August 1969: Battle of The Bogside

6 Dead and Over a hundred shot across Northern Ireland.

In August 1969, Mick Jagger was accidentally shot whilst filming ‘Ned Kelly’. “A pistol loaded with blanks, which he was using at the time, backfired to drive the metal into his hand,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, shootings were common throughout August as we saw more and more riots break out…

It could be said that what happened in August ‘69 had been feared by the Irish minister for External Affairs Dr Hillery (no, not the guy from Good Morning Britain!). On the 1st of August, Dr Hillery met with representatives from the British government at the Foreign Office. It was during this meeting that he expressed "his grave concern about the prospects of further violence in Derry", particularly about the planned Apprentice Boys of Derry parade through the city on 12th August. This year there were plans for 73 bands to take part in the parade, instead of the usual 17 or so. You can read the notes from the meeting in full here.

However, the British Minister rejected any proposals related to banning, re-routing, or reducing the size of the parade as he didn’t expect the situation in Derry would get out of hand. How wrong could one man be?

On the 5th of August, in the early hours of the morning, The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) detonated a bomb at Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) headquarters in Donnybrook, Dublin, causing significant damage. The bomb was planted at the western end of the studios, destroyed the wardrobe department, and shattered windows in a large section of the building. At the time, only a skeleton staff were on duty and no one was injured. This was the first bomb attack by the UVF in the Republic of Ireland and marked the start of a bombing campaign by loyalist paramilitaries. The UVF claimed responsibility for this bomb in a statement issued on 24 October 1969. You can watch an RTÉ news report on the incident here.

James Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, held a meeting with James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, on the 8th of August, in London. Callaghan agreed to an increase in the number of security force personnel in Northern Ireland. It was also decided to allow the annual Apprentice Boys parade to go ahead in Derry.

This meeting preceded a meeting of the cabinet held at Stormont Castle on the 11th of August. In attendance;

• The Prime Minister

• The Minister in the Senate

• The Minister of Finance

• The Minister of Home Affairs

• The Minister of Health and Social Services

• The Minister of Education

• The Minister of Agriculture

• The Minister of Development

• The Minister of State at the Ministry of Development

• The Minister and Leader of the House

• The Attorney General

• The Secretary to the Cabinet

• The Deputy Principal Officer

During the discussion, it was agreed that top priority should be given to the strengthening of the Royal Ulster Constabulary up to, and if necessary beyond, the revised establishment of 3,500. It was also agreed that the Reserve Force should be further expanded by the embodiment of additional members of the Ulster Special Constabulary.

The upcoming Apprentice Boys’ parade was also discussed. On this, the Prime Minister said that, as a result of his meeting with Apprentice Boys' representatives on the previous Thursday, he was satisfied they wished to cooperate. Consideration had been given to possible alternative routes and to calling off the Demonstration, as well as an understanding that the procession could be diverted, at any point during the parade, on the advice of the Police.

On the 12th of August, as the annual Apprentice Boys parade passed close to the Bogside area of Derry insults and jibes, between loyalist and catholic youths, quickly escalated into rock throwing and assaults. The RUC, using armoured cars and water cannons, entered the Bogside, in an attempt to end the rioting. The RUC were closely followed and supported by a loyalist crowd. The residents of the Bogside, armed with stones and petrol bombs, raised barricades and forced the police and the loyalists back out of the area. The RUC used CS gas to again enter the Bogside area. However, a soft wind would blow the gas back towards them. The police were poorly equipped with shields that were much too small and their uniforms were not flameproof causing many of them to suffer severe burns from the Molotov cocktails.

Over the following days, Serious rioting spread across Northern Ireland from Derry to other Catholic areas, stretching the RUC. The rioting deteriorated into a sectarian conflict between Catholics and Protestants and many people were forced from their homes.

Jack Lynch, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), made a television address on the 13th of August in which he announced that 'field hospitals' would be set up in border areas. He went on to say that "... the present situation is the inevitable outcome of the policies pursued for decades by successive Stormont governments. It is clear also that the Irish government can no longer stand by and see innocent people injured and perhaps worse.". You can watch his address in full here.

On the 14th of August, after two days of battle, and with the RUC exhausted, the Stormont government asked the British government for permission to allow British troops to be deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. Late in the afternoon troops entered the centre of Derry.

