so far, consisting of 150 lbs of explosives, completely demolished a customs post. Three men, one of whom was armed with a Thompson sub-machine gun, entered the building about 10.00am two bombs were planted at opposite ends of the post and their fuses lit. The custom officers were then told to leave the building and the bombers made their way to a red Opel car which they used to cross the border.

At Forkhill in South Armagh, an RUC patrol car and a helicopter were fired on by IRA members. Two RUC men from the Forkhill barracks were on patrol in a car 150 yards from the border when 15-20 shots were directed at the vehicle from a field. When an Army helicopter arrived, a further 15 to 20 shots were fired before they escaped across the border.

In Belfast on Sunday afternoon a singe shot was fired at an observation post in North Howard Street.

Around the same time a shot was fired at a sentry in Townsend Street. At 5.25pm a motorist was hit by a bullet after a burst of automatic fire was directed at an Army Land Rover. He was later released from hospital. In Belfast overnight there were at least five other shooting incidents reported.

In Tandragee a shot was fire at a UDR man on guard duty but he was not injured.

Monday 20th September 1971 IRA are using dum-dum bullets The IRA are using dum-dum bullets against troops in the North it was revealed by Army Headquarters.

Several of the bullets were found by troops after information about their whereabouts was given by a detainee during interrogation.

Dum-dum bullets have also been found after shooting incidents in Belfast and can cause horrible wounds.

The centre of the soft nose .45 shells has been carved out so that the bullet will spread on impact and cause a gaping wound. The bullets, similar to World War One dum-dums, are banned under the Geneva Convention. They can be fired from Thompson sub-machine guns, the M3 sub-machine gun, and the Colt automatic pistol.

The dum-dum takes its name from a place called Dum Dum, on the outskirts of Calcutta, where Britain had an arsenal in the late 1880’s. The dum-dum bullet has a copper jacket base and a soft hollow nose. The impact of the bullet causes the lead to collapse over the jacket with an explosive effect.

Monday 20th September 1971 Hospital escape bid foiled Forensic and fingerprint experts were today examining a Ford Corsair car which the RUC believe was to be used to get a patient suffering from gun shot wounds out of the Mater Hospital. The patient, a 20year-old Ardoyne man had been shot in the back during a gun battle nine days ago. He was smuggled out of his ward but was found two hours later in a lift shaft in the basement. During the attempted escape a woman “visitor” pretended to faint to cause a diversion.

Tuesday 21st September 1971 Bomb disposal expert has narrow escape A member of the Army’s bomb disposal unit had a miraculous escape when a bomb he was defusing exploded at the rear of the telephone exchange in Bellaghy, County Derry. While the officer was working on it he realised it was about to go off, and he threw himself to the ground. The bomb exploded seconds later. It blew off his beret, damaged some equipment but left him without a scratch.

Tuesday 21st September 1971 RUC Land Rover ambushed in Belfast Two IRA men one armed with a sub-machine gun and the other with a rifle ambushed a Land Rover containing four RUC men and one soldier at Shaw’s Road, Andersonstown. The vehicle which had just stopped was hit by six bullets and a tyre was punctured. Three bullets smashed into one house and five into another, leaving residents to dive for cover.

Tuesday 21st September 1971 Funeral of man shot in car The funeral has taken place of the man who was found shot dead in a car on a street off the Shankill Road last Thursday night. He was James nelson, a 46-yearold docker, of Highfield Drive. Two Union Jacks draped his coffin and there were many floral tributes.

TOP - An army helicopter landing at the new internment camp at Long Kesh with more internees BOTTOM - Troops among the ruins of buildings at the junction of Seaforde Street and Newtownards Road

THE TROUBLES st

Tuesday 21 September 1971 Blast man dies A man injured in an explosion in a house in Bann Street, Oldpark Road, Belfast on the 13th September died today at the Royal Victoria Hospital. He was Mr. James Finlay, a single man of Greenmount Street.

The owner of the house, Mr. John Thompson, whose hand was blown off by the bomb was said to be still ill in hospital. Four persons were hurt by the blast but the others were discharged from hospital after treatment.

Tuesday 21st September 1971 27 injured in Sandy Row explosion Shortly before closing time, at approximately 10.00pm, a bomb which had been placed on the pavement on the Hurst Street side of the Bluebell bar in Sandy Row exploded. The blast, which left a three feet wide crater, damaged the building and injured 27 people in the crowded bar. Windows in houses within a 100 yard radius were broken and a gas main was fractured. RUC headquarters has reported that only six people were detained in hospital and none of the injuries were serious.

Tuesday 21st September 1971 Hunger strike protest by Springfield Road woman A mother of six has been on Hunger strike for seven days at Armagh Prison as a protest against internment. The woman, Mrs Florence O’Riordan, from the Springfield Road was jailed for six months after taking part in a demonstration outside Chichester Street courthouse. She is due for release in a fortnight.

Tuesday 21st September 1971 Bomb scare on plane The BEA 1-30 flight from Aldergrove to London Heathrow was diverted to Manchester airport after an anonymous caller said there was a bomb on board.

Emergency services stood by at Manchester’s Ringway airport as the aircraft with more than 100 passengers on board came in to land. It landed safely and there were no incidents. It is believed that some of the passengers left the aircraft by the emergency chutes.

Wednesday 22nd September 1971 Arms cache discovered in Belfast Troops in Belfast carrying out searches for arms have discovered seven pistols and revolvers, four rifles, three shotguns and 300 rounds of ammunition. The arms were found in three different searches in the city over a 12-hour period.

Five revolvers, two pistols, one of the shotguns and most of the ammunition was found during a search of a garage in Andersonstown. The building, at the rear of Tullagh Park, is owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Trust.

ALL TOP - Inside the compounds at Long Kesh BOTTOM - Long Kesh

nd

Wednesday 22 September 1971 Explosion in Derry The Army in Derry has reported that a soldier is in a state of shock after an explosion in his observation post on the perimeter of the Army post at Bligh’s Lane. The explosion was caused by a gelignite bomb thrown from a passing car. Little damage was caused.

Wednesday 22nd September 1971 Gun battle on the border A full-scale battle on the border between the IRA and British Army and an attack on a Belfast RUC barracks were the major incidents overnight. RUC personnel and troops came under fire on several occasions in Belfast and more arms and ammunition have been found.

The attack on the RUC barracks at Queen Street came at 7.00pm when a machine gun opened up on the guard post in the front of the station. The occupants inside dived for cover and within seconds a heavy explosive charge went off outside. The 20 lb bomb, placed under the cover of the machine-gun fire blew a hole in the pavement and caused severe damage to the barracks as well as wrecking shop fronts all along the street. Six RUC men sustained minor injuries in the attack.

The border incident began shortly before 9.00pm when two men drove up to Middletown Customs post in County Armagh. One, armed with a machine gun ordered the staff outside and the other man threw the bomb into the building. The charge was a small one and did little damage. An Army patrol went to investigate the incident and on their way back ran into an ambush. As they drove along a road skirting the border a Claymore mine exploded in the front of the first of the four Army vehicles. The patrol then came under fire from both sides of the road and apparently both sides of the border. They returned the fire in a short but fierce skirmish and received no injuries.

An Army spokesman said the Claymore, which it appears was detonated too early, was obviously intended to isolate the first Land Rover. Later another bomb was found 150 yards up the road. The Army later discovered the car used in the incident, it still con-

Page 21

Page 22

THE TROUBLES

tained the machine-gun and a magazine.

In Duneden Park area of Ardoyne a Green Howards patrol came under fire. They shot back and a man was seen to fall. He was dragged away by his companions.

The Henry Taggart hall was stoned by youths and later came under fire. There were no casualties A Scots Guard mobile patrol was fired on at the junction of Falls road and Broadway. Three soldiers were injured and were detained in hospital overnight.

In the Cromac Street area an RUC detectives’ car was stopped by a group of youths who then fired a revolver at them. The RUC returned fire. In the exchange one of the detectives received a flesh wound and was later discharged from hospital.

In Randlestown an explosion caused extensive damage to a garage owned by Mr. Robert Moore, vice chairman of Antrim County Council.

Thursday 23rd September 1971 Unapproved roads blown up The security forces are drawing up plans to blast craters on unapproved roads leading over the border in a Bid to stop IRA cross border attacks. It is understood tat 50 roads will be sealed off in this way.

Thursday 23rd September 1971 Buses are now targets All buses in Belfast are now targets for the IRA. The warning, and the first attack, came only hours after the press and television covered a story about Grenadier Guardsmen sleeping in buses in the Short Strand.

When IRA men boarded a bus on the Crumlin Road one of them told the conductor that all buses in Belfast were now targets. In Andersonstown, a one-manbus was stopped by four men at Casement Park, shortly after 6.00am. A shot was fired and a bomb was placed on board. When the bomb exploded it set fire to the vehicle and blew it across the road.

Corporation officials who tried to retrieve it were threatened.

Thursday 23rd September 1971 16-year-old is detained The Ministry of Home Affairs has confirmed that a 16-year-old boy has been detained under the Special Powers Act. A spokesman said the boy, the youngest detainee so far, was arrested with his father and elder brother who were later released after questioning.

Thursday 23rd September 1971 Long Kesh stays secure The explosion near Long Kesh internment camp will not lead to tougher security measures there says an Army spokesman. The bomb, thrown from a speeding Jaguar car on the M1 shortly before 7.00am blew a 3ft deep crater in the embankment of the motorway 20 yards from the fence surrounding the camp.

“The camp itself is several hundred yards from the fence and there was never any danger of the bomb coming anywhere near it” said a spokesman. He also added that it would be extremely difficult for anyone operating from the motorway to do any damage to the camp or its fence. “A man throwing an object about the size of a cricket ball from a standing position can send it about 150 yards. This would mean that anything larger would be pretty ineffective.”

In Belfast’s Durham Street a military patrol came under fire as it drove down the street. The sniper missed his target and wounded a man and two children, the youngest of whom is six. All three were taken to hospital where their conditions are described as satisfactory.

TOP - Troops at the scene of an explosion in Ballymoney Street in the Oldpark area.

MIDDLE - Firemen fighting the blaze at Whilt’s Bakery after a bomb attack.

BOTTOM - Bomb attack on a building at the junction of Ann Street and Victoria Street

Thursday 23rd September 1971 Wine shop is bombed A Derry wholesale wine and spirit shop in William Street was damaged by a bomb planted at lunch hour by a number of armed men. Four men, armed with revolvers, entered the firm’s warehouse in a yard off William Street and ordered the staff out of the premises. The interior of the warehouse was extensively damaged but no one was injured. The Army said later that between two and five pounds of gelignite was used in the attack.

Thursday 23rd September 1971 Telephone Exchange bombed The explosion which occurred overnight at Whiteabbey automatic telephone exchange was caused by an estimated 10-15 lbs of gelignite placed outside the building. The exchange is close to Newtownabbey RUC barracks. The exterior of the building was damaged and cars and windows close by were caught in the blast but the exchange was not put out of operation. A short time earlier the office of Michelin tyre depot on Belfast’s Limestone Road suffered slight damage from a 10 lb bomb. At midnight a half-pound bomb, placed at the front of a dentist’s surgery on the Grosvenor Road smashed windows in it and the surrounding area.

There were also a number of shooting incidents in Belfast during the night. Two RUC men and a soldier called to Andersonstown estate library came under fire from Navan Green. It is reported that about 20 shots were fired at them as they were outside the building, where they had gone to investigate the theft of a purse. The soldiers returned fire but no one was injured.

Friday 24th September 1971 Teenage couple die in accidental explosion The teenage couple who died when a bomb exploded in a house in the Lower Falls area of Belfast last night are suspected of being the pair who planted a bomb in Queen Street 18 days ago.

They were named today as 18-year-old Rose Curry, of Abercorn Street North, and 17- year-old Gerald O’Hare, of Theodore Street, both off Leeson Street.

Both victims had their hands blown off when the 2-5 lb gelignite bomb exploded in a vacant house in Merrion Street.

In the Queen Street incident a young couple parked a car beside an Army sandbagged emplacement. They were told by a sentry to move it a few yards further along. They did so, walked away and seconds later a 20 lb bomb which was planted in the Ford Car exploded. The dead girl’s father is an internee but he is being released on compassionate grounds on the understanding that he will return after the funeral.

Friday 24th September 1971 Derry kids in bomb drama A group of young school children had an amazing escape from almost certain death when they tripped over a wire leading to a 20 lb gelignite bomb while on their way to school on Creggan estate.

The bomb was planted at the side of a narrow track

THE TROUBLES

at Creggan middle reservoir and an Army expert said that it was an amazing chance that the children disarmed the bomb instead of setting it off. It would have been lethal if it had worked as planned. The bomb consisted of 20 lb of gelignite packed in a pillowcase and concealed under grass at the side of a track. It was linked with a detonator and a battery and leading from it was a length of fishing line stretched across the path to act as a trip wire. The children tripped on the wire but instead of pulling the final connection on to the battery they pulled it off. th

Friday 24 September 1971 Gun attack on Corporation van A gunman opened fire on a van used by Belfast Corporation for relief work as it drew up outside a depot just off the Shankill Road. Two men were seen running away from the back of derelict houses in Joseph Street seconds after the shots were fired. One of them was seen to be putting a machine-gun into a bag as he made his escape. The gunman fired a burst of five bullets from an automatic weapon. The shots missed the van by a few feet and hit the wall of the depot.

Friday 24th September 1971 Three-prong attack on RUC barracks A Belfast Police barracks, a border customs post and a County Tyrone bank were just three of the targets of the IRA. Hastings Street Barracks was slightly damaged when a bomb was thrown at it from a passing car shortly before 10.00pm. The blast which was preceded by a burst of automatic fire caused moderate damage to a military sandbag emplacement outside the barracks and a soldier on duty escaped with only shock.

At 11.20pm members of the 3rd Batt. Queens Regiment came under fire in the Cromac Street area while investigating an explosion. About six shots were directed at the patrol from Russell Street, but there were no casualties. In return fire, one gunman was believed to be hit.

A patrol of Scots Guards were fired on in Lanark Street in the Springfield Road area. There were no casualties.

A shot was fired at a Grenadier Guard mobile checkpoint on the Queen’s Bridge but fire was not returned, as the location of the sniper could not be established.

Shortly after midnight a two vehicle military patrol came under attack when a bomb of between 10-15 lbs of gelignite went off in front of the leading vehicle. Later, in a search of the area the patrol reported that about seven shots were fired at them in the Lenadoon-Shaws Road area.

Shortly before 11.00pm a British customs post at

TOP - Funeral of IRA members Gerard O’Hare and Rosina Curry BOTTOM - Glengormley Shopping Arcade after a bomb attack

Fathom Point on the Newry-Omeath Road was damaged by an explosion. An estimated 10lbs of gelignite was used.

At Dungiven an explosion badly damaged the Northern Bank. The house of the manager next door, which was unoccupied, was demolished.

Snipers fired on four Army posts in Derry overnight but no one was injured. Five explosions were heard in the Creggan estate, near Bligh’s Lane but there were no reports of damage or injury.

The sniping in Derry continued for more than three hours. Seven Automatic shots were directed at an observation post on the city walls from the Bogside; one single shot was fired at soldiers in Brook Park; two shots were fired at an Army post in Foyle Road and several more were heard in the Bligh’s lane area.

Saturday 25th September 1971 Road blocks seal off Long Kesh A massive security operation has been mounted at Long Kesh to prevent trouble between Protestant residents and Civil Rights demonstrators who were due to picket the camp. Roads to the camp were sealed off by troops and police and reports say that the demonstrators were being turned back.

A crowd of Loyalists demonstrators gathered outside the camp shortly after lunchtime. They blocked the road on a number of occasions and questioned motorists about their destination. As the afternoon wore on, the crowd outside the camp grew in numbers.

There were jeers when an RUC bus with its windows covered – thought to contain visitors – turned into the gateway at the camp but police held back the crowd.

Saturday 25th September 1971 Shot fired at soldiers A shot was fired at an Army patrol in Divis Street.

The Army believes it came from the Divis Flats complex. No one was injured

Page 23

th

Saturday 25 September 1971 Boy of 16 tarred The RUC in Belfast are investigating the tarring of a 16-year-old boy in the lower Falls area of the city.

The boy was taken to Divis Flats by four men who tied him to a lamppost and poured tar over him. He was later taken to the City Hospital where he was cleaned up. A statement purporting to come from the 3rd Battalion of the Official IRA claimed responsibility for the incident. It claimed that the youth had bee using the IRA for “his own criminal ends.”

Saturday 25th September 1971 Bomb and gun attacks in Belfast IRA attacks in the North has continued with three more explosions and gun attacks on the RUC. Bomb attacks have taken place at the Brookvale Hotel in the Cliftonville district of Belfast. The device was placed at the rear of the hotel at 1.30 in the morning and caused only superficial damage.

Earlier in the evening two civilians were treated for shock after a bomb containing up to 20 lb of gelignite wrecked the Co-operative shop on the Hightown Road in Glengormley. The pair were in a flat above the shop when the bomb exploded. A half hour later a blast severed two legs of an electricity pylon at Flush Road, near the Upper Crumlin Road. The explosion

Page 24

THE TROUBLES

did not disrupt services.

Just after 10.00pm in Dungannon, two RUC men on patrol at George’s Street-Sloane Street were fired on by gunmen. No one was injured in the attack.

During the night in Belfast eight single shots were heard in the Bone area, and a number of shots were heard in the Broadway district. No casualties are reported.

Saturday 25th September 1971 Rifles and ammunition found by troops An arms haul including rifles, ammunition and explosives were uncovered by troops in Belfast. In the search which took place shortly after 3.00pm on Friday in Benraw Road, Andersonstown, soldiers found two .303 rifles, one M1 carbine and another unspecified make of rifle. They also found two gelignite bombs, one Mills grenade, 144 rounds of .303 ammunition, 50 rounds of .38 and 30 rounds of .300, as well as four magazines.

Monday 27th September 1971 RUC open fire on armed raiders More than £6,000 was stolen in raids at three banks and two Post Offices in the North, and in one of the raids the RUC returned fire on men who were armed with a sub-machine gun and pistols. In the space of a few hours up to lunch-time, banks at Andersonstown and Aughnacloy, and Post Offices in the Falls area were robbed.

The gun battle took place outside the Northern Bank, Andersonstown, as the raiders, three men and a woman, were making off with £1,400. A plainclothes RUC man who rushed forward to tackle them is believed to have been struck over the head with the butt of a Thompson sub-machine gun. A second RUC man who was a short distance away drew his revolver and fired 10 shots at the raiders. The man with the Thompson machine gun began shooting and several parked cars were riddled with bullets. An RUC spokesman said later that it was believed that one of the IRA men was shot in the exchange.

where the men had been taken after the 5.00am raids.

However, it is understood that there is no foundation to earlier reports that they were taken to Derry for questioning. They are thought to have been taken to a centre in Belfast. No arms are believed to have been seized in the swoop.

Monday 27th September 1971 Soldiers fire on petrol bombers A man has been shot when troops opened fire after a crowd pelted them with petrol bombs during rioting in the New Lodge area of Belfast. He was dragged away by his friends and then driven off in a grey saloon car.

The trouble started after the men of the Duke of Wellington Regiment moved into the area and arrested nine IRA suspects and seizing two pistols and three gelignite bombs. Bin lids were rattled by housewives to get the rioters on to the street. The stoning continued for some time and several lorries were hijacked and made into blazing barricades.

As troops in an armoured vehicle and a huge excavator moved in to remove the burning vehicles a nail bomb was thrown blowing a wheel off one of the vehicles. As the soldiers scrambled from the armoured vehicle the crowd launched a petrol bomb attack. One of the soldiers raised his rifle, took aim and fired. A man fell and was immediately dragged away by others in the crowd. It is not known if he was killed or wounded.

Monday 27th September 1971 2,000 attend IRA funeral Almost 2,000 young men marched in formation behind the coffins of two teenagers who were killed in an explosion in the Falls area of Belfast. Thousands more lined the main Falls Road as the tricolourdraped coffins were carried from St. Peter’s Catholic Church to Milltown cemetery.

The two coffins carrying the remains of 17-year-old Gerard O’Hare of Beechmount Street and his 18-yearold girlfriend Rose Mary Curry, of Abercorn were flanked by members of Na Fianna Eireann, the Republican Youth organisation. A piper played a funeral lament and a guard of honour walked in front of the two coffins.

Monday 27th September 1971 Ten seized in morning swoops About 10 IRA suspects were being questioned by the RUC after joint RUC-Army raids in the Bellaghy area of County Derry. The police are refusing to say

A humorous moment in Belfast, 1971 Taken from the publication The British Army in Ulster by David Barzilay (Vol 1)

Throughout the morning the crowd kept up its constant barrage of stones and bottles. Armoured cars drove up and down the New Lodge Road and troops fired rubber bullets to disperse the rioters. Most of the attacks were launched from the Artillery Flats direction. There are unconfirmed reports that troops were fired on from these flats during the night. By lunch time the area was like a battleground. Stones and bottles littered the road and burnt out lorries lay in a tangled heap at the kerb-side. Footpaths were ripped up for ammunition and electricity supplies in the area were cut off and Corporation officials could not get in to repair them. Hardinge Street Boys School was closed down for the day and teachers led groups of terrified children to the safety of surrounding areas. Shortly after mid-day Army headquarters at Lisburn said the area was “fairly quiet.” One soldier received slight burns in the petrol bomb attack on the armoured vehicle and two of the men detained in the swoop were released shortly afterwards.

Monday 27th September 1971 Unexploded bomb is made safe A bomb disposal expert defused a 20 lb charge only a few feet from where hundreds of commuters had been making their way to work. As people stopped in Victoria Street to look at the building housing the RAF offices, which was badly damaged by a 50 lb gelignite bomb, little did they realise that a bob was still lying in the rubble fused and ready to go off.

THE TROUBLES

It was workmen who arrived to clear up the wreckage who found the second bomb. An Army bomb disposal expert rushed from Girdwood Park on the Antrim Road to the scene. The 20 lb bomb was wrapped in polythene bags and connected to a fuse and a battery by wires.

Monday 27th September 1971 Soldier is shot in the foot in Belfast A soldier is recovering in hospital after being shot in the foot in the Broadway area of Belfast on Saturday night when an IRA sniper opened fire on his vehicle.

In another incident three shots were directed at a sandbag emplacement at Unity Flats. No one was hit and fire was not returned.

At Ballymurphy two shots were fired at the Henry Taggart Memorial Hall which is used by soldiers. Fire was returned by no one is believed to have been it.

Further shootings occurred on the Donegal Road when a military vehicle at a checkpoint was struck by gunfire and in Moyard Crescent, Ballymurphy a gunman was spotted. One shot was fired at him but was not hit. There were also a total of five nail bombs hurled at troops in the Falls Road-Shaws RoadAndersonstown Road areas. There were no casualties.

The first explosion in the city occurred at 9.15pm when a 2-5 lb bomb was thrown into an empty house in Ballymoney Street from a passing car. No casualties were reported.

About an hour later two bombs, each containing 20 lb of gelignite ripped through Whites Home Bakery on the Lisburn Road. A short time later a bomb weighing between 2-5 lb was placed at the rear of the Milk Marketing Board premises on the Antrim Road. Slight damage was caused.

Tuesday 28th September 1971 Men accused of stealing gelignite Two Belfast men were remanded in custody on explosives charges when they appeared in a special court in Drogheda. They are accused of stealing an undisclosed amount of gelignite from Cement Ltd. At their site in Platin, near Drogheda. The names of the two men were not released. th

Tuesday 28 September 1971 Army attacked by gunman on New Lodge Road Troops returned fire on a gunman in the New lodge Road are of Belfast. An Army spokesman said the patrol was fired on several times. The soldiers then fired back at the position where the IRA sniper was thought to have been concealed. It is not known if anyone was injured.

Four shots were also fired at a joint RUC-Army post at New Barnsley but fire was not returned.

Tuesday 28th September 1971 IRA uses bazooka against RUC barracks RUC men in the Andersonstown Road barracks had a narrow escape when the IRA used their latest addition to its Belfast armoury, a portable rocket launcher which is capable of disabling tanks.

The 3.5 calibre shell smashed through an upstairs

window in the station but failed to explode. The bazooka, said an Army spokesman was designed for use in the Korean War and it is obsolete, as far as the British Army is concerned. It can be carried easily by one man since it weighs only 12 lbs. It consists of a five-foot tube which can be carried in two parts. It is detonated electronically and is normally managed by two people. The effective range is up to 150 yards; from any greater distance it can be highly inaccurate. An Army spokesman said that from any great distance it is like firing a bow and arrow. We are not sure from what range this attack was made and so we cannot say what degree of skill the firer possessed.

Just before the projectile hit the RUC barracks there had been bursts of gunfire from the Glen Road Direction. The Army say this was probably done to distract the sentry on duty outside the barracks.

The projectile was fired, probably from an area outside a café at the corner of the Glen Road and Norfork Drive. It did not explode because it is thought it may not have been properly primed. The rocket tore through spouting, then completely knocked out a window, before the warhead ploughed through the door of a ladies toilet before coming to rest beside a toilet bowl.

The army are obviously deeply concerned by this new development, as the knowledge that the IRA possesses this type of weaponry will place a heavier burden on soldiers.

