In November 1971, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Gregory Porter was born in Sacramento, California. One of Porter’s most popular songs is “Insanity”, which is a word that many would have used to describe what was going on in Northern Ireland at the same time…
The IRA started November as they finished October, killing two RUC members. Stanley Corry (28) and William Russell (31) were shot while investigating a burglary at the Avoca Shopping Centre, Andersonstown, Belfast.
On the 2nd of November, the Provisional IRA exploded a bomb inside a pub on the Ormeau Road, Belfast. At around 4:25 pm, three IRA members entered the Red Lion pub beside Ballynafeigh RUC station on the Ormeau Road in Belfast. Two of them planted a bomb while the other guarded them with a gun. Before leaving the pub, one of the IRA men shouted, "You have ten seconds to get out". Some customers ran out the front door, but others who tried to leave by the side door found it had been locked for security reasons. The bomb exploded only about six seconds after the warning. The walls collapsed, and the roof fell in, around thirty people were injured, and many of them were buried under rubble. Three Protestant civilians were killed; John Cochrane (67), Mary Gemmell (55), and William Jordan (31), who died two days later.
At the same time, another bomb exploded in a shop on the other side of the RUC station. The Belfast Telegraph reported;
"There is no doubt in the minds of police that the police station was the target… both bombs were placed against the inner walls of the pub and the shop in an attempt to bring down the station on top of the RUC men inside".
An RUC spokesman added;
"even if they did miscalculate the fuse of the bomb, ten seconds was certainly not nearly enough to allow everyone to get out".
The 4th of November saw deaths at the hands of both the IRA and the British Army in Belfast. British Army Officer Stephen McGuire (20) died seven weeks after being shot by an IRA sniper at Henry Taggart British Army base, Ballymurphy, Belfast. Civilian, Christopher Quinn, was shot while walking along an entry by Unity Flats, off Upper Library Street, Belfast.
On the same day, Brian Faulkner, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, went to London for a meeting with Harold Wilson, then leader of the Labour Party, and James Callaghan, then shadow British Home Secretary.
Kathleen Thompson (47), a civilian, was shot dead by British soldiers as she stood in her garden in Rathlin Drive in the Creggan area of Derry/Londonderry on the 6th of November. An inquest held in 1972 returned an open verdict. Then in 2013, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland ordered a new inquest, which began in 2018, but was then adjourned and later resumed in 2021. As reported by the BBC, on the 29th of June 2022, the new inquest ruled that the soldier was unjustified in firing the fatal shots. The coroner, Mrs Justice Sandra Crawford, said;
"I cannot be satisfied that Soldier D held an honest belief he was under fire".
Members of the Thompson family welcomed the finding and,
"the acknowledgement that our mother was a totally innocent civilian whose killing was never properly investigated at the time".
From the 7th to the 11th of November, two British soldiers and two RUC officers were killed by the IRA.
Off-duty British soldier, Paul Genge (18), was shot by a passing car while walking along Tandragee Road, Lurgan, County Armagh, on the 7th of November.
British soldier Ian Curtis (23) was shot by an IRA sniper while on British Army foot patrol, Foyle Road, Derry/Londonderry, on the 9th of November.
RUS officers Dermot Hurley (50) and Walter Moore (37) were shot by the IRA while in a shop at the rear of Oldpark RUC base, Oldpark Road, Belfast, on the 11th of November.
On the 12th of November, a Dutch seaman, Rene Heemskerk, was shot dead by Republican paramilitaries in Belfast. He had left his ship to go to a dentist on the Grosvenor Road. He was in the waiting room of the dentist's surgery when he was shot and was probably mistaken for an off-duty British soldier. He was from Heemskerk, Netherlands.
The 12th of November also saw the announcement that the RUC were to be given automatic weapons to protect police stations.
The Compton Report was published on the 16th of November, 1971. The report was based on the enquiry into allegations against the security forces of physical brutality in Northern Ireland, arising out of events on the 9th of August, 1971. The report acknowledged that there had been ill-treatment of internees (what was termed 'in-depth interrogation') but rejected claims of systematic brutality or torture.
In the last 13 days of November, a further 13 people lost their lives in the ongoing troubles in Northern Ireland.
British Army officer, Edwin Charnley (22), was shot by the IRA while on British Army guard duty guarding a bus depot, Anderson Street, Short Strand, Belfast, on the 18th of November.
IRA member, Michael Crossey (21), died in a premature bomb explosion at the Cellar Lounge Bar, Church Place, Lurgan, County Armagh, on the 22nd of November.
Civilian Bridget Carr (24) died four days after being shot by the IRA during a sniper attack on a nearby British Army patrol while walking along Lifford Road, Strabane, County Tyrone, on the 23rd of November.
British Army officer, Colin Davies (38), was killed attempting to defuse an IRA bomb left in a car showroom, William Street, Lurgan, County Armagh, on the 24th of November.
Civilian customs officials Ian Hankin (27) and James O’Neill (39) were shot by IRA snipers firing at a British Army patrol guarding Killeen Customs Post, near Newry, County Armagh, on the 27th of November.
British Army officer, Paul Nicholls (18), was shot by an IRA sniper while on British Army foot patrol, St James Crescent, Falls, Belfast, on the 27th of November.
Off-duty British soldier, Robert Benner (25), was found shot, Teer, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh, on the 29th of November. He had been returning from his fiancée's home in Dundalk when he was attacked. A "non-specific Republican group" was cited as responsible in Sutton. A news report claimed he had been tortured.
At the end of November, there were also some further political developments. Harold Wilson, then leader of the Labour Party, proposed that Britain should work towards a withdrawal from Northern Ireland, with the consent of Protestants, after 15 years. As part of the proposal, the Republic of Ireland would rejoin the British Commonwealth.
On the 30th of November, the government of the Republic of Ireland stated that it would take the allegations of brutality against the security forces in Northern Ireland to the European Court of Human Rights.