|
|
10 - 13 MARCH 2003
Evidence
heard
This week the Inquiry heard from the following soldiers:
Summary of
Evidence
Monday
10.03.03
INQ 179, INQ 2003
Tuesday
11.03.03
INQ 834, INQ 1951, INQ 579
Wednesday
12.03.03
INQ 262, Soldier 003, INQ 1243, INQ 945, INQ 2045
Thursday
13.03.03
Soldier 007, INQ 622, INQ 736
A full transcript of the proceedings is
available at http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org.uk.
Numbers in square brackets
refer to the code given to a particular document by the Inquiry.
INTRODUCTION
The Inquiry continues to hear evidence from military witnesses present on Bloody Sunday. These include soldiers from regiments based in Derry at the time and members of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment (the Paras).
INQ 179
Major, HQ Company, 1st Battalion
Coldstream Guards
Made Statement to the Inquiry on 7 July 2000 [C0179]
INQ 179 was based in Derry during 1971 and at the time believed the army was winning over the hearts and minds of the people. The Coldstream Guards (CSGs) and other local regiments tried to adopt a fairly low-key approach so as not to alienate the community. Prior to 30 January 1972 he had no experience of working with the Parachute Regiment (the Paras) and had no particular feelings about them.
INQ 179 worked in the battalion operations room at Fort George manning the radio and telephones. The other CSG companies would report events to Headquarters (HQ) and these would be noted. Anything important would be relayed to Brigade HQ.
Treatment of Prisoners
At about 17:00 on 30 January 1972 INQ 179 was crossing the parade ground when he saw paras with arrestees. He could not remember how many there were but there may have been around 25 of each. INQ 179 was appalled at the way the arrestees were treated by the paras. He could not now recall any details of what it was that concerned him however he had raised his concerns at the time with his commanding officer INQ 598. INQ 598 asked him to write up a report of what he had seen and he did this. He detailed what he had witnessed and passed the report to INQ 598. He did not know what happened to this document. He did not keep a copy or copy it to anyone else. It was a matter for INQ 598 and others what was to be done about what happened. He had reported it to his superiors but no one ever told him if anything was done.
As well as writing a formal report INQ 179 also made some comments in his personal diary. This was not an official diary and he never expected anyone to see the diary. He was very disturbed by the brutality he had witnessed and this is reflected in the remarks in his diary. He was also personally upset at the time because his father had just died. He said it was extremely distressing for him that his diary was now to be made public through the Inquiry because it was written purely for himself and no one else had seen it. Some of the language was extravagant but it was a record of how he felt. It was not written with any anticipation of objective scrutiny. He had made a formal report for this purpose but the Inquiry had not been able to trace it.
In the diary [C0179-0006] INQ 179 described Bloody Sunday as the “appalling slaughter of Irish people in the street.” He wrote of the paras “that dreadful and ghastly regiment.” “Young men shot down by totally undisciplined troops who take a pride and pleasure in this legalised murder.” He had no reason whatsoever to be hostile to the paras before Bloody Sunday. He was sure he had seen people being struck by the paras at Fort George but could not now remember. He only had the record of feeling appalled by their behaviour. He agreed his impression was not of one or two paras having lost discipline but of systematic abuse condoned by officers. Despite his report he was never asked to give evidence to the Widgery Tribunal.
INQ 2003
Private, Motor Platoon, Support Company, 1st
Battalion Parachute Regiment
Made various statements to both the Inquiry and
reporters [C2003-0001 to C2003-0164]
INQ 2003 was born in Belfast. He joined the Royal Ulster Rifles after leaving school but hated it. He joined the paras whilst in England. After 6 months training he got his wings and was posted to the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment. Many others of the 120 men he trained with were also posted to 1 Para, most to Support Company. He was not quite 18 when he went to Northern Ireland with the regiment. He was part of the motor platoon. INQ 2003 admitted to a serious drink problem and confessed much of what he had said in various accounts he had given were completely untrue. He apologised for this.
There were quite a few Irish lads in 1 Para but INQ 2003 got a hard time from some of the other soldiers because he was from Northern Ireland. Soldiers H and U used to abuse and beat him but Sergeant O looked out for him. Soldier U spread a rumour he was a traitor but this was because U was from Ireland himself and had something to prove.
The paras had no respect for other regiments or the army generally. They considered that they were the army. They terrorised civilians with violence. The authorities knew what they were doing but did nothing to stop it. They were only doing what they were trained to do.
