Firstly, apologies for the delay in getting this one out to you, I appreciate it’s a little later than usual. It was an absolute mammoth to work on given that so much had happened in one month. We’re here now, so we’ll skip the usual introduction where I try to bring you back to a moment in time to add some context. Let’s just dive straight in.
July 1972 began with the UDA and the British Army arguing about a 'no-go' area at Ainsworth Avenue, Belfast.
The following day, The Royal Ulster Constabulary forwarded a file about the killings on 'Bloody Sunday' (30th of January 1972) to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for Northern Ireland. The Attorney General made a statement about this file on the 1st of August 1972.
One of the biggest political talking points in July was when Gerry Adams, who had been released from detention for the purpose, was part of a delegation that went to London for talks with the British Government on the 7th of July. The IRA delegation held direct talks with William Whitelaw and other Northern Ireland Office ministers in the Chelsea home of Minister of State for the North, Mr Paul Channon. The IRA delegation also included Séamus Twomey, Seán MacStiofáin, Dáithí Ó Conaill, Ivor Bell, and Martin McGuinness. The talks failed and the breakdown in the IRA ceasefire finally occurred because of a dispute over the allocation of houses in the Suffolk area and the IRA and the British army became involved in gun battles in Horn Drive, Belfast. The Bloody Friday bombings on the 21st of July 1972 were part of a decision by the IRA to step up its campaign to try to bring ordinary life in the city to an end. We’ll cover Bloody Friday further down.
Incidentally, on the same day, two British Army captains were captured while off duty by an IRA patrol in Derry. The two officers were interrogated and released unharmed 18 hours later. The British Army set up a board of inquiry on the issue.
The ceasefire between the Provisional IRA and the British Army came to an end on the 9th of July. The British Army had prevented Catholic families, who had been intimidated by Loyalists from their homes in Rathcoole, from moving into empty houses on Lenadoon Avenue. There was a confrontation between the crowd and soldiers who fired rubber bullets. Following this, the IRA opened fire on the troops thus ending the ceasefire.
It was on the 10th of July that Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw admitted that secret talks had taken place with the Irish Republican Army. In a statement at the House of Commons in London, he covered 3 key points;
Confirmed that he had held talks with Provisional leaders in London on the previous Friday.
Blame for the ending of the "truce” fairly and squarely on the Provisionals who must now take the consequences.
Announced the Government's intention to carry on the war with the IRA with the utmost vigour.
Another huge political bombshell on the 22nd of July was the notion of redrawing the border and possible population transfer. A document that was released to the public in January 2003 contains an outline contingency plan which envisaged that areas where there were Catholic majorities would be ceded to the Republic. The plan also envisaged that there would be forced movement of approximately one-third of the population across the new border.
More records released in January 2003 show a letter from Ronnie Custis, then with the Ministry of Defence, to Christopher Roberts, then with the Prime Minister's office, on the 26th of July about additional rules of engagement for British soldiers in Northern Ireland. The letter contained two key points of interest;
Soldiers may fire without warning if there is no other way to protect themselves or those whom it is their duty to protect from the danger of being killed or seriously injured.
For this operation only, a company commander may order the firing of heavy weapons (such as Carl Gustav) against positions from which there is sustained hostile firing, if he believes that this is necessary for the preservation of the lives of the soldiers or of other persons whom it is his duty to protect. In deciding whether or not to use heavy weapons full account must be taken of the risk that the opening of fire may endanger the lives of innocent persons.
Monday the 31st of July saw the introduction of ‘Operation Motorman’. The operation took place in the early hours of the morning with the aim of retaking the "no-go areas" (areas controlled by residents, including Irish republican paramilitaries) that had been established in Belfast and other urban centres. In Derry, Operation Carcan (or Car Can), initially proposed as a separate operation, was executed as part of Motorman.