In Derry a soldier on sentry duty was shot in the head by a burst of automatic gunfire directed at an observation post at Foyle Road. His condition is said to be critical. The soldier has been named as Private Roger Wilkins of the Royal Anglican Regiment. He is a married man with five children.

Near Newry five UDR men on mobile patrol were taken to hospital after a bomb exploded beside their vehicle at Mayo Bridge. The bomb, a Claymore landmine, was detonated in a ditch at the “Seven Sisters” on the Newry-Hilltown Road. A Land Rover was extensively damaged and a second Land Rover of the patrol came under machine gun fire but was not hit. One of the soldiers has since been released from Daisy Hill Hospital.

Tuesday 28th September 1971 Four UDR men injured in Newry The four UDR men injured in a bomb attack near Newry have been transferred to Belfast hospitals for further treatment. The men were injured by pieces of metal as a landmine was detonated under their vehicle.

Tuesday 28th September 1971 Border ambush foiled Two men, who fled into the South from an Army checkpoint at the border, are believed to have been on their way to lay an ambush for border patrols.

The men ran back across the border at Killeen, near Newry, when soldiers were about to search their car.

The troops found a quantity of detonators, fuse wire and six wooden boxes in the boot.

Later Army bomb disposal experts discovered that the boxes were Claymore type mines each contain-

Page 25

ing about 5 lb of gelignite packed with shrapnel. The devices were similar to the type which have recently exploded as Army vehicles carried out patrols in the border area.

Wednesday 29th September 1971 Second IRA rocket fails to explode A second attack has been launched on troops in Belfast using an anti tank rocket, but the missile missed its target and failed to explode. The 3.5 rocket, similar to the one fired at Andersonstown RUC barracks on Monday night, whistled over roof tops in a housing estate and crashed into a coal shed.

The two-foot long missile, fired from a bazooka type rocket launcher, was apparently meant for an Army post at an empty house near Lenadoon Avenue. Men of the 25th Light Regiment, Royal Artillery, who were in the post some distance from the coal shed, were not injured. It is believed the IRA man who fired the rocket made the same technical mistake, which prevented the missile at the RUC barracks exploding on impact.

The rocket, which can knock out a tank or demolish a house from more than 100 yards has a motor and is fired electronically. The launcher has a telescopic sight.

Wednesday 29th September 1971 Army says they shot at sniper The Army has reported that one of their marksmen may have hit a sniper at a skylight window. In St. Columb’s Wells when he was lining up a rifle to fire at troops who were containing rioters in William Street.

The incident occurred around 7.00pm. The rooftop was under observation for about 40 minutes before the incident. Shots were reported to come from the same location in the past.

Wednesday 29th September 1971 Claymore bomb discovered in Belfast The Army dismantled a Claymore type land mine which was found in a bin in Belfast. The bomb made up of 10 lbs of gelignite and 30 lbs of metal did not contain a detonator and it is believed it was left in the bin to be collected later. The discovery was made behind a house at the junction of Falls Road and St. James Park.

Wednesday 29th September 1971 Man shot by Army Troops shot a man during an attack on a Belfast RUC barracks and at least five people were injured in one of a series of explosions which rocked Belfast. The Army has said that the man shot in a car was shot as troops came under a hail of automatic fire at Springfield Road barracks. A soldier standing beside the sentry post fired twice at the car and the Army believes at least one man was wounded. Later a man suffering from gunshot wounds was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital but it is still not clear if it is the same man.

In Derry the RUC said that the haul of weapons re-

Page 26

THE TROUBLES

covered from a car included one M1 carbine, a .45 revolver, a Thompson sub-machine gun, a .303 rifle with telescopic sight, four loaded magazines, five rounds of .45 ammunition and two combat jackets. th

Thursday 30 September 1971 Bomb at Four Steps in kills two A bomb of nearly 100 lbs of gelignite exploded in the hallway of the Four Steps Inn in Belfast at 10.35pm, killing father-of–two Ernest Bates (38), of Battenburg Street, and Alexander (“Joker”) Andrews of Derry Street, both off the Shankill Road. Twentyseven people were injured. Twelve of those injured, eight men and four women are still in hospital.

The RUC are in little doubt that the bombing was the work of either the Official or Provisional wings of the IRA. But early in the afternoon the blast was condemned by the Official IRA. The Provisionals however have so far refused to make a statement.

This is expected later.

Anger over the pub bombing has erupted into violence when catholic workers were ordered off a building site on the outskirts of Belfast. Fighting broke

out at the Glencairn estate off the Ballygomartin Road when the Army and RUC were called in to evacuate 100 Catholic workers.

Thursday 30th September 1971 Bomb planted at Café A barman was held at gunpoint at lunchtime today while a 30 lb gelignite bomb was placed above a crowded restaurant. When the alarm was raised the whole street had to be evacuated. It happened at the Ulster Sports Club in Ann Street just after 12.30.

The drama started when the club’s barman opened the doors ready to begin the day’s business. He was rushed by a man waving a revolver and along with a cleaning woman was held in a tiny office while two other men planted the bomb in the club’s lounge.

Below in the Whitehall Restaurant 20 people were having lunch. On being asked by the barman about the people in the restaurant, one of the bombers told him that they would ring and tip them off. Then when the bomb was fused the cleaner and barman were ushered downstairs past the restaurant to a green 1800 car and were told to get into the back seat, after which

car sped off. The car turned up the Falls Road and when it got to Divis Flats it screeched to a halt and the pair were told to get out. They then ran to Hastings Street barracks where they raised the alarm. At 12.35 a phone call message received in the restaurant warning of the bomb. An Army bomb disposal expert later defused the bomb.

Thursday 30th September 1971 IRA snipers attack army in Belfast and Derry Shortly before 9.00pm, two shots were fired at a Scots Guards patrol in Belfast’s Springfield Road area. No shots were returned and no one was injured. Also in Belfast a mobile patrol of the Green Howards was ambushed in Butler Street. A soldier was shot in the stomach and was rushed to hospital. He is not seriously ill.

In the Clooney Park South area of Derry several shots were fired at troops. A soldier returned fire but again on one was injured.

Also in Derry a bomb was thrown at the old Labour Exchange in Bishop Street causing slight damage.

There were other slight explosions in the city which the RUC believe were nail bombs not thrown at any definite target.

In Belfast, Hanula’s bar in Louisa Street was damaged when a 10 lb gelignite bomb was thrown into the back yard. A store was wrecked and windows smashed. At Divis Street an attempt was made to destroy the premises of Wordie and Cowan, a carriers firm. A small bomb exploded beside a petrol tank but the fuel did not ignite.

LEFT - Bomb attack on the Four Steps Inn on the Shankill Road in which two people died.

BELOW - The bodies of the two victims being removed from the bombed building

THE TROUBLES

OCTOBER 1971

Friday 1st October 1971 Soldier shot dead on patrol A soldier was shot dead in the Butler Street area late this afternoon. It is understood that the soldier was a member of a patrol, which was fired on at the junction of Butler Street and Elmfield Street in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.

Troops and RUC personnel rushed to the area immediately afterwards and there are reports of crowds gathering. The soldier killed is the 24th to be killed in the present IRA campaign, which has also claimed the lives of two UDR men.

Army headquarters were not prepared to say immediately what regiment the soldier had been serving with, but troops on security duty in the area are from the Green Howards, who have already lost four men in the Ardoyne area in the last two months.

The soldier died on his way to the Mater Hospital.

Friday 1st October 1971 £6,000 taken in bank raids Gunmen have robbed three banks, two businesses, and a post office van in the North, bringing the total taken in armed raids in the past week to more than £36,000. Five of the raids were in Belfast and the sixth near the border in Fermanagh.

The banks hit in the raids were: the Munster and Leinster, Falls Road, where £1,000 was taken by seven raiders; the Northern Bank, Divis Street, where four armed men got away with £600 and the Northern Bank, Springfield Road where an undisclosed amount was taken by four men, one of whom was armed with a sub-machine gun Friday 1st October 1971 RUC seek former EBNI employee The RUC are anxious to question a former employee of Belfast’s EBNI headquarters following the explosion last August in which one man was killed and 35 people injured. The former employee, a young man in his early twenties, worked for some three or four months at the headquarters. He is now thought to be living in the South. Some reports say the man was seen at the headquarters on a couple of occasions after he had stopped working there. Responsibility for the blast was admitted by the Provisional wing of the IRA in a statement issued in Dublin two days after the explosion.

Friday 1st October 1971 Boy of 12 planted bomb A boy aged about 12 planted a bomb, which wrecked a Co-op shop in Belfast. Detectives have interviewed eyewitnesses who saw the boy climb from a car with a deadly smoking parcel. He left the 10 lb bomb outside the Cavehill Road store at 8.35pm, climbed back into the vehicle and was driven away by an adult.

RIGHT - A boy looks on at a hi-jacked bus which was burned across the Andersonstown Road

An RUC spokesman said today that the witness was “adamant that the lad was aged about 12, but certainly not more than 14.”

Friday 1st October 1971 Mad Mitch in probe team Lt Colonel Colin Mitchel – “Mad Mitch” of the Argyll’s, and other MPs are to probe the condition of internees put behind bars without trial. An all-party deputation will visit Crumlin Road Prison Next Monday and the Long Kesh camp on Tuesday.

Friday 1st October 1971 O’Bradaigh is refused leave Ruarai O’Bradaigh, president of Sinn Fein (Kevin Street) has been refused leave of absence from his teaching post at a Roscommon Technical School. He had asked for six-months leave without pay to “enable him to attend his political commitments. County Roscommon Vocational Educational Committee had earlier agreed to the request but yesterday the Department of Education said that “a request of this nature could not, in accordance with normal practice, be sanctioned.”

Friday 1st October 1971 ‘Be more disobedient’ says Miss Devlin Miss Bernadette Devlin called on people to escalate the civil disobedience campaign. Addressing a meeting at Glenullin in North Derry she said there could be no doubt about the future of Brian Faulkner. If the civil resistance campaign did not bring him down, Ian Paisley and his new party would. She called on people withholding rents and rates to set up committees to organise the upkeep of services and the defence of their areas against Army raids.

Friday 1st October 1971 Man hit by snipers A man has been shot in Belfast by a sniper as he emerged from the Lawnbrook Social Club in Centurion Street. The shooting in the area started when shots were fired from the Lanark Street direction at four youths outside a building used as an Army

Page 27

post in the Springfield Road. Shortly after this a 999 call to the RUC reported that snipers were firing from the nearby Falls Flax Spinning Mill and waste ground around Lanark Street at civilians in Mayo Street, March Street and Ainsworth Avenue.

Troops opened fire at a man running across waste ground and at another man on top of the mill but no hits were reported.

In another attack on a Masonic Hall in Brookvale Avenue, Antrim Road two people were slightly injured. Earlier an explosion damaged an electricity transformer in Cupar Street. An unexploded sixpound nail bomb was also found in a duffle bag outside Ainsworth Avenue Co-operative. This was defused by the Army. A builder’s office in Derriaghy was severely damaged when a 20 lb bomb was thrown through a window.

Earlier in the evening a shot was fired at Forkhill RUC barracks. In Ardoyne troops used rubber bullets in Hooker Street and Brompton Park after a military patrol was surrounded by a hostile crowd. In Fortwilliam Park, a crowd of 200 gathered outside the home of Civil Rights leader, Mr. Frank Gogarty.

His six children used fireworks to try and frighten the crowd away.

Friday 1st October 1971 Goulding’s car is searched During a hunt for three gunmen who got away with £3,000 from a bank at Greystones, County Wicklow, a car crashed through a police-military roadblock between Drogheda and Navan. Soldiers fired on the car but it escaped and it is believed that none of the occupants was hit.

A short time later soldiers stopped traffic in Drogheda and amongst those ordered out of the cars were Cathal Goulding, Chief of Staff of the Official IRA and three companions. It was the first time in the South that armed soldiers have joined police in a search for bank raiders.

The men with Goulding had Northern accents. When their car had been searched they and Goulding were allowed to proceed northwards. During the bank hold-up the raiders said they wanted the money “for the North.”

Page 28

THE TROUBLES

st

Friday 1 October 1971 Pub bomb fails A bomb attempt on the Black Swan public house at Dunmurry failed when a five lb gelignite bomb did not detonate properly. The bomb was found in the front porch by the staff when they arrived for work at 11.00am. It is not known when it was placed there.

A spokesman for the pub said it could have been placed there during the night. The only damage was some broken glass in the porch.

gun, stopped the van and set fire to it and its contents. There was no money in the van.

Troops from 45 Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, went to investigate. They were approaching the burning van on foot when they were fired at twice. Then a Claymore-type mine explode. Two soldiers were blown off their feet by the blast but they were not injured. Troops fired at a man seen running away towards the border but it is not thought that he was hit. None of the soldiers were injured in the exchange.

Saturday 2nd October 1971 50,000 attend Shankill funeral More than 50,000 people gathered in mourning on Belfast’s Shankill Road to pay tribute to the two men killed in the bomb at the Four Steps Inn public house.

Saturday 2nd October 1971 Soldier defuses two bombs Four armed men walked into McKibbon’s Distillery at Avioniel Street, off the Beersbridge Road. They took the caretaker into a downstairs office and held him there while they placed four bottles on the floor.

These were sealed and there was a blue plastic tap at the mouth of each. The raiders spread paper on the floor. They went into another office and placed a 40 lb bomb after which they went to the first floor where they held up three directors of the company in a private bar. The directors were ordered downstairs and told they would have three minutes to escape when

Saturday 2nd October 1971 Post Office van hi-jacked A post office van was hi-jacked and burned near the border at Rosslea and the troops who came to investigate it came under sniper fire. The van was stopped at Reelan, two miles from Roslea. Three men, two armed with revolvers and one with a sub-machine

they heard a shout. The men placed another charge, this time of 25 lbs. When the directors heard the shout they rushed outside and phoned the RUC. An Army bomb disposal expert was rushed to the scene. He spent some time examining the bottles which he discovered to have been merely a decoy.

He made a search of the building and discovered the other two bombs.

Elsewhere in Belfast there were shooting and bombing incidents. The Army came under attack on six occasions and the RUC in Roden Street were fired on. RUC personnel entering the station were shot at three times in half an hour. No one was injured in the attacks and no shots were returned. The shooting came from the Grosvenor Road area and a heavy calibre weapon was used. Heavy gunfire was also reported from the Selby Street area, close to the barracks, but it was not confirmed.

In Andersonstown troops opened fire after two attacks. Nail bombs were thrown at a patrol. Soldiers returned fire and believe they hit the bomber. Two hours later several bursts of gunfire were directed at a patrol. Again fire was returned but no injuries were reported.

Eight shots were fired at a mobile patrol on the Whiterock Road. There were no casualties. Men of the Green Howards opened fire in the Oldpark Road area of the City after they had been attacked but they hit no one.

Shots were fired at Clifton Street Orange all, where a dinner dance was being held. An angry crowd gathered outside after the incident but they were persuaded by the RUC to disperse. Shortly after the shooting RUC personnel in the area were fired on from the direction of Unity Flats.

The Northern Bank on the Lisburn Road, the SPD factory on the Springfield, a warehouse in the markets area and a car showroom on the Crumlin Road were damaged by bombs. The car showrooms, Savoy Motors, were extensively damaged and 14 cars were damaged in the blast. Twenty-seven houses in the immediate area had their windows smashed. One passer-by was treated for shock.

Armed raiders robbed a number of premises in Belfast. On the Falls Road, a bar owned by P. Hyndes was held up by three men with revolvers and £30 taken. Customers and staff were held against a wall during the raid. A Credit Union in Commedagh Drive, Andersonstown, was robbed of £300 by four men.

Rival crowds gathered near Donegall Pass after a Protestant youth had been assaulted by Catholics.

There was some stone throwing and jeering and the RUC made three arrests. Two small children had a lucky escape when they came across a 15 lb bomb at Stockman’s Lane. A man saw them poking at it with a stick. The Army removed it. It is believed that the bomb had been left there for collection.

TOP - Funerals of Alexander Andrews and Ernest Bates.

BOTTOM - A British soldier is attacked at the funeral of Martin Forsythe in Ardmonagh Gardens, Turf Lodge

THE TROUBLES

Monday 4th October 1971 IRA officer killed by bomb blast Death notices in a morning newspaper have described the man killed in a bomb blast outside Lisburn Rural Council offices as a First Lieutenant in the IRA. The body of 19-year-old Terrence Gerard McDermott of Tullymore Gardens, Andersonstown, was found after the 10 lb bomb exploded. Several death notices from IRA “Companies” in Belfast were published by a morning newspaper. One from the “officers and volunteers of B Company, Andersons town, Auxiliaries, regret the death of their comrade”. Another from the “volunteers and officers of E Company, Auxiliaries, Riverdale said that he “died in action”.

Meanwhile the Army has said that they did not shoot a civilian on his way to work in the Falls Road area.

A spokesman said that the man from Logan Road, Moira, was passing some Army vehicles in Linden Street when IRA machine-gunners opened fire, hitting him. The man an imports inspector with the Ministry of Agriculture, was going to work at Belfast Docks from a friend’s house in the Falls area when he was shot. After he was rushed to hospital troops returned fire on the gunmen who were firing from several positions in the Dunville Park area.

Monday 4th October 1971 Arms find in East Belfast A large arms haul was found in Anderson Street after nearly 1,000 troops cordoned off a large part of East Belfast following a night of gun battles in the area which three gunmen are thought to have been hit.

In a small terraced house in the street troops found arms ammunition and several different kinds of bombs. The list reads like an armoury: one M1 carbine, one nine millimetre pistol, four nail bombs, five smoke grenades, two stick grenades, one rocket pistol, two bullet proof vests, one Claymore mine, one American type pineapple grenade, several Mils grenades, seven half pound sticks of gelignite, 25 rounds of shotgun ammunition and several rounds of unspecified ammunition.

Shortly afterwards more guns and ammunition were found: One .22 high velocity rifle with telescopic sights, a 12 bore shotgun and a .22 sporting rifle along with an unspecified amount of ammunition were discovered in a house in Vulcan Street. Empty bullet cases were also discovered.

In Seaford Street a sawn off shotgun and 70 rounds of high velocity ammunition were found while in Sheriff Street troops uncovered a .38 pistol and a quantity of ammunition in a polythene bag lying in an entry.

The Anderson Street haul was found after men of the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment started to search the house which was unoccupied at the time.

They found that cupboards had been papered over and that floorboards were loose. The house bore signs that it had been occupied within the last few days.

Troops found a guitar in one corner and on the sideboard in the living room a portable radio was found.

A fire had been burned in the grate. The whole street was closed off as the troops made their search and several houses in the area were also stripped down.

The search area is bordered by Short Strand, Albertbridge Road, Bryson Street and the Newtownards Road. Everyone entering or leaving the area was stopped and thoroughly searched. It is believed the search could continue for 24 hours.

Monday 4th October 1971 115 dead since 1969 The death of two civilians at the weekend has brought the death toll in the North to 115 since the troubles began in 1969. This year 83 people have died, 55 civilians, 23 soldiers, two members of the Ulster Defence Regiment and three RUC men. Since internment began on the 9th August 55 people have died.

In 1969, the total death toll was 13. In 1970 it was 19.

Monday 4th October 1971 Retired colonel attacked A 70-year-old retired British Army colonel was dragged from his bed at Cobh, Co. Cork and beaten by three men who said they wanted guns for the North. Colonel Robert Stuart-French has been admitted to Cork Hospital and is recovering from his injuries. His wife Dorothy described the incident at their home at Marino, Cobh. She and her husband were home alone. The servants had been given the night off. Soon after 11.30 the three men burst into their bedroom and shouted they wanted guns for the North. The colonel possessed only one gun, a shotgun, and the men were told this. The colonel was knocked to the ground and the men left fifteen minutes later taking the shotgun with them.

TOP - A fireman is led away after being injured in a bomb blast in Belfast city centre BOTTOM - The offices of the Lisburn Rural Council after a bomb blast

th

Page 29

Monday 4 October 1971 Weekend of violence Two people have died in a weekend of violence during which troops have fought gun battles with the IRA in many parts of Belfast. The IRA bombing campaign has continued unabated. The two men who died were 57-year-old Patrick Daly who died when 100 rounds of ammunition were fired at troops during a gun battle in Belfast’s Lower Falls area and a 19-year-old IRA volunteer Terrence McDermott who died in an explosion at Lisburn Rural District Council offices. A man was taken into custody following the blast and three men were detained by the Army following the Fall’s shooting incident.

On Saturday evening large areas of Belfast were cordoned off as four 10 lb bombs placed in business premises were detonated because it was felt they were too unsafe to defuse. The bombs had been placed in

Page 30

THE TROUBLES

THE TROUBLES

Page 31

Page 32

THE TROUBLES

a public house in Upper Donegal Street; Marsh Buildings, Donegall Street, a hairdresser’s above Sinclair’s in Royal Avenue and at offices in North Street.

On Sunday evening unexploded bombs were successfully dismantled by Army experts at the Chichester Park Hotel on the Antrim Road and at Crangle’s public house, Cavehill Road. Another bomb target was Greencastle RUC Barracks. A 10 lb charge went off at the rear of the station which was unmanned at the time as it was only used as a reporting post. The blast shattered windows in the nearby Lido Cinema and a cleaner’s premises. Two 10 lb charges caused severe damage to A.G. Clancey’s civil engineering premises at Hydepark, Mallusk. The Monarch Laun-

dry, Donegal Road was damaged when a five lb bomb was thrown from a passing car. The blast blew a hole in the pavement and a woman was treated for shock after the explosion.

Bomb experts were called to Dundrod racing circuit after a bomb was found there on Saturday evening.

Similar to devices found in Belfast city centre that evening it was fitted with an anti-handling device and it was detonated damaging the pits at the circuit.

Sunday was a day of isolated shooting incidents throughout Belfast. In one RUC personnel and civilians at the scene of a fire in Mayo Street came under fire from a sniper in nearby Lanark Street. Four

shots from an American M1 carbine were fired at a military observation post in Lenadoon Avenue. A crowd of 150 gathered and threw stones at the post following the shooting. Troops replied with CS gas and baton rounds but it was an hour and a half before the crowd dispersed. A shot was fired at a Scots Guard patrol in the vicinity of Casement Park. A crowd followed another Army patrol down the Falls Road.

A nail bomb was thrown in Dunville Park and the soldiers again used CS gas and baton rounds. A woman was later arrested.

Soldiers found a revolver, ammunition and explosives in an abandoned car at Corrib Avenue. The arms haul included four completed nail bombs, two gelignite bombs and four sticks of plastic explosives.

There were also several shooting incidents on Saturday night. Two gelignite bombs were thrown at Scots Guards from a passing lorry and IRA personnel fired about 25 rounds at the soldiers, who returned fire wounding two people. At the Falls Park soldiers of the same regiment returned fire after five shots and two nail bombs were directed at them. An Army spokesman said it is believed that one of the attackers was hit. Troops also fired shots when two gelignite bombs were thrown at them near a roundabout at Monagh Road.

During an Army search in Cupar Street, a crowd of 200 started stoning soldiers and two men were arrested. The soldiers found two walkie-talkie radios in the search. As they withdrew from the area they were fired on by IRA men operating in the vicinity of the Falls Road junction. The troops returned fire.

Another army patrol was fired on in Selby Street.

Troops fired a shot when a car attempted to crash a vehicle checkpoint on the Boyne Bridge. Two youths ran away from the car but two girls inside were taken away for questioning. They were later released.

An early morning explosion damaged Brown and Daly’s garage in Claudy, County Derry and after a fire in the Mountpottinger area of Belfast there were several attacks on the Army. At 3.30 am 12-15 rounds were fired at an Army sentry in the Short Strand bus depot. Mountpottinger RUC barracks was also attacked twice by the IRA.

Monday 4th October 1971 Families in Donegal Pass area move out Families in the Donegall Pass area of Belfast have left their homes after disturbances in the area. The RUC, describing the present situation in the area as ‘trouble free’ said they were ‘keeping a watch on the situation’.

A Belfast councillor has claimed that 50 Catholic families have left their homes in Maryville Street, Salisbury Street, Ashbourne Street and Hardcastle Street because of trouble in the area. But the RUC have stated that a number of Catholic and Protestant families decided to move out of the area themselves due to recent trouble in the area.

LEFT - Bomb blast at an army look out post in Cupar Street

THE TROUBLES th

Monday 4 October 1971 Woman hi-jacks mail van A robbery at Andersonstown, Belfast, in which £11,00 was taken from a Post Office van, brings the total amount taken during the past week to £45,000. The robbers, one of whom was a woman were armed with pistols and a Thompson sub machine gun.

Monday 4th October 1971 IRA stamps Two more British postage stamps, overprinted by the Republican Movement, have been issued by an organisation called the Irish Republican Philatelic Office in Dublin.

The Two stamps with face values of 2p and 3p are overprinted with the words “Support Sinn Fein” and “Dail Uladh 1971” to mark the setting up of the IRA’s provisional parliament of Ulster.

The body claims some of the overprinted stamps have been franked on mail posted in Northern Ireland and deliver in the normal way.

Monday 4th October 1971 Armed men raid post office Two armed and masked men have robbed the safe at a County Tyrone post office and escaped across the border.

The men walked into the sub post office at Killeter at about 1.30pm and held up the assistant. They raided the safe and made of. A post office spokesman said it is too early to say how much money was taken.

