The Troubles 13

ISSUE 13 MAY 1972

THETHE

TROUBLESTROUBLES9 SHOT DEAD INCONTINUOUSGUN BATTLES

BLOODIEST WEEKEND SINCEDIRECT RULE

BLOODIEST WEEKEND SINCEDIRECT RULE

9 SHOT DEAD INCONTINUOUSGUN BATTLES

OFFICIAL IRA DECLARE CEASEFIREOFFICIAL IRA DECLARE CEASEFIRE

THE TROUBLES

It can often be a contentious issue of debate of when and how Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’ began, who and what isto blame, and even which event in case led us to where we are now. You can go back 30 years, or even 300 years andbeyond for in reality Ireland has been engaged in conflict with England for centuries.Therefore, in order to compile a chronological record of the modern Troubles - the term usually given to the mostrecent conflict, we must mark a defining point of start, which we have taken as partition itself and from which webegan in Issue 1. In turn again, we feel it is equally important to give you the reader some understanding whyevents spiralled as they did into a bloody civil war.This is not another view of the Troubles, this has been done and redone. This is the historical recording of eventscompiled by people from different parts of Belfast who lived through them. Our objective as local historians is tocompile what we hope will be as near as possible a definitive reference to events as they unfolded through the lastthree decades.In terms of research we have used as much material as possible and from diverse perspectives. We areconfident that we have covered events as they were reported at the time. If however you feel that we have eitherleft something out or indeed got something wrong we are more than happy to hear from you. As mentioned abovethis series of publications is the historical recording of the Troubles and all corrections are more than welcome.

GLENRAVEL PUBLICATIONSASHTON CENTRELEPPER STREET

BELFAST BT15 2DNTel: (028) 9020 2100 • Fax: (028) 9020 2227

E-Mail: [email protected]

This series of publications is designed to create a better historical understanding of what has become known as‘The Troubles.’ Therefore for educational purposes you are more than welcome to use any material from them.All that we ask is that the source is acknowledged and a copy of the material sent to us after publication. We usematerial that has been placed in the public domain. We try to acknowledge all the copyright holders but sometimesthis is not possible. If you claim credit for something that has appeared in this publication then we will be happyto know about it so that we can make the appropriate acknowledgements.

THE TROUBLESA CHRONOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND CONFLICT

NEWSPAPERS

BELFAST NEWSLETTERVarious issues for period covered

BELFAST TELEGRAPHVarious issues for period covered

IRISH NEWSVarious issues for period covered

IRISH PRESSVarious issues for period covered

SOURCE MATERIALPUBLICATIONS

LOST LIVESDavid McKitterick, Seamus Kelters,

Brian Feeney & Chris ThorntonThis publication is used for the list of those

who died at the back of each issue

THE TROUBLES

MAY 1972

RIGHT - A Browning machine gun, aweapon with a range of over 500 yards,sticks out from an Official IRA post inthe Bogside area of Derry

Monday 1st May 1972Man dies in Courtaulds bombattackOne person has been killed, a sec-ond is missing and eight others havebeen seriously injured after fivestrategically placed bombs ex-ploded at Courtaulds polyester fac-tory at Carrickfergus. A huge fireraged through the £12 millionpound plant after the bombs ex-ploded within seconds of eachother. Three of the bombs went offin the polyester sector which is dueto go into full production in thesummer, one exploded in a gas re-covery plant and the fifth in a stor-age area. A spokesman for the firmhas stated that the bombs wereplanted in vital areas and a workerat the plant is quoted as saying “Thebombs were planted exactly wherethey would do most damage”.

Monday 1st May 1972Men on Conspiracy chargesThree Protestants have appeared atMarylebone accused of conspiracyto obtain arms between 1st October1971 and 29th April 1972. The menaged between 31 and 47 have ad-dresses in Maguiresbridge, CountyFermanagh, Armagh City andDeerpark Road, Belfast.

Monday 1st May 1972Dead man still unidentifiedThe Garda have appealed for infor-

mation on a man whose body wasfound on a lonely road nearCastleblaney, County Louth. Theman, who has not yet been identi-fied, was wearing only a shirt andtrousers and had injuries to his headand body. The Garda have ruled outthat he died from gunshot woundsor that he was the victim of a roadaccident, they are certain that theman died at the spot where he wasfound

Monday 1st May 1972Magilligan internment campclosedMagilligan internment camp hasbeen closed and all the remainingmen held under the Special PowersAct have been transferred to LongKesh. The closure of the camp, firstopened last January, follows the in-creased pace of releases, makingmore room at the main centre atLong Kesh. Magilligan is the sec-ond detention to close with theprison ship Maidstone closing lastmonth. Magilligan, which was usedas an Army training base is nowexpected to revert to its original use.

Monday 1st May 1972Bail refusedBail has been refused to a 26-year-old man from Belfast who has beencharged with possession of an ar-senal in the bedroom of his homein the New Lodge area. The manfrom Hartwell Street has beencharged with possession of a lightsubmachine gun, nine revolvers,five rifles and 5,307 rounds of am-munition.

Monday 1st May 1972Dutch Socialists visit NorthA four man delegation from theDutch Labour Party has begun afour day fact finding tour of theNorth.

Monday 1st May 1972Illegal march charges droppedCharges against 32 persons, includ-ing Mid Ulster MP, Miss BernadetteDevlin, of taking part in an illegalmarch in the County Tyrone villageof Pomeroy on 5th march have beenwithdrawn. The crown solicitorsaid he had been instructed by theAttorney General to have all thesummonses withdrawn and headded that fines and suspended sen-tences already imposed on some 50

THE TROUBLES

persons already convicted bequashed. Fines already paid wereto be refunded.

Monday 1st May 1972Tartan gangs’ riotFifteen RUC men and 13 civilianshave been injured as Tartan gangstried to take over East Belfast at theweekend. An RUC inspector wasdetained in hospital with a fracturedskull as tartan gang memberslaunched attacks on shops, publichouses and other premises. Trou-ble has been simmering in the areaand erupted on Saturday afternoonafter a gunman shot and woundeda protestant youth during sectarianskirmishes at Ravenhill Road-ShortStrand. Many of the crowds gath-ered in Protestant areas were par-ticularly hostile towards the policewhom, they claimed, had used ex-cessive force during earlier distur-bances. The RUC have confirmedthat the attacks were not confinedto Catholic owned premises andseveral premises and buses weredamaged.

Monday 1st May 1972Eight-year-old girl shot deadAn eight-year-old girl and fourother civilians have been injured assporadic shooting and bombingscontinued over the weekend. Thegirl who died was Rosaleen Gavin,of Ardilea Street. She was shotwhen a gunman opened fire on anArmy observation post inHeathfield Street. Some reportssuggest that four shots were firedfrom the direction of Ardilea Streetand they struck both the girl and a

local man. He was not seriouslyinjured. Troops did not see the gun-man and fire was not returned.

Monday 1st May 1972Bomb on busA bomb has been planted on a buswhich was being driven into theFall’s bus depot where troops arebeing billeted. On making a quickroutine check, a sentry thought hesmelt gelignite and decided to makea closer examination. Under theback seat the soldier discovered twohidden packages and ordered thecrew to drive the bus out again.Minutes later the RUC received ananonymous telephone call sayingthat a massive 200 lb bomb hadbeen left somewhere in the depot.Soon after this the bomb on the busexploded causing superficial dam-age to surrounding buildings. Thebomb on the bus is estimated tohave been 10 and 30 lb of gelignite.

Monday 1st May 1972Teenage girl shot in BelfastA 17-year-old girl from SpamountStreet in the New Lodge area ofBelfast has been found by an Armypatrol in Duncairn Gardens. Shehad been shot in the stomach. It isbelieved that the shot came from theNew Lodge and no troops were in-volved in the incident

Monday 1st May 1972Man shot from passing carA 21-year-old man from BurlingtonStreet has been shot four times inthe back from a passing car as heleft a café at Carlisle Circus. Theman, who is from the New Lodgearea of Belfast is said to be seriouslyill.

Monday 1st May 1972Weekend shootingsDuring the weekend a total of 63shots were fired in 16 other inci-

THE TROUBLES

TOP RIGHT - Riot on the NewtownardsRoad.BOTTOM RIGHT - Wilson’s Bar,Castlereagh Street, which was burneddown during riots in East Belfast.

dents which occurred mainly in theTurf Lodge and Ardoyne areas ofBelfast. Troops were not involvedin all of these attacks and no injureswere reported.

Monday 1st May 1972Petrol bomb attackA petrol bomb has been thrown atthe home of a retired publican atDean’s Bridge on the Armagh-Portadown road. Only slight dam-aged was caused to the house.

Monday 1st May 1972Shooting in PomeroyShots have been fired at the RUCbarracks in Pomeroy. A UDR sen-try returned fire but there were noinjuries.

Monday 1st May 1972Post office van attacked inMullaghbawnTwo armed men stopped a GPO vanin Mullaghbawn. The men lookedthrough the mail and then set thevan on fire.

Monday 1st May 1972Excavator bombedAn excavator on the shores ofLough Neagh has been wrecked byan explosion.

Monday 1st May 1972Ballymena bomb attackA telephone exchange between the

towns of Toome and Randalstownhas been badly damaged by an ex-plosion on Saturday night.

Monday 1st May 1972Sand excavator bombedAn explosion at Creagh,Toombridge, has caused extensivedamage to a sand excavator ownedby a local firm P and J McCann.

Monday 1st May 1972Girls killing disputedThe circumstances surrounding thekilling of eight-year-old RosaleenGirvan are being disputed by localpeople. The young girl, who waskilled just yards from her homewhile on her way to the shop, wasin early reports, said to have beenshot from the direction of Ardilea

THE TROUBLES

LEFT - A peace meeting in St Mary’sSchool in the Creggan area of Derry

Street. However, local people saidthat she was killed when shots werefired from the Protestant Heathfieldarea and a statement purporting tocome from the IRA said the girl hadbeen “murdered by Orange extrem-ists.” Residents have backed up thisclaim by pointing to fresh bulletholes caused by a burst of fire fromthe Heathfield direction. But sol-diers who investigated the incidentstated that they found five empty.45 cartridges at the corner ofArdilea Street and Oldpark Road.The Army believe that a gunmanfired from this position at the Armypost a Finiston school and that thegirl would have been in the line offire.

Monday 1st May 1972Vanguard warns WhitelawA petition delivered to 10 Down-ing Street by a Vanguard delegationhas warned that appropriate actionwould be taken if the IRA was notdestroyed. Mr. Whitelaw, it stated,should be told to order the completedestruction of the IRA, which was,“operating without let or hindrancein many parts of the Imperial Prov-ince of Ulster.”

Monday 1st May 1972Soldier shot in DerryA soldier has been slightly woundedin the arm when a gunman fired sixshots at the Bligh’s Lane Army postin Derry. A possible hit was claimedand a sentry reported that a carmarked “Doctor” was later seen inthe area.

Monday 1st May 1972IRA man shot in punishmentshootingA 23-year-old man has been admit-ted to Altnagelvin Hospital with

bullet wounds to the legs. The man,said by the Provisional IRA to beone of their members, was foundguilty of theft and shot.

Monday 1st May 1972Claymore mines in DerryAn Army patrol has been fired onas it went to investigate reports of aClaymore type mine in a field westof Creggan. Shots were also firedat Bomb disposal experts as theytried to defuse the device. The minewas described as being made froma series of milk churns which hadbeen packed with gelignite andshrapnel.

Monday 1st May 1972Gunman woundedTroops believe they may havewounded a gunman in TyrconnelStreet the Bogside after an ex-change of fire and in William Street

THE TROUBLES

RIGHT - A soldier patroling in Belfastwith a light machine gun

stones and several gelignite bombswere thrown at troops who repliedwith rubber bullets.

Monday 1st May 1972Goulding attends rally in DerryAt a meeting in Derry’s Creggan,Mr Cathal Goulding, Chef of Staffof the Official IRA has said that“This enclave in which we aremeeting to-night is unique. Herethere is no Gestapo – no RUC andno Free State Special Branch – andyou hold behind these barricades asampling of freedom.” Of twoother rallies which were planned forthe Derry area, one went ahead andthe other was cancelled. The rallywhich took place was a march insupport of the Provisional IRA.Some newspaper reports have saidthat between 100 and 400 womentook park, however the IRA issueda statement saying that 1,000 peo-ple took part. A planned march call-ing for an end of violence was aban-doned. A group of Bogside resi-dents calling themselves “Peoplefor Peace” have organised a peti-tion calling for an end of all formsof violence and they say they willpresent this to both wings of theIRA and the Army.

Monday 1st May 1972Man held in Scots arms findGreenock police are refusing to dis-close the identity of a man arrestedand charged under the ExplosivesSubstances and Firearms Act fol-lowing the discovery of a huge haulof explosives in Scotland. The ex-

plosives 1,000 sticks of geligniteweighing five and a half hundred-weight, were found along with four.22 rifles, four shotguns, two .303rifles, a sawn-off shotgun an auto-matic pistol and a revolver. Thediscovery was made in a dimly litstreet near the town centre as theywere being transferred from an es-tate car to a van.

Monday 1st May 1972IRA offered help with Derry electionThe Director of the Electoral Re-form Society has written to Provi-

sional IRA leader David O’Connelloffering to help with the scheduledelections behind the barricades inDerry.

She stressed that she would simplybe an “overseer” as an “impartialoutsider” and that her move did notmean that she in any way approvedof anything else the IRA might do.As yet she has not had a reply fromthe IRA leader; however the Presi-dent of the Electoral Reform Soci-ety has stated that he has neverheard of the Directors offer of help.

THE TROUBLES

LEFT - Car bomb attack in Belfast’sAnn Street.BELOW - Members of the ‘SpecialServices Command’ of the Red HandAction Group on patrol in BeresfordStreet off the Shankill Road.

Monday 1st May 1972Courtaulds blastIt has been announced that the manwho was declared missing after theCourtaulds bomb attack has beendiscovered amongst the injured inhospital. The man who was killedwas a 20-year-old engineer with aconstruction firm and most of theinjured were also employees of thesame firm of contactors.

Monday 1st May 1972Loyalist protest at prisonAbout 30 loyalist women haveblocked the Crumlin Road oppositethe prison for a short time demand-ing the release of loyalist prisoners.