Operation Motorman was the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956 and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. In the days before the 31st of July, about 4,000 extra troops were brought into Northern Ireland. Almost 22,000 soldiers were involved, including 27 infantry and two armoured battalions, aided by 5,300 soldiers from the local Ulster Defence Regiment. Several Centurion AVRE demolition vehicles, derived from the Centurion tank and fitted with bulldozer blades, were used. They were the only heavy armoured vehicles to be deployed operationally by the British Army in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The tanks had been transported to Northern Ireland on board the amphibious landing ship HMS Fearless, and were operated with their turrets traversed to the rear and main guns covered by tarpaulins.
This quick military buildup alerted the Provisional IRA and Official IRA that a major operation was being planned. According to local MP Ivan Cooper and others, the IRA left Derry's no-go areas the day before the operation.
The operation began at about 4:00 am and lasted for a few hours. In "no-go areas" such as Free Derry, sirens were sounded by residents to alert others of the incursion. The British Army used bulldozers and Centurion AVREs to break through the barricades before flooding the no-go areas with troops in smaller, lighter armoured vehicles. Neither the Provisional IRA nor the Official IRA attempted to hold their ground. Small-scale operations were carried out in other places like Lurgan, Armagh, Coalisland and Newry. RAF Canberra bombers were employed to search for arms dumps through false colour imagining.
By the end of the day, Derry and Belfast had been cleared of no-go areas, but the Army remained cautious when operating in staunchly Republican districts. Casement Park in Andersonstown, the main stadium of the Ulster GAA, was occupied by the 19th Regiment Royal Artillery.
Strap yourself in. There was an insane amount fo violence on the streets of Northern Ireland in July 1972…
01/07/72 - An English civilian visitor (Paul Jobling, 19) was found hooded and shot dead on waste ground, Westway Drive, Glencairn, Belfast. It is thought the UDA was responsible.
01/07/72 - A Catholic civilian (Daniel Hayes, 40) was found shot dead in a playground at the predominantly loyalist Penrith Street, Shankill, Belfast. A witness who lived nearby said he saw two men take a third out of a car and into the playground. The car driver said to the witness: "You are all right, it's the UDA". He then heard five shots.
02/07/72 - Two Catholic civilians (James Howell, 31, and Gerard McCrea, 27) were found hooded and shot dead in Belfast. Their bodies were found in different locations but it was believed they were killed together. Howell was found in McCrea's car, Cavour Street, off Old Lodge Road, Belfast. McCrea was found at Forthriver Road, Glencairn, Belfast. It is believed the UDA was responsible.
02/07/72 - Two Protestant civilians, Hugh Clawson (39) and David Fisher (30), were killed by Republican paramilitaries. Both men were found shot on waste ground off Cliftonville Road, Belfast.
03/07/72 - The UVF shot dead a Catholic civilian, John O'Hanlon (38), and dumped his body off Twickenham Street, Belfast.
04/07/72 - The IRA issued a statement where they reported the death of volunteer Denis Quinn, shot and killed by accident while on an IRA patrol near Coalisland, County Tyrone.
05/07/72 - The UVF shot a Catholic civilian, Laurence McKenna (22) at the junction of Falls Road and Waterford Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. He died three days later, on 8 July.
05/07/72 - Two Protestant brothers, Peter (19) and Malcolm (20) Orr, were found shot by the side of the road, Carnaghliss, near Belfast, County Antrim. There was speculation that they were killed by Loyalists because they had Catholic girlfriends.
07/07/72 - Samuel Robinson (19), was shot immediately after crashing into Irish Republican Army roadblock, Cavendish Street, Falls, Belfast.
09/07/72 - A UDA member, Gerald Turkington (32), was shot dead by the IRA in the Markets area of Belfast.
09/07/72 - Springhill Massacre; British snipers shot dead five Catholics. John Dougal (16) and David McCafferty (15) were youth members of Republican paramilitary organizations. Three civilians, Patrick Butler (38), Noel Fitzpatrick (40) and Margaret Gargan (13) were also killed. Mr Fitzpatrick was a Roman Catholic Priest who was shot dead while trying to render aid to 13-year-old girl Margaret Gargan. Two others were also wounded in the Springhill area of Belfast. All of the victims were unarmed.