Monday 4th October 1971 Army sentry shoots girl aged 5 Security personnel in Derry are examining the possibility that a bazooka type projectile, similar to that used on two occasions in Belfast, caused an explosion near an army observation post at Bishops gate.

A sentry at the post opened fire on a passing car and a five-year-old girl, who was travelling with her mother and 10-year-old brother in the car, was seriously injured and is described by hospital staff as critical.

The Army are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the explosion and ammunition experts are examining apiece of metal which fell red hot at the feet of a Fountain Street resident after he heard an explosion in the air. At first it was thought that a bomb had been thrown from a passing car. The bomb was reported to have missed the post and exploded in the back yard of a nearby public house. But a subsequent Army statement said that a sentry had fired two shots at a car which was passing through Bishop’s gate and from which he thought an object had been thrown immediately before the explosion.

The car was about 150 metres away at the time. The statement added that about one hour later reports started to come in that at the same time as the explosion an unidentified object was seen passing over the city and had exploded in the Fountain Street area.

Earlier in the evening a charge of between 20 and 50 lbs of gelignite demolished a derelict house at Foyle Road and damaged a nearby observation post. There

were no injuries. And in an evening of sporadic rioting in the city, troops fired one shot at a nail bomber in William Street. The army said that the shot was fired at a man who was about to throw his third nail bomb but it is not thought that he was hit.

Monday 4th October 1971 Bomb attack on Army vehicles A Claymore bomb placed on the NewtownhamiltonCullyhanna Road failed to connect with a two vehicle army patrol when it exploded at 10.40 pm. None of the Army personnel was injured and no damage was caused to the vehicles.

Tuesday 5th October 1971 Two shot in Belfast gun battle A soldier and a civilian were wounded when members of the IRA opened up with a machine-gun on a Belfast street.

It happened when troops and police and the crew of a breakdown recovery vehicle were trying to recover an Ulsterbus which had been overturned in Andersonstown during the night. The soldier was shot in the cheek and the Ulsterbus employee was hit on the arm in the gunfire. Troops fired six shots as they dragged their wounded comrade, the civilian and a hysterical woman who was passing by into an armoured car. The gunman, armed with a Thompson sub-machine gun opened up from the direction of Rossnareen. The Bus had been overturned at Ramoan Gardens and the breakdown crew had just got it back on all four wheels when the shooting started. It is believed the soldier, a lieutenant is seriously ill.

Troops later came under fire in Ardoyne. A gunman fired two shots from the direction of Herbert Street towards soldiers on duty at Chief Street but no one was hit.

Tuesday 5th October 1971 Army claim to have shot seven IRA members Troops believe they shot seven members of the IRA in another night of street gun battles and bomb attacks in Belfast. But the shot men were dragged away by their friends before they could be captured. In one incident a soldier of the Queen’s Regiment was shot in the leg after a gunman fired on a patrol in the Lower falls area.

Throughout the night soldiers fired back when they were attacked in the Ardoyne and Ballymurphy areas. Three gunmen were believed to have been hit when Scots Guards fought off a two-hour attack by the IRA near Rock View Cottage when some 100 rounds, nail, gelignite and petrol bombs were fired at them.

Four passer-bys were treated in hospital for shock after two bombs were planted in the Belfast car Hire depot at Grosvenor Road – the second bomb attack TOP - Women being searched during a military operation in the Short Strand area MIDDLE - Troops searching homes in Madrid Street BOTTOM - Premises of Spendlove C. Jebb after being destroyed by an explosion

Page 33

there within three months. Just before 8.00 pm five men drove up to the building in a green Ford Cortina.

Two of them ordered the staff out and planted two 10 lb charges which caused extensive damage.

There were two explosions at the Belfast laundry on the Donegal Road, which also damaged the nearby Brooke Bond store. More than a dozen houses had their windows smashed. Two women were treated in hospital for shock after an explosion caused slight damage to a Co-op store on Crumlin Road. There was slight damage to the front of W. T. Avery Ltd in North Queen Street by what security forces believe may have been a nail bomb.

The Ardoyne area of Belfast was the scene of several shooting incidents during the night, with soldiers frequently fighting back their attackers. At Kerrera Street bursts of automatic fire hit a Green Howards observation post. The soldiers fired back and two gunmen were shot before they were dragged off into the darkness. In Herbert Street a crowd of 50 youths gathered and the Army say they shot a gelignitebomber. Another bomber was said to have been shot in Butler Street. Shots were also fired in Louisa Street and Glen Park. Troops returned fire in both incidents.

During the evening a number of lorries and buses were hi-jacked. Some were used on barricades, some were set on fire and others were later recovered. A 16-year-old girl passenger had a lucky escape when

Page 34

THE TROUBLES

gunmen held up the bus she was travelling on in the Oldpark area. Two men, one armed with a .38 revolver, stopped the bus at Glenview Street. They ordered the passengers off the bus but before the girl could get clear, they sprinkled petrol over the lower deck and set the vehicle alight. She received minor burns and her clothes were scorched as she tumbled through the flames to safety.

Crowds attacked two banks in the Upper Falls area, setting one on fire. The Northern Bank at Andersonstown was gutted by the blaze and only the strong room remained intact. Later there was an explosion at the Belfast savings bank in the same area.

A 26-year-old member of the RUC who was shot by gunmen near the Falls Road on Monday afternoon was detained in hospital. His condition is described as satisfactory.

Apart from two incidents the rest of the North was generally quiet. In Coalisland troops returned fire after a patrol returning to Coalisland RUC Barracks was attacked. Half an hour after the shooting, two men with blackened faces forced a woman living nearby to hand over her car keys. One of the men seemed to help the other into the vehicle before driving off. At Newtownhamilton, Armagh the Temperance Hall in Castleblayney Street was extensively damaged by an explosion shortly before midnight.

Tuesday 5th October 1971 Soldier killed in Cupar Street bomb attack Guardsman Brian Hall of the Scots Guards died in the wreckage of an Army post which had just been blasted by a huge IRA bomb. The soldier who died, along with five of his colleagues, was buried in the rubble of the Cupar Street Army post. About 30 sol-

diers should have been in the terrace house when the 70 lb bomb exploded in a butchers shop at the rear of the post. But they were out on other duties. The bomb, according to an Army spokesman, was planted shortly before the blast by gunmen who forced their way in to the shop. The soldiers go no warning. The death of Guardsman all brought the total of soldiers killed in the North this year to 26.

Tuesday 5th October 1971 Visits to Long Kesh banned The Governor of the Long Kesh internment camp placed a one-day ban on all visitors after internees had refused to remove slogans from the walls of their huts. A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that when they refused, the Governor “imposed one of the sanctions under his power and banned the visitors for the day. The men in the camp later removed the slogans and the ban was lifted.

Tuesday 5th October 1971 Army attack on Church is sacrilege says Bishop The Army today turned down a call from the Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr. Philbin for an investigation into allegations that British troops attacked a church in Andersons town. Dr. Philbin claimed that troops fired rubber bullets and CS gas at people attending an evening mass in St. Agnes’ Church.

The Army have admitted that rubber bullet bullets were fired, but claim that troops were being stoned by a crowd in the area of the church. They denied today that any rubber bullet hit the church or that riot gas was used. Before the service the body of a 19year-old IRA volunteer, Terrence McDermott, was received at the church.

The Army said that there had been suggestions that troops fired through the windows of St. Agnes’ Church. The statement went on: “After a careful investigation, it has been confirmed that a company of troops moving east-west down Andersonstown Road to deal with a burning bus at the junction of Stewartstown Road and Andersonstown Road, fired baton rounds (rubber bullets) to disperse a crowd which was stoning them in the area of St. Agnes’ Church. The baton rounds, which were to the south of the church, did not hit the church. While this was going on a single round was fired at troops from the north. It is understood that a window to the north side of the church was broken. It is considered possible that the round fired from the north could have broken the window.”

In his statement Bishop Philbin accused the Army of an “unprovoked attack.” He said: “I share the feelings of the congregation of St. Agnes’ and of many others besides at the unprovoked attack by military forces with rubber bullets and gas missiles on the church and worshipers, including an overflow in the TOP - Stewarts Supermarket, Oldpark Road, after a bomb blast BOTTOM - Damage at the premises of R. McFarlane in Cliftonpark Avenue after an explosion

church precincts, during the celebration mass.

The parish priest, Fr. Thomas Cuningham has stated that the troops caused the trouble themselves “from beginning to end.” He claimed, “They began firing rubber bullets and gas containers indiscriminately.

Some glass passed my face in the sanctuary caused by a rubber bullet being fired through a stain glass window. They fired rubber bullets at women and children standing in the porch. There is no doubt about my statement because I was celebrating mass in the church at the time.”

A curate in the parish Fr. Patrick McWilliams denied the Army claim that a bus was burned out at the Shaw’s Road-Stewartstown Road junction. Before the funeral two Army vehicles had gone up and down the Andersons town road and cut in front of the funeral procession, halting it for a time, and then moved on. A short time later three Saracen vehicles came “tearing up the road” past the church forcing some of the large overflow congregation to jump out of the way. “The troops opened up with rubber bullets on the crowd and some gas was fired. They fired rubber bullets at the church and people were screaming in terror.” said Fr. McWilliams. “There was no provocation whatever unless they took offence at the tricolour on the coffin. The people were very well behaved.”

Tuesday 5th October 1971 Five held after swoop on Ardoyne Troops detained five men when they searched 150 houses in Ardoyne but they did not find any arms and ammunition during the swoop. An Army spokesman said, “These men have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities.”

Meanwhile in the Portadown area of County Armagh, thousands of people were late for work because of a big Army operation. Check points were set up on five roads leading out of the town but it is understood that nothing was found. At one stretch, there was a queue stretching well over four miles from the centre of the town to the east and west.

Tuesday 5th October 1971 At a press conference in Belfast two postmen who witnessed the £11,000 robbery carried out at Riverdale Post Office told of how men wearing gangster style slouch brimmed hats, accompanied by a maxi-coated blond armed with a pistol robbed the Post Office van. The postmen said that the girl raider, who was aged about 18 and armed with a pistol in each hand, was the coolest among them.

Wednesday 6th October 1971 Blueprint to smash the rent campaign The Government this afternoon launched the second stage of its bid to kill the civil disobedience campaign and at the same time recover more than £400,000 unpaid in rent and rates since the campaign started seven weeks ago. It is seeking the powers to do so in the Payment for Debt (Emergency Provisions) Bill, which was presented in the Commons at Stormont and given a formal first reading.

It is understood that chiefly the method of recovery

THE TROUBLES

of rent and rates will be by deduction from all forms of government payments, including supplementary benefit, family allowance, unemployment and sickness benefit and old-age pensions. The intention will be to take out of these benefits the current rent for any week plus a phased contribution to wipe out arrears.

Wednesday 6th October 1971 Girl is hit by sniper A girl was shot and wounded when a sniper opened fire in Belfast, and an RUC sergeant on duty nearby was hit in the cheek by a fragment of brick when a bullet smashed into the wall behind him. The gunman fired three shots from the direction of Artillery Flats in the new Lodge area of Belfast. One bullet went through the girl’s thigh as she walked along Henry Street at around 1.00 pm. The RUC man who was on duty outside Gallaher’s tobacco factory guarding workers entering and leaving the building, declined hospital treatment.

Wednesday 6th October 1971 Five detained in swoop Five men were detained when troops carried out a search at Toombridge, County Antrim. They were handed over to the RUC for questioning. Later the Army found 30 petrol bombs near Shankill Street in Logan. They were destroyed.

Wednesday 6th October 1971 Checkpoints cause huge traffic jams Checkpoints were mounted on all main roads into Belfast as the Army carried out a massive car search operation and a man was detained for questioning after being stopped in the city. Nick named Operation Clampdown, the exercise caused huge traffic jams in several parts of the city and hundreds of people were late for work. It is believed that the operation was mounted because the IRA have been taking advantage of rush-hour traffic to move items in and out of Belfast. The worst jams were on the east side.

Hundreds of cars were caught in a line nearly two miles long on the Newtownards Road. The block on the Queens Bridge also meant a long queue of irate motorists. Traffic coming in from the Larne direction was badly affected by checks on the Shore Road.

Wednesday 6th October 1971 Special Powers Act to be applied to funerals Greater measures under the Special Powers Act, to tighten the control of military style funerals were announced by Mr. Faulkner in his capacity as Minister of Home Affairs. They also give the authorities powers to parole for a few days internees on humanitarian grounds and transfer them, if necessary, to hospital for the type of medical treatment which cannot be give to them at the internment centre.

But the regulations, which were drafted a week ago, are aimed at giving the RUC and Army a tighter control of IRA funerals. Funerals can now be prohibited from entering a particular area or rerouted if it was thought it would make “undue demands” on the security authorities, or cause a breach of the peace.

Another section of the regulation makes it possible for the security forces to require people taking part in the funeral to travel by car. th

Wednesday 6 October 1971 Cyclist caught in gun attack One person was slightly injured when a bomb exploded at an insurance brokers in Cliftonpark Avenue and shattered windows in an adjacent Baptist Church.

At about the same time a 3-foot crater was made in the ground when a 30 lb explosive charge detonated at the Stewart’s supermarket on Oldpark Road. The bomb was placed at the front of the building.

Troops at the Henry Taggart Memorial Hall at Ballymurphy rescued under fire a cyclist accidentally shot as IRA snipers attacked the post. The cyclist was shot as shots were fired from the direction of Divismore Park. The Scots guards returned fire.

In the Markets area of the city a passer-by was grazed by a bullet when gunmen on a Military Police mobile patrol. The man was rushed to hospital. Several nail bombs were hurled at Army patrols in various parts of the city but no casualties were reported. There were two explosions in the Grosvenor Road area, one at a derelict house in Willow Street. Severe structural damage was caused to the building trade supplies store owned by Spendlove C. Jebb on Grosvenor Road by a substantial charge. Firemen fought a blaze which followed the explosion and succeeded in stopping it from spreading to a nearby paint store.

A shot was fired at an Army sentry on duty outside Crumlin Road prison at 11.30 pm. The bullet was fired from the direction of the courthouse but the soldier was unhurt and did not fire back. A sniper also opened fire at Girdwood Park on the Antrim Road, Belfast and an Army marksman returned fire but the sniper escaped.

After four buses had been hijacked and set on fire public transport services were again withdrawn. An Ulsterbus was destroyed by fire at Clovelly Street, Glen Road. At teatime three armed men hijacked a Corporation vehicle at Carr’s Glen terminus and burned it. Another bus hijacked at Oldpark chapel was taken to Ardlea Street where it was set on fire.

Firemen who tried to extinguish the blaze were stoned by a crowd and had to leave the scene. Six men ordered crew and passengers off a bus at Ligoniel terminus and then set it on fire.

Outside Belfast troops making a search after Monday night’s attack on a patrol at Coalisland discovered six pipe bombs and explosive mixtures for filling them at Gortgonis. Two explosions damaged an electricity pylon at Coagh. Although there was thought to be extensive damage there was no power failure. In Derry a five lb bomb badly damaged the quayside premises of the coal-importing firm of TOP - The Fiddler’s Inn, Durham Street after a bomb attack MIDDLE - New road ramps placed outside Hastings Street Barracks to prevent attacks from passing cars BOTTOM - Blast damage to McCausland’s Car Hire, Grosvenor Road

Page 35

Lanes Ltd. No one was injured in the explosion which happened shortly before 10.00 pm.

Thursday 7th October 1971 We know who carried out pub blast says RUC RUC detectives are looking for a number of men to question them about the blast at the Four Step Inn when two men died and another 27 were injured. The RUC say they have no doubt that the explosions at the Four Step and at the Bluebell bar, Sandy Row, were the work of the Provisional IRA. The IRA deny any involvement in the blast in a statement lay the blame for the blast at the feet of “right wing unionism or the UVF.”

Page 36

THE TROUBLES th

Thursday 7 October 1971 Four men held after search in Ardoyne Four men are believed to have been detained by troops in the Ardoyne area of Belfast after overnight searches. The searches, carried out by men of the Green Howards, but it is not known if anything was found. The army confirmed that a number of men had been detained but would not make any further comment. The searches were described as “routine” and the men have bee detained for questioning by Special Branch and Army intelligence men.

Thursday 7th October 1971 Special Branch detective shot by IRA A Special Branch detective and another man were shot by the IRA as they walked along the Donegal Road near Celtic Park shortly before 9.00 pm. It is believed the gunmen walked behind the two men, pulled out weapons and pumped bullets into the pair of them. The detective was shot in the back and the other man in the stomach. The gunmen then jumped into a car, which sped off in the direction of the M1 motorway.

Recently the IRA that they would hunt down and liquidate members of the RUC Special Branch.

Thursday 7th October 1971 Army uses machine gun during night of attacks Troops opened fire several times during the night and on one occasion, in Belfast, used a machine gun attached to an armoured car to return fire.

Around Midnight Soldiers of the Scots Guards travelled in an armoured car travelled to the Monagh Road where a crowd of 300 had gathered behind a barricade. When the Ferret attempted to remove the barricade it came under attack from 70 youths who threw bricks, bottles and nail bombs. Then the car came under attack from automatic fire, the crowd fled and troops in the car returned two bursts from their Browning machine gun. The troops said that automatic fire was directed at them from Norglen Parade and the nearby Norglen Flats.

Troops also opened fire on gunmen on the border after a patrol had surprised them as they were planning to blow up a customs post. It happened when two men crossed the border from the South near Middletown customs post and one man placed a 5 lb gelignite bomb behind the post. Men of the Light Infantry were in the area and challenged them. Troops were then fired on as they pursued the men towards the border. They returned fire and there were no casualties. Later a revolver, five rounds of ammunition and the bomb were found at the customs post.

Belfast city was rocked by blasts once again and troops on their way back to England had a lucky escape when a bomb exploded at the Belfast Steamship Company’s terminal at Donegal Quay shortly after their boat sailed. The Liverpool boat with 90 Grenadier Guardsmen on board had only just sailed and the Army believe that the bomb was meant for the soldiers.

Earlier three civilians suffered shock when a 5-10 lb bomb exploded at Gardeners newsagents in Botanic Avenue. Three bombs each comprising of 5lbs of

gelignite caused slight damage to Mackie’s factory.

It is believed that the bombs were placed on the pavement outside. Shortly after this just before 11.00pm a 5 lb bomb blew a hole 20 feet by 50 feet in a asbestos wall at Hogg Brother’s Factory at Mill Avenue, Ligoniel. No one was injured. There were also reports of nail bombs being thrown in the Monagh Road and Ardoyne areas.

In Ardoyne an IRA machine gunner fired more than 20 rounds of tracer ammunition from either Jamaica Street or Brompton Park towards the northern wall of the mill in Flax Street but no one was hurt. Shortly after 7.30 pm, a sentry in the Flax Street mill opened fire on a sniper on the roof of the Beltex factory. It is not known whether the sniper was hit but a search by troops revealed nothing.

In Strabane, at three o’clock in the morning, a fire completely gutted the County Cleaners in Main Street. There was a loud bang at the time but it is believed that this was caused by the fire. Two people were rescued from the burning building, one of these ran off and the other was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital suffering from extensive burns.

In Derry three shots were fired near the Army post at Brooke Park but no casualties were reported and no fire was returned. The shooting occurred around midnight and about an hour after a small explosion had caused slight damage at Rosemount shirt factory. Also in Derry some stones were thrown at troops who went to investigate a bomb hoax at a petrol filling station in the Shantallow area and later the window of an RUC car on patrol in the same area was broken by stones. The occupants were unhurt.

Thursday 7th October 1971 Sixty guns stolen from shop Four men got away with 40 shotguns, 20 rifles, 8,000 rounds of ammunition and 3,000 shotgun cartridges when the raided a sports shop in High Street, Kilkenny. They drove into St. Mary’s Lane, at the rear of the premises, tied up the proprietor and his assistant in the cellar before loading the guns and ammunition into a car. It was three hours before the men were freed and the Garda informed. A full-scale search for the raiders has been order throughout the southeast.

Thursday 7th October 1971 Booby-trap bomb in Belfast The Army has exploded a booby-trap bomb on a bridge at Glen Road, Suffolk. The explosion heard by hundreds of residents nearby went off at 10.00 am.

Friday 8th October 1971 Raiders get away with £17,000 Raiders who held up banks on each side of the border and a Post Office in Belfast got away with £17,000 in four daring hold-ups. At Mallusk, a cashier at a mobile bank was struck on the head as two armed men snatched £700.

In Sligo, four men brandishing guns, snatched £14,000 from the Provincial Bank at Collooney,

County Sligo. In Coalisland, three armed men took £500 from the local branch of the Northern Bank.

And at Peter’s Hill Post Office on Belfast’s Shankill Road, a youth walked in and snatched £400. There is no reports of the man being armed.

Friday 8th October 1971 Shots fired in Falls area Four shots have been fired in the Divis StreetTownsend Street area of Belfast. An Army spokesman said their patrol in the area had not been able to pinpoint from where the shots came or where the bullets landed.

Friday 8th October 1971 1,750 extra troops for North The Army’s strength here is to be raised by 1,750 men to 13,850 – 250 more than had previously been announced. The 250 extra troops are coming because the Ministry of Defence has chosen a Marine Commando unit with 750 men for duty here. When it was decided to send three battalions to the North it was assumed that there would be 1,500 extra troops but commando units are always above the normal battalion strength of 500.

Friday 8th October 1971 Arms find Newspapers have recently carried stories concerning the discovery by the Army during a search of arms and ammunition in the Short Strand area. It has been stated that two .22 rifles, a shotgun and ammunition were found in Vulcan Street. The RUC have said that it has now been established that the guns and ammunition were held legally under licence.

Friday 8th October 1971 Flak jacket saves soldier’s life An Army sergeant’s flak jacket saved his life when a gunman fired on his patrol in Belfast’s New Lodge Road district. The soldier of the 1st Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment received a slight wound in the chest after a sniper opened fire from the junction of Dawson Street and Lepper Street. It is believed that the bullet pierced the soldier’s jacket and it was slowed down so much that it bounced out again after striking a rib. The bullet was found lodged in the jacket. An Army spokesman said that the jacket undoubtedly saved the soldiers life.

Friday 8th October 1971 Two bombs at RUC barracks A new RUC barracks being built at North Queen Street was blasted by two bombs in the early hours of the morning after an armed man ordered the watchman off the site. Elsewhere in Belfast an RUC barracks was attacked by automatic gunfire; another 3.5inch rocket grenade failed to go off; and troops reported shooting a man with a rifle.

The bomb blast at the new RUC barracks came at 7.40 am. An armed man walked up to the watchman and took him away from the area. While they were

THE TROUBLES

away two bombs went off. The three-storey building, which is almost complete, suffered some structural damage but a third bomb failed to go off and was made safe by an Army expert.

Earlier in the night Roden Street RUC Barracks was attacked by two long bursts of machine-gun fire. This was followed by a bomb thrown at the station, which blew in the front door and broke windows in the barracks and surrounding houses. No one was hurt in the attack, which was launched from the back of a passing lorry. Fire was not returned at the lorry.

And an Army patrol at Springfield Road had a lucky escape when the IRA tried to detonate a rocket grenade. It is a weapon, which has recently been fired on two occasions. Two shots were fired at the patrol. The soldiers took cover and there was a blue flash as the IRA members attempted to detonate the grenade electrically. At first it was thought that the device was a nail bomb but it was later found to be a grenade with the tail fins removed.

At Norglen Parade troops fired at a man who was seen on a rooftop with a rifle. They reported that “he jumped in the air and fell from the roof” but there was not enough soldiers to carry out a search in the area.

In the east end of the city the premises of Alex Devon, Mountpottinger Road, were destroyed by fire. It is not known if the fire was malicious. Other incidents in the North came like this: 8.25 pm – Troops fired rubber bullets and two gas canisters to disperse a hostile crowd in the Distillery Street-Excise Street area.

11.30 pm – A stick of gelignite exploded in King Street Mews. No damage and no injuries were caused.

12.50 am – A man got out of a grey Cortina at Creighton’s filling station at Finaghy and planted a bomb. The staff took cover and the explosion damaged the garage and pumps. A 20 lb bomb at the Universal Furnishings Company in York Street was defused by an Army expert during the night.

In Magherafelt a bomb demolished the pump house at the Nestle’s factory. Shots were fired in Rostrevor but the target was not known and two lorries were hijacked and burned near Hilltown. And in Armagh, a fire, which is believed to have been malicious, destroyed a poultry exporter’s premises in Cathedral Road.

Friday 8th October 1971 Newspaper pulls out of North Almost 100 people have been informed at the Daily Mirror plant at Suffolk that following the £1 million bomb attack carried out by the IRA the plant was completely closing down. Some of the staff have been offered jobs at a new plant in Scotland. th

Saturday 9 October 1971 Sullivan held after chase Jim Sullivan, the 49-year-old former chairman of the Belfast Central Citizens Defence Committee and a leading Republican, has been detained by the RUC for questioning. Sullivan who has been sought by the RUC since the security forces mounted the first

th

big internment swoop on the 9 August was stopped in a car at a military roadblock in Belfast. It is understood that he was heavily disguised and was wearing a wig.

Meanwhile it has been confirmed that internment orders have been signed for another 20 men. This now brings the total number of internees to about 250. th

Saturday 9 October 1971 Bomb scare at hospital Men of the RUC’s Special Patrol Group evacuated a Belfast hospital shortly before 1.00 am when a patrol spotted a suspicious holdall lying outside a youth club in Fountainville Avenue near the Samaritan Hospital. The 45 patients, many of whom had just undergone operations were ferried in a fleet of ambulances to different hospitals.