They also protested to police offic-ers about alleged police brutalityduring the week-end rioting in theeast of the city.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972RUC charged with conspiracy tobuy armsFour Irishmen, including an RUCconstable from Belfast have beenremanded in custody at Bow Streetaccused of conspiracy to obtainarms.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Courtaulds attack – damageamounts to £1,000,000The bomb attack on Courtauldspolyester fibre plant atCarrickfergus, which resulted in thedeath of one man and the wound-ing of fifteen others, caused £1 mil-lion damage. Courtauld’s groupchairman, in a visit to the plant, has

THE TROUBLES

RIGHT - Bomb attack in Beit Street

said that the plant will be back athalf production by the week-endand at full production in betweenthree and six months.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Armoured car in fatal crashA man has died and his father seri-ously injured, when their car wasin a collision with an armoured ve-hicle at Strabane. The accident hap-pened in Melmont Road just beforemidnight. The dead man is 30-year-old Mr. Patrick Casey, of GlebeCottages, Sion Mills. The armouredvehicle belonged to the RoyalWelsh Fusiliers. In Strabane ear-lier, a soldier was slightly hurt whenan armoured carrier over-turned inthe town.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Army sappers attackedThree shots were fired at Army en-gineers working on a border roadnear Armagh. An Army spokesmansaid that “the shots came from theRepublic.” No one was hurt andshots were not returned

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Belfast shootingsIn Belfast two shots were fired at acombined Army-RUC post atBallymurphy. Fire was not returnedand there were no casualties. Sev-eral shots were also fired by a gun-man in Coolnasilla Park at an Armypatrol in the Glen Road. It is notthought anyone was injured.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Prisoners transferred to MagilliganA row has blown up over the formerMagilligan internment camp whenit was announced that some prison-ers from Crumlin Road Prison havebeen transferred there. Around 50prisoners, with only a short time leftto serve, have been sent to the campwhich ceased to function as an in-ternment camp on Sunday. Themove is believed to be aimed at re-lieving the pressure at BelfastPrison. The brother of one man whowas transferred there has said thatall those transferred there wereProtestants. However, a spokesmanfor the Ministry of Home Affairshas denied this allegation.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Family is victim of racist and sec-tarian attackA Catholic mother has claimed thather house has been set on fire threetimes and her family terrorised be-cause of their religion and her hus-band’s colour.The woman, from Deerpark Roadand her Ceylonese husband havebeen threatened on a number ofoccasions and their 24-year-olddaughter admitted to hospital afterbeing assaulted.

Her husband has been forced toleave the family home and they arenow seeking accommodation else-where.

THE TROUBLES

BELOW & FACING PAGE - Major IRAbomb attack on the Courtaulds Factoryin Carrickfergus

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Newry boy shot in legsA 15-year-old Newry schoolboy hasbeen detained at Daisyhill hospitalwith gunshot wounds to both legs.The boy is stated to come from theDerrybeg housing estate and anRUC spokesman has said that theArmy did not relate the boy’s inju-ries to shots fired at them during thenight.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Society attacked over IRA elec-tionsThe Northern Ireland Labour Partyhas attacked the decision by theDirector of the Electoral ReformSociety to assist the IRA in runningtheir elections in Free Derry. Theparty says it believes the offer willmake the introduction of propor-tional representation in NorthernIreland that much harder. In a state-

ment they said “As a party we havecampaigned for proportional repre-sentation as a means of combatingsectarianism and the gunmen thatsectarianism inevitably produces.We regard PR as a means of elimi-nating the gunmen, not of elevat-ing them to positions of respectabil-ity”.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Shop petrol bombedIn East Belfast the RUC have saidthat inflammable liquid has beenpoured over a shop and set alight.The fire at the shop in BloomfieldAvenue was extinguished by anRUC man but it was later set alightagain.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972House attacked in East BelfastA petrol bomb which was hurledinto a catholic family’s house in

Ogilvie Street has caused onlyslight damage. In a second arsonattack at an off-licence on theHolywood Road the RUC believethat the premises were first burgled.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Lorry hi-jacked in Oldpark areaA lorry has been hi-jacked in theOldpark area of Belfast by a crowdof 60 youths. The vehicle was thenused as a barricade near HillviewStreet and was later set on fire.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Shots fired in North BelfastFour shots have been fired at anArmy observation post at FinistonPrimary School. An RUC spokes-man said that the shots came from

THE TROUBLES

the same area as those which killedan eight-year-old girl at the week-end.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Nail bomb thrown in RiverdaleA nail bomb has been thrown at anArmy patrol in Riverdale Park, Bel-fast but there were no casualties.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Belfast shootingsA burst of automatic fire has beendirected at the New Barnsley jointArmy-RUC post. There were nocasualties and fire was not returned.Later between 12 and 15 shots werefired in Devonshire Street. Therewere no casualties.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Arson attack on bookmakersA bookmaker’s premises at MeridiStreet in the Donegal Road area has

THE TROUBLES

been set on fire. The RUC have saidthe premises were Catholic owned.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Explosions in DerryThere have been two minor explo-sions in the Shantallow area ofDerry. A former USC hut atSteelstown caught fire after the firstblast and the second explosionslightly damaged an electricitytransformer at Belmont Park.

Tuesday 2nd May 197223-year-old man shotA 23-year-old man has been takento Altnagelvin Hospital with a gun-shot wound to his left leg. The RUCsay the shooting occurred inside theBogside and that the security forceswere not involved.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Rubber bullets firedTroops have fired rubber bullets todisperse a small stone throwingcrowd of youths who attacked anArmy posts at Brooke Park, Bligh’sLane and on the city walls.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Sniper fires single shot in DerryA gunman has fired a single shot atthe Brandywell Army post in Derry.There were no casualties and firewas not returned.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Gunman attacks mobile patrol inNewryA gunman has opened fire on anArmy mobile patrol at Derrybegestate. Fire was returned but therewere no reports of casualties.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Civil rights rallyThere have been minor stone throw-ing incidents in the centre of Newryafter a Civil Rights rally in the town.Three taxis which were parked at a

Malicious damages claims for more than £6 million have beenreceived by Londonderry Development Commission arisingout of the troubles in the city since August. This is £2 millionmore than the total claimed for damage and injury in Derryin the previous two and a half years.

THE TROUBLES

FACING PAGE - An army helicopterlanding in Enniskillen.BELOW - A bomb explodes in Belfast’sGarfield Street

rank were slightly damaged.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Catholic family attacked inMagheraSix shots were fired into the homeof a Catholic family in the predomi-nantly Protestant Culnady area ofMaghera. The householder, whowas sitting in a parked car with afriend at the time, was not injured.Tuesday 2nd May 1972Petrol bombs thrown inCarrickfergus

Slight damage has been caused to aCatholic owned paint and hardwareshop in Albert Road when a petrolbomb was thrown into the building.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Rifle stolenThe RUC have reported that threearmed men stole a Lee Enfield rifleand ammunition held under certifi-cate by an ex-serviceman from hishome.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Derry claims for damages top £6 millionMalicious damages claims for morethan £6 million have been receivedby Londonderry DevelopmentCommission arising out of the trou-bles in the city since August. Thisis £2 million more than the totalclaimed for damage and injury inDerry in the previous two and a halfyears.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972U.S. attempt to unite IRARepublican Clubs in America are inthe final planning stages of a big

convention to be held, possibly inNew York, on the 17th and 18th June.Strenuous efforts are being made inAmerica to heal the breach betweenthe rival groupings of Sinn Féin andthe IRA. There is specuation thatCathal Goulding, SeanMacStiofain, Tomas MacGiolla andRory Brady might attend.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Arms find in ArmaghSoldiers have found a Thompsonsubmachine gun, a .303 rifle andmore than 1,500 rounds of ammu-nition on a railway embankment atBessbrook, Armagh. They wereuncovered by the Duke of Welling-ton Regiment.

Tuesday 2nd May 1972Scotland Yard man resignsThe boss of Scotland Yard’s FlyingSquad, Commander Kenneth

THE TROUBLES

Drury, has resigned. He had beensuspended eight weeks ago, after aninquiry was ordered into a holidayhe spent with a former Dartmoorprisoner, however it is believed thatthe investigation cleared Com-mander Drury. Commander Drurywas the officer who investigated thedeath of Derry man SamuelDevenney during rioting in theBogside on the 19th-20th April1969. As a result of the Command-er’s report the then Chief Consta-ble of the RUC accused some mem-bers of being involved in a “con-spiracy of silence” over what hecalled the “wilful assaults” whichRUC men made on the family. Theinvestigation into Mr. Devenny’skilling failed to produce identifica-tion evidence.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Flour Mill bombedThe interior of a Belfast flour millhas been badly damaged when abomb exploded in a lorry inside thepremises. The lorry was driven intothe premises of William Marshalland Co. at the junction of TownhallStreet and Victoria Street. Armybomb experts were called to thescene but decided to leave the bombfor three hours, and when it ex-ploded the surrounding area hadbeen evacuated. Two men are saidto have reversed the lorry on to aweighbridge but the firm got nowarning until a Belfast newspaperreceived an anonymous telephonecall. Both men ran off and whenthe alarm was raised, the surround-ing buildings including the Magis-trates Court and Belfast Fire Bri-

gade Headquarters were evacuated.Prisoners in the court were quicklytaken away and barrister, solicitors,magistrates and court officialsscrambled to the front door whenthe siren sounded. The Army hassaid that the bomb contained be-tween 5 and 10 lbs of gelignite.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Aid for attacked shopsAn emergency scheme to give ratesrelief to business and shopping cen-tres of Belfast, Derry and Newryhas been announced by the Secre-tary of State. Grants of up to 75%are to be made available if busi-nesses can show that they have suf-fered due to the troubles. Thescheme will also apply to hotels,guest houses throughout the Northbut not to manufacturers, wholesal-ers, banks, offices and similar busi-nesses.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Patrol attacked in DerryEarly afternoon shoppers ran forcover when a gunman fired a highvelocity shot at an Army patrol inWaterloo Place, Derry. The bulletburied itself in the wall of a publictoilet. The patrol was going to dis-perse a crowd of youths at the junc-tion of William Street when thegunman in Waterloo Place openedfire. No-one was injured and firewas not returned.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Internee is ill-treatedFoyle MP Mr. John Hume is pre-paring a dossier about the allegedill-treatment of a Derry man de-tained in Long Kesh. Mr. Humesaid that he visited the man in thecompany of a doctor and that he wasconcerned how the man receivedcertain injuries.

THE TROUBLES

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Bogside model to be used byArmyThe large model of part of theBogside which was used through-out the Widgery Tribunal is to beused by the Army in Derry to helpbrief visitors to the city. The eightfoot square scale model which cov-ers the area surrounding RossvilleStreet where 13 people were shotdead by the Army does not showgreat detail but it does outline themain streets and buildings and pro-vides comparisons of height anddistance. An Army spokesman saidthe model will be of great value to8 Brigade for giving visitors, in-cluding overseas pressmen an out-line of the area before they take acloser look.

Wednesday 3rd May 197229 shooting incidents in BelfastThe Army has reported 29 shoot-ings in Belfast in the last 24 hours.IRA gunfire slightly wounded twosoldiers during trouble in theSpringfield area where there wereseveral attacks on an Army obser-vation post in Corry’s timber yard

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Soldier shot in legOne soldier has received a slightwound to the leg when a gunman,operating from the direction ofCawnpore Street ambushed a patrolat Lucknow Street-Kashmire Road.A burst of automatic fire rang outand the soldier was struck.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Boy injured as paratroopers areattackedA 13-year-old boy from SpamountStreet has been rushed to hospitalafter he was shot in the hand whengunmen ambushed paratroopers inthe New Lodge Road area. AnArmy spokesman said that two blastbombs and about 20 shots were di-rected at paratroopers patrolling the

New Lodge area. The Army hasalso said that a woman threw a nailbomb at a mobile patrol in theRiverdale area of Belfast.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Youth shot in the back inBallymurphyA 14-year-old boy from

Ballymurphy Drive, Belfast hasbeen admitted to the Royal Victo-ria Hospital with gunshot wounds.The boy, although he was shot inthe back, is not said to be serious.An RUC spokesman has said thecircumstances in which he receivedhis injuries are not clear.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Bomb explodes under carThe RUC have said that they be-lieve a nail bomb which explodedunder a car in the Falls Road areaof Belfast, was meant for a mobilepatrol. A woman who was travel-ling in the car at the time of the at-tack was taken to hospital where shewas treated for shock.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Attempt to lure troops into am-bushThere have been a number of inci-dents centred around the NorthernBank at Percy Street and the Armybelieve there was a deliberate at-tempt to lure troops into an ambush.At 8.00pm a nail bomb was hurledat the building. The blast blew in adoor and smashed several windows.Troops at the scene came under au-tomatic fire from the direction of St.Comgall’s School. A short timelater a stolen Ford escort wasparked outside the bank and therewas more shooting by gunmen. AnArmy bomb expert was called to thescene and a controlled explosionblew up the car which was found tocontain a small explosive device.Fire was returned by in a mobilepatrol at a gunman who aimed sixshots at them from the direction ofDivis Flats.

The Army has reported 29 shootingsin Belfast in the last 24 hours. IRAgunfire slightly wounded two soldiersduring trouble in the Springfield areawhere there were several attacks onan Army observation post in Corry’stimber yard

THE TROUBLES

THE TROUBLES

FACING PAGE - A British soldierpictured with a grenade gun

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Soldiers attacked at BroadwayTwo shots have been fired at anArmy observation post in Broad-way from Celtic Park. A numberof rounds were also fired at the NewBarnsley Army-RUC post.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Blast bombs thrown in NewLodgeAt Queens Parade, blast bombswere used to ambush a mobile pa-trol and a similar device was thrownat another patrol in BalymurphyRoad. Twenty rounds were alsofired from the direction of Broad-way, down Mulhouse Street, to-wards the Army post.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Protest at Crumlin Road JailSeveral hundred people, mainlywomen, took part in a peaceful pro-test outside Crumlin Road Prison.They were complaining about thetransfer of prisoners to the formerinternment camp at Magilligan.They spoke to prison officials andthen a deputation went to TennentStreet RUC Barracks.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972IRA punishment shootingsTwo men have been admitted toAltnagelvin Hospital with gunshotwounds to their legs. The RUCbelieve the shootings occurred inthe Bogside and the security forces

were not involved. The men aged18 and 21 are said to be in a satis-factory condition in hospital.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Shots fired at troops in DerryAbout 20 shots have been fired attroops in Derry during the night butthere were no casualties. Fire wasreturned at a gunman who fired 11shots at troops in WestmorelandStreet –Lone Moor Road.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Post Office robbedTwo masked gunmen have held upa post office in the village ofArdboe, County Tyrone. £100 wastaken in the raid.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972CRA seeks torture inquiryThe Civil Rights Association havesaid that they will be inviting Am-nesty International, the worldwideorganisation which deals with po-litical prisoners, to investigate thetorture of suspects since direct rule.The association said that they hadreceived statements from men whohad been tortured and that there wasphotographic and medical evidenceof torture.The NICRA Have also said that Mr.Helge Rontu, a Finnish member ofthe World peace Council delegationwhich has just left the North hasdelivered a petition to the BritishPrime Minister Mr. Heath. The pe-tition, signed by 38 members of theFinnish parliament called for theend to internment, military occupa-tion and abolition of the SpecialPowers Act.