09/07/72 - Three Protestants, Joseph Flemming (30), Brian McMillan (21) and Alan Meehan (18), were found shot in a partially burnt-out car, Little Distillery Street, off Grosvenor Road, Belfast. They were shot by Republican paramilitaries.
09/07/72 - David Andrews (31), was found shot at the Waterworks, off Cavehill Road, Belfast. It’s believed Republicans were responsible.
09/07/72 - Angelo Fionda (60), was shot by the British Army while driving his car at the junction of Panton Street and Falls Road, Belfast.
10/07/72 - OIRA units were involved in a ten-hour-long gun battle with the UDA in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.
11/07/72 - A Volunteer from the OIRA Youth Wing Gerard Doherty (16) was shot dead in his house by the British Army in Belfast.
11/07/72 - A Catholic civilian (Charles Watson, 21) was found shot dead off Carlisle Circus, Belfast. It is believed the UDA was responsible.
11/07/72 - A British soldier, Terence Jones (23), was shot dead while on British Army foot patrol, Great James Street, Derry.
12/07/72 - A UDA volunteer shot dead two civilians inside McCabe's Bar on High Street, Portadown, County Armagh. One (Jack McCabe, 48) was the pub's Catholic owner and the other (William Cochrane, 53) was a Protestant customer. Both were shot in the head at close range. The gunman was a former RUC officer who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders. There were shouts of "Keep up the fight!" from about a dozen people in the court's public gallery.
12/07/72 - UDA and UVF members shot dead a 15-year-old Catholic civilian (David McClenaghan) in his home on Southport Street, Belfast. It was alleged that they also sexually assaulted his mother.
12/07/72 - Colin Poots (21), was found shot by Flush River, off Springfield Road, Belfast. It’s believed Republicans were responsible.
13/07/72 - There was a series of gun battles and shootings across Belfast. The PIRA shot dead three British Army soldiers (David Meeke (24), Kenneth Mogg (29), and Martin Rooney (22)), and the British Army shot dead two civilians (Thomas Burns (35) and Terence Toolan (36)) and a PIRA volunteer (James Reid (27)).
13/07/72 - An off-duty Catholic Ulster Defence Regiment soldier, Henry Russell (23), was found dead at Larkfield Drive, Sydenham, Belfast. He had been burnt, stabbed, battered and shot in the head, reputedly as an alleged informer.
14/07/72 - There was another series of gun battles and shootings across Belfast. The PIRA shot dead three British Army soldiers (Peter Heppenstall (20), John Williams (22) and Robert Williams-Wynn (24)). The British Army shot dead a PIRA volunteer (Louis Scullion (27)) and an OIRA volunteer (Edward Brady (30)), while a Protestant civilian (Jane McIntyre (64)) was shot dead in the crossfire.
15/07/72 - A Catholic civilian (Felix Hughes, 35) was kidnapped, beaten, tortured and shot dead by the UDA in a mainly loyalist area of Portadown. His body was found on the 4th of August 1972 in a drain near Watson Street.
15/07/72 - British Soldier Kenneth Canham (24), was shot by an IRA sniper while on British Army foot patrol, Lenadoon Avenue, Belfast.
16/07/72 - A Volunteer from the OIRA Youth Wing Tobias Molloy (18) died after being shot by the British Army with a rubber bullet in Strabane, County Tyrone. British soldiers fired rubber bullets at the funeral cortege.
16/07/72 - In Belfast, RUC officer Robert Lavertry (18), was killed in an IRA gun attack on his stationary patrol car, Antrim Road, Belfast.
18/07/72 - British soldier James Jones (18), was shot dead by an IRA sniper at the British Army base in Ballymurphy, Belfast. This was the 100th British soldier to die in the conflict.
18/07/72 - Almost 30 shooting incidents were reported overnight by the British Army between soldiers crewing military outposts and IRA volunteers in the Bogside area of Derry.