Saturday 9th October 1971 Ramps created to provide security Tarmacadam ramps to slow down traffic passing by RUC barracks and Army posts have been introduced in Belfast in an effort to stop IRA attacks on the buildings. The ramps, similar to those used in Army barracks in England – for enforcing a speed limit – rise to the height of nine inches and are placed across both lanes of a roadway. Vehicles have to drop their speed to 15 miles an hour or less to negotiate the ramps. And already motorists are complaining that the ramps are too high and are catching the underneath of vehicles. The ramps will replace existing chicanes outside many posts and more chicanes are to be put up throughout the city in an effort to check vehicles.

One of the first ramps to be laid was on the Springfield Road near Cupar Street observation post which has came under bomb and gun attack. The ramps at this location are three feet wide and stretch completely across the main road. They were laid by civilian workmen and more ramps are expected to be laid around the city in the next few days. An Army spokesman said: “the ramps are intended to reduce the speed of vehicles which may be involved in irregular acts.”

Saturday 9th October 1971 Youths in M1 conflict Rival groups of youths have stoned each other across the M1 near Donegall Road Roundabout. About 20 Catholic youths confronted a similar number of Protestants across the motorway as cars continued to speed by. The groups hurled stones and bottles at each other and wove in and out of the traffic.

Saturday 9th October 1971 Soldier wounded on Falls IRA gunmen wounded a soldier and a civilian when they ambushed an Army patrol in the Falls area of Belfast. Other gunmen opened fire on Springfield Road RUC barracks and the joint RUC-Army post at the Henry Taggart Memorial Hall at New Barnsley, but no one was injured.

Page 37

The Army patrol was fired on as it drove along the Falls near the junction of the Whiterock. Three or four shots were fired by gunmen, who are believed to have been using a .22 rifle and a .45 pistol from a position near the Rock Bar. A 24-year-old Guardsman was wounded in this attack, as was a 19-yearold man from nearby Hugo Street.

Saturday 9th October 1971 Weapons stolen from house in Andersonstown The RUC are searching for three young men who forced a man to hand over a shotgun and a rifle in Belfast. The youths, all armed with revolvers, called at a house in Owenvarragh Park, Andersonstown, and demanded the weapons. The man, whose name has not been revealed, handed over a double barrel shotgun and a .22 rifle, which were both licensed.

Saturday 9th October 1971 Red Cross in Long Kesh Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross have completed a three-day visit to people detained in Long Kesh internment camp and Belfast and Armagh prisons. A further visit has been arranged for December. The visit followed an arrangement made with the Stormont Government.

The visitors consisted of a delegate and a medical advisor, both Swiss. They visited Crumlin Road prison on Tuesday, Long Kesh on Wednesday and Armagh on Friday. They were given complete freedom to talk privately with internees, detainees and prisoners of their own choice. The Ministry of Home Affairs said that as is the normal practice, the report of the committee on the visits would be given to the Stormont Government.

Saturday 9th October 1971 Plenty of guns in South to prevent Protestant backlash The general organiser of the North of Ireland Catholic ex-servicemen’s Association has alleged at a meeting of the associations Dublin Branch that there were ample guns in the south to prevent a possible Protestant backlash in the North. He declined to say where he got his information but alleged that there would not be any problem in arming the 100,000 members of the association, a figure he hoped the membership in the South would reach in the event of a backlash.

He told 40 members of the Dublin association: “No one knows if this will happen but we have to be prepared.”

Monday 11th October 1971 Army ramps are a snag for ambulances Ambulance chiefs are to meet the Army to discuss the new tarmacadam ramps laid down outside Belfast RUC barracks to prevent IRA attacks. Ambulance drivers are afraid that the safety of their patients, especially emergency cases, may be put at risk when the ambulances have to slow down to crawl over the ramps.

The ramps are also causing concern among motorists. One angry sports car driver is trying to claim from the Army for damage to his car when he crossed

Page 38

THE TROUBLES

a ramp in Northumberland Street. “I got stuck and lost my silencer bracket,” said the man. “Several of my colleagues who also drive sports cars have damaged their cars too. The ramps may be OK for conventional cars but for sports cars they are just not on.”

Monday 11th October 1971 Four shots fired at patrol Four shots have been fired at an Army patrol in Ballymurphy. No one was injured and the soldiers from the Royal Scots Guards did not return fire. The attack took place in the Whitecliffe Parade area at 2.20 pm.

Monday 11th October 1971 Army bulldozes public toilets The Army’s war against the IRA took an unusual twist when soldiers bulldozed a public toilet. For the toilet in Coalisland Square provided a safe base for the IRA to launch nail and petrol bomb attacks at the nearby RUC barracks. An Army spokesman said the toilet had been demolished for security reasons.

Monday 11th October 1971 Water supplies to Belfast homes remain cut off Sixteen thousand residents in the Whiterock area of Belfast have now entered their fourth day without supplies of water to their homes. Supplies have been cut due to an IRA bomb attack. Residents are now relying on emergency standpipes in the streets and wells or streams running down from the nearby hills.

Belfast Corporation are now making water tankers available to ease the shortage.

Monday 11th October 1971 Soldier dies two weeks after ambush Another soldier wounded by an IRA gunman in an ambush two week ago died in a Belfast hospital early today, bringing the weekend death toll from violence to two. The soldier was named as Private Roger Wilkins (32) of 1st Battalion The Royal Anglican Regiment, from Portsmouth. Married with five children he was shot in the head by an IRA sniper while on duty at the Mex garage at Letterkenny Road in Derry on 27th September.

On Saturday night a 45-year-old was killed and 19 people injured when a bomb wrecked another public house in the city. She was Mrs. Winifred Maxwell, a Protestant, who had been living with a relative at Westmoreland Street, off the Shankill Road. Mrs Maxwell, whose son is a serving soldier, was killed when a bomb wrecked the Fiddler’s House pub in Durham Street shortly after 9.00pm. Ten of the 19 people injured in the explosion were detained in hospital. The bar is owned by Mr. Terence McCauley of Fruithill Park, Belfast had both Catholic and Protestant customers. The bomb, estimated to contain 20 lb of gelignite had been placed at the front of the pub.

The blast has strengthened the theory that some group is now waging an indiscriminate bombing campaign against civilians.

Security chiefs are also alarmed about another new development in the bombings – the use of children.

Troops travelling in an armoured vehicle down Cromac Street in the Markets area of the city spotted an eight-year-old boy throwing a nail bomb at the patrol. The incident happened after shots had been fired at an Army patrol. The patrol were looking for the gunman when an eight-year-old boy stepped out

of the crowd and hurled the bomb. Another boy, also about eight, threw a second nail bomb at men of the 3rd battalion The Queen’s Regiment – and then picked it up when it failed to explode and ran back into the crowd.

Earlier a soldier of the Black Watch had a narrow escape when his patrol was fired on by gunmen with a Thompson sub-machine gun and a carbine. One bullet pierced a soldiers jacket, less than an inch from his neck.

Seven people were rushed to hospital after a bomb damaged the pavilion at Paisley Park sports ground off the West Circular Road, where troops had been recently billeted. One person was detained in hospital but no one was seriously injured.

The White Horse Inn on the Springfield Road was damaged by a bomb that was planted on the windowsill. Two people were treated for shock. Another bomb, which exploded in Panton Street off the Falls Road, shattered a number of windows. Several other explosions believed to have been caused by nail bombs were heard in the Ballymurphy-Turf Lodge area.

An electricity transformer near a quarry at Carrickmore, Tyrone was damaged by a bomb for the third time in 12 months.

On Saturday night, the Belfast Co-op store at Ballysillan Road was badly damaged by a bomb believed to have been planted by a woman who escaped in a green Vauxhall car. Another bomb damaged the Colin Glen filling station. Cars parked in a compound at Springfield Road RUC barracks were damaged by a bomb thrown over the wall from Violet Street. A gunman fired a number of shots at the station about the same time but no one was injured.

Dozens of windows were shattered by a bomb which exploded in an alley at the junction of Annalee Street and Dargle Street and a newsagent’s shop at Ligoniel Road was damaged by a bomb thrown through a fanlight.

Monday 11th October 1971 Provisional IRA deny two pub blasts The Provisional wing of the IRA has denied responsibility for blowing up a Belfast pub at the weekend, killing a woman and injuring 19 people. A spokesman at their headquarters in Dublin said they did not plant the bomb which wrecked the Fiddler’s House pub in Durham Street. He added they had nothing to do with Sunday’s explosion at a pub on the Springfield Road.

Monday 11th October 1971 Boy finds ammunition A 14-year-old boy found a hoard of ammunition in a lane near Moygashel, County Tyrone. It included 144 rounds of .38 long ammunition, 58 rounds of 8mm ammunition and one round of 9mm ammunition.

In a search in the Pilot Street area of Belfast the Army found a quantity of fuse and cortex, 28 detonators, LEFT - Troops searching cars on Belfast’s Albert Bridge

THE TROUBLES

six electrical incendiaries and other explosive materials.

Monday 11th October 1971 Three Derry firms are bombed Three bomb blasts, two within five minutes have rocked Derry. Considerable damage was caused but there were no casualties.

The first blast, shortly after 8.30 was in the headquarters of a dry-cleaning firm in magazine Street which runs alongside the city walls. There was extensive interior damage and nearby buildings were also damaged.

The front gates of a bakery firm in William Street were blown off in the second blast. Soldiers carrying out repair work to the entrance were stoned by a small crowd for about 10 minutes. A small number of rubber bullets were fired to break up the crowd.

The premises of the Lough Swilly Bus Company in Great James Street damaged in a previous bomb attack were badly damaged in the third blast about 20 minutes later. At one point during the night two bursts of machine-gun fire were directed at troops in William Street but there were no casualties..

Monday 11th October 1971 Women scoff at reports of child bombers Mothers in the Markets area of Belfast laughed at Army claims that eight-year-old children are throwing nail bombs and all were agreed that the allegations were untrue. In Welsh Street, one woman with young children said “I’m not going to tell who threw the bomb but it certainly wasn’t any eight year old.”

Monday 11th October 1971 RUC have left Coalisland claims Devlin The RUC have denied a reported statement by Bernadette Devlin, MP that the RUC had left Coalisland in County Tyrone. Miss Devlin was reported to have said that the people had to take over the running of the town. “There is no truth in this statement,” said an RUC spokesman. “Coalisland is being policed by the RUC and a party of men continues to be stationed there.”

Tuesday 12th October 1971 CS gas fired inTurf Lodge Troops fired CS gas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd after a search uncovered 40 lb gelignite in a flat at Turf lodge in Belfast. The explosives were found in two boxes in a roof above a flat at Norglen Parade. An Army spokesman said people in the area objected to the search and troops were attacked. No one was reported to have been held.

Tuesday 12th October 1971 Gunmen attack Springfield post Troops and IRA gunmen have fought a fierce battle around an Army post and in Derry two elderly women braved a stone-throwing crowd to save soldiers trapped in an Army vehicle.

Soldiers in the post at Cupar Street-Springfield Road junction came under heavy automatic fire from several different positions. Sentries in the post were

pinned down during the attack but troops returned fire on several occasions. Thirty rounds were fired at the front of the post from Lanark Street and another 30 rounds were directed towards the sentry at the rear from the direction of Cawnpore Street shortly after 7.30 pm.

About a dozen shots, probably from a Thompson submachine gun were then fired at the post from Benares Street and fire was then returned. People rushed from the streets as gunmen sprayed the post with automatic fire from a hidden position, but fire was not returned.

Then a foot patrol was fired on in Lanark Street and another four shots were fired from Colinview Street.

The RUC have said that there is no basis for a report that civilians had been injured by gunmen firing from the Protestant side of the peace-line during the gun battle.

A long burst of automatic fire was heard in the Mayo Street area but no target or injuries could be found.

Two shots were heard on the Grosvenor Road and another four shots were fired in the New Lodge area.

Earlier a soldier was grazed in the shoulder by a single shot by a sniper fired from the direction of the Cullingtree Road. The soldier was a member of a patrol of the Royal Green Jackets in Elizabeth Street and fire was returned. Five shots were also fired at the front of Glenravel Street RUC station but no one was injured. A gelignite bomb was thrown at an RUC Land Rover in Verner Street. The device exploded behind the vehicle but no one was injured.

The compound at the rear of Springfield Road RUC barracks was the target of bombers for the second time in two days. Cars parked in the yard were damaged by a one-pound device thrown over the wall from Violet Street. No one was injured but the RUC said an unexploded nail bomb was later found.

Protestant vigilantes came under fire from a gunman near the junction of the West Circular Road and the Springfield Road. An Army spokesman said the gunman was operating from a position near Corry’s timber yard, but a spokesman for the firm has issued a statement making it clear that the gunman was not operating from within the yard.

The two Derry women who beat back a stone-throwing crowd were praised by the Army for saving what they described as a nasty situation. An armoured troop carrier from 45 Medium Regiment which broke down at the junction of Lone Moor Road and Creggan Road was being attacked by a crowd when the women took a hand. They forced their way through the crowd, which was trying unsuccessfully to get at the soldiers inside and stood between the rioters and the vehicle and beat back the crowd with their fists. One woman also used an umbrella. An Army spokesman said that one of the women shouted at the rioters “You are not Christians, you will kill them,” before breaking into tears. The spokesman added that the driver of the armoured vehicle was able to run to the Brook Park Army post and get reinforcements to recover the vehicle.

The rioting began around teatime as firemen raced RIGHT - Bomb damage at the Co-Op store on the Ballysillan Road

Page 39

to William Street to deal with an outbreak at a disused cinema. They were stoned by a group of youths and forced to retreat to Waterloo Place. People returning home after work were forced to run for cover after a burst of gunfire was heard in the William Street area. Rioters tried to force their way into Stevenson’s bakery in William Street but troops dispersed them with rubber bullets. Shots were directed at troops at the end of Marlborough Terrace from the direction of Watt’s Basin shortly after six o’clock but there were no casualties. Some of the bullets struck houses in the area. Rioting continued for several hours and further shots were directed at troops. Two cars were hijacked and burned out in the Creggan area. The Army reported the situation quiet around 11 o’clock.

Shortly after midnight between 5 and 10 lb of gelignite caused severe structural damage to the headquarters of the Waterside British Legion at Iona Terrace.

Windows in nearby houses were blown out and one person was treated for shock.

Tuesday 12th October 1971 SDLP is trying to split Civil Rights Movement Mr. Tomas MacGiolla, president of Sinn Fein has accused the SDLP of trying to split the civil rights movement. He said “Some political groups are attempting to undermine the NICRA and are competing with each other in setting up their own assemblies.

The Strabane assembly of the SDLP calls on the people to unite behind it. They are speaking to people who are already united behind the NICRA campaign so what they are calling for is a split, for a return to the old political party game and to the abandonment of the mass movement of the people.

“Whatever the Strabane assembly is, it is certainly not an ‘assembly of the Northern Irish people’. It seems to be an assembly of individual politicians without any organisational base among the people who are attempting to capture the leadership of the civil disobedience campaign and use it as a bargaining counter in their bid for a share of the spoils.”

Tuesday 12th October 1971 Twenty held in swoops Nearly 20 men were held by the Army in different operations throughout the North. The men were held in Belfast, Armagh, Bellaghy, Coleraine and Maghera areas. The most dramatic swoop was outside the City Hall in Belfast. Men of the Black Watch stopped a grey Hillman car, ordered four men out of it and searched them as scores of shoppers looked on. The

Page 40

THE TROUBLES

grounds of the City Hall were cleared as the men were frisked against the wall. They remained under guard for nearly half an hour until an RUC car arrived and took them away.

Tuesday 12th October 1971 Soldier ‘didn’t want to be a dead hero’ A soldier who heard his unit was being posted to the Six Counties preferred to be a “live absentee than a dead hero.” The solicitor defending him told a court that “Nobody could fail to sympathise with his actions to avoid a situation where his life could be ended by a snipers bullet”. The 18-year-old soldier went absent without leave on 18th July and travelled all over Britain while on the run from the Coldstream Guards. He has been remanded on bail.

Tuesday 12th October 1971 Ulster Hall date for new Loyalist party Representatives from throughout the North are to meet shortly to form a standing committee to deal with the policies of the new right wing Unionist party headed by Mr. Desmond Boal and the Rev. Ian Paisley. The meeting is to be held in the Ulster Hall on Saturday 23rd October. One of the names being proposed for the new party is the Democratic Unionist Party.

Tuesday 12th October 1971 Border roads to be blown up within a week Unapproved roads leading over the border are to be blown up by the army in an attempt to stop hit and run cross border operations by the IRA. Reliable sources reveal that certain roads have already been earmarked for such treatment. It is understood that at least 50 of the roads will be cratered. But one security source has said that all of them might have to be blown up to make the move effective.

Tuesday 12th October 1971 Newry blasts not located Three loud bangs were heard in the Newry area last night, all before midnight, but extensive inquiries made by the RUC and Army failed to locate where they were.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Court bus hijacked – 15 taken to South Fifteen men due to appear in court on rent strike charges, were kidnapped by a lone gunman and driven across the border into the Republic. The men were in a mini-bus on their way to court when the gunman stopped the vehicle at Draperstown and ordered the driver to head for Donegal. The bus was then driven across the border to the small town of Ballybofey, where the men were ordered out. The fifteen men made their way to a local hotel for lunch. They contacted Mr. Ivan Cooper, MP, who arranged transport for them. Outside Magherafelt Magistrates court several hundred civil rights supporters had gathered and were addressed by Mr. John Hume, MP. On hearing of the hijacking the resident magistrate adjourned the cases.

th

Wednesday 13 October 1971 Sniper fires on border demolition team One soldier was hit and very seriously injured when a gunman fired 12 shots at an Army “demolition party” laying charges on a road near Roslea, County Fermanagh. Troops did not return fire and the gunman escaped. Army engineers have begun a demolition operation along the border amid a clamour of protests. By early afternoon four roads in counties Fermanagh, Armagh, Derry and Tyrone had been cratered in operations which began at dawn. Both sections of the IRA said catering would not hinder their operations and Southern Premier, Mr. Jack Lynch said that the action would “aggravate a deteriorating situation.”

There are more than 200 unapproved roads along the 300-mile stretch of border and it is expected that just over 50 of them will be blown up within the next few days, while others will be spiked. The Army concentrated on blowing up bridges which they believe would be more difficult to fill in. The first bridge to be blown up was at Millbrook 250 yards from the Donegal border and three miles from Derry. A team of five sappers from 34 Field Squadron, Royal Artillery carried out the operation as more than 100 other soldiers took up positions in surrounding fields to watch for snipers. 70 lbs of plastic explosives blew a 12 foot crater in the road and at the AnnaghroeGlasslough crossing near Caledon, County Armagh 140 pounds of explosives blew a crater 15 feet deep by 30 feet wide.

TOP - British soldiers come under petrol bomb attack in Derry’s Chamberlain Street BOTTOM - Bomb damage to a shop on the Ligoniel Road

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Slow-up ramps lowered Belfast’s new security ramps outside Army posts and RUC barracks have been altered to avoid damage to cars. They are now only six inches high after the army removed three inches from them. They were confident that the ramps would still deter gunmen and bombers. Motorists can now keep the chassis clear but too much speed could still result in danger to the exhaust system. The Automobile Association advise that it will still be necessary to ease the cars over at no more than walking pace.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Army says they did give bomb warning The Army has denied allegations that they had not warned people in the Kennedy Way and Stockman’s Lane area of Belfast before blowing up an unexploded bomb. A spokesman said it was Army policy to warn people in an area before any bombs were blown up and that this had been the procedure when a bomb had to be detonated at the Speedline garage on Kennedy Way. However some local residents have complained that the troops were abusive and gave no warning about bomb.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Patrol ambushed as landmines explode IRA gunmen ambushed a two vehicle patrol near Newry second after two mines exploded at the roadside. As the soldiers stepped from their vehicles after the blasts, they came under heavy automatic fire from a number of gunmen, about 200 yards from the Drumalane estate. An Army spokesman said the two mines, each containing about 10 lb of gelignite, were electrically detonated from a distance as men of the 2nd Battalion, the Light Infantry drove along the road shortly after midnight. About 20 shots were fired at the soldiers but no one was injured. It is not known if any of the gunmen were hit. Both vehicles were slightly damaged by the mines which were placed about 25 yards apart.

Later two cars were found abandoned. Inside one of them troops found 600 rounds of assorted ammunition, a magazine for a Thompson sub-machine gun, a short length of fuse and a black beret. Three shots were later heard in Second Avenue and another at Armagh Road, but nothing was found.

Earlier three bombs rocked the Supermac shopping complex at Saintfield Road, Newtownbreda, on the outskirts of Belfast. The RUC said the largest bomb had been placed at the front of the main exit and considerable blast damage was caused to the glassfronted building. Part of the roof of the main block was also damaged by the blast shortly after 10.00 pm. Two smaller bombs each containing about 5 lbs of gelignite, exploded about the same time outside the premises of the Ormeau Bakery, Franklin Cleaners and Ulster Properties Ltd. at the complex. The shop and café of Gardiner’s was also damaged in the blast.

Another bomb caused some damage to the Munster and Leinster bank on the main Falls Road at Theresa Street, after a bomb expert decided it was unsafe to

THE TROUBLES

defuse. An Army spokesman said the bomb contained about 5-10 lbs of gelignite and was one of the Castlerobin-type booby trap devices. Men of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards guarded the bank for the rest of the night. An Army expert was later fired on as he dealt with a dummy bomb at the Busy Bee supermarket at Andersonstown. No one was injured and fire was not returned by troops.

Earlier in the night, a soldier if the 1st Battalion Black Watch was hit in the arm by a sniper at Ardoyne bus depot. An Army spokesman says he was closing the gates of the depot when he was struck in the left arm by a single shot. He was taken to hospital, but is not seriously hurt.

A blaze which badly damaged the shop fitting and joinery works of John McCue Ltd. at Mountpottinger Road is believed to have been malicious. Firemen raced to the scene in five fire tenders but the flames had already taken a firm hold. The road was closed to traffic. Soldiers who searched the markets are found 118 rounds of ammunition, three detonators and a quantity of explosives.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Troops and firemen under fire in Derry Three shots were fired at troops and army bomb disposal experts had to deal with a hoax bomb during sporadic rioting in Derry around tea-time on Tuesday. About 40 youths began stoning bakery premises in William Street around 5.00 pm and a hoax bomb was placed outside the bakery. A fire broke out in a derelict house in William Street which had been set on fire on Monday. The fire brigade was called when flames threatened the nearby premises of a taxi firm.

Firemen were stoned by a crowd of youths as they tackled the fire and the Army was deployed to protect them.

At 6.00 pm there was some stoning of troops at the Little Diamond, and a half hour later three shots were fired at soldiers at the Francis Street-William Street junction but no one was injured.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Falls Road bank Raid Gunmen escaped with £800 after raids on two branches of the Munster and Leinster bank in the Falls area of Belfast within five minutes of each other on Tuesday. The Falls branch which was damaged by a bomb was also raided by three men carrying revolvers. The staff were forced to fill a suitcase which the men brought with them and they made off with £500 five minutes later three youths armed with revolvers held up the staff of the Andersonstown branch and got away with £300. The RUC said the youths, who were not masked, were all aged about 16. It is not known if both raids were carried out by the same men.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Soldiers bombed after arms find Two nail bombs were thrown at troops during a search in Belfast and soldiers were fired on in Holywood.

Men of the 25th Light Regiment, Royal Artillery, fired five rubber bullets at Norglen Parade, Turf Lodge,

after nail bombs and other missiles were thrown at them. The trouble broke out after the soldiers discovered a home-made grenade, some ammunition and an air pistol. More than 30 rubber bullets were fired to disperse the attackers. At Holywood soldiers working on barbed wire barricades at Palace Barracks, came under fire at 10.15am. Two shots were fired from a passing car at men of the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, at the Old Holywood Road end of the camp. The car then stopped about 100 yards away and four more shots were fired. The soldiers returned fire and believe they hit the car before it was driven away. None of the troops were injured.

Building workers found five sticks of gelignite at North Boundary Street in Belfast at 11.00 am and handed them over to the Army. Four men were detained by troops in the Belfast area after a number of houses had been searched. The Army did not disclose where the raids had been carried out. The men were later handed over to the RUC for questioning.

A man injured at a house in the Oldpark area of Belfast in September, has died from his injuries. Another man injured at the same time died on 21st September. The latest victim was 21-year-old John Thompson, a married man of Bann Street. Mr. Thompson died in hospital almost a month after the blast which partly demolished his terraced home on 14th September. His hand was blown off in the explosion and three other people, including his wife, were injured in the explosion. Mr. James Finlay, a father of two, of Greenmount Street, who was also injured, died in hospital on 21st September. The RUC said the explosion was still being investigated.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Goulding for trial on incitement charges Cathal Goulding, chief of staff of the Official IRA, who appeared in Rathfarnham Court, County Dublin was returned for trial at Dublin Circuit Court. He is charged with inciting persons to commit indictable offences, contrary to the Explosives Substances Act, 1885, and the Offences Against the Person Act, 1925 and 1964. He is also charged with inciting persons to commit malicious damage to property. He was allowed on his own bail of £500, with one independent surety of £500.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Army issue rifle found in trench Troops found an Army issue self-loading rifle among an arsenal of rifles, shotguns and pistols during a dawn raid in Belfast. The 7.62mm rifle is believed to be one of several rifles stolen during the past two years and was found with the other weapons in a carefully hidden trench. The cache, which is regarded as one of the most important finds yet was uncovered by men of ‘C’ Company of the 3rd battalion, The Queens Regiment, when they swooped on at house at 4.30 am.