Interview with Paul Mahon
INQ 2003 was interviewed at length by Paul Mahon who told him he was writing a book. Much of what INQ 2003 said in the interviews was completely untrue. He had an alcohol problem and Mahon bought him drinks. He made things up to keep Mahon interested so he would keep buying drinks. Although he had said on several occasions he was in Derry on Bloody Sunday he was not. He was put on leave that weekend. He had also said that he shot Jack Duddy but he was not even there.
He did know a lot about what happened because he had been told a lot by other paras. He had also read about what happened. He had made up a lot of stories whilst heavily under the influence of alcohol. He had told the BBC he was not at Bloody Sunday and they did not want to talk to him so “in order to get over his point of view” he told others, including Mahon and Ulster Television, that he was there. He had also claimed he was Soldier Q but this was also untrue.
He had heard a lot about what happened from Sergeant O, Soldier T and UNK 750. They were all in the platoon together and travelled in the same pig (armoured car). He was very close to Soldier T and looked up to Sergeant O.
Talk of What Happened
Soldier T told him the operation was not an arrest operation but to take out the IRA and take ground as they always did. Arrests were made but that was not the purpose. T said when he debussed in Rossville Street there was gunfire but it was friendly fire. He said he saw civilians being “dropped,” i.e. shot. T fired at the Rossville Flats because he had seen a photographer. This was the normal way they dealt with photographers. They did not shoot at them just toward them.
Soldier T also told him Soldier H had “freaked out.” He had shot a man with his hands up and another on the ground. T said he witnessed this. T was very angry about what H had done. INQ 2003 said it was OK to hit a man on the ground with the butt of a rifle but not to shoot him. He did not like Soldier H because he had been making his life a misery. There was a lot of banter between the various platoons about who started the shooting on Bloody Sunday. The anti tank platoon said they started it and the motor platoon said they did by shooting Jackie Duddy. The banter stopped when mention was made of Soldier H’s actions. Soldier H had two nicknames, “Rent a Kill” and “Two Mags (i.e. magazines of bullets).”
Spare Ammunition
INQ 2003 said lots of soldiers carried spare ammunition. They would take a few rounds out of a magazine when at the firing range. They were never searched, as they should have been. If the platoon was short of rounds, e.g. because someone had dropped a magazine, the sergeant would go around and collect spare ammunition from the members of the platoon to make up the difference. Doctoring bullets was a waste if time because it was unnecessary and effected accuracy.
Jackie Duddy
INQ 2003 admitted murdering Jackie Duddy to Paul Mahon but this was a fabrication. He may have got some of the details of what happened from talk in the battalion but he could not be sure. He may have made it up completely. He was drinking heavily at the time. Lads in the battalion said Soldier Q shot Jackie Duddy.
He did have the impression from Sergeant O that he had shot a few people on Bloody Sunday but he could not be sure. The last time he saw Sergeant O was when the paras returned to Belfast in about 1981. He liked and respected Sergeant O who looked after him. However Sergeant O was critical of him and told him he was not suited to the battalion.
INQ 2003 said the soldiers did not respect the officers. They looked up to the platoon sergeants but he had no time for Lieutenant N. There was even talk of shooting him with an “accidental discharge.” Major Loden was tolerated but not respected. They nicknamed him “Noddy.” He thought Sergeant Major 202 Lewis was a good soldier and a good officer. He met him later in 1976 at the airborne base in Bolton or at Aldershot. Lewis called him over and they talked. He thought Lewis apologised to him but did not know why. In his statement he said Lewis apologised to him because he felt bad about Bloody Sunday. He could not apologise to Northern Ireland so he apologised to him because he was from Belfast. However in evidence he said he may have been mistaken about the apology and it was not about Bloody Sunday.
INQ 834
Private, HQ Company, 1st Battalion
Parachute Regiment
Made Statement to the Inquiry [C0834]
HQ Company was the administrative and service section of 1 Para. Those in HQ Company who could be deployed tactically, i.e. on operations, were called Command Company or Guinness Force. INQ 834 was therefore part of HQ and Guinness Force. He was the arms storeman for HQ Company but there was a separate storeman for Command Company.
INQ 834 was deployed on 30 January 1972 as part of Colonel Wilford’s escort party. The escort consisted of four men. Guinness Force assembled in Great James Street at the Presbyterian Church. Whilst there INQ 834 saw a bullet strike the church. At some point Colonel Wilford led the escort around to barrier 12 in Little James Street but once there he ordered them to wait there. Colonel Wilford then went off with a signaller.