18/07/72 - Civilian Thomas Mills (56), was working as a night watchman at Finlay’s packaging factory in Ballygomartin when he was shot. The circumstances of the shooting were unclear.
19/07/72 - The IRA shot dead a civilian Henry Gray (71), who attempted to stop an IRA bomb attack on the Whitehorse Inn, Springfield Road, Belfast.
19/07/72 - Protestant civilian Hugh Wright (21), was found shot dead in a field off Hightown Road, near Belfast.
20/07/72 - A Protestant civilian Robert Leggett (50), was shot dead attempting to stop an IRA bomb attack on his business premises, Springfield Road, Belfast.
20/07/72 - A Protestant civilian Robert Leggett (50), was shot dead attempting to stop an IRA bomb attack on his business premises, Springfield Road, Belfast.
21/07/72 - The UDA shot dead a Catholic civilian Anthony Davidson (21) at his home on Clovelly Street, off Springfield Road, Belfast.
21/07/72 - IRA volunteer Joseph Downey (23), was killed in a gun battle with British troops in the Markets area of Belfast.
21/07/72 - Civilian Joseph Rosato (59), was shot at his home, Deerpark Road, Oldpark, Belfast by loyalist paramilitaries.
22/07/72 - Loyalist paramilitaries shot dead two Catholic civilians (Rosemary McCartney, 27, and Patrick O'Neill, 26). The bodies were found in an abandoned car, on Forthriver Road, Glencairn, Belfast.
22/07/72 - Civilian Patrick O’Neill (26), was found shot in an abandoned car, Liffey Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast. It’s reported that the UDA were responsible.
23/07/72 - UDR soldier Robert McComb (22), was kidnapped and shot dead by the IRA in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
24/07/72 - British soldier Brian Thomas (20), was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Ballymurphy, Belfast.
24/07/72 - The UDA shot dead a Protestant civilian, Frederick Maguire, 56, who was married to a Catholic, on Mayo Street, Shankill, Belfast. He was shot dead on his way to work at a linen mill.
24/07/72 - Civilian James Casey (57), was shot while travelling in a car along Park Avenue, Rosemount, Derry by the British Army.
25/07/72 - The Official Irish Republican Army shot a UDA volunteer James Kenna (19) dead while he was walking at the junction of Roden and Clifford streets, Belfast. He was reportedly part of a Loyalist mob attempting to invade a Catholic area.
26/07/72 - British soldier David Allen (22), was shot dead in an IRA attack on a British Army foot patrol in the Unity Flats, Belfast.
26/07/72 - The UDA shot dead two Catholic civilians, Francis Corr (52) and James McGerty (26), in an abandoned car which they then burned on Summer Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast.
27/07/72 - The UDA shot dead a Catholic civilian Francis McStravick (42) off Linfield Road, Sandy Row, Belfast.
28/07/72 - IRA volunteer Seamus Cassidy (22), was shot dead by a British sniper while sitting in a car outside the "Starry Plough Bar" in Belfast.
28/07/72 - Catholic Philip Maguire (55), was found shot dead in his firm's van on Carrowreagh Road, Dundonald, County Down. He was a founding member of the local credit union and a member of the paramilitary Catholic Ex-Servicemen's Association. It is believed the UDA was responsible.
29/07/72 - The IRA opened fire on a British army observation post in Derry's walls.
29/07/72 - The UDA shot dead a Catholic civilian Daniel Dunne (19) outside his home, Blackwood Street, off Ormeau Road, Belfast.
31/07/72 - Two people, Catholic teenager Daniel Hegarty (15) and IRA member Seamus Bradley (19), were shot by the British Army during an operation in Derry. The number of house searches and the number of Catholics interned were to increase over the coming months.
Bombings in July 1972 went up a level from previous months, causing utter devastation across the country, taking many innocent lives in the process.
10/07/72 - Five IRA bombs exploded in commercial areas of Derry, marking the end of the 26 June ceasefire.