This period of conflict between the RUC and Bogside (and Creggan) residents was to become known as the 'Battle of the Bogside' and lasted for two days.

It was also on the 14th that John Gallagher, a married father of three and civilian, was shot dead by the Ulster Special Constabulary ('B-Specials') during street disturbances on Cathedral Road in Armagh. Mr Gallagher had been making his way home from the pub after 11 pm when he got caught up in the violence in the area. He was recorded, by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), as the first 'official' victim of The Troubles.

In Belfast, vicious sectarian riots erupted and continued the following day. In Divis Street, the RUC fired several shots, from a heavy Browning machine gun mounted on an armoured car, into the Divis Flats and Towers. One of the shots killed a young boy, Patrick Rooney, while he and his family sheltered in a bedroom of their ground-floor maisonette in the Divis complex during the disturbances. During an interview with The Irish Times in 1998, Patrick’s father, Neely, recalled;

“I was shot myself in the forehead, just a graze, but the blood flew out of my head, and my wife Alice, she thought Patrick had fainted at the idea of me being shot. Little did we realise that Patrick had been shot himself - in the back of the head.”

On the 15th of August, a further six people were killed and many more injured during sectarian riots in Belfast, with many families forced to move from their homes. British troops took up duties on the streets of west Belfast. Subsequently, on the 6th of May 2021, four killings by RUC officers were the subject of a Police Ombudsman's investigation report. The Ombudsman stated that, '... there was no effective police investigation into these deaths at the time.'. The six killed were;

• Herbert Roy, 26. Shot by a non-specific republican group while part of a Loyalist crowd, during street disturbances, corner of Divis Street and Dover Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.

• Hugh McCabe, 20, British Army. On leave. Shot by the RUC during street disturbances while on the roof of Whitehall Block, Divis Flats, Belfast. Mr McCabe was the first soldier to be killed in the conflict.

• Samuel McLarnon, 27. Shot by the RUC at his home during nearby street disturbances, Herbert Street, Ardoyne, Belfast.

• Michael Lynch, 28. Shot by the RUC during street disturbances, Butler Street, Ardoyne, Belfast.

• Gerald McAuley, 15. Shot by a non-specific loyalist group during street disturbances, Bombay Street, Falls, Belfast.

• David Linton, 48. Shot by a non-specific republican group during street disturbances at the junction of Palmer Street and Crumlin Road, Belfast.

Right up to the 17th of August, at least 133 were treated for gunshot wounds. Scores of houses and businesses were burnt out, most owned by Catholics, thousands of families were forced to flee their homes, and refugee camps were set up in the Republic. This was Europe's largest massacre since the Second World War.

On the 19th of August, representatives of the British and Northern Ireland governments held a meeting in London lasting two days. A Communiqué and Declaration were issued at the end of the first day. The declaration affirmed that there would be no change in the constitutional status of Northern Ireland without the consent of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. This Joint Declaration became known as the Downing Street Declaration.

Following the events across Northern Ireland, The Hunt Committee was appointed to consider the structure of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the 'B-Specials' (Ulster Special Constabulary; USC).

On Wednesday the 27th of August, James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, visited Belfast and Derry for talks with the Unionist government and others. The Stormont government announced the establishment of an Inquiry, to be chaired by Justice Scarman, into the circumstances of the riots during the year. Following his visit to Northern Ireland, a statement on behalf of the Northern Ireland and British governments was released. This statement provided an outline of the work that would be undertaken on several further reforms mainly in the area of local government administration, housing, and employment.

Given that there seemed to be a lack of control over the situation throughout August, Ian Freeland, then General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the British Army, became Director of Operations for security matters, thus effectively removing control of security from the Stormont government.

August ended with a two-day ‘Liberation Fleadh’, or ‘Free Derry Fleadh’, in Derry. It was organised by Eamon McCann and Mary Holland and was held on the weekend of the 30th and 31st of August 1969. Many well-known Irish musicians came to Derry to take part, including, The Dubliners, Tommy Makem and Armagh Pipers Club. You can watch some footage of the event here.

I can’t help but think that we’re seeing history repeating itself here. This proved to be another situation where if a parade had been banned, or re-routed, we could have avoided bloodshed. But then again, that’s not an excuse for what transpired on all sides of the conflict.