Bloody Sunday 1972
On January 30, 1972 the Bogside Massacre occurred in Derry. This event is also known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Derry is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland. In 1969, the city was very poor and there was a huge inequality between Nationalists and Unionists. Derry had a nationalist majority but, due to excessive gerrymandering and a number of discriminatory laws against Catholics, the city managed to maintain Unionist leadership in all the council roles. The city was poor, housing conditions were terrible and Catholics wanted better conditions. As a result, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formed. It was an organization set up as a non-partisan, civil rights campaign and as an alternative to military operations.
At the same time, internment without trial was introduced in Northern Ireland. This meant that anyone who was suspected of being involved in a terrorist organization could be arrested on the spot. NICRA organized a number of marches against internment even though marches were banned across Northern Ireland at this time due to the threat of violence. The NICRA-organized march which occurred on Sunday, January 30th, 1972, would make headlines around the world.
Major General Robert Ford was the commander of land forces in Northern Ireland at the time and had promised that tougher measures would be introduced to deal with the lawlessness in Derry. These tougher measures came in the form of the first battalion of the Parachute Regiment. The Parachute Regiment was an elite trained regiment of the British Army. They had a reputation for being heavy-handed and were considered significantly more severe than the regular British soldier. These soldiers were the ones deployed on the day of the march. 3‘s
It is estimated that 15,000 people participated in the march. It began in the housing estate of Creggan and then made its way down the Bogside, which is the largely Catholic area just outside of Derry’s Old City walls. There was a very relaxed atmosphere in the air and many people joined the march just to catch up with friends or have a chat. Meanwhile, the British Army was setting up barricades.
The Army’s plan was to erect 26 sequentially numbered barricades, one on each street, that would cut off access to the city center by the protesters. Each barricade would consist of wooden knife rests, barbed wire and concrete slabs. They would also have a number of British soldiers and 2 armored personnel carriers behind each barricade.
The plan was for the army not to attack the protesters as long as they stayed in the permitted areas. If any individuals tried to breach the barriers, then they were allowed to respond with rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas.
The march continued down the Bogside until it neared the city center and approached the army barriers. Because of the barriers, the organizers changed the route, intending the rally to happen at an area known as the Free Derry Corner instead. The paratroopers had set up camp in a derelict building on the side of barricade 14 and were hoping to outflank the protesters and launch an arrest operation.
Some individuals in the crowd noticed the paratroopers in the derelict building and just before 4:00 pm, they began throwing stones and bottles at them. In response, the paratroopers opened fire. Fifteen-year-old Damien Donaghy was throwing stones and was shot, but survived his injuries. John Johnson, 59, who was a passer-by was also shot twice and died of his injuries four months later.
Some of the crowd tried to flee but ended up stuck in the courtyard of the Rossville Flats. John Duddy, 17, was shot in the back and died of his injuries. Father Edward Daly was beside Duddy when he was shot and attempted to bring him to get medical attention. Video Footage was captured showing Father Daly waving a blood-stained handkerchief at the soldiers while trying to get Duddy to safety.
The rest of the armored vehicles ended up on Rossville Street and encountered men standing on a rubble barricade in the middle of the road, facing them. The opened fire and killed seven of the men.
William Nash was shot in the chest at the rubble barricade and killed. John Young and Michael McDaid ran to help William but were both shot in the face and killed. William Nash’s father, Alexander, ran forward to help his son and was shot, but survived. Michael Kelly, Hugh Gilmore, Kevin McElhinney and Patrick Doherty also were killed by soldiers. Two of them were shot in the back as they attempted to crawl away.
By this stage, a group of civilians were trying to get away from the street where the shooting was taking place. Soldiers opened fire on the fleeing civilians and shot James Wray, 22, Gerald McKinney,35, and William McKinney, 26. All were killed and a number of other civilians were injured. Gerald Donaghy,17, was shot in the stomach and mortally wounded.
Across from the Rossville Flats, a man lay injured and was calling out for help. Bernard McGuigan, 41, rushed over to his aid, waving a white handkerchief at the British soldiers. He was immediately shot in the head and killed.
After the shooting had stopped, the mortally wounded Ger Donaghy was brought to a nearby house where he was treated by a civilian doctor. He was then put in a car and driven to a nearby hospital. On the way, the car was stopped by a British Military checkpoint, where the driver and other passengers were arrested. The wounded Donaghy was then brought by a soldier to an army first aid post where he was pronounced dead.
The paratroopers shot at civilians for 18 minutes and 26 unarmed civilians had been shot. 14 of them died. No British soldiers were injured.
People around the world were outraged by the events of Bloody Sunday. When the bodies of the victims were buried on the second of February, there was a general strike in the Republic. An angry crowd also burned down the British Embassy in Dublin.
Bloody Sunday was the event which marked the real beginning of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. There had been previous violence but this was different. This was the mass killing of civilians by soldiers and in full view of the media. It fueled hostilities on the nationalist side and led to an increase in the number of people joining Nationalist paramilitary organizations including the Original IRA and Provisional IRA.
Two days after Bloody Sunday Prime Minister Edward Heath commissioned the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, to begin an inquiry. Widgery's report was completed quickly and supported the British Army's account of the events of the day. In 1998 Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief aide said Widgery’s report was a "complete and utter whitewash. Blair agreed to hold a new public inquiry.
The report of the inquiry was published on June 15, 2010. It concluded that, "The firing by soldiers of 1 PARA on Bloody Sunday caused the deaths of 13 people and injury to a similar number, none of whom was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury". It also stated that British paratroopers "lost control", shooting fleeing civilians and those who tried to help the wounded. The civilians had not been warned by soldiers that they intended to shoot. Contrary to the soldiers' claims, the report concluded that the victims were unarmed, and no nail bombs or petrol bombs were thrown. "None of them fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombers." It stated that while some soldiers probably fired out of fear and recklessness, others did not, and fired at civilians they knew were unarmed. The report stated that soldiers had concocted lies in attempting to hide their acts.