15/07/72 - British Soldier John Young (27), was killed attempting to defuse an IRA bomb by the side of the road, Silverbridge, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
16/07/72 - British soldiers Terence Graham (24) and James Lee (25), were killed in an IRA land mine attack near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
19/07/72 - A five-month-old boy, Alan Jack, was killed when an IRA car bomb exploded on Canal Street in Strabane. He was the youngest victim of the Troubles up to that point.
21/07/72 - 'Bloody Friday' is the name given to the events that occurred in Belfast on Friday the 21st of July 1972. During the afternoon of 'Bloody Friday' the Irish Republican Army planted and exploded 22 bombs which, in the space of 75 minutes, killed 9 people and seriously injured approximately 130 others. Of the 9 people killed, five were civilians (William Crothers (15), Jackie Gibson (45), Thomas Killops (39), Brigid Murray (65), Margaret O'Hare (34) and Stephen Parker (14)), two were British Army soldiers (Stephen Cooper (19) and Philip Price (27)) and one was a UDA volunteer (William Irvine (18)). In addition to the bombs, there were numerous hoax warnings about other explosive devices which added to the chaos in the streets that afternoon. Many people believe these hoax warnings were deliberately used to reduce the effectiveness of the security forces in dealing with the real bombs. The killings and maimings had a profound impact on most people in Northern Ireland. 'Bloody Friday' also led to the decision by the British Government to implement 'Operation Motorman' (31st July 1972) when, in the biggest British military operation since the 1956 Suez crisis, the British Army entered and ended the 'no-go' areas of Belfast and Derry. The IRA officially apologised for this set of attacks in 2002.
21/07/72 - A number of car bombs exploded in Derry. No casualties were reported.
24/07/72 - A Chinese restaurant was destroyed by an IRA bomb in the Dockside area of Derry. As British troops arrived on the scene they were ambushed by a sniper. One civilian was wounded in the crossfire.
29/07/72 - A customs caravan and a car showroom were bombed in Derry.
31/07/72 - The IRA exploded three car bombs in Claudy, County Derry killing six people instantly while a further three people died of their injuries over the next 12 days (Kathryn Eakin (8), James McClelland (65), David Miller (60), Elizabeth McElhinney (59), Joseph McCloskey (38), William Temple (16), Rose McLaughlin (52), Joseph Connelly (15) and Arthur Home (38)). Five of those who were killed were Catholic civilians while the other four were Protestant civilians. The first bomb exploded at approximately 10:15 am close to McElhinney's Bar on Main Street, Claudy. Three people died at the scene. At approximately 10:30 am there were two further bomb explosions. The first was outside the Beaufort Hotel, Church Street - three people were killed by the explosion. The last bomb exploded outside the Post Office on Main Street. This bomb had been spotted earlier by a police officer and a member of the public. No one was killed by this bomb but some of the people cleared from Main Street had moved around the corner to Church Street and were caught in the blast outside the Beaufort Hotel.
The IRA chief of staff Seán Mac Stíofáin stated local IRA units and operations staff had denied involvement in the attack. In December 2002, following a review of intelligence and other material related to the bomb explosions in Claudy, it was revealed that Father James Chesney had been a leading member of the IRA's South Derry Brigade. Derry politician Ivan Cooper (of the Social Democratic and Labour Party), stated in 2002 that the IRA and Father James Chesney (a Catholic priest from the nearby parish of Desertmartin) were involved in the attack. Cooper stated:
“Within a couple of days, a man lurked like a scared rabbit outside one of my constituency offices. He told me the IRA was behind the bomb and I had every reason to believe him. He gave no names and I asked no names. That is the way it was then. It was dangerous to know too much. But several months later, I became aware of the identities and I have absolutely no doubt that Father Jim Chesney was involved.”
Some time after the bombing, Chesney was questioned by the then Bishop of Derry Neil Farren, and later again by Farren's successor Bishop Edward Daly. At both times, Chesney denied any involvement.
As always, thanks very much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it enough to come back on Sunday to read the next instalment.
Some recommended reading based on research for this instalment of Tales of The Troubles.