Wednesday 3rd May 1972Plea to LoyalistsThe Willowfield division of theUlster Protestant Volunteers hassaid that it is deeply disturbed byrecent disorder in East Belfast andhas called on all loyalists in the areato “stop and think”. A statementsaid: “While understanding thefrustration and impatience of theProtestant people with the continu-ance of the ‘softly softly’ securitypolicy, we would urge restraint byall loyalists. “No matter how justi-fied our angry feelings, we will onlyplay into the hands of the IRA if wevent them on the forces of the crownor the economy of our country.

Thursday 4th May 1972Soldier is seriously illA soldier has been shot and seri-ously wounded in theAndersonstown area of Belfast. Hewas hit in the arm when a gunmanfired three shots at a patrol in NorthLink. The bullet passed through hisarm and entered his body. He waslater said to be very seriously ill inhospital. Troops returned fire butno hits were reported.

Thursday 4th May 1972Three RUC men shot in DerryThe Provisional IRA have claimedresponsibility for a machine gunattack in Derry in which three mem-bers of the RUC were wounded.

The RUC sergeant and two consta-bles were sitting in a parked car inGreat James Street where hit whentwo gunmen opened fire from Lit-tle James Street which leads to-wards the Bogside.

THE TROUBLES

Thursday 4th May 1972Youth shot while watching IRAtrainA teenage boy is said to be satis-factory in Altnagelvin Hospital witha gunshot wound to the hand. Hewas admitted following an ex-change of fire near the Creggan es-tate. The Army say that six shotswere fired at a routine patrol westof the Creggan. Troops returnedfire at two gunmen in a field andclaimed a possible hit on one ofthem.

There are reports from within theCreggan area that the youth wasunarmed and that at the time of theshooting he was said to have beenwatching a number of IRA mentraining with weapons when theshooting occurred.

Thursday 4th May 1972Brandywell Army post attackedGunmen positioned in the CityCemetery, in Ann Street and in thecattle markets at Brandywell, fireda total of 17 shots at the Brandywellmilitary post. Troops returned firebut didn’t claim any hits.Troops also fired at a gunman inBeechwood Avenue and claimed apossible hit. Later in the day, sol-diers on the city walls fired a shotat a man seen with a gun but he wasnot hit.

Thursday 4th May 1972CS gas thrown at troopsA group of youths have thrown aquantity of CS gas at troops in theBligh’s Lane Army post. They weredispersed with rubber bullets.

Thursday 4th May 1972Two soldiers wounded in BelfastTwo soldiers have been shot andslightly wounded in Belfast duringalmost continuous trouble in theUpper Springfield Road area Mostof the trouble was located aroundan Army post in a wood yard andsniper fire was interspersed withstone throwing and petrol bombs.Mr. Gerry Fitt, MP, visited the areawith four Dutch MP’s. He said thatlocal residents have alleged that theworkers in the wood yard werearmed and that petrol bombs hadbeen thrown from it.The first soldier was shot during about of stoning. He was struck onthe head by a brick and then a shotstuck him on the shoulder. The sec-ond soldier was shot around fourhours later as soldiers were leavinga bar in the area after a search. Asingle shot ht him in the leg.

Thursday 4th May 1972Catholics and Protestant crowdsclashCatholic and Protestant crowdsclashed twice during the evening inthe Upper Springfield area. TheProtestants were dispersed by theRUC and the Army fired rubberbullets at the Catholics.

Thursday 4th May 1972RUC barracks attackedA shot has been fired at DunmurryRUC barracks in the early hours ofthe morning. No one was hurt inthe attack.

Thursday 4th May 1972Blast bombs discoveredTroops have found three partly

made blast bombs in BrookvaleStreet and 11 petrol bombs andsugar in More Street. In anothersearch they found eight detonatorsand fuse for a nail bomb.

Thursday 4th May 1972Army ambushed at Kilrea,County DerryA signaller in the Kings Own Bor-derers escaped death by incheswhen gunmen fired between 30 and50 shots from automatic weaponsat a foot patrol. The patrol was atKilrea, County Derry and a radioon the soldier’s back was shattered.

Thursday 4th May 1972Catholic owned bars attacked inCarrickfergusPetrol bombs have been thrown attwo Catholic owned public bars inCarrickfergus shortly after mid-night. The carpet was slightlyscorched in the Brown Cow in EllisStreet when a petrol bomb wasthrown through the window but themanager on the premises preventedthe fire from spreading. At the Cor-ner Bar in Irish Quarter South thebomb failed to ignite and no dam-age was caused.

Thursday 4th May 1972Twenty-three internees releasedTwenty-three more internees havebeen released on the instructions ofthe Secretary of State, Mr.Whitelaw. Since direct rule Mr.Whitelaw has released 205 intern-ees and detainees and according tostatistics released from StormontCastle there are now 575 interneesand 152 detainees being held.

THE TROUBLES

Thursday 4th May 1972Man charged with ship escapeA 22-year-old man from Belfast,Martin Anthony Taylor, has beencharged with being one of the sevenmen who escaped from custody atHMS Maidstone on 7th January.

Thursday 4th May 1972Pylon bombs made safeAn Army bomb disposal expert hasdismantled two bombs which hadbeen planted at an electricity pylonin the Coalisland area. The bombscontaining a total of 10 lbs of gel-ignite were later destroyed. Theexplosives were discovered by ajoint Army-RUC patrol in Gortonis.

Friday 5th May 1972Seaman stabbed to death inNorth BelfastAn RUC murder squad has beeninterviewing dozens of people inNorth Belfast in relation to the bru-tal killing of a merchant seamanwho was found stabbed to death.The man, Victor Andrews, aged 20,of Pacific Avenue, is understood tohave been stabbed 18 times and theRUC think it is unlikely that thereis a political motive. The man’sbody was found in a an entry inBaltic Avenue. It is understood thathe was home on leave.

Friday 5th May 1972Soldier woundedA soldier has been wounded by gun-fire close to St. Bernadette’s schoolin Belfast. The bullet rippedthrough his forearm but he was notseriously hurt. Earlier in the day alow velocity shot was fired at the

Army in Ballymurphy. No one wasinjured and no fire was returned.

Friday 5th May 1972Car bomb explodes in LisnaskeaA car bomb, estimated to have con-tained 100 lbs of explosives hasexploded and caused extensivedamage to Main Street, Lisnaskeabut no one was injured in the attack.An anonymous telephone callergave a 10 minute warning and whenthe bomb did explode an RUC manwas blown off his feet. Damage asa result of the bomb extended for60-70 yards and the worse damagewas caused to FDH supermarketand to the premises of F. Dowler.

Friday 5th May 1972Sniper attacks in DerryAt around 10.00 pm a low velocityshot was fired at the Bligh’s LaneArmy post from a derelict housenear the junction of Lone MoorRoad and Westland Street. TheArmy say they returned fire and hitthe gunman.A gunman later used the same houseto fire on troops in the post. Thesoldiers returned fire. At around thesame time a man was seen with aweapon behind a hedge inBeechwood Avenue and soldiers inBligh’s Lane claimed a hit whenthey fired on him. About a dozenshots have also been fired at theBrandywell and Bligh’s Lane postsearly in the day.

Friday 5th May 1972Rubber bullets used to disperseyouthsIn Belfast troops have used rubberbullets to disperse a crowd ofyouths during a fresh outbreak oftrouble at the timber yard on theSpringfield Road which is used asan observation post by the Army.

Friday 5th May 1972High velocity shots fired in TurfLodgeSix high velocity shots have beenfired at an Army patrol at GlenalinaRoad-Whiterock Road from the di-rection of Monagh Flats. This was

followed by a burst of low velocityshots. The Army returned fire butno hits were claimed.

Friday 5th May 1972RUC men ambushedThree shots have been fired at anRUC patrol in Springmartin Roadfrom the direction of SpringfieldPark. None of the RUC men werehit and they did not return fire.

Friday 5th May 1972Bomb thrown at bankA blast bomb has been thrown atthe Northern Bank at Percy Street-Divis Street but it only caused su-perficial damage to the building.

An RUC murder squad has been interviewing dozens of people in NorthBelfast in relation to the brutal killing of a merchant seaman who was foundstabbed to death. The man, Victor Andrews, aged 20, of Pacific Avenue, isunderstood to have been stabbed 18 times and the RUC think it is unlikelythat there is a political motive.

THE TROUBLES

Friday 5th May 1972Shots heard in Bone area of Bel-fastThree shots have been heard in theBone area of the Oldpark just after11.00 pm but the RUC say there wasno reports of any injuries or dam-age.

Friday 5th May 1972Arms findParatroopers carrying out a routinesearch of a derelict house in DockLane have discovered two revolv-ers, an automatic pistol, two sub-machine gun magazines and almost2,000 rounds of assorted ammuni-tion.

Friday 5th May 1972Shots fired at RathcooleOne shot embedded itself in thewoodwork of a house in KylemoreRoad after a burst of gunfire washeard in the Rathcoole area. Five 9mm shell cases were found at thescene. The bullet which entered the

house smashed a window but noone was injured. A car was seenspeeding away from the scene.

Friday 5th May 1972Bomb victim buriedThe funeral has taken place of 26-year-old Mr. David Currie, the elec-trical engineer who was killed inMondays explosion at Courtaulds’Carrickfergus plant. Mr. Currielived at Lambeg and workers atCourtaulds have set up a fund forthe dead man’s family and thoseinjured by the blast.

Friday 5th May 1972Sniper targets Army bomb expertA shot has been fired at an Armybomb expert as he moved in to de-fuse explosives planted at the baseof an electricity transformer atGortgonis. The soldier was not hitand he later managed to defuse twosmall devices.

Saturday 6th May 1972Courts system under pressureLord MacDermott, who retired asNorthern Ireland’s Lord Chief Jus-tice nine months ago, will be return-ing to the High Court bench to helpother judges deal with an immensebacklog of court work broughtabout by the present emergency inthe North.

Saturday 6th May 1972Troops claim to have shot gun-manTroops claim that they have shot agunman who fired on an observa-tion post in a timber yard on theSpringfield Road. The Armyspokesman said that the man wasone of two snipers who fired threelow velocity shots at the post inCorry’s timber yard from an alleyoff the Springfield Road. A half anhour earlier five shots were fired atthe post from a nearby school.

THE TROUBLES

FACING PAGE - Loyalist’s from theCrumlin Road and Woodvale areas pro-testing outside the Belfast Prison de-manding the release of all Protestantpolitical prisioners.RIGHT - The remains of the VictoriaBar in Victoria Street after an IRA bombattack.

Saturday 6th May 1972Murdered man identifiedA mystery man found murdered ona county Louth road has been iden-tified as 37-year-old Robert MunroeNish. The man’s body was partiallyclothed, however the RUC havenow established that there is nopolitical or sectarian aspect to hismurder.

Saturday 6th May 1972Army gets bullet proof bedsThe Army has developed new bul-let-proof bed for use with troopswho are on duty in the North. Aspokesman for the Army said thatthe bed, which weighs 300 lb, willbe used in barrack dormitorieswhich are considered to be in thefront line. He pointed out that withsome dormitories having thin wallsand the use of high velocity weap-ons the new beds are essential to thesafety of troops.

Saturday 6th May 1972Gunmen raid UDR men’s homesThe Tyrone homes of two membersof the Ulster Defence Regimenthave been raided by masked gun-men. The raiders got away withthree rifles, two shotguns and anumber of UDR uniforms. Theraids were carried out at LowerCoagh, about eight miles from

Cookstown and at Gortreagh,Pomeroy. A van used in one of theraids had been stolen some timeearlier in Coalisland.

Saturday 6th May 1972Victoria Bar wrecked by bombAt 7.45 pm three men entered theVictoria Bar in Victoria Square,Belfast, carrying a bomb and a sub-machine gun. The 20lb bomb wasplaced in the bar and customers andstaff were given a half hour to clearthe area. The bomb exploded at8.07 pm and completely wreckedthe building. The men escaped bycar which was later found on theFalls Road.

Saturday 6th May 1972Incendiary bomb destroys SandyRow shopThe fire which destroyed a toy shopin Belfast’s Sandy Row is thoughtto have been started maliciously.The RUC say that the shop burstinto flames as a patrol car was pass-ing. Firemen stopped the fire fromspreading but the shop itself wasgutted. It is believed that an incen-diary bomb started the blaze.

Saturday 6th May 1972Army expert defuses bombAn Army bomb disposal expert hasdismantled a bomb containing tensticks of gelignite. The bomb hadbeen planted at McGovern’s gro-cery shop on the Springfield Road.

Saturday 6th May 1972Ammunition found in BelfastTroops have discovered a cache ofammunition in a disused hut in theClonard area of Belfast. The am-munition, which amounted tonearly 160 rounds of assortedrounds, included 15 dum dum bul-lets.

Saturday 6th May 1972Soldiers attackedSoldiers have come under fire at theHenry Tagart Hall post but no onewas injured. Shots were also firedat patrols at Lurgan and Coalislandbut there were no casualties.

Saturday 6th May 1972RUC patrol ambushed in Fer-managhTwo RUC men on Land Rover pa-trol were fired at from a passing car

THE TROUBLES

as they checked premises in MainStreet, Newtownbutler. One shothit the radiator of the vehicle but athird crew member was not injured.

Saturday 6th May 1972Public house petrol bombed inCarrickfergusA petrol bomb has slightly damageda public house in Carrckfergus inthe early hours of the morning. Thebomb which was thrown throughthe window of the Railway Tavernin Victoria Street, ignited, but onlycaused scorch damage. A half hourlater a Ford Cortina parked in thegrounds of St. Nicholas’ secondaryschool was set on fire. The car wascompletely gutted.

Saturday 6th May 1972Shots fired in DerryA total of six low velocity shotshave been fired at the BrandywellArmy Post in Derry. There wereno casualties and no fire was re-turned.