TOP - Bomb attack on Moffat’s car showroom, Brougham Street BOTTOM - British troops blow a crater in an unapproved border road

Page 41

In the small building at the rear of the house at Venice Street, off the Grosvenor Road, they found a carefully hidden trench lined with lead. It contained the following: two M1 carbines, one .303 rifle, three new shotguns and a sawn off shotgun, two .32 automatic pistols, one 7.65mm automatic pistol, one .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, and a .38 Colt police revolver, one .177 Webley air pistol, and a .22 Remington hunting rifle. As well as the SLR they also discovered 312 rounds of assorted ammunition and 80 rounds of 12 bore shotgun cartridges. All the weapons were in good condition and it is believed that troops were acting on information. Several other houses were searched but nothing was found.

Wednesday 13th October 1971 Derry man on explosives charge An 18-year-old Derry man appeared at Milford, County Donegal Court, charged with having in his possession 60 lbs of gelignite and 1,147 rounds of .22 ammunition at the Derry-Donegal border at Altaderry, Carrigans. He refused to recognise the court and said that the explosives were only intended for use against the British forces of occupation in Ulster and they were not intended for use against the Gardai or any peace keeping force in the Republic.

That was not the policy of the Republican Movement.

Thursday 14th October 1971 40 IRA gunmen in border attack The Army has fought a major border gun battle with about 40 IRA men near Forkhill in South Armagh.

Page 42

THE TROUBLES

One soldier was slightly wounded and troops said they hit at least one gunman in the fighting which lasted for an hour and half. It began as sappers were on their way to blow up another road across the border. The soldier was the second casualty since the cratering operations started yesterday to stop gun running from the south. An Army helicopter hovering in the air to spot the location of gunmen was also fired at and an ambulance which arrived to collect the injured soldier was forced to leave without the patient when it came under attack. Reinforcements moved in and Browning machine-guns were used against the IRA men who were using automatic guns and rifles in a sustained fusillade.

The ambush took place at Drumgooley at a cross roads 50 yards inside the North. The IRA opened up after a Claymore mine went off as two troop carriers approached but the bomb exploded to soon and the troops were able to return fire immediately. The prolonged exchange was clearly heard in the nearby village and area.

After more than an hour the IRA started withdrawing with no reports of interference with them by the Irish Army or Garda. Later an Irish Army unit and police were reported to have visited the conflict area some time after the shooting ended. It is understood they detained four men.

A member of the Dragoon Guards narrowly escaped injury when a bullet holed his helmet. The soldier injured during the battle was sitting in the back of the second troop carrier when hit. The driver of the leading carrier missed death by inches when a bullet passed through his seat. The IRA attack was mounted from three sides – from ahead and either flank. Using vantage points on high ground with heavy cover they launched what was the heaviest border offensive yet.

Thursday 14th October 1971 Death toll rises to 120 The death of a man in the Suffolk area of Belfast has brought the official death toll since disturbances began in 1969 to 120. A total of 25 regular Army men have been killed in the North this year. There have also been two deaths of Ulster Defence Regiment members, three RUC men and now 58 civilians. 57 people have been killed since internment began on the 9th August. In 1969 the death toll was 13 and in 1970 it was 19.

Thursday 14th October 1971 Armed men burn buses Armed men have hijacked and set fire to seven buses in Belfast. Four buses were set on fire during the afternoon; another three were blazing at Alliance Avenue, and others in Turf Lodge and the Short Strand. During these incidents there were five arrests and the Army have said that three of these men were on their “wanted lists.”

Thursday 14th October 1971 Helicopter hit by gunfire Three gunmen were wounded and an Army helicop-

ter hit twice as the IRA launched new attacks on troops in Derry, Belfast and at the border. Nail bombs were also hurled at troops during a major search operation in the Lower Falls area of Belfast after explosive materials were found The gunmen were wounded during a gun battle in Derry’s Creggan estate when trouble broke out after another search for IRA members.

Police have named a man found shot dead at Dunmurry during the night as John Bennett (18) of Carrigart Avenue, Suffolk. A youth is being questioned by the RUC and as yet the motive for the shooting is unclear.

th

Thursday 14 October 1971 Landmine misses patrol Military policemen on patrol in Belfast escaped narrowly injury when a Claymore-type mine was detonated as they passed it. The military vehicles were patrolling near the junction of the Shaw’s Road and Glen Road when the mine exploded from a distance.

None of the soldiers were injured and the vehicles were only slightly damaged Earlier a 20 lb bomb ripped through Moffet’s Car Sales showroom in Brougham Street, only a short distance from York Road railway station. Four women were rushed to hospital, three of them suffering from shock and the fourth from minor cuts.

The blast shortly after 7.00 pm wrecked the interior and a number of cars. The bomb also blew a threefoot crater in the pavement outside.

On the Springfield, near Ballymurphy a van was held up by gunmen and set alight. In Hastings Street two petrol bombs were thrown at the Army post and eight shots were fired at an Army patrol from Unity Place from the direction of Peter’s Hill.

In Derry a 54-year-old woman was struck by a bullet which ricocheted outside her home in Lower Road.

A soldier was also struck on the chin but he was not seriously injured. The woman was later discharged from hospital.

In Lisburn a woman planted a 10 lb bomb outside the Inland Revenue offices at Moira House. Extensive damage was caused to the front of the building.

The woman escaped in a car driven by a man.

At Corry near Belleek a cattle pen was damaged by an explosion. The pen is about 45 yards from the customs post.

Friday 15th October 1971 RUC men killed in Ardoyne Two members of the RUC have been killed when IRA members sprayed their car with machinegun bullets in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. The RUC men, thought to have been in plain clothes, were sitting in a car at the junction of Twaddell Avenue and Woodvale Road. Two cars drove past and sprayed the policemen’s red Cortina with automatic fire. The attackers then drove off towards the Crumlin Road.

Both RUC men were on duty outside a local bank.

Their deaths bring the number of RUC men killed this so far this year to five.

Friday 15th October 1971 16-year-old youth accused of murder A sixteen-year-old youth was remanded for one week at a special court in Lisburn charged with the murder of John Bennett at Englishtown, County Antrim on the 13th October. A detective sergeant told the court that the accused had admitted being a member of the Official wing of the IRA and had in his possession ammunition and gelignite. In a statement to the RUC the youth is alleged to have said, “It was over rods” and on being charged is reported as saying that “It was an accident.”

Friday 15th October 1971 Post Office closes down for ‘security reasons’ The Post Office has closed its Divis Street office for “security reasons”. The decision, follows a series of armed robberies at the office, the latest being on Monday when £2,000 was taken.

Friday 15th October 1971 Three gunmen believed hit in city battles Three IRA men are believed to have been hit during a fierce gun battle with the Army in Belfast. And today 10 men were being questioned by the RUC in connection with an arms find and various other offences.

The first of the shooting incidents happened about 7.00pm when a patrol of the Green Howards in Butler Street fired on a gunman. They think they hit the man but were unable to capture him. About six rounds were fired at the soldiers but they had no casualties. Later men of the Green Howards also fired on a gunman in the grounds of the Holy Cross School at Ardoyne, but he was not hit. In East Belfast, a man throwing a nail bomb at an Army billet near St. Matthew’s church hall was fired on by members of the Black Watch but is not thought to have been hit. A short time later, just before 9.00 pm the biggest gun battle of the night broke out in the Short Strand area and lasted for an hour. It started when the IRA sniped at a patrol of the Black Watch and while the soldiers were trying to locate him, two other gunmen using automatic weapons, opened up on them. In the battle that followed troops believe they hit two of the IRA men but were not able to capture them as they were helped away by their friends.

At Broadway while the Short Strand fight was in progress troops were fired on but were not injured.

Troops were also fired on in the same area later in the night.

The first of the two explosions in Belfast took place after 8.00 pm when a bomb was thrown from a passing car at the harbour offices in Corporation Square.

No one was hurt in the blast. Shortly afterwards, a 5-10 lb bomb went off at an electricity sub-station at Iveagh Street. It caused minor damage and did not affect supplies to the area.

Outside Belfast there was a bomb attack on the Antrim Arms public house in Market Square, Lisburn.

About 5-10 lbs of gelignite had been placed at the front door of the premises and caused moderate structural damage. Windows in about 50 surrounding

THE TROUBLES

buildings were also shattered and two passers-by were treated for minor cuts.

In Anderson Street in the Mountpottinger district 3,000 rounds of ammunition and a carbine were uncovered by troops. While in Stanfield Street in the Markets one Thompson sub-machine gun, one M1 carbine, two revolvers as well as magazines, 350 rounds of ammunition as well as detonators and fuse were discovered in an empty building.

Friday 15th October 1971 Ship bombed in Cork The owners of the Manx coaster blasted in Cork harbour have denied that young girl prostitutes had been on board. The denial came after a Republican organisation claimed responsibility for the blast on the 550-ton Ben Vooar – which is Manx for Big Girl.

The Saor Eire group said it was a protest against the authorities for “allowing a situation where young girls went aboard foreign ships as prostitutes.” Police could raid homes and arrest men “but cannot go on board ships to rescue 14 and 15-year-old girls,” said a statement. The manager of the Ramsey Boat Company, the owners of the coaster said that it was a case of mistaken identity and that they felt that it had been placed on board the Manx boat by mistake. An Isle of Mann Government spokesman said that they have made an official protest to the Irish Government through the Home Office.

Friday 15th October 1971 Explosions rock Derry Three IRA bombs badly damaged business premises in Derry and two more bombs were dismantled by Army experts. Earlier troops exchanged fire with a gunman near Brooke Park.

The first of the two explosions occurred at about 8.30 pm. Between 10 and 20 lbs of gelignite badly damaged the electrical shop of H.B. Phillips in Shipquay Street. A parked car was also damaged. The same amount of explosives wrecked the side entrance in Union Hall Place of the Palace Cinema, only yards away. None of the cinema audience was injured.

Hundreds of windows in the city centre, including some in the Guildhall were blown in.

About an hour later, 5 to 10 lbs of gelignite damaged the premises of John Eakin and Co. building contractors, in Strand Road and broke windows in nearby houses. One woman was treated for shock. Army experts dismantled a 10 lb bomb at the side of the Londonderry Development Commissioner’s yard in Fletcher Avenue and a similar sized bomb in Barrack Street.

Shortly before 6.00pm during several hours of sporadic rioting in the William Street area, eight automatic shots were fired at troops stationed at Brooke Park. They came from the Creggan Road-Lone Moor Road area. Troops returned the fire a minute later but he was not hit. Then a man was seen in a telephone kiosk at the junction of Creggan Road and lone Moor Road. An Army spokesman said he was holding some kind of machine gun, but the kiosk was surrounded by children. But as the gunman made off seconds later, the Army fired four shots at him

Page 43

but they missed. Two shots were also reported to have been heard at the Waterside railway station.

they abandoned the vehicle. The Army returned fire but no one was hit.

Friday 15th October 1971 Attempt to rescue IRA men fails Four men who were arrested by Irish troops and the Garda following a gun battle near Forkhill are now detained in Mountjoy Jail, Dublin. An attempt to rescue them was made by members of the Kevin Street section of Sinn Fein, who picked Mountjoy Jail. They forced the police cars carrying the men to stop before entering the jail and tried unsuccessfully to open the doors. They were dragged away by police.

Reports that the Provisional IRA had engaged the Irish Army in a gun battle following the Forkhill encounter with the British Army were being investigated at top level in Dublin.

Saturday 16th October 1971 Garda removes gelignite All supplies of gelignite in County Monaghan have been collected by the Garda and Army explosive experts and taken to a central magazine in Dublin. Some supplies in privately owned quarries and plants as well as stores held by Monaghan County Council have been removed and special arrangements have been made by quarry owners for future blasting operations. It is understood that similar action has been taken in Kilkenny and in some other counties in the Republic.

Friday 15th October 1971 Sentry fires on gunman An Army sentry fired a single shot at a man seen on the roof of a building in Lower Bennett Street, Derry.

A spokesman said it s not thought that the man was hit but he was seen to slide down the roof out of sight.

A follow up search failed to flush him out. th

Saturday 16 October 1971 IRA attempts to assassinate detective An RUC man involved in community relations work was shot at point blank range in Belfast as the IRA continued its campaign against members of the force.

Detective Inspector Leo McBrien, one of the city’s best-known RUC men, was wounded in the head when a man with a revolver opened fire on him. He was sitting behind the wheel of his private car at the Falls Road-Grosvenor Road traffic lights at 8.30 am when a gunman ran from Dunville Park and fired three shots into the vehicle. One of the bullets cut a deep gash along the side of his head but he was able to drive to Springfield road RUC barracks where he collapsed and was rushed to hospital.

Saturday 16th October 1971 2,000 extra troops for the North Defence Chiefs in London have stepped up the number of troops coming to the North in the next few days to more than 2,000. This is 300 more than had been expected and indicates that the Army is preparing to pursue an even tougher line against the IRA. Although it has yet to be confirmed, it is understood that some of the extra 300 men are specialist troops.

Saturday 16th October 1971 Baby in hospital after shooting Seven people including an 18-month-old boy were rushed to hospital after they were caught up in a gun battle between British troops and the IRA in Andrsonstown. The gun battle centred round the Army post in Lenadoon Avenue. The attack was launched from a lorry hijacked a short time earlier by four gunmen who drove past the post and threw two nail bombs. They then fired about 50 rounds in bursts before driving into Falcarragh Drive where

Saturday 16th October 1971 MP charged with having a seditious document Mr. Frank McManus, Westminster MP for Fermanagh-South Tyrone, confirmed today that he has been served with a summons to appear at Enniskillen Magistrate’s Court charged with possession of a seditious document. The document is alleged to have been found in his car when he was stopped at a roadblock recently.

Saturday 16th October 1971 Armour car ambushed – commander is seriously ill A soldier was shot and seriously wounded when gunmen ambushed an armoured car patrol going to the aid of ground troops in Belfast. He is Sergeant Graham Cox, a 35-year-old married man, of the Parachute Squadron of the Royal Armoured Corps, attached to the 1st Battalion, The Green Howards. He was the commander of an Army Ferret car which came under heavy fire in the Oldpark Road at midnight from a group of gunmen in the Ardilea Street area.

The Army said two Ferret vehicles were backing up a foot patrol which was going to investigate the gathering of a crowd at the corner of Gracehill Street.

Suddenly the troops came under heavy automatic and rifle fire. One bullet, described by an Army spokesman as an “unlucky hit” smashed through the protective shield on the turret of Sgt. Cox’s Ferret.

Saturday 16th October 1971 Gunmen will not destroy economy The present urbane guerrilla warfare will not bring about a breakdown in the economic life of the community, Mr. Robin Bailie, Minister of Commerce, told the conference of Management Development Services in Newcastle. Since the trouble began two years ago only five firms have closed down out of the 2,000 who manufacture here. He also said that of the firms that did close, they employed less than 300 people.

Monday 18th October 1971 RUC to be issued with bulletproof vests More bulletproof vests are to be issued to RUC men and the “police” signs are to be taken off all patrol cars to give them greater protection from IRA attacks.

This follows the killing of two RUC officers and the

Page 44

THE TROUBLES

wounding of three others in Belfast since Friday. In addition, RUC Land Rovers are now being reinforced to guard against ambushes. The new measures apply mainly to Belfast and Derry but members of the force in other areas will also be affected. Some RUC members already wear flak jackets while on duty but the number of these is to be increased. All soldiers in the North wear them.

Work has already begun on removing “police” signs and blue lights from all RUC vehicles. An RUC spokesman said that other precautionary measures are being taken but it would not be in the public interest to disclose the nature of these.

Monday 18th October 1971 Nine men held in dawn swoop Nine men were detained in a dawn swoop in a housing estate in Carrickfergus. Six of them are local men and the other three formerly lived in Belfast.

They are all detained under the Special Powers Act after houses at the newly opened housing executive estate off North Road were raided. The nine, who are all Catholics, were being questioned by Special Branch officers. Five men were also detained in a swoop in the New Lodge Road area and are being held for questioning.

Monday 18th October 1971 Raiders get £800 from social club Three armed and masked men have raided a social club in Belfast. They grabbed between £700 and £800 from Richardson’s social club in Hill Street. The raiders locked the staff in a small back room before making their getaway. It was about 15 minutes before anyone could get out to raise the alarm. An RUC spokesman said, “No shots were fired and no one appears to be hurt.”

Monday 18th October 1971 Cheap weapons for the IRA Security experts in the North are amazed at the low price being paid by the IRA for the plane load of arms and ammunition seized at Amsterdam at the weekend. With 116 crates of bazookas, machine–guns and high powered rifles going at a mere £12,000 they are having a complete rethink on the extent of Communist involvement in the current troubles.

RUC and Army officers were never in any doubt that the unrest was Communist inspired both from inside Ulster and elsewhere. But the bold plan by the Provisional wing of the IRA to import such a massive amount of arms, with the apparent blessing of the Czech authorities has left most hardened and experienced officers stunned. The big question the security forces were asking today was “Was this the first such consignment?”

Monday 18th October 1971 Four dead in weekend of heavy shooting At least three soldiers and one gunman died and two senior RUC officers seriously wounded during the weekend. The total number of troops killed in the North since February is now 30, including two UDR men. The total death toll since 1969 is now 126.

Troops fought a night long battle with gunmen as the IRA mounted a major offensive in Belfast and bombers struck at a number of targets elsewhere in the north. The first soldier to die during the weekend was 24-year-old Rifleman Joseph Hill, a married man of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets who as shot by a sniper in Derry on Saturday afternoon. He was struck by a single bullet in the Columbcille Court area of the Bogside as troops moved in to disperse stone throwers.

Early on Sunday Sergeant Graham Cox, a 35-yearTOP - Funeral of Winifred Maxwell who was killed in an explosion at the Fiddler’s House, Durham Street MIDDLE - A Bus hijacked and set on fire on the Antrim Road BOTTOM - Rioting in the Short Strand area of East Belfast

old married man, serving with the Parachute Squadron of the Royal Armoured Corps, died in Hospital less than 48 hours after being shot in the head by a single bullet when the IRA ambushed his Ferret Scout car near Ardilea Street.

The third soldier to die was 21-year-old Guardsman George Hamilton, whose home was on the Isle of Islay, off the west coast of Scotland. He had been serving for eight months with the 1st Battalion, The Scots Guards, when a sniper shot him as he walked down Glenalina Park at Ballymurphy on Sunday afternoon. He was unmarried and had been serving in Belfast for two months. According to his commander said that “the local people seemed to know something was going to happen,” and that the patrol became suspicious when the area “suddenly went quiet”. Even the children stopped playing. The information was radioed back and seconds later shots rang out. The last soldier in the patrol was hit in the back.

The civilian who died was David Joseph Thompson, a man in his late twenties who lived in Sheriff Street in East Belfast. His body was found near his home by men of the Duke of Wellington Regiment shot at a sniper in the street during the fierce gun battle in the Short Strand area. Thompson, who was unmarried, lived with his mother. An Army spokesman has said, “I think we can say quite definitely he was a sniper.” The Sean Tracey-Sean Martin Sinn Fein Cumman of Ballymacarrett referred to his death in a morning paper. They stated that he was unarmed.

The gun battle in the Short Strand area followed the shooting of two RUC men Superintendent George Moore and Chief Inspector William McMaster, both of Mountpottinger Station. They were on patrol duty in the Mountpottinger Road when two gunmen stepped out from Lisbon Street and shot them from behind. The gunmen who were using automatic weapons escaped as the RUC men were rushed to hospital.

As men of the Black Watch moved into the area, the IRA then launched what turned out to be a well organised but ineffective offensive. According to the Army a number of snipers fired at troops from positions at Lisbon Street, Seaforde Street, Thompson Street and Bryson Street. As many as 12 gunmen sprayed the streets in the area with automatic and rifle fire. As extra troops were drafted into the area, motorists found themselves in the middle of one of the city’s worst ever gun battles. Some light firing was reported from the Protestant area, but this could not be confirmed. The Army said that at least three snipers are thought to have been hit in the shooting.

One body was recovered, but a man who was shot and fell from the roof of Albertbridge Congregational Church and another man were dragged away. There were no Army casualties.

On Saturday afternoon troops in the Oldpark Road area came under fire from the Bone area and there was sporadic trouble for several hours. Later, petrol bombs started a fire in a butcher’s shop in Woodstock Road but the RUC put out the flames.

Bombs damaged Murtagh’s public house at the junction of Springfield Road and Mayo Street and a shop

THE TROUBLES

owned by Belfast’s Lord mayor at Duncairn Gardens.

The RUC say there was little structural damage to the pub but a large number of windows were broken.

Three RUC men were treated for shock after the blast at Alderman Joseph Cairns’s shop badly damaged their patrol car. They were passing the Duncairn Gardens-North Queen Street junction when the bomb went off at the front of the building. Two other buildings suffered blast damage from the 10 lb bomb and a number of windows were broken.

School buses in the Beleek area of County Fermanagh were rerouted after the viaduct over the river Erne was blown up by the IRA early on Sunday. Two 100 lb charges of gelignite damaged one of eight pillars and two spans of the 100-yard long bridge collapsed.

The explosion at the bridge, which is less than a mile from Donegal, will mean a ten-mile detour for motorists. No one was injured.

On Sunday afternoon three gunmen wearing battledress tunics held up three employees at the Black Mountain quarries at Hannahstown and planted two 10lb charges of gelignite. The blasts wrecked a transformer and badly damaged a bulldozer.

There were also two shooting incidents in the Crumlin Road area, 11 shots were fired during the incidents and on both occasions they were directed into the Protestant Chief Street from Herbert Street. No one was injured.

Late on Sunday night troops fired at a man who was about to throw a nail bomb at them in the Andersonstown Road area. The man was seen to fall and the bomb exploded but when the soldiers tried to reach him they were pined down by sniper fire.

The man was then dragged away. The Offices of the NI Housing Executive at College Square East was damaged by a 20 lb bomb. The blast which was heard for many miles shattered windows in the College of Technology. In East Belfast, a thunderflash, which exploded at a transformer at Dee Street caused no damage.

Troops came under fire from a sniper at 5.00 am in the morning on the Whiterock Road and fire was returned. They then used rubber bullets to disperse a hostile crowd.

Monday 18th October 1971 Republican book says hierarchy are vipers A vicious attack on the Catholic Church is made in the “Mini-manual of the Irish Guerrilla” issued by “Irish Freedom Fighters Publications,” of Belfast and Derry, and circulated to leaders of the Republican Movement. Under the heading of “The morale of the Republican soldier” the writer refers to “the enemy in our midst, the vipers nourished by the fruits of our sweat, the black beetles eating away at our very sustenance – the Catholic hierarchy of Ireland.”

The article continues: “The members of this hierarchy have the effrontery to deny the sacraments to the soldier patriots of the IRA, while gladly, and with TOP - Bullet riddled car in which two RUC constables were shot dead on the Woodvale Road BOTTOM - The scene of the shooting

devilishly false pride, supply padres to the very Army that oppresses us.

“The twisted ethics of these self styled Christians who take an unholy pride in donning the uniform of the English and ministering to the spiritual needs of highly paid mercenary killers whilst denying them to the unpaid soldiers of the Republican Army fighting for hearth and home.” The publication goes on to say that if they want to be considered Irishmen “they should be prepared to go with the van of our advance against the pagan invaders and settlers in this our holy land of Ireland.”

Most of the publication takes the form of advice on guerrilla warfare and the handling of weapons, and is adapted freely from the “Manual of the Urbane Guerrilla,” by Carlos Marighella of Brazil.

The author confesses to have had “some hand in the events in Brazil.” To “practical experience with official guerrilla units within the British Army in the Far East and elsewhere.” And to have meet Che Guevara.

Monday 18th October 1971 Soldiers ambushed on the border Army demolition squads have been ambushed in two attacks near the border. At Middletown gunmen fired a burst from an automatic weapon and four rifle shots at soldiers preparing to blow up an unapproved border road. In a similar attack a demolition party fired back at the ambushers but there were no injuries.

Monday 18th October 1971 Bomb damages offices in Derry Two IRA bombs damaged premises Castle Street, Derry and four other bombs were dismantled in the city. The two medium sized explosions damaged the Halifax Building Society and offices housing the Oak Leaf Building Society and the local offices of the Community Relations Commission. Part of the Hibernian bank on the corner of Castle Street and Shipquay Street was damaged in one of the explosions.

Another bomb was dismantled in front of the Hibernian Bank in Shipquay Street. An unexploded bomb was found at Melville Hotel in Foyle Street

Page 45

and two were found at the transformer at Pennyburn Pass. These were defused by the Army.

Three shots were fired at an Army patrol in Brooke Park during several hours of rioting in the William Street, Little Diamond and Rosemount areas. Fire was returned but there were no casualties. Later a shot was fired at an observation post in Bligh’s Lane complex. There were no casualties and fire was not returned. A single shot was also fired at an Army patrol on the edge of the Creggan estate. Fire was returned at a man seen running across a field but he was not hit.