Gunfire and Prisoners
Whilst waiting at the barrier INQ 834 heard SLR fire. He heard one or two rounds. Later he saw members of Guinness Force returning with prisoners. There were about four prisoners and they were put in a pig. He did not see any mistreatment of prisoners but some of them had injuries.
INQ 834 subsequently heard a rumour within the battalion that Colonel Wilford had not wanted to pull the men out but to remain and secure the ground they had won. However he was overruled.
INQ 1951
Gunner, 11 Battery, 22 Light Air Defence Regiment
Made Statement to the Inquiry [1951]
INQ 1951 was based in Derry at Drumahoe barracks. He did not remember the briefing he got for 30 January 1972 but knew their main goal was to stop the marchers reaching the shopping area of the city. He was stationed at barrier 12 in Little James Street.
Shot fired at Barrier
Before the march arrived INQ 1951 said another soldier reported a shot hitting the opposite end of the barrier. He did not see or hear the shot himself but did subsequently examine the place where it struck. He saw the wood had been splintered but did not see a bullet. He said it must have been fired from street level because, he said, the bullet hit the barrier horizontally about 4 feet from ground level. He thought the officer in charge at the barrier reported the shot over the radio but no report appeared in the logs and the officer had no recollection of the shot. INQ 1951 then said those with shields were ordered to withdraw to the cover of a factory doorway a few yards back from the barrier. He did not know why only some of them were ordered back.
He was ordered to return to the barrier before the march arrived. He did not hear the shots fired by Soldiers A and B from the derelict building nearby in William Street. Nor did he hear the shot Soldier Z fired later from the barrier (13) in Sackville Street.
A small riot developed at barrier 12 with young people from the march. Rubber bullets and CS gas were fired to disperse the crowd. INQ 1951 did not hear any explosions and definitely did not see any nail bombs or petrol bombs.
Paras Going In
At some point an officer shouted an order for soldiers to pull back and for the barrier to be opened. INQ 1951 actually opened the barrier. The officer shouted again for them to hurry up. As soon as they got the barrier opened army vehicles started driving through trapping INQ 1951 against the wall. He panicked a bit not knowing where the rest of his platoon had gone. He saw the vehicles drive down and stop in Rossville Street.
INQ 1951 did not hear gunfire at this stage. He had been trained on the ranges to listen for a crack and thump to identify where a bullet may have come from but this was irrelevant in Derry because there were so many echoes from the buildings. He saw paras loading prisoners onto lorries around Aggro Corner.
The atmosphere in Derry was much more hostile after Bloody Sunday.
INQ 579
Corporal, 8 Platoon, C Company, 1st
Battalion Parachute Regiment
Made Statement to the Inquiry [C0579]
INQ 579 was commanding a section of 8 men on 30 January 1972. He only had a vague recollection of being briefed. He had never been to Derry before.
They formed up as a snatch squad behind barrier 14 before going into the Bogside. Two of the section were ordered to leave their rifles in the pig and take batons. These men would arrest people backed up by others armed with baton guns and SLRs.
Going In
INQ 579 recalled following 7 platoon through the barrier. They went straight on down William Street and his platoon turned left into Chamberlain Street. As they moved down the street he recalled seeing a crowd of people at the end of Chamberlain Street near to the Rossville Flats. His section was leading the platoon. He walked down the middle of the road and directed half of the section to the left and half to the right.
Gunfire
There were no problems as they entered Chamberlain Street but INQ 579 could hear gunfire to his right (i.e. west). When he was near the corner of Harvey Street he heard a crack and thump of a high velocity round. He thought it came from in front of him. He took cover and then heard another shot which he also thought came from the direction of the Rossville Flats. Neither he nor anyone one else saw a gunman. INQ 579 could not account for why his Lieutenant, INQ 26, and Corporal O had not heard the shots. He did not think the shots he experienced in Chamberlain Street could have been the shots Lieutenant N fired up Eden Place over Chamberlain Street.
When the shots rang out the crowd at the end of the street ran for cover. Most of them ran into a house at the end of Chamberlain Street. INQ 579 decided to go into the house to investigate. In one room he found a woman lying on a settee with a man he believed to be a priest. He did not think the woman was injured and checked to see if she was concealing a weapon under her body. When she moved he could see a lot of blood and realised she had been shot in the buttocks. He told the priest to take her outside and get her into an ambulance. He did not call for an ambulance himself.
As he searched the rest of the house he found a group of young men in the back yard but before he could search them he was told to pull back. He had no reason to believe the people in the house were anything other than bystanders. Outside his platoon sergeant was standing near to a pig which had followed them up Chamberlain Street.