Saturday 6th May 1972Aid for IRA election deniedThe chairman of the Electoral Re-form Society has denied that thesociety has offered its services tothe IRA in holding elections in FreeDerry. He said that no such offerhad the approval of the society’sofficers or council.It is understood that the society’sdirector, Miss Enid Lakeman, wroteto Provisional leader Mr. DavidO’Connell offering the societies aidas an impartial outsider in FreeDerry. It is understood that MissLakeman made this offer “off herown bat.”

Saturday 6th May 1972Escape mysteryInvestigations are continuing atBelfast Jail into the escape of a 19-year-old man who was sentencedless than a fortnight ago. It is stillnot certain if the man escaped in adustbin lorry collecting refuge.However, it is likely that his depar-ture was through the front gates byone ruse or another.

Saturday 6th May 1972Anti-internment marchThe Civil Rights Association hasannounced details for an anti-in-ternment march and rally on theFalls Road on Sunday. An execu-tive member of NICRA has said thatthe necessary five days notice hadbeen given to the RUC. The marchwill be the first held since the lift-ing of the ban on parades. It willbegin at Beechmount at 2.30 pmand proceed to the Falls Park wherea rally will be held.

Saturday 6th May 1972Protestant prisoners demand po-litical statusThirty-five Protestants serving sen-tences in Belfast Jail are demand-ing “full status as political prison-ers”. A statement seeking recogni-tion of the men as political prison-ers has been received by the minis-try of Home Affairs. Of their de-mand the statement says: “We shalluse every legitimate means in pur-suance of these honourable aspira-tions. The statement also referredto a loyalist determination in theforthcoming struggle.”

Saturday 6th May 1972Shots fired at lorrySeveral low velocity shots havebeen fired at an Army lorry bring-ing supplies to the Bligh’s LaneArmy post. There were no casual-ties.

Monday 8th May 1972Whitelaw says no to Political StatusThe Secretary of State, Mr. WilliamWhitelaw is understood to havedecided that there will be no recog-nition of political status for prison-ers in Belfast Jail. Demands havebeen growing from both loyalistand IRA inmates for treatment aspolitical prisoners and the prison-ers have embarked on a more mili-tant form of action. Only hours be-fore the Secretary of State made hisannouncement around ten prisonersfrom both “sides” refused to carryout normal work duties. The non-co-operation move could poseproblems for the prison authoritiesif the prisoners react militantly.

Monday 8th May 1972Hi-jacked “escape” van foundGarda have recovered a hi-jackedvan which they believe may havebeen used to smuggle an escapeefrom Crumlin Road prison acrossthe border. The van was found inthe Latton area of Monaghan closeto the Cavan border. The vehicle isowned by the Belfast Telegraph andwas hi-jacked two months ago nearEnniskillen. The Garda believe thevan was driven from the directionof Enniskillen, through Lisnaskeaand Newtownbutler.

THE TROUBLES

Monday 8th May 1972Worker drags out bombAn Army bomb disposal expert hasdefused a bomb which was plantedby one of two men in the show-rooms of Ulster Telefusion onStrand Road Derry. One of the of-fice staff dragged the box contain-ing the bomb on to the sidewalkwhere firemen hosed it down beforeArmy experts moved in. The areawas sealed off and shops and officeswere evacuated. An RUC spokes-man later said that the bomb con-tained about 3 lbs of gelignite andother explosive material.Army experts also defused a 30 lbbomb at a service station onDuncreggan Road. It had beenplanted by four men with guns.

Monday 8th May 197247 shootings reported in BelfastThe Army has reported a total of 47shootings incidents in the Belfastarea in the past 48 hours. Troopsare claiming hits on at least fourgunmen.

Monday 8th May 1972Man shot in Mayo StreetA 24-year-old Protestant fromCarnreagh Bend, Rathcoole hasbeen shot as he left a friend’s homein Mayo Street. It s understood thatthe man was shot when a gunopened fire from waste ground.There is no apparent motive for theshooting and the man is not said tobe in a serious condition.

Monday 8th May 1972Boy woundedA 15-year-old youth has been seri-ously wounded in a shooting attack

near the Oliver Plunkett School onthe Glen Road. The boy was shotat by four men in a blue car and hewas struck on the arms, legs andstomach. The attack happenedshortly before midnight and the boywas admitted to hospital.

Monday 8th May 1972Youth shot from passing carA 17-year-old Catholic youth hasbeen admitted to hospital with agunshot wound to the scalp. He isreported to have told police that hewas shot at from a passing car nearhis home on the Springfield Road.His condition is not serious.

Monday 8th May 1972Mobile patrol attackedTroops have claimed a hit whenthree men opened fire on a mobilepatrol on the Glen Road from thedirection of Glenveigh Park.

Monday 8th May 1972Boy throws acid bombThe commander of a Ferret scoutcar has received burns to his faceafter a boy, aged 7 or 8 years of age,threw an acid bomb at his vehicleas it approached the junction ofSelby Street and Excise Street.

Monday 8th May 1972Arson attack in CastlereaghStreetTwo youths wielding knives haveentered a Catholic owned shop inCastlereagh Street and poured in-flammable liquid over the interiorand set it on fire. Extensive dam-age was done to the shop and to a

neighbouring hairdressing salon. Afire is also believed to have beenstared maliciously at a dry clean-ing shop at Newtownards Road.

Monday 8th May 1972Arson attack on Vanguard man’shomeMore than 10,000 poultry have diedin a fire at the home of a local Van-guard member in Tandragee. Thefire is believed to be malicious.

Monday 8th May 1972Radio controlled landmine usedin attackThe IRA has mounted an ambushusing a radio detonated land-minein Lurgan. The bomb, which ex-ploded beside an RUC Land Rover,which was on patrol near the en-trance to the Kilwilkie estate, con-tained 10 lbs of explosives. TheVehicle was extensively damagedbut none of the occupants were in-jured.

Monday 8th May 1972Rathfriland explosionsThere have been three explosionsat the almost completed health cen-tre at John Street Rathfriland earlyon Sunday morning. A fourth bombexploded as an army expert at-tempted to defuse it but he was notinjured. There was extensive dam-age to the building and windowsin man nearby houses were broken.

Monday 8th May 1972Attack on Orange HallThe RUC have said that an amateurattempt as been made to set fire tothe local Orange Hall inCastlewellan.

THE TROUBLES

Monday 8th May 1972Official Republicans call off rallyOfficial Republicans have claimedthat Provisional IRA membersthreatened their members into call-ing an “End the bombing rally” inthe Ardoyne area of Belfast. TheRepublicans (members of the po-litical wing of the Official IRA) saythey decided to call off their rallyin the interests of peace. They saythe Provisionals threatened them atgunpoint. They say they hope togo ahead with the rally at a laterdate.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Monks fined for helping escapersTwo monks have been fined andtwo other men given suspendedsentences when they were con-victed at Belfast City Commissionof conspiring to help two escapedprisoners evade recapture. TheLord Chief Justice Sir RobertLowry told one of the monks thathis action in helping the two menafter they reached his monastery atPortglenone, was much more thanoffering asylum. They were fined£500 and £250 respectively.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Barricades come downThe Provisional IRA in Derry’sBogside has removed two barri-cades following complaints fromlocal residents that they were un-sightly and rat infested. The barri-cades were at Westland Street, near“Free Derry Corner” and Southway,one of the main entrances to theCreggan estate.A Provisional IRA spokesman saidthey had been moved to meet the

wishes of people living in the area,and gallons of disinfectant had beenused to wash down the streets. Bothwould be replaced by steel spikesdriven into the streets.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Bombs foundSoldiers have found bombs, bombmaking materials and ammunitionin two separate caches in Belfast.Men from the 22nd Engineers found742 rounds of assorted ammunitionin a yard at Thompson Street in EastBelfast. And in a derelict house inEglington Street, off the CrumlinRoad, men from the Royal Regi-ment of Wales and the ParachuteRegiment found one blast bomb, anail bomb, 60 detonators and 60 feetof fuse.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Derry boy loses eyeSecretary of State, Mr WilliamWhitelaw, has received a reportfrom the Army about the incidentin which a young Derry boy lost hiseye after being hit by a rubber bul-let. A statement said: “The RUC areto investigate the case, as is thepractice in any incident involvingdeath or serious injury.” MrWhitelaw has also written to theparents of the Creggan boy express-ing regret at the injury. He was shotin the Rosemount area of Derryduring a stone throwing incident sixdays ago.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Soldiers ambushedThe driver of an armoured car wasshot in the shoulder when four menambushed an Army patrol in the

Andersonstown area of Belfast. AnArmy spokesman said that the twovehicle patrol was ambushed in theLenadoon Avenue just after 2.00 pmand that four high velocity shots hadbeen fired. The injured soldier wastaken to Musgrave Park Hospitalwhere his condition was said to be“not serious.” Fire was not re-turned.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Derry observation post bombedThe Army is to carry out an inves-tigation into the midnight bomb at-tack on an observation post inDerry, which injured 11 soldiers.They want to know how the attack-ers managed to get so close to thepost without being seen so that theycould lob two 5 lb bombs over thewall. The bombs were thrown overthe car park wall which is at the rearof the Masonic Hall and beside thecity walls. Only one bomb ex-ploded and the second was laterdefused. One soldier was detainedin hospital with minor head injuries.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Conspiracy chargesAn Officer of the Royal Ulster Con-stabulary and the Chairman of the15,000 strong, Ulster Defence As-sociation has appeared at BowStreet Magistrates Court, alongwith three other men, charged withconspiring to obtain arms for anextremist group in Belfast.

FACING PAGE - An anti-riot squad ofthe British Army come under petrolbomb attack.

THE TROUBLES

THE TROUBLES

Tuesday 9th May 1972Derry shootingsTroops in Derry have claimed fourhits on gunmen during 18 differentshooting incidents in 70 minutes atthe Bligh’s Lane post. There wereno military casualties. An Armyspokesman said they returned fireon eight occasions. Gunmen firedalmost 30 single rounds as well asa burst of automatic fire. It isthought that five IRA gunmen wereinvolved in the attacks.There were also three shooting in-cidents on the city walls and a sin-gle shot was fired at troops man-ning a post in the Brandywell.There were no casualties in the at-tacks.

Tuesday 9th May 19725 lb bomb explodesA 5lb bomb which was thrown atthe rear of the Christian BrothersPast Pupils club on the Antrim Roadexploded before midnight but itcaused only minor damage.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Belfast attacksAn Army spokesman has said thata pipe bomb was thrown inHighfield Drive, two small devicesexploded on the Falls Road andanother was heard in theBallymurphy area. Three low ve-locity shots and a burst of automatic

fire were directed at an Army postin Northumberland Street. Threehigh velocity shots were also heardnear the Royal Victoria Hospitaland it is thought that the target wasa passing military patrol.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Methodist hall attackedA attempt has bee made to set fireto the Methodist Church hall onStewartstown Road, Suffolk.. Onlyminor damaged was caused whenthe incendiary device which wasattached to a drum of petrol, ex-ploded.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Bomb explodes at RUC barracksA 45 lb bomb has demolished themarried quarters at DesertmartinRUC barracks but there were nopersonnel at the limited openingbarracks and no one was injured.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Shots fired at Newry checkpointTwo shots have been fired from thecover of a wood, at troops who weremanning a checkpoint south of thetown of Newry. There were nocasualties. The soldiers did returnfire but did not claim any hits.

TOP - Funeral of Derry born soldierPte. BestBOTTOM - Funeral of 15 year oldHarold Morris leaving his home inCourt Street

THE TROUBLES

Tuesday 9th May 1972Army post comes under fireTen low velocity shots have beenfired at an Army post in the Villageof Sion Mills. There were no casu-alties and fire was not returned.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Post Office robberiesA total of nine men were involvedin two armed robberies on SouthArmagh post offices. At 9.30 amfour men armed with revolvers en-tered Crossmaglen Post Office anddemanded cash. The only personthere was a postman who said hedid not know where the money waskept. After searching the premisesthe men left empty-handed. Twohours later five men enteredJonesboro Post Office and held upstaff. It is thought that they gotaway with only £10 on this occa-sion.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Garda make arrests after robberyFour men and a girl who were ar-rested by Civic Guards following araid on the National Bank atMoville have been charged withrobbery at a special court inBuncrana, County Donegal. Theaccused, whose names were not re-leased, were all charged with rob-bing the bank of £4,000.

Tuesday 9th May 1972Paratrooper on arms chargeA paratrooper stationed at Palace

Barracks, Holywood has appearedat Belfast magistrates Courtcharged with possession of a 9 mmpistol and ammunition. The soldierwas remanded into military custody.

Tuesday 9th May 1972MPs’ sentencesIt was announced in the House ofCommons that the Six-month sen-tences on Miss Bernadette Devlinand Mr. Frank McManus for tak-

ing part in an illegal march havebeen formally remitted.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Town angered by security failureTraders in the County Tyrone townof Omagh have accused the RUCof blocking their plans for a com-plete traffic blockade to beat thebombers. The Urban Councilpassed a resolution recommendinga sealing off part of the town and

RIGHT - An injured man is led to awaiting ambulance after a bomb attackin the York Road area

THE TROUBLES

ABOVE LEFT - Belfast’s Oxford Streetafter a bomb attackFACING PAGETOP - An army photograph of theBarrack area of the New Lodge in NorthBelfast.BOTTOM - An army photograph of theUnity Flats complex.

the Army too agreed subject to RUCapproval. However the permissionto seal off the town was not forth-coming and Omagh’s Main Streetwas devastated by a bomb.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Armagh Prison protestA platoon of Gordon Highlanders,along with RUC personnel hasstood by during a disturbance atArmagh Prison. The trouble startedwhen sixty remand prisoners re-fused to return to their cells afteran exercise period. They were pro-testing against the punishment im-

posed on a prisoner for attacking amember of the prison staff. Theprisoners shouted abuse at armedsentries and after some time agreedto meet with the deputy governor.After the talks the prisoners re-turned to their cells. The protestlasted about one hour.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Laundry bombedA bomb containing between 15 and20 lbs of explosives has beenplanted at the Belfast Laundry onthe Springfield Road. The attackhappened just after 10.00am and the

bombers told the staff that they hada half hour before the bomb ex-ploded. The surrounding house andshops were evacuated as was anearby special care school. Aftertwo hours, Army experts made thedevice safe.

Wednesday 10th May 1972RUC man injuredAn RUC man was slightly injuredwhen around 10 youths stoned ajoint RUC-Army patrol who weresearching back yards in the Kash-mir Road area of Belfast.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Soldier wounded in BelfastA soldier in foot patrol with theKings Regiment also received agunshot wound when his patrol wasfired on in the Kashmir Road areaof Belfast.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Sniper attack at Divis FlatsFive shots have been fired at anArmy patrol as they moved in toinvestigate a burned out lorry atDivis Street. A sniper opened fromthe Divis Flats complex but therewere no casualties. Soon after mid-night three shots were heard in theDivis Flats area but the Army wasnot involved in this incident.