Monday 18th October 1971 Enough Provos in North claims Cahill Belfast Provisional IRA leader Joe Cahill told members of Sinn Fein in Cork at the weekend that there was no need to volunteer for service in the North.

He said: “The North has enough men, and in a short time we will be victorious. He added what was wanted was “a reserve force” in the Republic, made up of people who were prepared to obey strictly directives from the leadership of the Provisional IRA. Sinn Fein, he said, should develop to become “the political movement in the South.”

Monday 18th October 1971 Belfast stores bombed Two city centre stores were damaged this morning when a charge of between 10 and 20 lb of gelignite went off at the Universal Furniture Company in York

Page 46

THE TROUBLES

Street. One man was injured by flying lass and was taken to the mater Hospital. An Army spokesman said that the structural damage to the building was minor. This is the second time a bomb as exploded at the Universal. A 20 lb bomb at the same store was defused a few weeks ago.

Monday 18th October 1971 Irish Army guard gelignite Surplus supplies of gelignite, which up to now had been stored in private magazines throughout the Republic, are being guarded by the Irish Army following a security check. During the past two weeks police and Army explosives experts have visited various quarries and building sites throughout the country. As a result about six ton of explosives in small quantities were collected and brought to magazines owned by the manufacturers Irish Industrial Explosives Ltd and ICI, which are under a strong Irish Army guard.

The Government will soon introduce legislation which proposes to make licensing compulsory for everyone involved in importing, manufacturing, storing or selling explosives. It also proposes that explosives may only be sold to persons holding licences or special certificates from the police.

Tuesday 19th October 1971 IRA has heavy rockets Security chiefs in the North believe that Communist weapons, heavy enough to use against armoured cars, are already in the possession of the IRA. For some time they have been receiving reports that some of the arms similar to those seized at Amsterdam have been landed in small batches at ports throughout the South. They believe that among them are rocket launchers and rifle grenades – the type of weaponry the IRA needs to effectively stop armoured cars.

Meanwhile the Provisional IRA claimed that the guns seized at Amsterdam “had nothing to do with us.” A spokesman in Dublin added that David O’Connell, one of the men being sought by Interpol, was “on a European holiday studying regional development.”

Tuesday 19th October 1971 Shot fired at Land Rover A single shot has been fired at an Army Land Rover on Foyle Road in Derry. An Army spokesman said that the occupants of the vehicle were unhurt. The gunman was not seen and fire was not returned.

Tuesday 19th October 1971 Arms find in QE2 luggage A quantity of arms and ammunition was discovered at Cobh, Cork in luggage which had been landed from the QE2. Several sub-machineguns and hand grenades are involved. It is understood that the arms came to light inn the course of routine customs inspections. The man who came ashore with the luggage is believed missing.

Tuesday 19th October 1971 Tar poured over shot man The RUC are guarding a man who was found and shot and tarred and feathered in a housing estate on the outskirts of Belfast. The man, a 53-year-old watchman from Glenveagh Drive, Suffolk, was found by troops tied to a lamppost in Lenadoon Avenue, Suffolk, shortly after 1.00 am, following a tip off from an anonymous telephone caller. The RUC say he has been shot in both legs and had tar and feathers poured over him.

The caller, who phoned a Belfast newspaper, said, “He was talking to the British Army.” The treatment handed out to him is one of the traditional forms of punishment of the IRA. His condition is described as not serious.

Tuesday 19th October 1971 Soldier dies in shooting accident The Army is holding an investigation into the death of Trooper Thomas David Johnston, a 23-year-old unmarried man from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Trooper Johnston, who was serving with the 15/19th Hussars, was shot in the chest at close range as he climbed into a military vehicle at a roadblock. There was an accidental discharge from another soldiers gun. The injured soldier was flown to hospital by helicopter but was found to be dead on arrival. The incident happened at Ballymoney Bridge on the DromoreBanbridge road.

In a separate incident a soldier was admitted to hospital after being injured in a during riot in the Bogside area of Derry. The 20-year-old Rifleman, who was serving with the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets was hit by a snipers bullet while on duty in the Little Diamond. The bullet is believed to have been fired from an M1 carbine and the soldier’s condition is described as “comfortable. ” Troops on patrol in Derry returned fire at gunmen twice during the night, but no one is believed to have been hit.

In Belfast a gunman with a pistol fired at two armoured personnel carriers at the Riverdale estate. No one was injured. Six shots were fired from the direction of North Queen Street flats at an Army patrol but no one was injured.

The RUC are also investigating a separate shooting incident in which a man was shot in the right hand.

It is understood that the man, who has undergone surgery, has reported that he was shot in the hand by an unknown gunman in the Crumlin Road area. Several explosions heard in the Lower Falls area during the night are thought to have been caused by nail bombs and in the Tullycarnet area no one was injured when a pipe-bomb exploded outside the house of a Catholic family at Eleven Drive. In Newry, at the Belfast Bank in Hill Street, an Army bomb disposal expert pulled a burning fuse from a 30 lb gelignite bomb.

Tuesday 19th October 1971 Kerryman on arms charge A 70-year-old man has been charged with unlawful possession of a Thompson sub-machinegun and a .303 rifle following police raids on the homes the

Kerry area. The man, from Mounthawk, Tralee was released on bail.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 Clash at funeral The funeral of a man shot during a gun battle in East Belfast at the weekend was diverted to avoid clashes between rival crowds. The hearse carrying the coffin of David Joseph Thompson, of Sheriff Street should have gone over the Albertbriidge Road on its way to Milltown cemetery. But a crowd of Protestants gathered at the junction of Ravenhill Road and Albertbridge Road and the hearse went down Short Strand instead. The RUC held back the Protestant crowd, which chanted and made gestures at the procession as the hearse came out of Thompson Street into Short Strand. Dozens of black flags hung from the windows of catholic homes and as the cortege passed through the small streets, women raised their umbrellas to stop the troops looking at the mourners.

Several hundred people walked behind the coffin but no tricolour or other emblems were displayed. Both the man’s family and neighbours have consistently denied Army claims that he was one of a number of IRA gunmen operating in the Short Strand area.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 Border battle: four appear in court Four men taken into custody by Gardai after the border gun battle at Dungooley, near Forkhill have appeared in court on firearms charges. They are charged with possessing a .30 M1 carbine, a .300 Springfield rifle, one Lee-Enfield .303 rifle and a revolver as well as an assortment of ammunition.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 Three held after arms swoop Three men were detained after a joint RUC-Army swoop in the Ardoyne area in which nine guns and 600 rounds of ammunition were found. The haul consisted of two shotguns, a .22 rifle, five .45 revolvers, a walther .32 automatic pistol and 600 rounds of assorted ammunition.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 Derry bombs Two bombs blew the doors of an electricity sub station in William Street, Derry. It is believe that the second bomb was planted after the first had blown a hole in the doors. It is not known the extent of the damage to the equipment inside or if the electricity supplies to the area have been affected.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 Army will have to go into hard core areas The GOC General Sir Harry Tuzo has said that eventually the Army will have to face up to going into hard core areas and must expect casualties. Speaking on “Civil strife in Northern Ireland” at the Institute of Strategic Studies in London the General said there were now 16 infantry type units in the North.

Belfast he said was the key to success and must first be set right. More troops were being deployed to permit smaller areas of operational responsibility and

THE TROUBLES

increase intelligence gathering. But he said that the Army would have to eventually go in.

The Protestants were seen as desperate to get involved. Citizen vigilante groups were helping to keep the level of IRA activity down. “Within the law they are welcome” said the General “but heaven protect us from our friends.”

The General said that the situation here was eating up a disproportionate portion of the overall British Army strength but morale was not a problem at the moment.

Internment he said was a well tried weapon in Ireland. There had been tremendous problems of custody and the effect on world opinion had to be taken into account. Internment, with some justification was seen to be an unclean activity. He said that the object of internment was to neutralise the IRA. The alternatives were to kill them or try them in a court of law were juries could be fixed and witnesses intimidated. Internment was a reasonably humane and quick way of imposing pressure. But the present measures were recognised as not being quick enough for the Protestant community.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 RUC man shot in Derry An RUC man was shot and seriously wounded when gunmen opened fire on an RUC patrol car in the centre of Dungannon. Although it was a relatively quiet night throughout the North, three bombs did explode within seconds of each other at Lisburn causing considerable damage to shops, business premises and houses.

The RUC man was shot shortly before midnight after he and another RUC man on patrol spotted a stolen car. At least one gunman opened up when the RUC vehicle was about 300 yards away in Ann Street.

Two bullets tore through a door panel and one hit the RUC man in the thigh. The bullet then entered his abdomen and his injuries were more serious than first thought. Seven revolver shots were fired at the RUC vehicle but as the gunmen’s car raced away the other RUC man opened fire with his revolver. It is thought to have hit the car but it is not known whether any of the occupants were injured. Three men who are believed to have been in the car escaped in the direction of Donemana.

Six people were treated for shock after three bombs blasted the centre of Lisburn shortly after 11.00 pm.

It was the second time in four days that the town had been the target for the bombers and two large stores and the local offices of the Ministry of Health and Social services were damaged. The doors and windows of Woolworths and Crazy Prices in Bow Street were blown in and dozens of other windows shattered.

In Derry four gelignite bombs damaged three buildings and a parked car but no one was injured. The Bishop Street store of Cavendish Furniture Ltd. was badly damaged about 8.00 pm and an hour later a second bomb in Bishop’s Street outside the city walls damaged a former labour exchange. Bradley’s public house on the corner of William Street suffered damage to its interior and a private car was wrecked

in the fourth blast. A 20 lb bomb also badly damaged the interior of a youth hostel at Camlough near Newry.

No one was in the building which was an RUC station until it closed in 1965. At Dungiven a supermarket and an adjoining garage were gutted in a blaze which broke out after an explosion. No one was injured. In Belfast no was injured when nail bombs were thrown at the junction of Ardmonagh Gardens and at the junction of Iris Street and Iris Drive in the Springfield area.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 Four men detained in Army raids Another four men were detained by soldiers during raids on homes in a number of areas of Belfast. The men are now being questioned by the RUC. Two were held after troops swooped on homes in the Springfield Road area, and others were detained during searches in the Ormeau Road district and at Ballymacarrett. These latest moves by the army bring the number of men detained under the Special Powers Act in the North since the weekend to 30.

The continuing daily raids are an indication of the scope of the information which Special Branch and Army intelligence men are collecting about the activities of the IRA. Wednesday 20th October 1971 Sinn Fein interview censored An interview with Mr. Rory O’Brady, president of the Kevin Street section of Sinn Fein, was censored before being broadcast by RTE. The program concerned was “Feach”, which is broadcast in Irish and the sentence cut read (in translation) – “We have at the moment a revolutionary situation in Ulster and I hope to god that we will have a revolutionary situation in Connaught in the future”. The head of the stations Irish department said he had decided to delete the sentence. He added that the recent Government directive curbing publicity for the IRA was foremost in his mind when he decided to act, but that he would have cut it in normal circumstances.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 50 IRA men hit in 5 weeks In the past five weeks at least 50 gunmen have been hit by Army marksmen, Mr. Roy Bradford, Minister of Development, told Maze Unionists. And he said that arrests of wanted men and of people immediately involved in violence had reached 2,000.

Wednesday 20th October 1971 Guns smuggled on QE2 The landing of six cases of arms and ammunition at Cobh, County Cork, from the QE2 is expected to be raised in the Dail. And guards are still searching for a Mr. Walsh of Cobh, to whom the cases containing automatic rifles, hand grenades and ammunition were addressed. It is thought that the name is fictitious.

The theory the police are going on is that the cases were to be put in the left luggage shed at Cobh and that a raid was to be carried out to capture them.

The six cases were left on the pier after the departure of the QE2. When Customs officials tried to move

Page 47

them, they became suspicious because of their weight.

They opened one case and found bullets and parts of rifles. The police and Army were called in and the arms moved to police headquarters at Union Quay in Cork under Army guard.

The police have said that Joe Cahill was in Cork two days before the arms were found. He was with Sean MacStiofain the English born leader of the Provisional IRA in the South. The two men spent the weekend in the city and had private meetings with Republicans before addressing a 2,000 strong meting in the city on the IRA fight in the North. A detective inspector in the Irish Special Branch has said: We know Cahill was in Cork. We have been checking his movements but at present we have no information to connect him with the QE2.

Thursday 21st October 1971 13 held by troops Troops detained another 13 men suspected of IRA activities during raids in various parts of Belfast. The latest batch of arrests brought the total for the past 24 hours to 20. Homes in Ardoyne, the Bone area of the Oldpark, and Ballymurphy were searched. It is understood that the men were on the wanted list of people suspected of illegal activities. They are now being questioned by Special Branch detectives and Army intelligence men. It is understood that no arms or weapons were found during the searches.

Thursday 21st October 1971 Youth on ammo charge A 15-year-old Belfast juvenile was remanded on bail until 12th November at the Magistrates court for possessing one round of ammunition at White Street, Belfast.

Thursday 21st October 1971 Hotel bomb defused Army experts are studying the details of a complicated bomb which was defused after a seven-hour drama outside a luxury Belfast hotel. The 15 lb bomb, which was found after an anonymous telephone caller tipped off the staff at the new Europa Hotel in Great Victoria Street, was the most sophisticated device yet discovered in the North. In order to defuse it Army experts took x-ray photographs of the bomb then when the bomb was manoeuvred on to the street both ends of the package were blown off and the device made safe.

During this operation another bomb exploded inside a block of offices at Wellington Place, less than 400 yards away. The RUC have said that the bomb was placed on the first floor above the Bridal House of Belfast. Experts estimate it contained between 20 and 50 lb of gelignite. Only the front wall of the building was left standing but no one was injured.

The blast also wrecked the offices of the NI Association of Youth Clubs.

Shortly before midnight three bombs were lobbed over the perimeter fence of an electricity building at Castlerobin, near Lisburn. No one was injured and little damage was caused. Another small bomb was thrown at an Army foot patrol in Belfast but none of

Page 48

THE TROUBLES

the soldiers was injured. Troops are also trying to trace the source of a small blast which was heard in the Flax Street area of Ardoyne.

Earlier four shots were fired at a mobile patrol of the Scots Guards near Islandbawn Street in the Falls area but it was not returned.

Thursday 21st October 1971 Provisionals to meet in Dublin Republicans from every county in Ireland will assemble in Dublin this weekend for the annual conference of the Kevin Street section of Sinn Fein – the political wing of the Provisional IRA. This is the second annual gathering since the split away from the MacGiolla led organisation of the same name. It will be an occasion for a show of strength and leaders of the party expect that there will be about 500 delegates – double the number who attended last year.

The organisation’s internal affairs will be discussed in a closed session. There will be a secret report to the delegates from the “Army Council” about the progress of the present campaign in the North. Mr. Joe Cahill, the Belfast Provisional Leader who is at present on the run in the Republic is expected to attend, as will many delegates who hold dual membership of both Sinn Fein and the IRA.

Thursday 21st October 1971 Call for vigilantes in Lisburn Leading citizens of Lisburn agreed that the time has come to form a local vigilante force, to be organised within the law and in co-operation with the security forces, the Rev. William Beattie, (Prot U., South Antrim) told the commons at Stormont. Mr. John Taylor, Minister for Home Affairs, replied that people considering forming themselves into vigilantes should apply for membership of the RUC Reserve.

Friday 22nd October 1971 Bomb found in milk churn A 50 lb Claymore bomb hidden in a milk churn was found by the Army on an unapproved road near the Fermanagh-Leitrim border. The bomb was in the North while the wires from it led to a farmhouse in the South. When the bomb was defused the Army discovered that it also contained 50 lb of shrapnel.

Friday 22nd October 1971 Raider gets gun ready in the street An IRA man assembled a Thompson sub-machine gun outside an office, before he walked in and stole £2,500. Workers at White Mountain quarries premises watched in amazement as the gunman and two others carrying pistols, prepared the gun for the raid then the burst into the office in Maryfield Drive, off the old Cavehill Road and grabbed the money.

The raiders then made off in a Ford Cortina car. No one was injured and no shots were fired.

Friday 22nd October 1971 ‘15 seconds to get out’ says bomber Three men and a girl sprinted from a building after being told by gunmen who planted three bombs in a firm of egg packers that they had 15 seconds to get out. As the girl and the men reached the far side of the road the two of the bombs exploded. The explosions badly damaged the premises belonging to Gracey Brothers. Army experts found and defused the third bomb which had failed to go off. The blasts were quickly followed by a blaze, but it was quickly brought under control by firemen using three appliances. An Army spokesman said that each bomb contained between 15-20 lb of explosives.

Friday 22nd October 1971 Torture has no defence says Cardinal Cardinal William Conway, Catholic Primate of Ireland has denounced civil authorities who use torture to obtain information. He did not refer directly to current events in the North where British security forces are accused of using “disorientation” techniques in interrogating suspects in their campaign against the IRA. Vatican observers said that his remarks could be taken to refer to the allegations of torture in Northern Ireland.

TOP - A soldier shot by an IRA sniper in Derry receives on the spot treatment BOTTOM - A furniture shop in Belfast’s York Street after being destroyed in an explosion

Friday 22nd October 1971 Bomb in a paint tin A bomb plot to destroy Christies paint shop fled when the bomb, consisting of gelignite and a delay action fuse, was discovered concealed inside a tin of paint.

A man and woman walked into Christies paint shop in North Street and bought a tin of paint on approval.

They returned the paint the next morning saying it was returned to the shop because it was the wrong colour. After buying another, the first one was put back on the shelves. Some time later the shop received a telephone call to say that there was a bomb in the shop. Army bomb disposal experts were called to the shop and when they opened the returned tin they found that it contained 8 ounces of gelignite and a delayed action fuse. Had the bomb not been defused in time it would have eventually gone off.

Friday 22nd October 1971 Open verdict on men who died in fire An inquest into the deaths of Brian Leo Hamill and Eamonn Desmond Henry who were trapped in the fire at Radcliffe’s Hill Street shop early in the morning has returned an open verdict. Allegations were made to the inquest that Army personnel deliberately prevented the rescue attempts and that the crowd obstructed efforts by the Army.

Evidence had been given that one of the men who died, Hamill, was seen trapped and shouting for help in the blazing shop, and youths who tried to tear down steel grilles over the front of the shop were driven back by the flames. The Army arrived and according to a number of witnesses it was too late at that stage to save anyone, but other witnesses claimed the Army did not attempt a rescue and prevented others trying; also that soldiers thought Hamill was a tailor’s dummy and two said, “Let him burn.” Army and Fire brigade witness said that no one could have survived the blaze. An RUC constable gave evidence that members of the crowd were calling the soldiers “English murdering bastards” and stones were thrown at the police and Army. Medical evidence showed that Hamill and Henry had drink taken.

Friday 22nd October 1971 Army patrol opens fire on gunman A man has been taken to hospital in Belfast with a gunshot wound to the leg after several shooting incidents involving Army patrols during the night. The man wounded in Belfast was found after a patrol of the Black Watch reported seeing a man with a rifle at the junction of Sheriff Street just after midnight.

Troops fired at the figure and later a man was found in Sheriff Street with a gunshot wound to the leg He was arrested and taken to hospital but no gun was found. A soldier who was accidentally shot and wounded by a comrade in Ebrington Barracks has undergone an operation for the removal of a bullet from his leg and is said to be comfortable. Elsewhere, at Pettigo, a bomb blew out the front of Tullyhommon Customs Post and in Derry an explosion demolished the front doors of a hall used by the Hamilton Flute Band in Moore Street.

THE TROUBLES nd

Friday 22 October 1971 Children’s “fireworks” were made of gelignite Children in Derry’s Bogside have discovered a potentially new game – playing “fireworks” with small gelignite and pipe bombs. During minor trouble in the area about 20 children aged between nine and fourteen years old lit eight small bombs while troops looked on. The children placed the bombs on walls waste ground and on the footpath in William Street.

They lit the fuses and ran back and laughed and cheered when the bombs went off.

Friday 22nd October 1971 Troops use machine gun in Andersonstown Troops used a light machinegun on an armoured car when they came under attack from gunmen in the Shaw’s Road area of Andersonstown. It is the second time troops have used a machinegun mounted on an armoured car to return fire. During the recent gun battles on the border they used general purpose machine guns which fires several hundred rounds every minute.

With the increased use of automatic weapons by the IRA the Amy have said that they will use automatic weapons to return fire. The use of automatic weapons by the Army is governed by the circumstances of the incident, especially within Belfast. Even a light machinegun bullet will go through the wall of a house and still have enough velocity to kill. A general purpose machine gun s even more deadly. This is why the Army are somewhat wary to use machine guns in certain circumstances. Recently units who wanted to bring machineguns to the North were told that they were politically unacceptable.

Friday 22nd October 1971 Gelignite scare at school The Blessed Oliver Plunkett School on the Glen Road has been evacuated as a precaution while troops examine a quantity of explosives found on the premises.

An Army expert described the explosives as the remains of a small bomb that may have been thrown some days before and failed to go off.

Saturday 23rd October 1971 Army shoots dead two sisters Two sisters were shot dead and another two women and a man were wounded when troops returned fire on a car after they were shot at in the Lower Falls area of Belfast The dead women were named by the RUC as 30-year-old Mrs Mary Ellen Meehan, a mother of four, of Bantry Street, and her 19-year-old sister Dorothy Maguire of Westrock Drive. The two injured women were discharged from hospital after treatment and are being questioned by the RUC. The driver of the car has appeared at a Central Citizen’s Defence Committee press conference. Local people have strongly denied allegations by both the Army and RUC that a shot was fired from the car, a green Ford, at Cape Street.

The Army’s version of events are that men of the Royal Green Jackets, under the command of the 3rd Battalion the Queen’s Regiment were carrying out searches in Cape Street. As the car drove up the

Street, two shots were fired at the soldiers. Then soldiers returned six rounds at the car which drove on and when it reached a T-junction crashed into a wall. A crowd gathered immediately and prevented troops from getting to the car. The could not reach it for 15 minutes and in this time the soldiers claim a man was seen to limp up Omar Street carrying a weapon. When the troops did reach the car they discovered two bodies in the back seat and initially thought they were both men. A third woman also on the rear seat and who had been injured was taken to hospital. Troops now believe there were three women in the back of the car and two men in the front. The Army are also trying to trace a taxi which soldiers tried to stop. Apparently one soldier said he saw a body on the back seat covered by a blanket.

Neither the RUC or the Army are prepared to say whether they believe either of the dead women fired at the troops. But they say they are convinced that both were playing a part in illegal activities, and point to the recent evidence of the role of women in the IRA campaign. The manner in which they were dressed (blue jeans and black blazers) said one security source, strengthens this theory.

The driver of the Ford Corsair car in which the women were killed appeared at a news conference to give the full facts of the incident. The Driver, Mr. William Davidson, told how he drove the car through the streets of the Lower Falls warning local people that the Army were searching. In the car were the two women who were killed and a third woman Mrs. Florence O’Riordan who was also injured. Mr. Davidson said that as they drove into Cape Street, he saw two or three jeeps staggered across the road.

When he drove on he heard the back window being broken and found out later that the back wheel had also be punctured. He lost control of the car and crashed into a wall at Omar Street.

He and Mrs O’Riordan, who was in the front passenger seat, got out, but when he as about to tell the two women in the back to do the same, he found Mrs. Meehan slumped over to her right. He put his hand on her and when he took it away it was covered in Blood. He also looked at her sister and found that she had been shot in the head. He began to scream “Murderers at the soldiers. One of two soldiers standing at an armoured personnel carrier threatened to shoot him. But “it seems something was said to one of the soldiers and that allowed me to walk away.”

Mr. Davidson then described how he got a taxi to Bantry Street, where the Meehan family lived. Later, when he returned to the scene with Mr. Meehan, he said soldiers fired rubber bullets and their SLR rifles at them.

Eyewitness have also told how the troops began searching the area around 3.00 am and local residents came out on to the streets blowing whistles and banging bin lids. No shots were fired from the car said one man. The soldiers he said began shooting as it TOP - British soldiers searching homes in the Short Strand area BOTTOM - A hijacked bus burns on the Cliftonville Road in North Belfast

Page 49

came around the corner into Omar Street and he told how a fourth woman from Garnet Street was shot in the leg by a soldier as they were trying to get the women out of the car.

A statement about the shooting of the women vigilantes has been released through the CCDC. It says “..a car with women vigilantes from Clonard came to assist the Falls women by blowing the horn from the car. The went down Balaclava Street, turned around and went into Cape Street, past five Saracens, with lights full on, inside and out.” When the car passed the last of the Saracens, a soldier of the Royal Green Jackets, ordered his men to stop it. The soldiers opened fire with no warning.

Saturday 23rd October 1971 Man shot at bus stop A man was shot in the back of the head as he waited for a bus in Belfast’s Grosvenor Road. The shooting happened close to the Royal Victoria Hospital and the man has been taken there. First reports indicate that the man was caught in a machine gun blast aimed at a lorry load of troops.

Saturday 23rd October 1971 Second bomb attack at Europa Hotel For the second time in 48 hours Army bomb disposal experts have defused an IRA bomb at Belfast’s Europa Hotel. The bomb consisting of 30 lb of gelignite and protected by an anti-handling device had been planted in the hotels reception are by two young men.