Arrests
INQ 579 said he was “gob smacked” to learn three of the soldiers from his company had arrested 13 people in the house he had entered. He said he was completely unaware of this and surprised because he did not know any other soldiers had entered that house.
Jackie Duddy
Once they had moved back up Chamberlain Street INQ 579 saw a priest waving a white handkerchief leading some people carrying an injured man. When shown the video of the BBC TV coverage of Jackie Duddy being carried up Chamberlain Street INQ 579 identified himself standing on the corner of Chamberlain Street and Eden Place [C0579-0012].
INQ 262
Private, D Company, 1st Battalion
Parachute Regiment
Made Statement to the Inquiry on 20 August 2000 [C0262]
INQ 262 was a private in Patrol Company, also known as D Company. It was his second tour of duty in Northern Ireland. For part of the time he operated in plain clothes riding buses in Belfast to stop them being hijacked. There was a view within the Paras that other units were “backward in their ways” when dealing with rioters.
On 30 January 1972 about 50 of the 70 men in D Company were sent to Derry with the rest of 1 Para. He remembered they were given mugshots of people who were wanted. These he taped to the butt of his rifle so he had easy access to them when on the street. As his vehicle was crossing the bridge on the way into Derry his platoon commander, INQ 1350, pointed out a man walking across the bridge. He identified the man as being wanted from the mugshots and said “Get him!” INQ 262 was near the back of the pig so jumped out and arrested the man. He never knew the man’s identity. He was just doing what he was told.
INQ 1350 gave a briefing but he could not recall details. Their role was simply to assist other units. He was aware Support Company would be to their right when they deployed. He was part of a snatch squad and was paired with UNK 348. The two of them would carry batons and others with rifles would provide cover. They waited in a factory for a long time whilst other para units were ordered up. Then eventually they were ordered forward. They drove into Derry and parked up in a holding area. He could not now identify where this was. He could hear baton rounds and screaming.
Going In
INQ 262 said his section were then ordered forward to barrier 14 where they met up with C Company. He thought it was only his section of 8 men who were deployed from D Company. As they formed up behind barrier 14 he could hear low velocity shots in the distance and to his right. He could also hear baton rounds being fired.
They were then ordered through the barrier. The crowd dispersed as they went in. His commander pointed out a man and INQ 262 ran after him. He and UNK 348 grabbed him and as they were detaining him INQ 262 accidentally hit UNK 348 on the hand with his baton. At first he thought he had broken UNK 348’s fingers. They did not formally arrest the man. They passed the man back to others at the barrier and went after another man. INQ 262 thought he had detained 3 or 4 people that day but it could have been more. At the same time he could hear low and high velocity gunfire including SLRs.
Gunman
INQ 262 and UNK 348 pursued a man down a side street to the left (Chamberlain Street). He then saw “for a fraction of a second” a man on the left hand side of the street reloading a German Luger pistol. He claimed he could tell it was a Luger because of the narrow barrel. INQ 262 said he realised he would not reach the man before he reloaded so “legged it” back towards barrier 14. On the way back he bumped into the soldiers who were providing cover, i.e. they had rifles. He then claimed two low velocity shots were fired, probably by the gunman. His said his cover did not return fire because the man had run off.
As he got back to barrier 14 INQ 262 said he heard a soldier say “one down” which he assumed referred to an army casualty but he saw only civilian casualties. Later back at the factory Colonel Wilford congratulated them for having done a good job. He felt a sense of achievement that they had regained the Bogside.
There was banter in the regiment about Soldier O having fired a number of shots at a target in the Rossville Flats. It was said, apparently seriously, that after O fired at a particular window a body then flew out of another window. INQ 262 said he thought this was terrorists “getting rid of their bodies.” There was another rumour bodies were brought out of drains and attributed to the Paras.
INQ 262 identified INQ 1726 on the left of photograph 135 [C0262-0014] close to barrier 12. From the video [video1] he also identified Soldier 003 and INQ 1334 in Chamberlain Street when Father Daly escorted those carrying Jackie Duddy’s body around the corner into Harvey Street.
Soldier 003
Lance Corporal, C Company 1st Battalion
Parachute Regiment
Made a Statement to the Inquiry on 1 May 2000
[B1366.0001] and to the RMP on 4 February 1972 [B1364]
Soldier 003 was in 7 Platoon of C Company in 1972. He had been in Northern Ireland with the Paras in 1969. He had not been to Derry before 30 January 1972. The platoon commander Lieutenant 110 would have given the usual briefing but Soldier 003 could not remember anything about it.