THE TROUBLES

THE TROUBLES

Wednesday 10th May 1972East Belfast attacksThere has been some small scaletrouble in East Belfast. A crowd ofyouths have broken into thepremises of a local furniture shop,as well as a television rental com-pany. Later in the evening the RUCreported that they were being stonedat Claremont Street in theWoodstock Road. A crowd of stonethrowing youths in Prim Avenuewas also dispersed by the Army.

Wednesday 10th May 1972UDR man shot in DungivenA member of the UDR has receiveda gunshot wound to the arm whenhis mobile patrol was ambushednear the town. The part time sol-dier returned fire but no hits wereclaimed.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Troops claim hits in Derry shoot-ingsTroops have claimed to have shottwo IRA men near the Bligh’s laneArmy post. An Army spokesmansaid that the gunman was seen tofall. In the second shooting whichoccurred just after 1.00 am troopssaid that they fired on an identifiedgunman and claimed a possible hit.There were several other shootingsin the city but there were no Armycasualties.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Transformer bombed in StrabaneAround 100 youths have stonedsoldiers after an explosion badlydamaged an electricity transformerat Melmont Road. Troops used rub-ber bullets to disperse the crowd,

however a half hour later an explo-sion was heard in the area. It isbelieved that it was a digger whichis used on the River Foyle drainagescheme.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Soldier’s book appealThe Army has used a four-ton truckto pick up about 2,000 new and oldbooks and Magazines from the

Pontypridd offices of a local Welshnewspaper. The books and maga-zines were collected after an appealto a Rhondda newspaper.

Wednesday 10th May 1972RUC border alertExtra police have been on duty inborder areas as people in the Re-public voted in the referendum onwhether or not to join the Common

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TOP - Bomb attack on Elliott’s Garage,University Street.BOTTOM - Members of the Official IRAon patrol in Turf Lodge

Market. It was feared that mem-bers of the Republican Movementfrom the North would stage dem-onstrations and sit ins at pollingbooths in border towns in protest atthe refusal of the southern govern-ment to allow them to vote. Bothwings of Sinn Féin claim thatNorthern Ireland citizens are enti-tled to vote because under the Éireconstitution they are also citizensof the Republic.Mr. Paddy Devlin SDLP MP tookabout 10,000 completed ballot pa-pers to Dublin. They were filled inby residents of the Falls Road areawho took part in a “mini referen-dum” conducted by the RepublicanClubs. Members of Sinn Fein in-tended to hand them to the clerk atthe pooling both at Rathgar, Dub-lin, where the Premier Mr. Lynchwas expected to cast his vote.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Shankill votesFor the second time in eight monthsShankill Ward voters have gone tothe polls to elect a new member toreplace Mr John McQuade on Bel-fast City Council. Mr. McQuadewas elected last September in a by-election but resigned both his coun-cil and Stormont seats in protestagainst direct rule. There are threecandidates in the race, Official Un-ionist, Unofficial Unionist and Con-stitution Party. The Official Union-ist candidate is 62-year-old, Mr

James Brown, a Shankill RoadChemist and a vice president ofShankill Unionist Association. Theindependent candidate is 29-year-old metal bonder, Mr. Hugh Smyth,who describes himself as a “tradi-tional unionist”. Mr. Smyth hasclose links with the DemocraticUnionist Party and DUP councillorFred Proctor is his election agent.Mr. David Robb, a 29-year-old

pump man at Belfast harbour isstanding for the Constitution Party.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Army attacks youths with toygunsA spokesman for the Gordon High-landers has warned about the risksinvolved when children and youngpeople are allowed to play with toyguns. The Gordon Highlanders are

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LEFT & FACING PAGE - IRA firebombattack on the Co-Op Department Store

stationed in Armagh. The warningfollows an incident at a local hous-ing estate when a 19-year-old youthwho suffers from Downs Syndromewas playing with a gun refused tostop when ordered to do so. AnArmy spokesman said that theyouth did not stop or put up hishands. The youth had the weapontucked under his jacket and whenhe made a sudden move as if todraw the gun a soldier knocked himdown with a rifle butt, breaking hisjaw. “With less restraint by his pa-trol the youth might have been shot”said an Army spokesman.

Wednesday 10th May 1972Courtaulds blastThe Provisional IRA have admittedresponsibility for the bombing ofCourtaulds’ factory at Carrickfergusin which one man died and £1 mil-lion worth of damage was caused.

Thursday 11th May 1972Soldier shot dead in BelfastA soldier on foot patrol has diedafter being shot in the throat in the

lower Falls area of Belfast. Thesoldier of the 3rd Battalion RoyalAnglian Regiment was part of a footpatrol in the Osman Street-SultanStreet area and was hit in the neckby a single high velocity bullet. AnArmy spokesman said he wasrushed to the Royal Victoria Hos-pital but died shortly afterwards.

The shot came from the directionof Servia Street and fire was notreturned. He is the second RoyalAnglian to have been shot deadsince the battalion took up duty inBelfast on 12th April.

Thursday 11th May 1972Girl is tarred and featheredA 15-year-old girl from TheodoreStreet, Belfast has been Tarred andfeathered by the IRA. It has alsobeen revealed that her older sisterwas also punished by the IRA a fewdays previously. The family havesaid that they don’t know the rea-sons for the attacks, however theIRA has alleged that she was a po-lice informer who was paid indrugs.

Thursday 11th May 1972IRA bombed Co-Op says securitychiefsSecurity Chiefs have pinned theblame on the IRA Provisionals forthe massive bomb attack on theBelfast Co-operative in York Street.The bomb caused at least £10 mil-lion damage and has put 750 jobsin jeopardy. Although the policeand Army experts are not yet cer-tain how the IRA managed to getthe 100 lb bomb into the building,several leads are being followed andforensic experts are carrying out adetailed examination of the scene.One of the warning calls made al-most an hour before the blast hasbeen traced to premises in ButlerStreet. Other calls were made froma public telephone kiosk at Madi-son Avenue off the Cavehill Road.Twenty six people have been takento hospital suffering from shock.

Thursday 11th May 1972New bombing offensiveNineteen people were injured andmore than £100,000 damage whenthe IRA mounted a daylight bomb-ing campaign in Belfast. Justtwenty hours after the IRA bomb atthe Co-op a blast caused £100,000worth of damage to the car distri-bution centre of Thompson Reid atStockman’s Lane. The blast causedextensive damage to the roofing ofthe steel structured building and toalmost 200 British Leyland cars.The explosion was followed nineminutes later by a massive blast inthe city centre when a hi-jacked van

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LEFT - Bomb attack in the centre ofOmagh

blew up in Linenhall Street West –a short distance from BroadcastingHouse.

Thursday 11th May 1972Bombing disrupts newspaperThe Irish News has failed to be pub-lished for the first time in its 116year old history. The paper will notappear tomorrow either because ofdamage to the adjacent Co-opera-tive building. A wall of the burnedout Co-op, at the rear of the IrishNews printing works has been de-clared unsafe and the managementhas decided that the vibrations fromthe papers printing machinerymight cause the wall to collapse.

Thursday 11th May 1972Portadown riotsTwelve RUC men were injured dur-ing rioting in Portadown. ThePortadown trouble started with astoning attack on a train taking lo-cal football supporters to a football

match at Windsor Park. As the trainpassed the Catholic Kilwilkie estateat Lurgan a barrage of missilesbroke 24 windows but no one wasinjured. When the supporters re-turned to Portadown a confrontationdeveloped with a Catholic crowd atObins Street tunnel area near therailway station. Rioting went onuntil midnight and barricades wereerected at Henry Street. About 200people were reported to be involvedon each side.A 400 strong Catholic crowd thenattacked police at Curran Street andshots were fired from the directionof the crowd. An RUC Land Roverwindow was smashed but it is notknown whether this was caused bythe shooting. Of the twelve RUCmen hurt, one had a suspected legfracture. Three arrests were made.

Thursday 11th May 1972Car bomb in CaledonA 50 lb car bomb has exploded in

the County Tyrone village ofCaledon. The bomb was carried tothe village in a blue Ford Angliawith a southern number plate andwhen it exploded it caused wide-spread damage. Mid Armagh MPMr. James Strong and his father SirNorman Strong, who live close byat Tynan arrived soon after at theexplosion to help. The RUC areanxious to interview two youngmen who left a parked car at thescene and boarded a bus in the vil-lage before the blast.

Thursday 11th May 1972Transformer bombedA bomb planted at a electricitytransformer at Screggan explodedat around 1.30 am causing a black-out at Dungiven . No one was in-jured in the blast.

Thursday 11th May 1972Bar attacked in BelfastIn Belfast Kelly’s Bar on the Up-per Springfield Road was the tar-get for two single shots and a burstof automatic fire. No one was in-jured in the attack.

Thursday 11th May 1972Belfast sniper attackThe Amy has come under fire inAlbert Street, Belfast. Two shotswere fired at them. Fire was re-turned but no hits were reported.

Thursday 11th May 1972Four gunmen shot in Derry sayArmyThe Army in Derry has said that

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four gunmen were seen to be hitduring 48 separate shooting inci-dents over a three hour period. Tengunmen are estimated to have beeninvolved. The Army returned fireon 30 occasions but there were noArmy casualties.

Thursday 11th May 1972Co-op still smoulderingSixteen hours after bombs explodedat Belfast’s Co-op the building isstill smouldering. The fire whichhas caused millions of poundsworth of damage to goods and prop-erty was started by a 100 lb bombwhich was planted on the secondfloor just before 5.00 pm. At theheight of the blaze, nearly 70 fire-men with 11 appliances were fight-ing the flames. Two warnings hadbeen received about a bomb in thebuilding but a search by the secu-rity forces revealed nothing. At the

time no one could understand howthere could be a bomb in the build-ing because it had been closed allday.

Thursday 11th May 197222,000 withhold ratesAccording to the Under Secretaryof State for Northern Ireland, MrDavid Howell, there are 22,000people withholding payment of rentand rates on the 24th March.

Thursday 11th May 1972Magilligan hunger strike calledoffA hunger strike by prisoners atMagilligan Camp has ended, ac-cording to a Ministry of Home Af-fairs spokesman. Around 30 pris-oners had been refusing food sinceMonday but have now decided tocall it off. It is understood that theircomplaints are being looked into by

officials. The men, who were alltransferred to Magilligan fromCrumlin Road jail to try and helprelieve over-crowding at the prison,were all complaining about themove. In a statement purporting tocome from “loyalist” prisoners atMagilligan they complained thatthey had to use public transport andwere subject to restrictions duringtheir visits. The prisoners were allserving short term sentences.

Thursday 11th May 1972Shots fired at Army patrolThree high velocity shots have beenfired at a patrol of the 1st KingsRegiment on patrol at the junctionof Divismore Crescent andSpringfield Road. There were nomilitary casualties and fire was notreturned.

Thursday 11th May 1972New controls to stop “homemade” bombsNew controls may be imposed inan attempt to stop the manufactureof home made explosives. The Sec-retary of State, Mr. Whitelaw is be-lieved to be about to make a state-ment concerning the matter to theCommons at Westminster. It islikely to mean that restrictions willbe placed on the sale of variouschemical substances that are freelyavailable and can be used as bombcomponents. Security authoritieshave been concerned that the bomb-ers may be turning to the use of“weed-killer” and other home-madeexplosives to supplement their gel-ignite supplies.

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TOP - Official IRA members search acar in Turf LodgeMIDDLE - Members of the UDA onpatrol on the Shankill RoadBOTTOM - Loyalist road block acrossAgnes Street

Thursday 11th May 1972Security is “feeble and ineffec-tive” says MayorThe Lord Mayor of Belfast SirJoseph Cairns has made a strongattack on the present policies of theBritish Premier, Mr Edward Heathand the Secretary of State Mr.Whitelaw. He has described thepresent policy as being weak andineffective.

Thursday 11th May 1972Kidnapped man shot in legsA South Armagh man who was kid-napped from Belleek, nearNewtownhamilton has been foundshot in both legs, tarred and feath-ered at Ballsmills, Crossmaglen. Itis believed that the armed men whokidnapped him, drove him acrossthe border for interrogation beforeshooting him. The reason for hisabduction is not known,

Thursday 11th May 1972Mourne MP goes to jail over cen-sus formMr James O’Reilly, the NationalistMP for Mourne has been jailed forthe non payment of a £16 censusform fine. Fellow party memberssaid that the decision by MrO’Reilly , a father of 11 children,to refuse to pay the fine was a per-sonal one and it was done withoutconsulting his colleagues.

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Thursday 11th May 1972Shankill election resultsThe Independent Unionist candi-date, 29-year-old Mr. Hugh Smythhas won the Shankill by-election forBelfast City Council. He had amajority of 867 over the OfficialUnionist candidateThe details are:

H. Smyth 4036J. Brown 3169D. Robb 646Majority 867Electorate 22,858Mr. Smyth, who describes himselfas a traditional unionist said that theelection showed that a party ticketwas no longer enough to win in the

Shankill. “It’s no longer sufficientto put on a Unionist label. You haveto be a loyalist as well as Union-ist.” Although Mr Smyth stood asan independent he had the completebacking of the Democratic Union-ist Party.

Thursday 11th May 1972Ulster Bomb Victim FundThe committee of the Ulster BombVictims Fund has already distrib-uted £7,000, about £5,000 of whichhas gone to badly injured victimsof the Abercorn bombing. The fundnow totals £22,000, including the£10,000 donation made to the fundby the British Government.

Friday 12th May 1972Belfast shootingsIn the 24 hours period up until8.00am, the Army in Belfast re-ported 23 shooting incidents in thecity. Eleven of these were directedat the security forces. In these at-tacks one soldier was shot dead andanother six were injured. The Armyreturned fire on five occasions andclaimed hits on two gunmen.

Friday 12th May 1972NLF gunmen were drunk saysProvisionalsA statement claiming that shootingincidents in Derry were carried outby Official IRA volunteers underthe influence of drink has been is-sued by the Provisional IRA in thecity. Five Army posts were the ob-ject of the gunmen’s attacks and theProvisional IRA statement said thecommand staff deplored the fact

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LEFT - Bomb attack on Main Street,MagheraFACING PAGE - IRA bomb attack onThompson Reid’s storage depot,Boucher Road

that members of what they de-scribed as the “national liberationfront” participated in these purpose-less attacks and caused great con-cern among residents of the areas.The Official IRA rejected the alle-gations that they were under theinfluence of drink during thegunbattle. They claimed that theyreceived information that a mem-ber of the Provisional Alliance waspinned down by Army fire in theupper area of Beechwood Avenueand they went to his assistance. AnArmy spokesman described theshooting “as normal only heavier.”“It was disciplined and accurate. Ifa man is drunk he is incapable offiring small arms,” the statementadded.

