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The WAR in Northern Ireland
Though some people would say it was not...................Soldiers who served there would probably say "it was".
The British Government under Prime Minister Harold Wilson ordered the deployment of troops
to Northern Ireland in August 1969 to counter the growing disorder surrounding civil rights protests
and an increase in sectarian violence during the traditional Protestant marching season. |
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Pte Wayne Robert Smith QGM - was born on 13 December 1955 and died 29 March 1985 of natural causes.
After leaving JLB shornecliffe he joined 3LI in Minden . In March 74 he moved with B Coy to the Lower Falls area of Belfast stationed in Mulhouse Company Base. On 13 May 74 he was a member of a patrol in Distillery Street when his patrol came under fire. Wayne saw a child standing in the road in the line of fire, dashed out into the shooting and bundled the child into a doorway out of harms way. For his coolness and courage he was awareded the Queen Gallantry Medal.After leaving B Coy Wayne was posted to the Recce Pl. |
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LIGHT INFANTRYMAN
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The 3 Battalions of the Light Infantry have completed many tours in the province of Northern Ireland and in the process, they lost many good men to the cowardly tactics of the various organisations that call themselves "Para-Militaries". Just peruse the Roll of Honour for the three Battalions to see the list of names of good, professional, highly trained, normal everyday men and boys that were sacrificed by the government of this country in a futile and pointless exercise of trying to pacify various terrorist groups killing and bombing each other when in the end,
it was quite obvious to everyone that people would have to sit down at a table and talk. In the end, people got around a table and talked. They are still talking and as long as they talk young soldiers will not die needlessly. Rest in Peace all those Light Infantrymen who fell in the name of "Peace Keeping". England, Scotland and Wales owe you a lot for your sacrifice. The people of Northern Ireland, who hopefully one day will find peace to live in, owe you "EVERYTHING". But as true professionals and just like soldiers the world over, who fight for their countries beliefs, You will be forgotten by the people you fought to protect or free from oppression you will be nameless to them all. But that is the destiny of a soldier.
But The Light Infantry
will NEVER forget you.
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A LIGHT INFANTRYMAN
Dougie Holden - 2LI |
The Roman Catholic population of Northern Ireland had little or no faith in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, which it perceived as a pro-Protestant organisation. It was hoped that the British Army would not only help restore order but also be regarded as a more acceptable peacekeeping force. Although the Army came under the control of the Secretary of State for Defence in London many Catholics saw it as a tool of the Unionist Government in Northern Ireland. As a result the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), formed in 1969 and with its membership growing, increased levels of agitation and violence against both the police and the Army. Loyalist paramilitary groups including the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), intent on keeping the Province part of the United Kingdom, stepped up their campaign of sectarian violence.
In 1970 the Ulster Defence Regiment was formed with the aim of recruiting an anti-terrorist security force from both Protestant and Roman Catholic communities. The early 1970s saw major rioting on both sides of the religious divide. The Army’s initial troop deployment proved insufficient and required reinforcement. The British Army's tactic of operating and patrolling from fortified bases in the major conurbation's, developed during these early years, set a pattern for the next three decades.
By June 1971 the situation had deteriorated after the killing of three soldiers and the shooting dead of two men by the Army. In August protest and violence increased with the introduction of internment: the arrest, interrogation and detention of Republican suspects without trial. The policy proved counterproductive as it hardened legitimate opposition and bolstered support for the PIRA, particularly in the Roman Catholic housing estates of Belfast and Londonderry.
On Sunday, 30 January 1972, a march organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association became the focus of international attention when British troops killed thirteen people and wounded another thirteen (one of whom subsequently died). The events surrounding what has become known as 'Bloody Sunday' are still hotly disputed and in 1998, after years of protest and an earlier inquiry, the British Prime Minister Tony Bal. ordered a full-scale judicial inquiry, which was still in progress in December 2003. The repercussions of ‘Bloody Sunday’ were clear: the ranks of the IRA and its sympathisers were swelled, civil unrest escalated and violent action against the security forces increased. In February 1972 the barracks at Aldershot were bombed by the PIRA in direct retaliation, and six civilians and an Army chaplain killed.