They debussed in Waterloo Place and formed up behind barrier 14 where a riot was in progress. Soldier 003 saw General Ford standing around talking to people in Waterloo Place. Lieutenant 110 then told them they were to go in and push back the crowd. They were to go in on foot. The whole platoon gathered up behind the barrier waiting for a whistle which would be the signal for them to go through.
Going In
The whistle went but the barrier did not open so Lieutenant 110 ordered Soldier 003 over it. He climbed over a concrete block in the middle of the barrier. He and others ran up William Street to the junction with Rossville Street. They were the first through the barrier. Soldier 003 was not aware of any other units around him at this time but knew the rest of his platoon were following behind. He identified Lieutenant 110 as the soldier second from the right in photograph P0254 [marked copy at: B1366-0012]. (NB others have identified this man as Colonel Wilford.) Soldier 003 may be the soldier with his back to the camera. They are pictured grouped by a gable end near the top of Rossville Street. From the top of Rossville Street Lieutenant 110 ordered them to cross the waste ground to the left and make their way south along the line of the rear of houses on Chamberlain Street. The crowd was south of them near the Rossville Flats and on the west side of Rossville Street. They had no specific orders they were just taking ground as they always did. They were not making arrests.
Incoming Gunfire
Soldier 003 claimed there were bullets hitting the ground just in front of him as he crossed the waste ground close to a burnt out vehicle. However he did not take cover behind the vehicle or attempt to engage the gunman shooting at him. He just ran on. He said the shots came from his right, i.e. the west. However he did not mention seeing bullets strike the ground in front of him in his 1972 statement nor did he say he came under fire from his right. His original statement refers to being behind 36 Chamberlain Street and observing the Rossville Flats when “there was quite a lot of firing from the flats ... directed towards us.” Now he says there was no gunfire at all from the Rossville Flats so far as he was aware.
In evidence he said he was certain the firing from his right was from a Thompson sub machine gun. However in his 1972 statement he only said it was “possibly” a Thompson. He said there was a single burst of 2-3 seconds.
Gunfire from Paras
Soldier 003, INQ 444 and INQ 554 were together and took up a position at the rear wall of one of the last houses of Chamberlain Street. Soldier 003 then saw vehicles, which he now knows were from Support Company, parked up in Rossville Street. In his statement to the Inquiry and his evidence he said he saw nothing of significance at the Rossville Flats or the car park in front. He did not see any gunmen, anyone shot or any other soldiers. He did not see the pig which was parked at the entrance to the Rossville Flats car park. The only thing he did see was a soldier, presumably from Support Company, firing one or two rounds from a kneeling position next to one of the pigs parked further back up Rossville Street. He was firing south. He agreed photograph EP0027-0009 showed a soldier in a position similar to that he had described.
He did not see soldiers firing at the Rossville Flats from close to his position at the end of Chamberlain Street. Nor did he see Soldier S fire 12 shots at an alleged gunman between blocks one and two of the flats. He did not see Jackie Duddy shot in the car park in front of him.
INQ 1243
Corporal, Anti-Tank Platoon, Support Company, 1st
Battalion Parachute Regiment
Made a Statement to the Inquiry on 1 June 2000
[C1243]
INQ 1243 was not in Derry on Bloody Sunday because he was on leave in England. After he left the army two journalists approached him. He could not remember their names. They interviewed him at length about his time in Ireland.
INQ 1243 said at the time of the interviews he had a drink problem. The interviews took place in a hotel bar and he was drinking both before and during the interviews. He was shown a transcript [O-0035-0001] which he agreed had to be a verbatim record of the interviews even though he now disputed some of what it contained. He accepted he must have said the words recorded but suggested he was prompted in some way by the journalists to make it sound more exciting.
In particular he denied that an incident referred to, where two Catholics were kidnapped and dropped off outside the Horseshoe Bar on the Shankill Road, had ever happened. However he conceded he must have said it. When a newspaper report of 4 February 1972 of just such a kidnapping was shown to him he denied any knowledge of it saying he was on leave in England. He denied Lance Corporal F had told him about being involved in the kidnapping. He claimed he knew nothing about it and not to have spoken to any soldiers since he left the army. He was close to F. They were in the same platoon as were Private G and Lance Corporal J.