Friday 12th May 1972Soldier shot dead in BelfastThe 18-year-soldier who was shotdead in Belfast’s Lower Falls area

has been named as Private JohnBollard of the Royal Anglian Regi-ment.

Friday 12th May 1972Six soldiers shot overnightSix soldiers have been shot as theyinvestigated two hi-jacked buseswhich had been set on fire in theWhiterock Road area of Belfast.

The soldiers, all members of the 1st

Kings Regiment came under auto-matic fire as they approached thebuses. An Army spokesman saidthat the shots came from the direc-tion of Ardmonagh gardens-Norglen Parade. He said that noneof the soldiers were seriously in-jured and other members of theArmy party fired back at the gun-men but did not claim any hits.

Around the same time, another pa-trol of the same regiment spotted a

gunman in Norglen Parade. Theyopened fire and claimed to have hitthe man.

Friday 12th May 1972Youth shot in off-licenceAn 18-year-old youth, who workedin an off-licence on the WoodstockRoad, and who is the son of the li-censee, was shot in the hand at hisplace of work. The RUC, in a state-ment have said that the man hadbeen working in the Northern WineStore when a woman came in andasked him the time. The girl leftbut a few minutes later a youth en-tered and asked the same question.The youth then drew a .22 pistolfrom his pocket and fired at leasttwo shots hitting the man once,however, he was not seriously in-jured.

Friday 12th May 1972RUC man injured in PortadownAn RUC man has received a leginjury during brief crowd troublewhich flared up in Portadown ataround 10.00 pm. The policemanwas struck by a stone. Four arrestswere made.

Friday 12th May 1972Buses destroyed at SwatraghThree buses have been burned af-ter masked raiders arrived at theDesmond shirt factory in Swatragh

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just as employees were leaving.The men armed with a Thompsonsubmachine gun and a revolversprinkled the buses with petrol be-fore setting them alight.

Friday 12th May 1972Dungiven bomb alertA stolen car has been blown up inDungiven by an Army bomb expertbut it did not contain any explo-sives.

Friday 12th May 1972EEC election results seen as re-jection of IRAThe South’s landslide vote in favourof joining the Common Market isbeing interpreted as a massive re-jection of both wings of the Repub-lican Movement. The Provisionaland Official Sinn Fein organisationshave carried out extensive cam-paigns urging people to vote “No”to Europe. But the electorate has

voted by a majority of 5-1 in favourof entry. The total poll was over71%. There were 1,041,890 votesin favour of entry and 211,891against. Asked if he now thoughthe had a clear mandate for dealingwith the IRA, Mr. Jack Lynch, IrishPremier said: “We always had amandate to deal with the IRA butperhaps this emphasises it.”

Friday 12th May 1972Consultants to survey ArdoyneA firm of consultants has been ap-pointed to carryout a survey of theFarringdon Gardens area of Belfastwhere many houses were burnedout during the violence followinginternment. The appointment fol-lows discussions between theArdoyne Housing Committee andthe Northern Ireland Housing Ex-ecutive. The firm will also preparea report on the environmental re-quirements of Farringdon Gardens,Cranbrook Gardens and VelshedaPark.

Friday 12th May 1972Co-op workers may claim compensationA claim for compensation under theMalicious Injuries Act may bebrought against Belfast Corporationby a trade union on behalf of the750 Co-op employees who havebeen made idle following Wednes-day’s bomb attack on the SocietiesYork Street Store. Speaking aboutthe bomb attack a union official saidthat the union is making emergencyprovision for the payment of unem-ployment benefit costing about£1,000 a week to the unemployedCo-op workers. The general man-ager of the Belfast Co-operativeSociety has said that the society in-tend to immediately move all theoffice section from the Orpheusbuilding to make way for extra salesspace. He also said that additionaloffice space would have to be foundand that they were now seeking ac-commodation elsewhere in Belfast.He also pointed out that a compu-ter valued at £150,000 was de-stroyed in the bomb attack.

THE TROUBLES

TOP LEFT - Bomb attack on the Treas-ure Island Amusement Arcade, CastleStreetLEFT - Arms found by the ParachuteRegiment in the New Lodge areaFACING PAGE - Bomb attack on theDevonshire Stitching Company,Rydalmere Street

Friday 12th May 1972Vanguard Threat from YoungUnionistMr James Rodgers, Secretary ofBelfast Young Unionists, and amember of the Vanguard executive,has told a Vanguard meeting in

Donegal Pass, Belfast that unlessMr. Whitelaw took quick actionagainst no-go areas there was a realpossibility of loyalists setting up“something similar”. He claimedthat the Vanguard Movement hadmore than 400,000 members.

Friday 12th May 1972Andersonstown shootingThe Army believe they have shot agunman in Andersonstown. Fivehigh velocity shots were fired at amobile patrol in Bingnian Drivefrom the direction of South Green.Local people prevented the troopsfrom getting to the scene but lateran ambulance was seen in the area.Ambulance control in Belfast saidthey received no calls to the area.

Friday 12th May 1972Fewer recruits for UDRAccording to the Under Secretaryof State for the Army, Mr. GeoffreyJohnston Smith, applications to jointhe UDR in January, February,March and April were 757, 748, 584and 474. In a Commons writtenreply Mr Rafton Pounder (SouthBelfast) was told that applicationsfrom Catholics for each month rep-resented 1.7%, 0.7%, 1.2% and3.4% of the figures. Mr. Pounderpointed out that since the introduc-tion of direct rule there has been afall in applications to join the UDR.

Friday 12th May 1972Garage bombedA bomb left by armed men atElliott’s garage in University Street,Belfast has exploded. The bombhas caused extensive damage to theinterior of the premises.

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Friday 12th May 1972RUC plan recruitment driveThere is to be more RUC recruit-ment advertising and publicity.During April 41 recruits enrolled inthe RUC and 79 in the RUC Re-serve, against 42 and 106 duringMarch.

The recruits had applied before thesuspension of the Northern IrelandGovernment on the 30th March.

Friday 12th May 1972Ulster Protestant Volunteers rallyThe Larne branch of the Ulster Prot-estant Volunteers has organised arally for Saturday 13th May, in pro-test against the existence of no-goareas. Guest speakers will be Rev.William McCrea and councillorDavid Neill. The rally is to be heldin Broadway, Larne.

Friday 12th May 1972Castle Street bombA bomb has exploded at the Treas-ure Island amusement arcade inCastle Street. No injuries have beenreported.

Saturday 13th May 1972CS gas used on raidersFour men have been arrested by theRUC after troops fired CS gas intoa Belfast Store. At around 12.30pmthe RUC received a call allegingthat gunmen were attempting t robthe Co-op store in Ainsworth Av-enue off the Springfield Road. TwoRUC detectives rushed to the scene,which is about half a mile fromSpringfield Road RUC barracks.The gunmen inside the store heldup customers and staff. Everyoneentering the store was also held upand made to lie on the floor. Oneof the RUC men was taken hostage

but his colleague managed to res-cue him. A third RUC man, be-lieved to be a member of SpecialBranch, was fired at as he tried toenter the shop through a side door.One bullet went through his jacketbut he was unhurt. RUC men andsoldiers of the 1st battalion the KingsRegiment converged on the store.As the siege progressed soldiersthrew CS gas into the store and thegunmen were arrested. The RUCtook possession of a 9mm pistol, a.45 revolver and a .38 revolver.

Saturday 13th May 1972Man shot dead in AndersonstownA man named by the RUC as JosephMcVeigh, aged 44, of LadybrookPark has been shot dead in theAndersonstown area of West Bel-fast. Four other men were woundedin the attack. The men were all shotfrom a passing car which drove up

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Riverdale Park South just beforemidnight. After the shooting thegunmen’s car breaked to a halt,turned hurriedly and sped off in theLisburn Road direction. There isno apparent motive for the attack.

Saturday 13th May 1972IRA open cut price shopsThe Official IRA have opened theirown shops in Derry’s no-go areasof Creggan and Bogside. Theshops, which are described as ‘Co-operatives’, are at Meenan Square,off Lecky Road on Creggan estate;and in the Rosemount area. TheCreggan shop has been operatingfor several weeks and the othershave just opened. A spokesman hassaid that both shops sold their en-tire stock, valued at about £500 inless than two hours. The spokes-man said that the stock was bothpurchased and sold at cost price,there was no profit. He said thatthe shops show that socialismworks in practice in local areas.

Saturday 13th May 1972Bomb explodes at paint storeFiremen have managed to avert amassive explosion after a bombdemolished the front part of a paintshop in the Markets area of Belfast.After the blast at the premises ofEdmunds and Hill in HamiltonStreet, a fire broke out and therewere fears that 20,000 lbs of cellu-lose paint stored at the rear of thepremises would ignite causing ahuge explosion. Firemen managedto fight their way through thicksmoke caused by burning paint anddoused the flames. This is the thirdtime the premises have been at-

tacked and as on previous occasionsthe bombers made off into thenearby Markets area.

Saturday 13th May 1972Youth shot in North BelfastIn Belfast there were clashes be-tween opposing factions in theOldpark and “the stumps” area ofDuncairn Gardens. In the Duncairnclashes a 20-year-old Protestantfrom North Queen Street was shotin the ankle. An RUC spokesmansaid that during the rioting a youthappeared from the Catholic HillmanStreet side and fired six shots. Fiveof the shots struck a nearby chipshop and the sixth struck the manas he was running away from thescene. He was not seriously injured.

Saturday 13th May 1972Man shot in AndersonstownAn 18-year-old youth fromEdenmore Drive in Belfast has beenadmitted to hospital after being shotin the arm in Slieve Gallion Drive.The RUC believe he was shot as hewas walking away from a taxi.

Saturday 13th May 1972Belfast man receives fracturedskullA 35-year-old man has been de-tained in hospital with a fracturedskull after youths attacked his carat Springfield Road-West CircularRoad. The RUC say the car wasstopped by six men who threwstones at the vehicle. The man wasstruck on the head by a brick andrushed to the Royal Victoria Hos-pital where his condition was de-scribed as ill.

Saturday 13th May 1972Rubber bullets firedThe army have fired rubber bulletsat stone throwing youths in theFinaghy Road North-Ladybrookareas. No injuries have been re-ported.

Saturday 13th May 1972Army attacked in BelfastEight high velocity shots have beenfired at a mobile patrol at GlenRoad-Shaw’s Road. Fire was re-turned but no hits were claimed.A number of shots have also beenfired at an Army post in a timberyard on the Springfield Road fromdifferent directions but there wereno casualties.In the Riverdale Gardens area ofBelfast a nail bomb was thrown atan Army personnel carrier contain-ing a joint military-police patrol.Later the same patrol saw a youthwith a pistol get into a car at NavanGreen. One of the soldiers fired atthe car. The windscreen was shat-tered but the youth escaped.Four shots have been fired towardsUnity Flats from a car travelling upthe Shankill Road but there were nocasualties.

Saturday 13th May 1972Houses petrol bombedThree petrol bombs were throwninto a house occupied by a Catho-lic family at Ardenvohr Street in theWoodstock area but the flames wereextinguished by neighbours and lit-tle damage was caused.

Saturday 13th May 1972Lurgan railway station bombedShortly after midnight an explosion

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caused extensive damage to LurganRailway Station. The bomb wasplaced on a platform and a smallparcel office was damaged Ananonymous telephone warning wasgiven and the RUC cleared the areabefore the blast. It is estimated thatthe bomb contained 10lb of explo-sives.

Saturday 13th May 1972600 shots fired at troops in DerryThe Army in Derry have claimedthat they shot three gunmen duringbattles in the city. Around 600 shotswere fired at troops during the en-gagements. The first of the ex-changes began at 1.09 am and lastedfor 36 minutes. Around 300 roundswere fired at the Rosemount Armypost from the area of St Joseph’sand St. Eugene’s schools. TheArmy returned fire at the estimatedeight gunmen and claimed the threehits. Later at 4.00 am between 200and 250 shots were fired at theRosemount complex by an esti-mated five or six gunmen.

Saturday 13th May 1972Mini riot in Crumlin Road jailBelfast prison staff are trying to dis-cover what caused a mini riot at thejail when prisoners wrecked a rec-reation hall. The disturbances atthe prison in Crumlin Road beganwhen a group of young prisonersbarricaded themselves in the hall.Troops who are normally on dutyat the jail stood by in riot gear butaccording to an Army spokesmanthey were not needed. The prison-ers, who were mostly under the ageof 21, rioted and wrecked furnitureand other fittings in the hall. Sev-

eral of them were slightly injured.The reason for the disturbances atthe jail is not known.

Saturday 13th May 1972Loyalist rally in TyroneLoyalists are to march and rally atFivemiletown, Tyrone to protest atthe removal of the British flag fromthe main street by the British Army.Speakers will include the Rev IvanFoster of the Free PresbyterianChurch.

Saturday 13th May 1972Ammunition find at DonaghmoreApproximately 3,000 rounds ofammunition have been discoveredduring a joint Army-RUC search.They were in a bag which was hid-den in a turf bank at Donaghmore,County Tyrone.

Saturday 13th May 1972Garda officer questioned afterexplosives raidA civic guard and two other menhave been detained in Dubin’sBridewell Prison after they werearrested during a series of swoopsby Special Branch detectives. Sixmen were arrested in raids on thehouses of known IRA sympathis-ers in Dublin and Kildare but fourwere later released.The civic guard, who is attached tothe staff of the depot in PheonixPark and the other two men, werequestioned in connect ion withFebruary’s raid on the ESB instal-lation at Turlough Hill, CountyWicklow. More than 1,400lbs ofexplosives were stolen in the raid.

Saturday 13th May 1972IRA Chief of Staff found notguiltyAfter a trial lasting two days a juryin the Central Criminal Court inDublin found Cathal Goulding,Chief of Staff of the Official IRAwas not guilty on charges of incite-ment. Mr. McBride defending saidin the course of his address to thejury that on occasions such as fu-nerals, persons tended to be emo-tional and to use extreme language.It was doubtful that it could be re-garded as anything more than rhe-torical oratory, praising people whohad died and justifying their actions.