Saturday 23rd October 1971 Night of bombs and shootings A bomb extensively damaged a Belfast city centre furniture shop and slightly injured four passers-by.

There were a number of shootings in the city and also in Derry, where a soldier was slightly injured.

The 15 lb bomb placed at the rear of Robert Watson and Co., of Donegall Street also blasted the surround-

Page 50

THE TROUBLES

ing premises, including Belfast’s main library and the Belfast Telegraph newspaper. Four cars parked in Little Donegall Street were also damaged.

Gunmen opened fire at 3.00am on the Army-Police post at New Barnsley. The shooting came from the Divismore Park area and soldiers returned fire.

Around midnight at Finaghy Road North, a bomb was thrown at an Army patrol and this was followed by automatic fire. The Army opened fire and a half hour later another bomb was thrown but no one was seen.

Men attempting to fill in a road crater which had been blown up on Friday at Ravellea Road, Aughnacloy scattered when the Army returned at 10.45 pm. About 40 shots were fired at an armoured vehicle from across the border. Soldiers fired back but it is not known if anyone was hit.

The hijacking of four lorries a van and private car in Derry in the late afternoon was the preclude to a night of sporadic stone throwing and shooting in the Bogside. The first shot came at about 5.00 pm at troops in William Street, who used CS gas to disperse stone throwers in the area. An hour later a gunman using children throwing stones at the Bligh’s lane Army post as cover to fire another shot which struck a soldier grazing his shoulder. He was later said to be “quite satisfactory” in hospital.

The Army returned fire when another shot was fired soon after at William Street, and then five shots were fired at an observation post on the City Walls from Fox’s Corner. A gunman was seen firing from a building in Blucher street at about 6.32 pm and the Army fired one shot in reply. At 8.00pm a small group of children stoned Rosemount RUC station, but were dispersed with water from the station’s fire hose. At 9.45 pm a small explosion was heard at the rear of a multiple store in Waterloo Place, but no damage was

caused. Two more explosions were heard at 10.56 pm in the Great James Street area. The target was unknown and no damage was located.

Saturday 23rd October 1971 £11,600,000 bill for Army The extra cost of military operations in the North will total a massive £11.6 million in the current financial year. The figure was given in the House of Commons in a written statement to MP’s.

Saturday 23rd October 1971 Ammunition found in church grounds Children playing in the grounds of a Belfast church have found an ammunition cache. They contacted the Army who took the bullets away. The ammunition, 500 rounds of assorted ammunition had been pushed through an open ventilator in the outside wall of St. Malachy’s Catholic Church in Alfred Street.

Nothing else was found in the search which was carried out by the Royal Marine Commandos.

In another search, troops found 350 rounds of ammunition on waste ground at Pound Street. A sniper fired two shots at the Army base in the Henry Taggart Memorial Hall. No one was injured. A Sten gun was also found during a search by the 3rd Queen’s Regiment in the markets area. The gun was in a scrapyard at the junction of Lagan Street and Welsh Street.

Saturday 23rd October 1971 Army lifts 24 more In early morning security swoops 24 people have been arrested. The arrests, which occurred in various parts of the North, bring the total number of arrests this week to 111. The latest arrests are as follows: fourteen in the Belfast area, nine in the Newry area and one in Derry.

Saturday 23rd October 1971 Torture claims The Association of Legal Justice claims that “many cases of torture and degradation at the hands of the Army-RUC organisation” have been reported to it.

In a statement the association alleges after the 87 arrests made by the army in the previous seven days “the ensuing interrogations at Palace Barracks have produced an even larger number of horror stories that we have had for some time.”

Monday 25th October 1971 IRA man killed and woman injured in Belfast City centre The RUC killed a young man and wounded his girl companion as they fled from a city centre club after planting a bomb in the foyer. Plain clothes RUC men on observation duty in Donegall Place opened fire on the couple and another man near the Celebrity TOP - Funeral of Cecil Cummingham, one of the policemen shot dead by the IRA in an ambush on the Woodvale Road BOTTOM - Troops make safe a bomb left in Exchange Place

Club when they refused to stop. The man fell dead on the pavement beside the woman who was rushed to hospital with serious injuries. Two revolvers were found by their side. The RUC then detained another man in Arthur Square. Two hours later the bomb exploded causing extensive damage to the C & A. The IRA volunteer who died has been named as 19year-old Martin Forsythe from Ardmonagh Gardens, Turf Lodge. His girl companion who was also shot by the RUC is still “critical” in hospital. The girl, whose name has not been released is said to be “a teenager.” A second man has appeared in court accused of being one of the people who planted the bomb.

Monday 25th October 1971 Woman wounded in gunfight with Army At Andersonstown an Army search party came under fire from at least seven gunmen at about 5.00 am. Men of the 25th Light Regiment. Royal Artillery, who were protecting the party, went to the back of a house at Ramoan Gardens. Suddenly two people appeared and shots were fired at troops from close range. They saw a man pick up a gun and run away after they returned fire. It became apparent later that it was another woman that had been shot and seriously wounded when troops returned fire on IRA members who shot at them during an arms search.

The woman, who was wearing slacks and a blazer type jacket was found at a fence through which the gunmen clambered as they fled from a house in Andersonstown. She was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital where she was said to be very seriously ill. An Army sergeant major, who was slightly wounded in the incident, was also in hospital.

Monday 25th October 1971 Shots fired on border Army engineers again came under fire from the Southern side of the Border during cratering operations. An Army spokesman said the troops were fired at near Castlederg in County Tyrone as they were prepared to blow up another unapproved road. The shots hit a Saracen armoured vehicle but fire was not returned.

Monday 25th October 1971 Intruders at judges home Intruders at the home of Belfast Recorder Judge Topping knocked his housekeeper to the ground and then vanished. The incident happened at lunchtime when four young men entered the judge’s home at Windy Ridge, Upper Malone Road. The RUC say the housekeeper got to her feet and went to a neighbours home to raise the alarm. The four men then fled from the house.

Monday 25th October 1971 Attempt to kill RUC man at home A 29-year-old RUC man is critically ill in hospital after the IRA attempted to assassinate him at his home in Dunmurry. The man was at his home in Brooke Park when he heard a knock on his door at 2.30 am.

He spoke out of the bedroom window and immedi-

THE TROUBLES

ately a burst of automatic fire was directed at him from the far side of the road. The constable was struck in the head and was rushed to the City Hospital. Two men were spotted leaving the scene.

Throughout the weekend the Army stepped up their search for IRA weapons and one dump was uncovered in the Falls area, and at least four soldiers were shot and another five civilians were injured. The trouble in Belfast on Saturday evening erupted after two civilians were caught in crossfire in the Falls area.

Soldiers were petrol bombed in Divis Street after teatime, and some three hours later they opened fire on three nail bombers. One of them was seen to fall and was dragged away by his colleagues.

Most of the activity on Saturday night centred around the Lower Falls area and at New Barnsley police station, which was attacked by gunmen on a number of occasions.

The most serious incident happened about 9.30 pm when soldiers escorting a damaged bus to the Falls Road depot came under fire. Three soldiers were hit and taken to hospital. About the same time an offduty RUC man was injured in McGlades public house in Upper Donegal Street when he tried to prevent an armed hold up. The man, who has not been named, was shot in the left ear. His condition is not thought to be serious. At least four men were involved in the hold-up and the got away with about £200.

Throughout Saturday night the Army was fired upon at New Lodge Road, Springfield Road, the Finaghy area and New Barnsley. In other parts of the North soldiers and police were fired on from across the border and an attempt was made by some civilians to drag a soldier across the border but they failed. At Coalisland at least three people were believed hit when the security forces fired on petrol bombers attacking the local RUC barracks. A car was later stopped in the Aughnacloy area and a man with a bullet wound was found inside.

In the early hours of Sunday morning the Army successfully defused a 15 lb bomb, which had been planted at the Ben Madigan filling station and at 8.40am a 15-20 lb gelignite bomb badly damaged the RUC sports pavilion at Newforge Lane, Belfast.

In Belfast the Army came under fire in several areas in the afternoon. A patrol was shot at in the Grosvenor Road shortly before 1.00 pm, but there were no casualties. Just before 2.30 five shots were directed at soldiers in the Ardoyne area without injury. At 5.00 pm Roden Street RUC barracks was attacked by an estimated 300 strong crowd which was later dispersed when troops fired rubber bullets. A number of shots were fired during the attack and two soldiers were injured. Shortly afterwards a soldier was shot in the ankle at the junction of Grosvenor Road-Palmerston Street. Another soldier was shot in the neck and is seriously ill when gunmen opened up on a patrol in TOP - Bomb attack on Watson’s Furnishing Store, Little Donegall Street MIDDLE - Bomb attack on Gracey Brothers, Great george’s Street BOTTOM - Rioting in the Hill Street area of Newry

Roden Street.

Shortly before midnight an explosion severely damaged the Thermolux Glass factory in Divis Street.

Throughout the night troops came under fire in the Divis Street, New Lodge Road and Andersonstown districts. Gelignite bombs were also reported thrown at a military patrol in the Ballymurphy area. At 1.00 am 10 lb gelignite bomb badly damaged Robinson’s bar, Patrick Street, Strabane. Around the same time an Ulsterbus single deck vehicle was destroyed at Attical Hall, near Kilkeel, after three masked men set it on fire. Kilkeel fire brigade were stoned while fighting the blaze.

Monday 25th October 1971 Petrol bomber shot A youth who had been throwing petrol bombs during an attack on Rosemount RUC Barracks in Derry on Saturday was shot by an Army Marksman and was dragged away by the crowd. An Army spokesperson said they fired two shots at petrol bombers after four warnings had been given. It is not believed the second petrol bomber was hit. This was only one incident in a weekend of rioting in the city, which an Army spokesman said was at times organised and vicious, with groups of youths moving from one location to another.

On Sunday a car, which was stopped by an Army patrol on Craigavon Bridge, contained a youth covered from in tar to his waist. When the youth was taken to hospital it was found that another youth similarly tarred was already there. Both men had been taken from their homes by four armed men and had tar poured over them. One of the youths had a bullet wound to the leg.

The rioting which begun on Saturday afternoon when 20 children broke down the wire fencing around Bligh’s Lane Army Post, continued there and in other parts of the Bogside for most of the day. Rubber bullets and CS gas were used by troops to disperse the crowds. From about 4.56 until 5.25 pm a total of 150 petrol bombs were thrown in attacks by 100 rioters at Rosemount RUC Barracks. At 5.26 pm a group of women gathered outside Victoria RUC Barracks in the city centre to protest over the arrest of

Page 51

two youths during the day’s rioting. Around 7.30 pm a man reported to an Amy post at Craigavon Bridge that his car had been shot at by two armed men on Lecky Road after he made a U-turn to get away. He was injured on his left hand and was later admitted to Altnagelvin Hospital.

On Saturday, shortly after 4.0 pm one shot was fired from the direction of Cable Street at an observation post at Butcher Gate. Two rounds were fired at two

Page 52

THE TROUBLES

men on the roof of a house, and it is thought that one of them was hit. Five shots were fired at Foyle Road Army post at about 5.40 pm. They came from a passing car and it is believed they were fired by the driver from a sub-machinegun. The Army did not reply.

Another shot was reported to have been fired at an Army patrol near Creggan estate at 11.20 pm. During Saturday afternoon a small explosion was reported in the Rossville Street-William Street area but the target was unknown. At 5.13 pm there was an explosion in a telephone kiosk at Lone Moor Road.

On Sunday there was rioting at four principal locations. The attacks began around 11.43 am with the stoning of Bligh’s lane Army post by 12 youths. They were stopped for a while by two local men but continued later with groups ranging from 30 to 100. The perimeter fence was damaged and the Army used repeated rounds of CS gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse them. However the attacks continued throughout the day until about 7.00 pm. The rioting in the city centre area of William Street begun about 3.00 pm on Sunday afternoon, when about 150 youths threw stones, bottles and petrol bombs at the Army. CS gas and rubber bullets were used and eventually the crowds dispersed around 7,30 pm.

There were also attacks on the Foyle Road post in which about 250 youths were involved. Petrol and acid bombs were thrown as well as stones and the rioters broke into the nearby dairy and stole hundreds of bottles to use as missiles.

Monday 25th October 1971 Riots after three are killed Many thousands of pounds of damage was caused by fire raisers in Newry after the shooting on Sunday afternoon of three local men in the town’s main street on Saturday night. For the first time in the town the Army fired canisters of CS gas to disperse the rioters. Crowds roamed the streets, smashing windows and eventually broke into the Urbane Council yard at Francis Street. Where they set stores alight and commandeered a lorry and a refuse carrier. The carrier was used as a battering ram to burst the heavy steel wire gates at the timber yard of J.S. Fisher Ltd., Buttercrane Quay, beside the council yard. The rioters set fire to buildings and the timber in the yard.

Just after 6.00pm the troops and RUC were heavily reinforced and by the order of the Army authorities street lighting was turned off. Foot patrols moved throughout the night supported by Saracens equipped with searchlights and the town was quiet for the rest of the night.

During the “blackout” the bodies of the three men, John Francis Ruddy (28) of St. Clare’s Avenue; James Thomas McLoughlin (25) of Barcroft Park, and Robert D. Anderson (26) of Mourneview Park where taken from the mortuary at Daisy Hill Hospital to their homes. The men were all shot by soldiers stationed on the flat roof of Woolworth’s at Marcus Square when it is alleged they attacked two employees depositing more than £200 in a night safe at the Provincial Bank in Hill Street. One of the employees was knocked to the ground by the men. As the three men started to run away the soldiers called on

them to halt, but they continued running. They were challenged a second time and when they did not stop the soldiers opened fire, fatally wounding all three.

Monday 25th October 1971 Deserter story is fantasy say Army The Army described as “ a complete fabrication” allegations made at a press conference in Dublin by a 31-year-old man who claimed he was a deserter from the Special Air Service Regiment. Army headquarters at Lisburn said, “This man is obviously a Walter Mitty type character who does not know fact from fiction. The man, who gave his name as David Seaman, formerly of Anglesea Avenue, Manchester, alleged that the regiment was responsible for the explosion at the Four Steps Inn, Belfast in which two people were killed and 25 injured. He said: “It did not matter who we killed as long as we blackened the name of the IIRA.” A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Nothing of this nature has ever bee carried out. Certainly no people have ever been sent over there with explosives. It is complete and utter nonsense.

Monday 25th October 1971 Ballymurphy water is back on Water supplies in the Ballymurphy area were flowing again today when the pumping station at Whiterock Road- recently damaged in a bomb blast - was restarted. Homes in the Ballymurphy area were cut off on 8th October when the IRA bombed the pumping station.

th

Monday 25 October 1971 IRA message: Freedom or death The Provisional IRA is much stronger than it has been for many years, and it is battle hardened and ready for the final phase of the battle to end British rule in Ireland claimed Mr. Sean MacStiofain, a leading member of the Army Council. He was delivering a message from the IRA to 600 delegates at the annual convention of the political wing of the movement. It was held in Liberty hall, Dublin. He declared that their struggle for a 32 county Democratic Socialist Republic had entered the decisive phase of “freedom or death.”

Tuesday 26th October 1971 Blindfolded man found shot dead A man was found blindfolded and gagged and shot through the head in an alley in East Belfast. The dead man was named as 26-year-old Robert George McFarland, a married man of Spencer Street, Holywood. His body was found shortly after 8.00 am by a man from Altcar Street, off Mountpottinger Road, who had gone into the alley to leave his bin for collection. The RUC said Mr. McFarland, who was a labourer, had been blindfolded and gagged before he was shot, but they were keeping an open mind on the possibility that the killing was the work of the IRA.

Tuesday 26th October 1971 Soldiers wounded in Falls Road ambush Two soldiers were shot and wounded when their Land Rover was fired on in Belfast; and in the border town of Clady, British troops and the IRA have been involved in a gun battle across the Tyrone –Donegal border.

The Belfast shooting, in which a soldier lost his rifle happened at Danville Park off the Falls Road. A spokesman at Army headquarters at Lisburn said one of the soldiers had a shoulder wound but none of them is seriously hurt. The men were going to examine a suspicious parcel when the gunmen sprung the ambush. No shots were returned and a search was made of the immediate area. Earlier shots were fired at an Army vehicle in Broadway. There were no injuries Tuesday 26th October 1971 Assassination attempt in Cork News of an attempt to assassinate Mr. Kevin Boland and some key members of the new Republican party in a Cork hotel six days ago has leaked out. A bomb which, according to explosive experts, was capable of blowing up the table around which Mr. Boland and his colleagues sat in the Imperial Hotel in the centre of Cork City was found by the hotel manager the following morning.

Today as the Garda confirmed the assassination attempt on Mr. Boland it has been revealed that the bomb, a gelignite, acid and grenade mixture had been strapped to one of the iron stays on the table, was capable of blowing out part of the building, killing and maiming scores of people.

Tuesday 26th October 1971 Internees run riot at Long Kesh Soldiers used CS gas and batons to stop disturbances at Long Kesh near Lisburn, after four warders had been taken hostage. The troops were called in by the prison authorities after internees in one of the compounds wrecked a recreation hut and burned it. Not all the camp’s internees were involved because the camp is broke up into different compounds.

Another was slightly wounded in Belfast as the IRA continued to ambush troops in the city. He was a member of the Scots Guards on patrol in Donegal Road and the gunmen fired from the direction of Celtic Park. The soldier received a flesh wound and fire was returned. After trouble broke out in the Lower Falls and youth’s hijacked a bread van to use as a barricade near Divis. Troops came under fire at an Army post in Flax Street and a small gelignite bomb was thrown at soldiers at Brompton Park in Ardoyne. Shots were also fired at troops at Ardoyne bus depot and from a passing car at the junction of Enfield Street and Woodvale Road. Later shots were fired at another mobile patrol from the rear of the Forth River School off the Ballygomartin. The RUC said fire was returned by troops on a number of occasions but no one was hit.

Small explosions believed to have been caused by nail bombs were heard in Ardoyne, New Lodge Road and Falls. One blast at Alliance Avenue was followed by a long burst of automatic fire. Later an explosion

THE TROUBLES

was heard on the Dungannon-Coalisland road followed by shooting. The RUC believe it was a land mine, which was detonated too soon.

Tuesday 26th October 1971 IRA accuses SAS of planting arms The IRA in Dublin has warned troops in Northern Ireland could expect “further retaliatory actions” and claimed that the Special Air Service was planting arms and ammunition on civilians. In a statement issued by the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, the IRA claimed that action had already been taken against troops after what it called “the brutal and callous murder of two women in Belfast.”

In Derry, the Provisional IRA has accepted responsibility for the murder of Rifleman Joseph Hill of the Royal Green Jackets and wounding four other soldiers in the city recently.

Tuesday 26th October 1971 Thief pretended he was a Provo A 29-year-old labourer, who stole £5.70 from a shop in Bridge Street by pretending to be a member of the Provisional IRA, was given a two-month jail sentence. A court heard how the man pretended to have a gun concealed in his pocket and gave the impression that he would shoot. Passing sentence on him the judge told him that posing as an IRA man was a “very serious thing.”

Tuesday 26th October 1971 Troops fired on in Derry Troops came under fire in three separate shooting incidents in Derry and they returned fire on two occasions. No casualties were reported. The first incident happened at four o’clock when two shots were fired at Lone Moor Road. The patrol returned one shot at a man seen carrying a rifle but no hits were reported. Shortly afterwards three shots were fired from Beechwood Avenue at an observation post in Bligh’s Lane.

A sentry in an observation post on the city walls fired two shots at a man in Fahan Street who was seen to aim a rifle. The Bligh’s Lane post came under attack when two shots were fired from the Westland Road area. One shot hit the post.

Tuesday 26th October 1971 Army checkpoints hit city centre traffic Traffic jams built up in Belfast when the Army carried out a series of routine vehicle checks in the centre of the city. There were no reports of anything being found during the searches. An Army spokesman said the searches were part of the military activity, which goes on in parts of the city all the time.

“The searches were a routine exercise and were also designed as an indication of the military presence and to deter anyone who might be thinking of causing problems.”

duty at the sandbagged post at the junction of Warkes Lane-Lewis Street when the bomb exploded. The two soldiers, men of the 45 Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, died instantly.

The post was wrecked in the blast and scores of windows in a nearby shirt factory were shattered. The look out post is at the rear of Rosemount RUC Barracks and is close to one of the entrances to the Creggan estate. There were no early reports of anyone else being injured in the blast, which came only few days after Joe Cahill warned of reprisals against troops following the shooting of two Belfast women and three Newry men. It is understood that the bomb was lobbed over a wall from Brook Park bowling green. The Army said three men were seen running away after the blast. There was no one else in the post but the men who died when the explosion occurred. It completely demolished the post, a small corrugated iron structure protected by sand bags.

Almost every window in the Rosemount factory was blown in and many women workers shaker by the explosion were allowed to go home.

Meanwhile a 26-year-old Royal Marine is very seriously ill in hospital in Belfast after being shot in an ambush in the New Lodge Road area shortly before midnight.

Wednesday 27th October 1971 Hand-to-hand fighting at IRA funeral Soldiers fought a hand-to-hand battle with a group of women and youths after Army vehicles blocked an IRA funeral in Turf Lodge. The incident happened minutes after four youths in green berets and dark glasses fired a volley o revolver shots in a salute to the dead man, 19-year-old Martin Forsythe, shot by the RUC during a bomb attack on the Celebrity club in Belfast.

Hundreds of people had gathered outside the Forsythe home before the funeral to Milltown Cemetery. As the tricolour-draped coffin was removed from the house about men wearing green and black berets marched n slow time behind the hearse. But the procession had only moved about 20 yards when it stopped. Four youths stepped out of the cortege, lined up facing the hearse and at the order of a fifth man raised their revolvers and fired a volley of at least 12 shots in the air. As they did so the crowd cheered but the mood changed to one of anger as within minutes three Army personnel carriers moved down Norglen Road. Pandemonium broke out and many of the mourners ran for cover. But the men in the berets behind the hearse stood firmly to the attention throughout the skirmish. The crowd moved in on the Army and for several minutes it looked like the soldiers, of whom there were only about 20 in all, would be engulfed. Then the vehicle blocking Ardmonagh Gardens was removed and the soldiers retreated. th

Wednesday 27th October 1971 Derry bombs kill two soldiers Two soldiers were killed when IRA members blasted an observation post in Derry today. They were on

Wednesday 27 October 1971 RUC men’s homes attacked Seven RUC men and two civilians were injured in a bomb attack on Larne RUC Barracks and the homes of policemen and former policemen came under at-

Page 53

tack in the Belfast.

The Larne attack began at around 11.00pm when a car with a number of men inside pulled up opposite the station. One of the men gout out carrying a suitcase containing 30 lb of gelignite which he planted against the station wall before running back towards the waiting car. Of the seven RUC members in the barracks at the time of the attack, four were detained in hospital. At around 12.30 concerted attacks on the homes and former homes of RUC personnel began. The first attack was in Belfast when gunmen tried to gain entry to an RUC constable’s house on the Stewartstown Road before opening fire at the front and rear of the house. The homes of a sergeant and two constables in Orchardville Avenue were damaged by bombs of between five to ten pounds left outside the front living rooms. No one was injured.

Another house in Orchardville Avenue, formerly owned by an RUC inspector was bombed. The civilian family escaped unhurt. In Ladybrook Crescent a constable’s home was badly damaged by a 10 lb bomb, while another RUC man’s home in the same street was attacked by both bomb and bullet. At Denewood Park a bomb was thrown at the home of a former Head Constable. At Stockman’s Crescent the home of an RUC man’s father was extensively damaged in a bomb attack and at Gransha Parade a former constable’s home was severely damaged by a bomb.

During the night shots were also fired at Army patrols in Donegal street and Dawson’s Street, Belfast, and in Fermanagh a UDR patrol travelling from Kinawley to Swanlibar was ambushed. A land mine was used in the attack but there were no casualties.

Wednesday 27th October 1971 13-year-old boys fire on troops An Army mobile patrol has been attacked by two child machine gunners. Afterwards nine empty shells were picked up. Ascots Guard corporal who was in the Land Rover which was fired on said the youths, both armed with Thompson sub-machineguns were only about 13 or 14. The incident happened shortly after six o’clock as the patrol was passing the junction of Oranmore Street and Springfield Road.

Wednesday 27th October 1971 Army detonate landmine Army bomb disposal experts were called in to deal with a land mine which failed to explode on a border road. No one was hurt when one of the two mines blew up as a UDR patrol made its was from Kinawley to Swanlinbar. When troops made a closer inspection of the spot they found another unexploded bomb And a caravan on the Tyrone-Donegal border near Castlederg has been wrecked by an explosion. It was being used by customs men following the destruction of the permanent posts.

Thursday 28th October 1971 Two die in ambushes An RUC sergeant and an Army corporal were killed by the IRA during the night in two ambushes. It was also a night in which the Army have clamed to have shot at least six civilians. The RUC man who died

Page 54

THE TROUBLES

was 34-year-old Sergeant Ronnie Dodd, who was based in Toombridge. A 10.15 pm he and another constable were called to a fire at a farm at Gallagh.

On arriving there they found the occupants had already put out the fire, which had started at a wooden garage. As they were about to leave at least two gunmen opened up on the RUC men killing one and slightly injuring the other.