INQ 945
Lance Corporal, HQ Company, 1st Battalion
Parachute Regiment
Made Statement to the Inquiry [C0945]
INQ 945 was in the motor platoon and had never been to Derry before 30 January 1972. He was generally a driver and could be attached to any company. On Bloody Sunday he was attached to C Company but as an infantry man to make up numbers, not as a driver. He could not remember anything about the briefing he would have received except it probably took place at the Drumahoe camp outside Derry.
C Company were there to assist with arrests if they became necessary. The platoons had four man snatch squads. INQ 945 was not in a snatch squad. They drove into Derry and debussed somewhere but INQ 945 could not now identify where it was. He stayed with the Bedford lorry in which he had travelled with INQ 1059. He did not know when the Paras deployed into the Bogside because C Company moved forward from his position before going in.
Gunfire
After C Company had left his location INQ 945 said he heard the first gunfire. He said, “after the shooting started all hell broke loose.” The first shots he heard were two or three single rifle shots. He said these were definitely not pistol shots. He thought they might have been from a .30 M1 Carbine. They did not sound heavy enough to be from an SLR so he assumed it was not army fire.
Then he heard SLR fire and “an exchange of gunfire which seemed to go on forever.” He estimated it in fact only lasted a few minutes but “it sounded like an eternity.” He also heard explosions but these may have been baton rounds being fired.
Prisoners
When the shooting stopped he saw paras from another company bring out prisoners. The people who had been arrested were very subdued. This was unusual; normally there would be a lot of shouting and hostility. INQ 945 thought they were in shock. They were loaded onto the Bedford lorry and he and three others accompanied them to the holding centre at Fort George. There the prisoners were off loaded and they returned to collect more. INQ 945 did at least two trips with prisoners, each load being about 16-20 people.
INQ 945 expected there to have been civilian casualties given the amount of army gunfire. He had expected them to be terrorists. Initially there was a feeling of elation in the barracks because they thought the casualties were terrorists.
INQ 2045
Private, C Company, 1st Battalion
Parachute Regiment
Made Statement to the Inquiry [C2045]
INQ 2045 was in 8 platoon of C Company. He was often deployed as a sniper. As well as an SLR he had a sniper rifle and Starlight night vision scope. The sniper rifle was a .303 converted to fire .762 ammunition. On 30 January 1972 he took both rifles with him and a baton gun because he did not know what he was going to be asked to do. He also took the night scope in case they were operating at night. It was his first time in Derry.
INQ 2045 left his pig and assembled behind barrier 14 in William Street. He was with INQ 1334 and INQ 12. As he got out of the pig there was a riot going on at barrier 14. He recalled about 20-30 youths throwing stones. He did not recall any further briefing but it may have happened. It was not necessary though because it was standard practice with riots to run at the crowd and disperse them. This is what he thought they were there to do.
Going In
Having run up to the barrier they had to jump over it. The youths appeared surprised they were going to be chased by soldiers. He was with INQ 1334 and INQ 12. They were amongst the first over the barrier. Their objective was to chase off the rioters and secure the area. There was CS gas in the air but not so much as to require them to put on respirators.
They ran down Chamberlain Street and chased rioters into the Rossville Flats car park. As they ran down the street they kicked over bowls outside the houses. He assumed the bowls contained water and vinegar to help alleviate the CS gas.
Gunfire
Whilst in Chamberlain Street INQ 2045 heard gunfire. He could not remember the sequence of the shots but he heard a fairly short, intensive, fire fight. He thought he heard Thompson machine gun fire to his front and right (i.e. south west). He also heard SLR fire and baton rounds.
He heard the crack of high velocity rounds passing overhead and took cover. The crack indicated the rounds went over his head but they may have come up Chamberlain Street or across it over the houses. He did not know if this was army or civilian gunfire. Because it was such a built up area and there was so much gunfire it was impossible to locate where the shots were coming from amidst the echoes.
Jackie Duddy
In front of INQ 2045 there was mayhem, people screaming and running for cover. He was checking the Rossville Flats for gunmen but did not see any. He was covering himself and those behind him. At one point he heard voices behind him and looked back to see people carrying a body (Jackie Duddy). He also saw Father Daly waving a handkerchief. INQ 1334 had a conversation with the people carrying the body. INQ 2045 had thought he was at the south end of Chamberlain Street but now realises the conversation between INQ 1334 and those carrying the body occurred toward the north end at the junction of Chamberlain Street and Harvey Street. He did not see Peggy Deery or Michael Bridge carried into 33 Chamberlain Street.