Monday 15th May 1972Explosion at Kelly’s BarJust after 5.00 pm a car explodedin a parked car outside Kelly’s Baron the Whiterock-Springfield roadjunction. At the time of the nowarning explosion the bar wascrowded with customers watchingthe England-Germany footballmatch on television. Controversysurrounds who was responsible forthe blast. Local people maintain itwas the work of protestant extrem-ists but soldiers who were on dutyat an observation post in theBlackmountain area report seeingthe car park outside. Two men en-tered the bar and a few minutes laterwent to return to the car. Accord-ing to the Army witness, theyseemed to change their minds,stopped and walked away. Thebomb exploded.Troops arriving at the scene werethen attacked by a crowd of severalhundred local people. Within a

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BELOW - Members of the UDA armedwith pick axe handles at a ShankillRoad barricadeFACING PAGE - UDA parade inUpper North Street

short time the first shots rang out.No one knows where they camefrom but within minute’s one manwas dead and gunfire could beheard throughout the area. Ambu-lances had to brave a hail of bulletsto ferry the wounded to hospital.The RUC have said that 63 peoplewere taken from the bar, includinga 50-year-old man who died of gun-shot wounds. Forty-six people werelater discharged but many remainin hospital.

Monday 15th May 1972Youth shot dead at SpringmartinAccording to an Army officer therewere 35 separate shooting incidentsin the area alone on Saturday night.The Army have said that they arecertain that, at one stage, fire wasdirected at Henry Taggart post fromSpringmartin Road.

The Springmartin area is normallydescribed as Protestant, although aconsiderable number of Catholic

families live there. Ballymurphypeople insist that they were beingfired at by Protestant extremists butthe Army and RUC have not iden-tified who was responsible forshooting from the estate. Later inthe evening five men were arrestedin Springmartin, and three Steyerrifles and over 1,000 rounds of am-munition were seized.

Troops claimed hits on two gun-men, one who was seen inSpringmartin and the other seen inSpringfield Avenue. One of themen died later in hospital

Monday 15th May 1972Soldier shot dead in BelfastA 22-year-old soldier has been shotdead in Belfast. The soldier, Cor-poral Alan Buckley of the KingsRegiment, was a member of a mili-tary patrol which came under firenear Kelly’s Bar. A second mem-ber of the patrol received a slightgunshot wound.

Monday 15th May 1972Man and youth shot dead inBallymurphyA 62-year-old woman has beenrushed to hospital after being struckby a bullet and soon after the bod-ies of a 32-year-old man and a youthwere found with gunshot woundsin New Barnsley Crescent. In theshooting that followed two men andtwo youths were also taken to hos-pital suffering from gunshotwounds.

Monday 15th May 1972Army set up sniper positions on mountainIn the wake of the bomb attack atKelly’s Bar on Belfast’s WhiterockRoad and the subsequent gun bat-tles which raged in the Springmartinand Ballymurphy areas troops haveset sniper positions and observationposts on the Black Mountain.

THE TROUBLES

Monday 15th May 1972Child shot dead in BelfastA 13-year-old girl has been shotdead in the Ballymurphy area ofBelfast. The girl, named as MarthaCampbell, was shot dead as shewalked along Springhill Avenue.She was taken the Royal VictoriaHospital but she was dead on ar-rival.

Monday 15th May 1972Van driver shotA Kennedy’s bread van was hi-jacked at West Circular Road onSunday along with its 23-year-olddriver. It was later found atWestrock Drive where the driverwas found to have a gunshot woundto the head. He was taken to theRoyal Victoria Hospital where heis described as being “very seri-ously ill.”

Monday 15th May 1972East Belfast shootingA number of shots have been firedfrom the direction of Seaforde

Street towards Thistle Street wherea number of Protestants were stand-ing. There were no injuries but aparked car had its windscreensmashed.

Monday 15th May 1972Communist Party attackedThe headquarters of the CommunistParty at Albertbridge Road has beenextensively damaged by a firewhich also damaged an off-licencenext door. Both fires are believedto have been started maliciously.

Monday 15th May 1972Shots fired at taxiTwo passengers in a taxi have beeninjured when the vehicle in whichthey were travelling came under firefrom the direction of the NewLodge Road. The taxi had just leftoff a fare at the junction of DuncairnGardens and Edlingham Street.One of the men was detained inhospital with a bullet wound to theknee.

Monday 15th May 1972Nail bomb attack on houseA nail bomb as been thrown at ahouse in Roden Street. Troops ar-riving on the scene said 45 shotswere directed at them but no casu-alties were reported.

Monday 15th May 1972Women treated for shockTwo women have been treated forshock in hospital after shots weredirected at their car in theGrosvenor Road area of Belfast.

Monday 15th May 1972High velocity shots fired inOldpark areaFive high velocity shots have beenfired from Ballymoney Street-Oldpark Road at troops. The Armyreturned one shot but did not claima hit. Later in the evening anotherburst of fire was directed towardstroops in the same area. Elevenshots were fired by the soldiers butno one was injured.

THE TROUBLES

LEFT & BELOW - Members of theUDA on patrol in the Woodvale area ofWest BelfastFACING PAGE - Official IRA post inthe Creggan area of Derry

Monday 15th May 1972Derry IRA man shot deadA 19-year-old youth has died froma gunshot wound and a secondyouth is believed to have beenwounded in shooting incidents inDerry late on Saturday afternoon.The dead youth was named as JohnStarrs of Hamilton Street, who wasdescribed in a statement by the Pro-visional IRA as a member of the

Brandywell section of the 1st Bat-talion the Derry Command. Hedied two hours after being admit-ted to hospital.The Army said that two shots werefired by a patrol at two gunmen nearthe junction of William Street andChamberlain Street and two hitswere claimed. The Provisionalssaid that while engaging BritishForces their unit was ambushed

from behind and one member, Vol-unteer John Starrs, was shot. An-other member made a very heroricattempt to save his comrade but thisvolunteer was also shot while go-ing to his aid. The statement addedthat the second man was woundedin the arm and was given first aidin the Bogside and was now com-fortable.

Monday 15th May 1972Motorway re-opensThe M1 motorway between Lisburnand Belfast has been re-opened totraffic after being closed from Sun-day afternoon. Youths had stonedcars at the Donegal Road end of theMotorway around lunchtime on

THE TROUBLES

Sunday and the RUC decided toclose it until the situation quietened.

Monday 15th May 1972Pipe bomb defusedAn Army explosives expert has de-fused a pipe bomb found outside ashop in Main Street Portglenone.

Monday 15th May 1972Lurgan explosionGelignite which was concealed inan old boiler has exploded in alaneway at Kellmore, near Lurgan.No damage was caused.

Monday 15th May 1972Weekend dead identifiedNine people, including a soldierdied during the weekend and theRUC have identified all but one ofthe victims, the young man founddead, off the Shankill Road.The victims are:

IRA Volunteer, John Starrs, aged 19,of Hamilton Street, Derry who diedduring a gun battle in the city.Thomas McIlroy, aged 50, ofRiverdale Park, Andersonstown,who was shot at Kelly’s Bar.16-year-old Michael Magee ofSpringfield Road and RobertMcMullan of Moyard Parade whowere both found shot at NewBarnsley Crescent.Mr Joseph McVeigh, aged 44, ofLadybrook Park was shot deadearly on Saturday evening.John Pedlow, a 17-year-old Protes-tant, of Black Mountain Parade,died from gunshot wounds to theabdomen. A second youth is seri-ously ill in hospital after beingwounded in the same incident.Martha Campbell, of BallymurphyRoad also died fro gunshot wounds.She was 13-years-old.The soldier who died was 23-year-old Lance Corporal Alan Buckley

of the 1st Battalion the Kings Regi-ment, who was from NewcastleUpon Tyne.

Monday 15th May 1972Mass attack by IRA on Loyalistareas predictedA resurgence of the majority in Ul-ster and a “mass attack” by the IRAon Loyalist areas have been fore-cast by Young Unionist Mr. JamesRodgers. Addressing an open airrally at Magherafelt, Mr. Rodgers,a member of the executive claimedthat the Secretary of State, Mr.Whitelaw was having “tremendousdifficulty getting Protestants toserve on his commission” and hewarned “Any Protestant who serveson this commission will be regardedas a traitor. We in Vanguard intendto embarrass those who are selectedfor it, in every way possible. Wewill make it so hot for them theywill have to resign from it.”

THE TROUBLES

TOP LEFT - Civilians take cover dur-ing a gun battle in the Ballymurphyarea.LEFT - The Rev. William McCrea withmembers of the Larne branch of theUlster Protestant VolunteersFACING PAGE - Bomb attack onKelly’s Bar, Whiterock Road

Monday 15th May 1972Portadown bombedScores of premises in Portadown’stown centre and in adjoining streetswere undergoing repair after Sun-day’s car bomb which exploded inThomas Street. The bomb, esti-mated to have been between 30 and50lbs of explosives was left in aparked mini car, near the intersec-tion of Market Street and HighStreet. A telephone message wasmade to the RUC and the bombexploded twenty minutes later.

Monday 15th May 1972Released internees are bombingBelfast says CraigMr William Craig, MP, addressinga Vanguard rally in Magherafelt, hassaid that e has evidence that anumber of men, who have been re-leased from internment by Mr.Whitelaw, were taking part inbombings in Belfast. Mr Craig as-serted that there were now moregunmen in Andersonstown thanthere was twelve months ago andhe also claimed that there was abuild up of gunmen across the bor-

der, particularly in County Mona-ghan. At the rally he warned theHeath Government that if they didnot rally a force to defeat the en-emy then Vanguard would have todo so themselves.

Monday 15th May 1972Shankill victim identifiedThe RUC have identified the youngman who was found shot dead onwaste ground off the Shankill Roadearly on Sunday morning. But theyhave not released his name untilrelatives have been informed. Theman, who was shot through thehead, was found at Hopeton Street.There are reports that the man hadbeen beaten up and his hands badlysmashed but the RUC were unableto confirm this. It is not known ifhe was shot where his body wasfound.

Monday 15th May 1972Dungannon traffic ban opposedby tradersThe parking ban in Dungannontown centre has been discussed at aspecial meeting of traders. Themeeting expressed dissatisfactionwith the council-police decisionthat the ban must remain in the in-terests of public safety, and it wasagreed to continue to press for freeflow of traffic with attended park-ing in Market Square. It was de-

THE TROUBLES

cided to circulate a petition aroundall the traders and present the sig-natures to the local RUC Chief In-spector. If the RUC did not respondto the traders’ views then a meet-ing would be sought with Mr.Whitelaw.

Monday 15th May 1972Riot at Millisle BorstalA riot in the North’s biggest Bor-stal at Millisle, County Down hasended after an hour and a half. Atone stage 35 boys climbed onto theroof and hurled slates at staff. Ear-lier they caused extensive damageto the inside of the main building.It is thought that the disturbancemay be connected with similar dis-turbances at Crumlin Road Prison.

Monday 15th May 1972RUC jubileeIt is understood that a large numberof RUC men are not happy about ascheme which has been set up bythe Chief Constable to celebrate theRUC’s Golden Jubilee in June. Thecommittee, appointed by the ChiefConstable to oversee the celebra-

tions, has recommended that mem-bers of the force should donate oneday’s pay to a community fund tobenefit youth. It is understood thatlarge numbers of RUC men are re-fusing to return the consent formallowing the money to be deductedfrom their wages. A spokesman atRUC headquarters has said that thescheme is entirely voluntary andthat it was up to each individual

member of the force to decide whathe wants to do.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Maidstone escaper caughtThe second of seven men who es-caped from the prison ship Maid-stone in January has been recap-tured in Belfast. He man, ThomasJoseph Kane, aged 25, was caughtin the Andrsonstown area by theArmy on Sunday. He will appearin court charged with escaping fromcustody.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Bomb destroys Derry paint storeThe premises of a wholesale wall-paper and paint company in Derryhave been destroyed by fire after abomb blast. The three storey build-ing in Gt. James Street, owned bythe Walpamur Company, has beenthe bombers target on two previousoccasions.

THE TROUBLES

Tuesday 16th May 1972Attempt to set up no go areaTroops have removed vehicles par-tially blocking Butler Street in Bel-fast’s Ardoyne area. They had beenplaced across the junctions with theCrumlin Road and Flax Street in anattempt to create a no go area.There are unconfirmed reports thatIRA gunmen had been seen walk-ing openly in broad daylight. AnArmy spokesman said that they be-lieved that this was “an attempt bythe IRA to copy the tactics em-ployed by the Protestants inWoodvale at the weekend.” Thevehicles which were hijacked arebeing held at Flax Street Army bar-racks awaiting collection by theirowners.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Shots fired in AndersonstownFive automatic shots have beenfired at an Army patrol as it enteredRamoan Gardens in theAndersonstown area of Belfast.The shots were fired from the di-rection of the Glen Road but no onewas injured.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Keady shootingTroops have come under fire fromacross the border near Keady butthere are no reports of any injuries.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Father and son shot in own homeA Catholic father and son have been

shot after gunmen entered theirhome in the Woodstock area ofBelfast.The 62-year-old father of six andhis 14-year-old son were bothwounded in the legs and thighswhen two gunmen entered theirKillowen Street home. The menmade off in a white Ford Cortina.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Sandy Row pub bombedA bomb has exploded in a car out-side the Bluebell Bar on Belfast’sSandy Row. The bomb, whichcaused extensive damage explodedaround 7.30 pm in a Morris car. AnRUC spokesman said that no warn-ing was given. Seventeen peoplewere treated in hospital.

In the wake of the explosion localyouths went on the rampage andsmashed windows in several shopsas well as becoming hostile to pressmen at the scene of the explosion.Windows were broken in publichouses at Bradbury Place and Uni-versity Road. The Hamill Hotel,where many foreign journalists staywas attacked as was Queens Uni-versity’s Students’ Union.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Pipe bomb attackA pipe bomb has caused minordamage when it exploded at a houseat Tullyward Way, Cregagh, duringthe night.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Rival crowds clashRival crowds have again clashed inboth the Oldpark and Donegal Roadarea of Belfast. The RUC have saidthat around 300 people were in-volved in the Oldpark clasheswhich occurred in the Bone area.And for a time rival crowds stonedeach other at Glenmachen Street onthe Donegal Road. An attempt wasalso made to burn down a book-maker’s premises in Meridi Street.

Tuesday 16th May 1972UDR checkpoint attackedA shot has been fired at a UDRcheckpoint on Finaghy Road North.There were no casualties and firewas not returned.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Soldier shotA 28-year-old soldier Lance Corpo-ral John Henry Hillman, a member

RIGHT - Fire bomb attack at Edmundsand Hill paint store in Hamilton Street

THE TROUBLES

of the Royal Regiment of Wales hasbeen shot and seriously woundedduring a sniper attack in theArdoyne area of Belfast. The sol-dier had been on duty in an obser-vation post in Crumlin Street at thetime of the shooting.