He soldier who died, Corporal Frank David Powell (22) He died in the Erne Hospital, after a scout car in which he had been on order patrol was blown up by a claymore mine. The scout car was in a convoy of three returning to base on the Enniskillen-Derrylin road. Another soldier was injured in the last. He was detained in hospital but his condition is not serious.

The Provisional IRA have said that they are responsible for the deaths of two soldiers who were killed by a ten-pound bomb, have been named as Lance

Bombardier David Tilbury (29) from Portsmouth and Gunner Angus Stephens (18) from Plymouth. Both men were single and served with the Royal Artillery.

The first shooting incident in Belfast occurred in late afternoon when soldiers on a vehicle checkpoint at Broadway were fired on. The shots missed their intended targets and struck a house in Iveagh Street, whose occupants were struck by flying glass. The soldiers returned fire and a man was seen too fall.

He was dragged to a house and when soldiers approached they were fired on again. When eventually they entered the house no one was there. An Army spokesman said an ambulance had been seen in the area.

Troops in Divis Street-Hasting Street area shot and wounded a man seen lighting a bomb, but he escaped.

At Turf Lodge about 50 rounds were fired at troops from the Norglen Parade area. They returned the fire and hit a gunman who was dragged away. During several shooting incidents later in the night in the Norglen Parade area. Army marksmen shot three more men, all of whom were dragged away. On the Falls Road soldiers at a check point fired at two men armed with rifles shortly after 10.00 pm. They may have hit one of them.

A youth was tarred and feathered and tied to a lamppost in the Creggan estate in Derry. A notice around his neck accused him of certain offences. He was released after about an hour.

Thursday 28th October 1971 Gunmen take hostages Gunmen held two people hostages for more than four hours while they prepared an ambush. The house in Moreland Park, off Stockman’s lane was taken over by five gunmen. The gunmen held the householders hostage until 8.30 am, when they left. Fifteen minutes later, as two Army vehicles, a Land Rover and a four ton-lorry, were turning off the M1, the convoy was attacked by gunmen in four cars firing from the direction of Stockman’s Lane. One soldier, who was a passenger into back of the lorry, was seriously injured.

Thursday 28th October 1971 18 held in swoops The Army has detained 18 people in the past 24 hours.

Seven men were detained in Newry, four in Belfast, four in Larne and three in the Derry area. The Larne men were later released.

Thursday 28th October 1971 Saor Eire members questioned over killing Members of the extreme left wing Republican Organisation, Saor Eire, were being questioned in Dublin by detectives investigating the killing of Peter Graham, a 26-year-old Dubliner who was found shot to death in a flat in St. Stephens Green on Wednesday.

One theory being examined by the police is that it was a political “execution.” The victim, an electrician, was prominent in left wing circles. He was a founder member of the Young Socialists, and a former editor of the magazine of the same name. In a search of the flat a photograph of a leading member of Saor Eire was found.

Although the body was not discovered until Wednesday, the police believe Graham was killed on Monday night. They are looking for a man and a woman who visited his flat that night.

Thursday 28th October 1971 Blasts cause blackout in Armagh Part of Armagh was blacked out last night when two small explosions damaged small electricity transformers at Convent Road and near Moy Road. The blasts came within minutes and the second occurred just after an anti-internment meeting had started at Irish Corner. The crowd of about 200 cheered. Later about 40 protesters walked into the city centre where a short meeting was held.

An Army patrol escaped injury when a 5 lb Claymore mine prematurely exploded as their two vehicles drove along a narrow road on the outskirts of Armagh.

Thursday 28th October 1971 Hunger strike protest at Long Kesh Ninety internees at Long Kesh have gone on hunger strike over what they say is inadequate food and poor conditions. But the authorities have denied that their complaints are justified. The strike began at breakfast time and the men have refused all the food since then. The strike is in a different compound from the one in which disturbances broke out at the weekend.

The men complained that no extra food has been provided, although 80 more internees were brought to the camp on Sunday. But a Ministry of Home Affairs statement has said there has been no cutbacks whatsoever in meals. There has also been allegations that troops who quelled the weekend disturTOP - An army look out post destroyed by an IRA bomb attack in Walkers Lane, Derry MIDDLE - Chichester Road RUC Barracks destroyed in a bomb attack BOTTOM - Rioting on the Falls Road

THE TROUBLES

bances in which a recreation hut was burned, illtreated the internees and stole 30,000 cigarettes and ripped clothing belonging to the men. th

Thursday 28 October 1971 Cahill at mock funeral Belfast Provisional IRA leader Joe Cahill marched with 200 Republicans in a mock funeral procession through the centre of Dublin. To coffins draped with black cloth, were carried on the shoulders of a number of men. A Union Jack was dragged along the ground.

The procession started at Parnell Square and passed through O’Connell Street on its way to the Dail, where it halted for one minute. It then proceeded to the British Embassy, Merrion Square. The coffins were placed on the footpath outside the Embassy, Merrion Square.

The coffins were placed on the footpath outside the Embassy, which was guarded by a large force of police. Then a Union Jack was soaked in petrol and burned. th

Friday 29 October 1971 Army kill man in Ardoyne One man was killed and two other people were injured including a woman are in hospital with gunshot wounds after trouble in Ardoyne during the night.

The trouble in the area erupted at 9.15 pm when a Green Howards patrol was driven into an alleyway between Cranbrook Gardens and Berwick Road by stone throwers. A gunman armed with a pistol fired two shots at the troops, who returned one shot hitting the gunman who was dragged away into a house in Etna Drive. An Army patrol then went in search of the gunman and saw a group of three gunmen in the garden, one of whom was a woman. They shot through the window and hit one of them. It was the woman. The RUC claim she was carrying a pistol.

Despite denials from the mother of the man fatally wounded in Ardoyne that her son had been involved in the troubles, the Army claim he was organising gunmen. Michael McLarnon of Etna Drive was shot dead as he stood at the door of his home by a soldier using a night scope. Mrs McLarnon said her 22-yearold son Michael was shot after he and family members heard whistles and banging outside – the usual warning by local people that troops were in the area.

Michael went to the front door and at that, the family said, three shots rang out. Michael stood at the door and then staggered in covered in blood.

In another incident a 20-year-old soldier of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers had a narrow escape when a sniper shot him as he stepped from an observation post on top of Unity Flats. The bullet struck his helmet and the impact of the shot knocked him over the parapet more than 70 feet above ground but his fall was broken by a flat roof 15 feet below.

Shortly after 7.00pm a patrol was shot at the junction of Woodvale Road and Crumlin Road but there were no casualties. An hour later two shots were fired at the sentry post at Ardoyne bus depot without causing any injury. A Black Watch patrol in the east side of the city also escaped unhurt when it came under sniper fire in the Albertbridge Road area.

A fire believed to have been caused by an incendiary device thrown through the roof, damaged a storeroom and destroyed a quantity of stock at the Pirelli tyre depot in the Short Strand. This was followed a short time later by an explosion at the War-on-Want shop, Springfield Road, Belfast where an Army spokesman said a 10-12 lb bomb had been placed at the front door.

One of the flak jackets recently issued to the RUC saved a member of the force’s life when an RUC Land Rover was ambushed outside Lurgan. The six-man patrol, including two soldiers, was travelling on the Tanagmore-Lurgan Road when a landmine ripped the rear tyres from the vehicle. The RUC driver kept his vehicle on the road, but immediately following the blast the patrol came under machine-gun attack when an estimated 30-40 shots were fired. Several shoots hit the vehicle and one lodge din one of the RUC men’s flak jackets. One of the soldiers returned three shots but no one was hit.

Friday 29th October 1971 IRA on the run from two Armies An IRA “Flying Column” is on the run from two armies on the South Armagh-North Louth border in what is described as the first joint action by the British and Irish troops since the campaign started.

Armed men were said to be operating on the Louth side early in the night and an Irish Army patrol moving close to the frontier in search of them a length of light electricity cable running across the border to the Dungooley Road, south of Forkhill. It was believed to lead to a Claymore mine intended for detonation against any British patrol travelling on the Dungooley Road. The British Army was alerted by its Irish counterparts about the cable and the search began on both sides of the border.

Friday 29th October 1971 Gunmen attempt to kidnap RUC women Shots were fired as gunmen tried to kidnap three female members of the RUC who were having a night out at a Monaghan Hotel. The women were among a party of 11 at a barbeque in the Four Seasons Hotel on the outskirts of Monaghan. When the barbeque finished, the party, which included the wives of two RUC men, remained behind to make a private presentation to one of the group. Three men who had been sitting at a corner table approached the Armagh party and asked one of the policewomen to identify the others in the group. When she refused two of the men tried to pull her across the room. The man produced a revolver but one of the RUC men’s wives grabbed his arm and a shot was discharged into the ceiling. Other people in the room rushed to the assistance of the women and a second shot was fired in the scuffle. The gunmen escaped through the fields at the rear of the hotel. A Garda radio car was at the hotel within minutes but the men had disappeared.

TOP - Bomb attack in Donegall Place BOTTOM - An army look out post in Cupar Street destroyed in an IRA bomb attack

Page 55

The party remained overnight in Monaghan and were escorted back to Armagh in the morning.

Friday 29th October 1971 Shoppers searched in the street Army and RUC personnel sealed off a Belfast city centre street and no one was allowed to leave the area without being searched. As the Albert clock struck 3.00 pm three armoured personnel carriers moved across each end of Ann Street cutting it off.

All streets and entries off the shopping centre were sealed by soldiers. And as they took up their positions everyone was told to stand still. At several points barriers were set up and as soon as troops were in position an RUC search team of more than 30 constables was brought in.

Page 56

THE TROUBLES

An RUC man with a loud hailer told every one in the street that they would be searched: “Men will be searched by constables on the left and women will be searched by women police on the right hand of the street. The Army brought in a gelly sniffer which can “smell” whether people have been in contact with arms and explosives. Nothing was found during the search.

Friday 29th October 1971 Bomb in radio Two Belfast shops were badly damaged in a lunchtime explosion. It is understood that the device used by the bombers was contained in a transistor radio.

No one was injured as the blast ripped through a drapers shop in the normally busy Duncairn Gardens area of the city. The draper shop and a neighbouring baby shop, both owned by the Ferguson brothers were badly damaged by the explosion. A fire swept through the building following the blast.

Friday 29th October 1971 Petition to free McCrea The Central Armagh Protestant Unionist Association has sent a petition to the Governor, Lord Grey, the Prime Minister, Mr. Faulkner and the Governor of Crumlin Road Prison asking for the release of the Rev. William McCrea, a Free Presbyterian Minister serving a six-month sentence. The petition says “less deserving cases” have been treated favourably by the authorities in that the Royal Prerogative has been exercised and that a pardon has been obtained in many instances by Republicans imprisoned on more serious charges.

Friday 29th October 1971 90 internees eating again Ninety internees at Long Kesh camp have ended a two-day hunger strike. Those taking part said the protest was against food, conditions and the Army’s treatment of fellow prisoners during the disturbances at the camp on Monday night. A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that the internees were taking food again. th

Saturday 30 October 1971 Soldier killed in bomb blast Another soldier was killed in Belfast when an IRA bomb exploded in a house next door to an observation post. Eight other people including a father and his three sons were injured when the blast wrecked the post at the junction of Springfield Road and Cupar Street after mid-day. The soldier who died was named as Guardsman Norman Booth, a 22-year-old married man from Windsor. Ambulances rushed to the Cupar Street blast and two women and two soldiers were taken to hospital but none of them are serious. It is understood the 50 lb charge of gelignite was placed in the house next door to the post by gunman who held up a man and his family Earlier eight customs posts along the border were destroyed in a wave of armed raids by gunmen within an hour. In the customs raids some of the bombers came across the border in cars to carry out what is

believed to be a new offensive by the IRA on Border installations. Customs buildings in three counties were damaged in what is described as a well-timed and co-ordinated attack.

Saturday 30th October 1971 Brothers accused of possessing rifles Two brothers alleged to have been caught carrying rifles in Andersonstown were remanded in custody at Belfast Magistrates Court. Both are charged with possessing explosive substance, an M1 carbine and 28 rounds of ammunition and a .303 rifle and five rounds of ammunition at Riverdale Park North on Friday.

Saturday 30th October 1971 9 held in swoop Troops arrested nine men during an early morning security swoop in the markets area of Belfast. The suspects have been handed over to the RUC for questioning. Abut 60 men from ‘A’ Company of the 3rd Queens Regiment moved into the area shortly before 4.00am. The operation lasted two hours and the men were taken from homes in five streets. The swoop follows two arms searches in the area which uncovered a quantity of arms and ammunition.

Saturday 30th October 1971 RUC inspector Killed in bomb attack The RUC Inspector who was killed in an IRA bomb attack on Chichester Road RUC barracks was 42year-old Alfred Henry Devlin, a married man with two children. He joined the RUC in 1949 and was promoted to the rank of Inspector last year. Two other RUC men were injured inn the attack which ripped the Barracks in half. Two shops were also completely destroyed in the attack which occurred at 3.45 pm.

The Army has said that it believes that between 40 and 60 lb of gelignite were used in the attack. The inspector had been working bin his office on the second floor when the explosion happened. The station literally collapsed. Altogether five members of the RUC were in the barracks at the time of the attack.

Saturday 30th October 1971 Paisley-Boal party launched Selected delegates from throughout the North are meeting in Belfast to set in motion a new right wing Unionist Party – the Democratic Unionist Party – headed by the Rev Ian Paisley and Mr. Desmond Boal. The basis of their meeting, held in private in the Ulster Hall was the security and constitutional

THE

issues and it was aimed at starting off a completely new political organisation from among the Protestant Unionists and dissident Unionists who are now occupying the opposition benches at Stormont.

Mr. Boal who has bee the chairman of the caretaker executive handling the party’s inauguration said the people at the meeting had been invited to attend by letter because they are prominent people in their own areas. The meeting was not held as a general public one as the party wanted people throughout the province to be involved and after this meeting, the delegates would go back to their own areas to begin setting up local organisations where the public would be invited to attend inaugural meetings, he explained.

At Stormont the new party is already represented by Mr. Paisley, Mr. Boal, Rev. William Beattie and Mr. John McQuade who, since the boycott of Parliament by the SDLP and Nationalist MP’s have crossed the floor to make themselves into the new opposition grouping. Mr. Boal said the basic issues concerning the new party were security and constitutional ones, but as the party formed into local organisations and the delegates reported back to the central executive – policies would be formed on domestic issues.

However, with Mr. William Craig, the Larne MP, presently heading a new separate organisation on similar lines, there is no indication of what reaction will be to both moves from within Unionist circles.

Saturday 30th October 1971 348 guns found this year A total of 348 guns, 59,635 rounds of ammunition and 2,368 lbs of explosives were found in the North between 1st January and 28th October this year. Between 6th October and 27th October alone, 42 guns and 9,497 rounds of ammunition and 117 lbs of explosives was found. Between 1st January and 27th October, 12,347 houses were searched by the Army.

Saturday 30th October 1971 Bomb defused at Monkstown An Army bomb disposal expert worked against time to dismantle a 50 lb bomb, which had been placed near the Standard Telephone and Cables factory at Monkstown. The area was sealed off until the bomb was defused.

Saturday 30th October 1971 Shots fired at border patrol An Army patrol was fired upon this afternoon on the Derry-Donegal border at Culmore. A spokesman said the shots came from south of the border.

Available Back Issues Of The

TROUBLES Listed On Back Cover

THOSE WHO DIED

THE TROUBLES

Page 57

Derry. Troops in the post claimed that he was aiming a rifle but eye witnesses denied this. Forensic tests showed that there was no lead traces on his hands.

FRANCIS VEITCH AGED 23 3rd September 1971 Mr Veitch was a member of the UDR shot dead in an IRA ambush at a sentry post at Kinawley RUC Barracks.

PAUL CARTER AGED 21 14th September 1971 A soldier in the Queen’s Regiment, he was shot in an IRA attack outside the Royal Victoria Hospital in West Belfast.

Robert Leslie Annette McGavigan

Frank Veitch ANGELA GALLAGHER AGED 18 MONTHS 3rd September She had been out playing with her older sister near their grandmother’s home in Iveagh Street when she was struck by an IRA bullet. This had ricocheted during an attack on a British army foot patrol.

DAVID STEWARDSON AGED 29 9th September 1971 A member of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps bomb disposal team he was killed while trying to defuse a bomb outside Castlerobin Orange Hall.

JOHN RUDMAN AGED 21 14th September 1971 A soldier with the Light Infantry he was killed in an IRA ambush near Dungannon.

PETER HERRINGTON AGED 26 16th September 1971 A soldier in the Green Howard's, he was shot dead by the IRA while troops were trying to defuse a bomb in the Ardoyne area of North Belfast.

SAMUEL NELSON AGED 47 16th September 1971 Shot dead in the Shankill area of West Belfast by members of the UVF who claimed that he was a police informer.

ROBERT LESLIE AGED 20 18th September 1971 A member of the RUC he was shot dead by the IRA while on patrol in Abercorn Square, Tyrone.

Angela Gallagher JOHN WARNOCK AGED 18 6th September 1971 A solider with the Royal Armoured Corps he was killed in an Official IRA landmine attack near Bessbrook.

ANNETTE McGAVIGAN AGED 14 6th September 1971 Shot dead in crossfire between the British army and the IRA in Derry’s Abbey Street.

JAMES FINLAY AGED 31 21st September 1971 A member of the loyalist UDA he was killed when constructing a bomb in a house in Bann Street in the Oldpark area of North Belfast.

GERARD O’HARE AGED 17 23rd September 1971 A member of the Official IRA he was killed along with Rose Curry while constructing a bomb in a house in Merrion Street in the lower Falls area of West Belfast.

He came from Theodore Street and, alone with Rose Curry, was claimed by the Official IRA as the first fatalities for the movement in the troubles.

ROSE CURRY AGED 18 23rd September 1971 A member of the Official IRA she was killed alongside Gerard O’Hare.

She came from Abercorn Street and her father was interned at the time of her death.

David Stewardson MARTIN CARROLL AGED 23 14th September 1971 A soldier with the Royal Artillery he was on duty with his brother at the Bligh’s Lane army post in Derry when he was shot dead in an IRA ambush.

WILLIAM McGREANERY AGED 41 14th September 1971 Shot dead in disputed circumstances from the Bligh’s Lane army post in

The funeral of Gerard O’Hare and Rosina Curry on the Falls Road

Page 58

THE TROUBLES

JOHN THOMPSON AGED 19 13th October 1971 A member of the UDA he died as a result of injuries received in a premature explosion while making bombs with another UDA member, James Finlay, a month previous.

CECIL CUNNINGHAM AGED 46 15th October 1971 One of two RUC officers killed in an IRA gun attack on their car at the top of the Woodvale Road.

ERNEST BATES AGED 38 29th September 1971 Mr Bates was killed in the same explosion as Mr Andrews.

The bomb exploded without warning as a large group of Linfield football supporters gathered around 10.20pm.

Twenty seven people were injured in the attack.

Ernest Bates PETER SHARP AGED 22 1st October 1971 A soldier in the Green Howard's, he was shot dead by the IRA in Chatham Street while on patrol in the Ardoyne area of North Belfast.

TERENCE McDERMOTT AGED 19 2nd October 1971 A member of the IRA he was killed when a bomb he was preparing exploded prematurely.

Cecil Cunningham JOHN HASLETT AGED 21 15th October 1971 A member of the RUC, he was killed in the same gun attack as Cecil Cunningham.

WINIFRED MAXWELL AGED 45 9th October 1971 Killed in a no warning bomb attack on the Fiddler’s House public house by the UDA.

Alexander Andrews

ROGER WILKINS AGED 31 11th October 1971 A soldier in the Anglian regiment he was shot dead in an IRA gun attack on an observation post in Derry’s Bishop Street.

MAURA MEEHAN AGED 31 23rd October 1971 Maura and her sister were shot dead

by British troops in Cape Street in the Lower Falls area of West Belfast.

Members of the women’s section of the IRA local people claim that they were sounding their car horn to warn that troops were entering the area. The army claimed that they had a gun.

DOROTHY MAGUIRE AGED 19 23rd October 1971 Shot dead with her sister Maura Meehan.

PATRICK DALY AGED 57 3rd October 1971 Shot dead during crossfire between the British army and IRA in Linden Street in West Belfast. He had been on his way to work at the Belfast Docks BRIAN HULL AGED 22 4th October 1971 A soldier in the Scots Guards, he died in a bomb attack by the Official IRA on an army post in Cupar Street.

GEORGE HAMILTON AGED 21 17th October 1971 A soldier in the Scots Guards he was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on patrol in the Ballymurphy Estate in West Belfast.

JOHN BENNETT AGED 18 19th October 1971 Shot dead by a youth in west Belfast during a struggle over the ownership of a rifle.

Rose Curry ALEXANDER ANDREWS AGED 60 29th September 1971 Mr Andrews was one of two men killed in an IRA bomb attack on the Four Steps Inn on the Shankill Road.

GRAHAM COX AGED 35 17th October 1971 A soldier in the Royal Armoured Corps he was injured two days previously in an IRA gun attack on an armoured car in the Oldpark area of North Belfast.

John Haslett DAVID THOMPSON AGED 28 16th October 1971 Shot dead in Seaforde Street by the British army during a gun battle with the IRA. The army claimed that he was a sniper but this was denied by locals who stated that he was hiding underneath a lorry at the time to avoid the gunfire. The IRA has never claimed him as a member.

JOSEPH HILL AGED 24 16th October 1971 A soldier in the Royal Green Jackets he was shot dead by an IRA sniper during riots in Derry’s William Street.

SEAN RUDDY AGED 19 23rd October 1971 Shot dead with two other men as they attempted to rob a man placing money in a bank nightsafe. The army had received a tip off that the bank was to be bombed and believed that this is what was going on. When they challenged them they three ran off and were shot dead.

THOMAS McLAUGHLIN AGED 27 23rd October 1971 Shot dead with Sean Ruddy

ROBERT ANDERSON AGED 25 23rd October 1971 Shot dead with Sean Ruddy

THE TROUBLES

MARTIN FORSYTHE AGED 19 24th October 1971 A member of the IRA, Mr Forsythe was shot dead by the police after he left a bomb at a club in Belfast city centre.

ROBERT LINDSAY AGED 47 25th October 1971 Robert was injured two days previous after being struck by a stray bullet on the Grosvenor Road during an IRA gun attack on a British army patrol.

ROBERT McFARLAND AGED 26 25th October 1971 He was found gagged and blindfolded in Altar Street in East Belfast. He had been shot through the head by gunmen believed to been from the IRA. RONALD DODD AGED 34 27th October 1971 A member of the RUC, he was killed in an IRA ambush near Toomebridge.

MICHAEL McLARNON AGED 22 28th October 1971 Shot dead by a British soldier as he stood at his front door in Etna drive in the Ardoyne area of North Belfast.

ALFRED DEVLIN AGED 42 29th October 1971 A member of the RUC, he was killed in an IRA bomb attack on the Chichester Road Barracks in North Belfast.

JOHN COPELAND AGED 23 30th October 1971 Shot dead by the British army in disputed circumstances in Ladbrooke Drive. The army claimed that they had seen him with a pistol but a number of witnesses confirmed that he was not armed.

IAN DOCHERTY AGED 27 31st October 1971 A soldier in the Royal Artillery, he was

killed in an IRA ambush in the Andersonstown area of West Belfast.

THOMAS MALCOLM AGED 19 31st October 1971 His body was found gagged and blindfolded at Flow Bog near Dundrod. He had been shot five times. It is believed that he had been shot by the IRA.

LEARN ABOUT THE BELFAST TROUBLES OF 1920 - 1922 EVERY MONTH IN THE

BELFAST MAGAZINE

PETER GRAHAM AGED 26 27th October 1971 A member of Saor Eire, he was found shot dead in Dublin in what was believed to have been an internal Republican dispute.

ANGUS STEPHENS AGED 18 27th October 1971 A soldier in the 45th Medium Regiment, he was one of two soldiers killed in an IRA bomb attack on an observation post in Lewis Street, Derry.

DAVID TILBURY AGED 29 27th October 1971 Killed alongside Angus Stephens DAVID POWELL AGED 22 28th October 1971 A soldier in the 16/5 Lancers, he was killed in a Republican bomb attack near Kinawley.

NORMAN BOOTH AGED 22 28th October 1971 A soldier in the Scots Guards, he was killed in an IRA bomb attack on a look out post in Cupar Street, West Belfast.

Page 59

ON SALE IN ALL LEADING NEWSAGENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY - ÂŁ1.50

PREVIOUS EDITIONS T U O D L SO ISSUE 1

ISSUE 2

ISSUE 3

Covering the period from Partition to 1969

Covering the period January - June 1970

Covering the period July - December 1970

ISSUE 5

ISSUE 6

ISSUE 7

Covering the period May - July 1971

Covering the period August 1971 (Internment)

Covering the period September - October 1971

ISSUE 4 Covering the period January - April 1971

To obtain the issues you require simply write down the issue numbers and send to GLENRAVEL PUBLICATIONS ASHTON CENTRE LEPPER STREET BELFAST BT15 2DN Enclosing a cheque/Postal Order for £2.99 and include an additional £1 per issue for postage.

NEXT ISSUE - NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 1971

The McGurk’s Bar Bombing ON SALE DECEMBER IN ALL USUAL OUTLETS

06

NORTHERN IRELAND IRISH REPUBLIC

£2.99 4.80