The shooting was continuing but INQ 2045 did not consider it to be close to him or posing an immediate threat. However he continued to look south for targets. He also became aware of a house (No. 33) behind him in Chamberlain Street being searched. He remembered glancing over his shoulder and seeing a lot of men coming out of a house across the street. He did not recall seeing them arrested and led away.
Back in Belfast the guys were still wound up. The mood was not euphoric but they considered they had had a confrontation with the IRA and come out unscathed. He could not recall any formal debriefing but the Royal Military Police interviewed some members of the company.
Soldier 007
Corporal, C Company, 1st Battalion
Parachute Regiment
Made Statement to the Inquiry [B1384.0001] and to two
to the RMP in February 1972 [B1378] and May 1972 [B1384-0007]
Soldier 007 was a section commander in 8 platoon, C Company. He was part of a snatch squad on 30 January 1972. He had never been to Derry before. He could not recall any briefing but understood they were to go down William Street and meet up with Support Company at the junction with Rossville Street. There would have been a “limit of exploitation,” i.e. a geographical area beyond which they were not supposed to go. This was to maintain control and to ensure people did not become isolated.
Gunfire
He remembered sitting in the pig in Waterloo Place waiting to be deployed and hearing high velocity shots. He thought there were about 2 to 4 shots. He did not know what weapon was fired by whom or at what target. He just heard a series of bangs in quick succession.
Going In
They were then deployed over barrier 14. As they climbed over the barrier the crowd ran away. Soldier 007 was directed to go down Chamberlain Street. This may have been because Support Company had already gone beyond the rendezvous point at Rossville Street. He had no recollection of seeing a crowd in Chamberlain Street or the end of the street. He moved down the right hand side of the street. He could not recall there being any side streets until he was shown a map.
At some point Soldier 007’s pig came down Chamberlain Street and was manoeuvred across the street to provide cover. It parked across the road facing number 33. He stood behind the pig looking towards the Rossville Flats. He could not see any soldiers in the car park ahead of him. He then heard some shots fired in quick succession, they were not automatic fire. The shots seemed to come across the front of the pig rather than towards it but it was easy to be fooled by echoes. They were high velocity and he thought they might have been from an M1 Carbine.
Soldier 007 did not see Jackie Duddy lying shot in the Rossville Flats car park. Nor did he recall seeing people carrying him up Chamberlain Street. Nor did he see either Peggy Deery or Michael Bridge carried to Chamberlain Street.
Arrests in 33 Chamberlain
Street
He then entered 33 Chamberlain Street with others possibly including the platoon sergeant, INQ 2000. He could not remember why they went into the house but it may have been because there was an injured woman in the house (Peggy Deery) although he did not know this at the time. There were a lot of people in the house and they led out all the men. Outside they were arrested for rioting. Soldier 007 said they were identified as having been seen rioting earlier in William Street but he could not say whether all the men in the house were arrested or whether only some of them were. He could not now remember the prisoners being led up Chamberlain Street.
Soldier 007 made a statement about the arrests to the Royal Military Police on 19 May 1972. This followed a complaint to the RUC by one of those arrested, George Nellis. It was alleged a soldier in the house had said of Peggy Deery “Let her bleed to death.” Soldier 007 said he did not hear those remarks and although he did refer to seeing an injured woman in his May 1972 statement he now had no recollection of her.
The prisoners were taken to Fort George and there Soldier 007 was photographed with three of them. These were: J. McDermott, William Duddy and Otto Schlindwein. He signed arrest reports saying he had seen the three men throwing stones at barrier 14 although in his May 1972 statement he said he had only seen them in the crowd.
Soldier 007 denied prisoners were mistreated. He also denied arrestees and soldiers alleged to have arrested them were paired at random. He could not explain how he came to sign three arrest statements alleging he had seen the three men throwing stones when he had not. He denied there was system where soldiers colluded with the RMP and RUC to have people prosecuted without real evidence. He also denied his signing the statements which were not true indicated a willingness to perjure himself.
INQ 622
Sergeant, Intelligence Section, HQ Company, 1st
Battalion Coldstream Guards
Made a Statement to the Inquiry on 18 May 1999 [C0622]
INQ 622 was based at Fort George. The Intelligence Section mainly gathered census information about who lived where. INQ 622 believed the army knew most of the IRA men but this was at a higher level. His section would not necessarily have this information. There were four men in the section: two lance corporals, himself and a lieutenant.