In the Province troops and vehicles on patrol, undertaking searches and acting as snatch squads, increasingly came under attack from well-armed terrorists and rioters using petrol and nail bombs. In urban areas riot gear became an integral part of the British soldier's kit as were rubber bullets, controversially used against rioters. The Army's urban warfare skills were honed as they had to counter the threat of snipers, booby traps, mortars and bombs. In the countryside, particularly South Armagh's 'bandit country', the risk of ambush contributed to the Army's reliance on helicopters to both reconnoitre and ferry troops from place to place. The Army operated a 'tour of duty' policy for troops. The advantage of this was that troops had an end in sight and their exposure to stress and danger was limited in duration. The disadvantage was that the build-up of experience and local knowledge could be curtailed and the benefits of continuity lost.
In July 1972 the Army carried out Operation MOTORMAN, an attempt to regain control of ‘no-go areas’ primarily in Londonderry and Belfast. 1972 saw the resignation of the Northern Ireland Government and a return to direct rule from Westminster. Further attempts at creating devolved government in the Province foundered with the Unionists staunchly resisting the idea of power sharing.
The PIRA, with a steady supply of arms and money from sympathisers in the Republic of Ireland, USA and elsewhere, continued to target security forces and economic targets, increasing its campaign on mainland Britain. The bombing campaign of 1974 included attacks on pubs in Birmingham, Guildford and Woolwich in which civilians died alongside off-duty soldiers. In August 1979 the PIRA killed 18 soldiers from the Parachute Regiment and the Queen’s Own Highlanders in a ruthless ambush at Warren Point The same month also witnessed the murder of Lord Louis Mountbatten and three others at Mullaghmore in the Republic of Ireland.
The death of ten Republican prisoners on hunger strike, protesting for political status, greatly increased support for PIRA and its political wing, Sinn Fein. Throughout the 1980s, as Sinn Fein attempted to gain political influence, PIRA and other groups such as the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) continued their campaign of violence. In July 1982 eleven soldiers from the Blues and Royals and the Royal Green Jackets were killed in two bomb attacks in London. In October 1984 five people died when an attempt was made to murder Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet at the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton. As Anglo-Irish co-operation increased Republican terrorists killed 11 people at Enniskillen’s war memorial during the Remembrance Sunday service in 1987.
As the numbers of troops deployed in the Province fluctuated counter-terrorist action by the British Army and intelligence agencies was stepped up. In 1987 eight terrorists were killed in an ambush at Loughall, and in the following year the Special Air Service killed members of a PIRA active service unit in Gibraltar. British forces suffered many casualties in 1988 and 1989, the most severe being the killing of ten Royal Marines in a bomb at the Royal Marines School of Music at Deal in Kent.
By the early 1990s the PIRA began to concentrate on civilian targets on the mainland, including a large bomb in the City of London. Talks between John Hume, leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein, along with secret contacts with the British Government formed the basis for a new peace initiative. Sectarian violence continued to increase but on 31 August 1994 the PIRA announced a cease-fire that was followed in October by a similar announcement by Loyalist paramilitaries. In 1996 with talks over decommissioning under way, the PIRA resumed its terrorism campaign with the detonation of a major bomb at Canary Wharf in London. The cease-fire was re-established in 1997 and further talks resulted in the 'Good Friday Agreement' in April 1998. The agreement was announced by all the main parties except the Democratic Unionist Party and was backed by referenda north and south of the border. It marked a return to devolved government in the Province with the establishment of a power sharing administration. An integral part of the agreement was the cessation of paramilitary violence and the decommissioning of stocks of illegal arms.
British Army numbers and installations in the Province have been reduced and some security procedures have been relaxed. However, sectarian violence continues in Northern Ireland and a threat to security still exists from paramilitary splinter groups. The worst example of continued terrorist action has been the Omagh bombing in August 1998 that killed 29 people.
Sir Kenneth Bloomfield’s Northern Ireland Victims Commission 1998 report “to look at possible ways to recognise the pain and suffering felt by victims of violence arising from the troubles of the last 30 years” refers to some 3,600 deaths during the course of ‘the troubles’. |