Photographers from Brigade HQ
On 30 January 1972 the four of them were each paired off with a photographer from Brigade HQ. The eight of them met at Fort George and went together to an old asylum north of the cathedral. He could not be certain if there were definitely four photographers but he was with one from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (RRF) and there were at least one or two others. INQ 622 carried an SLR and escorted his photographer along the route of the march. He had no specific orders; he was there to protect the photographer. They were free agents. The photographer took photographs along the way. At one point they were behind barrier 12. There were about 50-100 people rioting in front of the barrier.
Paras Going In
He saw the Paras go through barrier 12 in pigs. The pigs drove south into Rossville Street and some turned left onto the waste ground. There were civilians running all over the place. The march had congregated at Free Derry Corner. After the Paras went in INQ 622 moved forward with the photographer. He could not be certain how far he went but he might have got as far as the junction of William Street and Rossville Street.
Gunfire
He saw the Paras debus in Rossville Street and run onto the waste ground grabbing rioters. At about the same time he heard two or three low velocity shots. These may have been from a pistol or an SMG (Sterling sub-Machine Gun). He was 70% sure it was automatic fire. After this “all hell broke loose.” He saw the Paras take up firing positions towards the Rossville Flats. He did not actually see anyone fire. He did hear a lot of high velocity gunfire. It all happened very fast and then the Paras disappeared out of sight. The firing was sporadic, not continuous. He also thought he heard a short burst of automatic fire within the SLR fire. It sounded like an SMG but could have been single shots on top of each other. There were echoes everywhere since the Rossville Flats acted like an amphitheatre.
INQ 622 said he did not see any brutality toward prisoners but would not really have noticed since things were quite nasty at that time. They were trained to bring people down quickly and would hit them if that was what it took. There was general confusion with people running everywhere and more para vehicles arriving. At some point the photographer ran out of film and an officer, not a para, told them to “get out of the fucking way.” They pulled back and walked around the streets. Eventually they were in a street where Father Daly was leading people carrying Jackie Duddy’s body. He and the photographer just wandered around before returning to the old asylum.
When they reached the asylum INQ 622 heard another 4 or 5 high velocity shots. This was in the late afternoon about an hour after the Paras went in. He saw a window high on the Rossville Flats open and catch the light. He assumed the gunfire came from there.
Back at Fort George the feeling was that the Paras had “given the IRA a good stuffing.” They did not know how many people had been killed. He did not see what happened to the prisoners at Fort George.
Altering Ammunition
INQ 622 was aware it was possible to modify SLR ammunition but never knew it happened and said there was no point since 7.62mm ammunition “did enough damage.” Rubber bullets however were altered. The head was extracted from the cartridge and pennies were inserted, then the head put back. Rubber bullets were fired directly at people rather than off the ground as they were supposed to be fired.
INQ 736
Lance Corporal, C Company, 1st Battalion
Parachute Regiment
Made a Statement to the Inquiry on 15 August 2000
[C0736]
INQ 736 had never been to Derry before Bloody Sunday. He could not remember any briefing for 30 January 1972 but knew he and the rest of C Company were part of a snatch squad operation. He was in charge of three other men. He carried an SLR, another carried a baton gun and the other two had batons. After hanging around for ages they were brought forward to barrier 14. There was a riot going on. They were supposed to arrest rioters but there were thousands of people and it was difficult to identify individuals. INQ 736’s impression was that no one was certain they would actually be deployed until they were.
Going In
When he went over the barrier INQ 736 was close to Sergeant (INQ) 488. They were neither the first nor the last through the barrier. INQ 488 ordered INQ 736 and his men to follow him. They went straight down William Street. The crowd ran away down William Street and Chamberlain Street. As he ran along William Street INQ 736 said he heard two explosions to his left, i.e. south. He thought these could have been nail bombs.
Gunfire
The shooting had already started by the time his group reached the junction with Rossville Street. INQ 736 understood the junction was C Company’s boundary of operations. He could not be sure why he thought this but it may have been because INQ 488 told him to go no further. Support Company were ahead having crossed the junction and gone down Rossville Street. The gunfire was very heavy. INQ 736 said there was high velocity and low velocity gunfire. He said he heard a Thompson sub-machine gun. He repeatedly asserted that there was more incoming fire than outgoing. The non-army fire was coming from the south.
INQ 736 described Support Company as advancing under fire “as if they were in a proper war.” However he did not see any gunmen or where the shots were coming from. He said the firing “drove the paras back.” He was surprised no one in Support Company was even injured. He did see members of Support Company in aimed positions but could not tell if they were actually firing. In particular he saw one soldier at a wall near Kells Walk aiming. However he did not see anyone shooting or being shot.
He did not arrest anyone and did not see anyone from C company arrest anyone.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