Tuesday 16th May 197238 shootings in BelfastThe Army has reported that in thepast 24 hours, there have been 38shooting incidents in the Belfastarea. It is estimated at aroundtwenty of these did not involve thesecurity forces.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Bomb disposal expert attacked inLurganA shot has been fired at an Armybomb disposal expert as he moved

in to inspect a hi-jacked car whichhad been abandoned on the northbound carriageway of the M1 atKilmore. Hew was not injured andthe car was not found to contain anyexplosives. The vehicle had beenhi-jacked earlier at Silverwood.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Shots fired at BorderAround 70 shots have been firedacross the border outside Strabaneat a passing military patrol. Thepatrol returned fire but on one wasinjured.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Ammunition findTroops have found a total of 130rounds of .303 ammunition in plas-tic bags in two separate finds inAughnacloy.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Troops attacked at HannahstownFour shots have been fired at troopswho were on duty at an electricitysub-station at Hannahstown. Therewere no casualties

Tuesday 16th May 1972Armoured vehicles attacked inDerrySoldiers in two armoured vehicleshave escaped serious injury when abomb in a parked van exploded asthey were passing on the mainBuncrana Road

Tuesday 16th May 1972Post Office vehicle explodesA Post Office telephone van whichwas parked outside the gates ofGransha Hospital on the mainDerry-Limavady road has ex-ploded. Three people, who were ina passing car, were taken to hospi-tal for treatment for minor injuries.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Nail bomb attackA nail Bomb has been thrown attroops in Lepper Street in the NewLodge area of Belfast. No one wasinjured in the attack.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Post office raidRaids have taken £10,000 during araid on a Derry sorting office at theweekend. The Post Office has ad-vised people who posted mail tocheck if it was received.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Gardai seize armsRaids by Special Branch in theMunster area has resulted in a small

THE TROUBLES

LEFT - Protestant workers fromMackies Factory on the SpringfieldRoad on their way from a Loyalist rallyat the Belfast City Hall.FACING PAGE - Car bomb attack inSandy Row.

amount of arms and ammunitionbeing seized. In north Tipperary 11members of the Republican move-ment were held for questioning butwere later released. Homes inCounty Limerick were alsosearched. Gardai believe that thefive men who carried out an armedraid on a public house owned by thepresident of the Irish Rugby Foot-ball Union were members of an il-legal organisation. £350 was takenin the raid.

Tuesday 16th May 1972SDLP MP says he will help to build barricadesSDLP MP, Mr Paddy Devlin, sayshe will help people in minority ar-

eas to build barricades to defendtheir areas from “loyalist mobs” ifMr Whitelaw does not take actionto defuse the serious “eyeball toeyeball” confrontation which hesaw inevitably to sectarian civil war.He told constituency officials thatin recent weeks civilians in minor-ity areas had been shot from speed-ing cars which sped past vigilantesinto Unionist areas.

The Government had refused toaccept mounting evidence of loy-alist militancy either because of badintelligence or because they knewthe facts but were afraid to take ac-tion – which he thought more likely.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Family lose homeFire has completely destroyed thehome of a Catholic family living inthe Deerpark Road area of Belfast.This latest blaze is the fourth on thehome of a catholic mother of six andher Ceylonese husband.

In the earlier incidents petrol bombswere thrown through windows andfamily members attacked. On thisoccasion a petrol bomb was thrownon to a roof causing a fire whichquickly gutted the house.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Funeral of Derry IRA manA massive security operation waslaunched in Derry on Monday nightand remains in operation, withcheckpoints on all roads leadinginto the city. The clamp down, oneof the highest mounted in the cityfor some time, is believed to be con-nected to the funeral of ProvisionalIRA volunteer John Starrs, who wasshot dead on Saturday night.

Traffic piled up bumper to bumperand every vehicle searched and theoccupants questioned. The deadyouth, who was aged 19, was shotdead at the junction of WilliamStreet and Chamberlain Street. Alarge crowd is expected at the fu-neral from his home in HamiltonStreet to the city cemetery.

THE TROUBLES

Tuesday 16th May 1972Still no clues in Kelly’s attackDetectives still have not discoveredwho owned the blue 1100 car whichexploded outside Kelly’s Bar in theBallymurphy area of Belfast onSaturday. Their task has been madealmost impossible because the 30lbbomb blasted the vehicle into hun-dreds of pieces and the numberplates have disappeared.. An ex-amination of the wreckage hasfailed to reveal any clues. It isknown that a soldier had the vehi-cle under observation for some timein the Turf Lodge area and it isthought that it had been stolen sometime earlier in the University area.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Dead man foiled bomb attackThe man found shot dead in theShankill area at the weekend has

been identified as being GrerardMcCusker, aged 24, of Marchion-ess Street. RUC detectives that hisbody was not dumped in HopetonStreet as was first thought rather hewas shot where he was found. Ithas now been revealed that the deadman had, in September, received acommendation from his employerbecause he alerted his fellow em-ployees to a bomb in his place ofwork. Mr McCusker lived with hiswidowed mother.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Provisional IRA names election dateThe Provisional IRA in Derry havenamed Thursday 15th June as poll-ing day in their “Free Derry elec-tion” Nominations close onWednesday 31st May. A Provi-sional IRA spokesman said the nonparty steering committee set up to

organise the elections had dividedthe area into four constituencies.The total electorate is 15,000.

Tuesday 16th May 1972Detainees releasedFive men who have been held un-der the Special Powers Act havebeen released from Long Keshcamp near Lisburn. Four of the fivewere detainees. According to fig-ures released there are still 526 in-ternees and 142 detainees held at thecamp.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Shankill men held by IRAThree Protestants from the Shankillarea of Belfast have been releasedunharmed after being held prisonerby the IRA in Turf Lodge. The menwere held at an IRA checkpoint atthe Monagh Road as they were

THE TROUBLES

LEFT - Rear of McMillan’s Shop inMarket Street, Omagh after a bombattack.FACING PAGETOP - The bomb damaged Co-Op storein York Street being demolished.BOTTOM - Bomb attack in RodenStreet

making their way to work by car.Two fellow workers in the car es-caped when a group of youths, theirfaces masked with balaclava hel-mets and carrying hurley sticks,stopped the vehicle. The men werestopped at the IRA checkpoint ataround 8.50 am and were asked toidentify themselves. It is under-stood they were reluctant to showtheir driving licences because theycontained their Shankill addresses.It was at this point that two of themen ran off. The trio were held fornearly three hours during which

time their coats were pulled overtheir heads and they were ques-tioned about guns and other matters.The men later told the RUC thatthey thought they had been held inwhat they thought were coal cellars.

Wednesday 17th May 1972No Lord Mayors Show for BelfastThere will be no Lord Mayor’sShow in Belfast due to the securityrisks involved. Despite the liftingof the ban on parades, the organis-ers, the Belfast Junior Chambers ofCommerce, feel it would make a

difficult problem for the securityforces. It is the first time in 16 yearsthat the show has been cancelled.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Army drive through IRA funeralParatroopers have driven armouredvehicles at high speed through theranks of an IRA-style funeral on theFalls Road in an attempt to dispersethe crowd. Several people had nar-row escapes as the soldiers drovethrough the funeral of 15-year-oldMichael Francis Magee who wasfound shot dead at New BarnsleyCrescent on Saturday night. Deathnotices in the Irish News describehim as being a member of FiannaEireann and dozens of members ofthe republican youth movementwalked behind the procession.

After paratroopers twice drovethrough the funeral procession, menamong the mourners comman-deered cars which had drawn intothe side of the road to allow the fu-neral to pass. They promised theywould return the vehicles to themotorists later and drove them at thehead of the procession to preventthe Army from breaking through theranks again. The funeral thenregrouped and many of the mourn-ers reformed in ranks and contin-ued marching towards Milltowncemetery.

THE TROUBLES

Wednesday 17th May 1972RUC man shot in Roden StreetA 20-year-old RUC man has beenshot by a sniper in Roden Street.One high velocity shot rang outstriking the RUC man in the side.He was rushed to hospital but hiscondition is not said to be serious.

Wednesday 17th May 1972UDR man kidnappedA member of the Ulster DefenceRegiment has been kidnapped andheld hostage by gunmen for almost24 hours. The part-time soldier,whose name has not been released,was also shot in the leg. The manhad been taken by two gunmenfrom his home at Ballinteer (whichis four miles from Coleraine), ques-tioned and then shot. He was thendriven to the Limavady-Garvaghroad and released. It has been saidthat the man has been treated inhospital for cigarette burns to thehands and there are allegations thathe was tortured by his captors.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Army observation post attackedA number of shots have been firedat an Army observation post atChief Street on the Crumlin Road.There were no casualties. Troopsreturned fire at the sniper who wasoperating from the Herbert Streetarea. Troops have also opened fireon a gunman who they say theyspotted at a house in Norglen Pa-rade. No hits were reported.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Malicious fire in BelfastA fire, believed to have been startedmaliciously, has caused extensive

damage to a lounge bar at theCumberland Inn, NorthumberlandStreet

Wednesday 17th May 1972Buses attackedWindows in three Belfast Corpora-tion buses have been broken whenthey were stoned as they passed theUnity Flats area.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Army attacked in schoolTwo shots have been fired at a mili-tary position in Dermott Hill school

but there were no casualties.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Bomb alert on MotorwayFor the second night running Armybomb experts have been called tothe north-bound carriageway of theM1 motorway. Anonymous tel-ephone calls warned of a land mineclose to the car.

When troops searched the area theydiscovered two blast bombs in ashed. They were later detonated bythe Army.

THE TROUBLES

LEFT - Troops at the scene of anambush at KillylissFACING PAGE - Members of the IRAstop cars in the Turf Lodge estate

Wednesday 17th May 1972Milk churn bombA 30 lb bomb in a milk churn hasbeen detonated by the Army atCoagh.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Army blows up carA car, which had been abandonedon Tuesday near the Suffolk Roadjunction, by four men, blew up butthere were no casualties.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Soldier injured in NewryA soldier has received a slightwound to the ankle as he was help-ing to clear a barricade on theCamlough Road.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Shots fired in DerryShots have been fired at a numberof Army posts, including Bligh’sLane and the city walls. An explo-sion was also heard in the Rossvillearea but its source has not beentraced. Minor rioting in the WilliamStreet area continued until about9.00 pm and a building which hadbeen earlier set on fire by rioters,was once again ablaze.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Springmartin youth is buriedThe entire Springmartin estate cameto a standstill for the funeral of 17-year-old John Pedlow who was shotdead at the weekend. Several hun-dred mourners walked behind thecoffin which was draped with anUlster flag and wreaths. Formerunionist Mp Mr John McQuadetook part in the funeral possessionand helped carry the coffin.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Craigs threatMr William Craig has declared thatunless the Unionist Party adoptsVanguard’s policies he will breaka-

way from the party. The formerStormont Minister has stated thatVanguard has 60,000 members andthat the organisation is capable oftransforming itself into a politicalparty.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Courtaulds plant to reopenThe Chairman of Courtaulds, LordKearton, has told industrialists andbusinessmen in the North that theCarrickfergus plant would be backin production in September.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Shots fired over IRA man’s graveA volley of shots has been fired atthe graveside in Derry at the funeralof 19-year-old IRA Volunteer, JohnStarrs. The dead man was buriedby the IRA with full military hon-ours. The hearse was led by a lonepiper and it was flanked by a guardof honour of young men dressed inuniform and wearing dark glasses.

THE TROUBLES

Wednesday 17th May 1972We destroyed Co-op says IRAThe Provisional IRA has admittedresponsibility for the bomb attackon Belfast Co-op. A statement is-sued by the Irish Republican Pub-licity Bureau in Dublin has said thatthe “so called Co-op” was not a trueCo-op, but was “controlled by pro-British capitalist elements.” Thestatement also referred to the recentclashes at the Springmartin andBallymurphy estates. It said, “Pro-British elements, with the co-opera-tion of the British Army, have al-ready stepped up their attacks on thepeople of the Nationalist areas,leaving the IRA with no otherchoice but to take defensive andretaliatory action. We do not seeka confrontation with these peoplebut we are determined that the Irishpeople will not be deprived of theirlegitimate national aspirations bythe threat of a backlash. The soleresponsibility for future bloodshedand casualties arising out of the in-cidents such as we witnessed lastweekend, rest with those reaction-ary elements who are determinednot to take their proper place in theIrish community.”The Provisional IRA have alsoclaimed that in the past week theykilled two British soldiers and in-jured 16 others, as well as one UDRmember.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Republican group backs loyalistsMembers of the New UniversityRepublican Club have held a pro-test meeting at Magilligan in sup-port of loyalist women in Belfastwho are protesting at the imprison-

ment of their husbands in the formerinternment camp.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Gardai interview Belfast menEleven members of the Catholic ex-Servicemen’s Association fromBelfast had their cars stopped by theGardai at Dolla, betweenToomevara and Moneygall, countyTipperary. Names and addresseswere taken and the party were al-lowed to return to Belfast.The Gardai said that they had in-formation that the Belfast men weregoing to a training camp in theSilvermines Mountains, but thiswas denied by the men. A seniorGarda officer later said that the con-frontation with the men was veryfriendly and that the men had saidthey had nothing to do with the IRAof either shade, and that the Gardaaccepted this.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Army border crossingThe Minister for Transport andPower, Mr Brian Lenihan has in-

formed the Dail that British troopshave crossed into the South on atotal of 88 times during the past twoyears. Protests have been made tothe British Government.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Magillligan road closure protestDerry County Council has beentold that the closure of roads lead-ing down to Magilligan Point iscausing hardship to farmers andfishermen. The road was closed forsecurity reasons following the de-cision to use part of the militarycamp there for internees. At thecouncil meeting it was said now thatthe internment camp has closed lo-cal people would like the road tobe re-opened. Councillors weretold that the local police had noobjection to this but that it was nowa military matter.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Clamp down on bomb chemicalsNew regulations are being intro-duced by the Secretary of State, Mr.William Whitelaw, to ban the mak-

THE TROUBLES

LEFT - The scene in Boundary Streetafter the killing of 15 year old HaroldMorrisFACING PAGE - Bomb attack onRoddy’s Bar at Broadway

ing, sale, purchase or acquisition ofammonium nitrate and sodiumchlorate, which can be used formaking explosives, except underlicence. The regulations also relateto any mixture, including fertiliser,containing more than 79 pc of am-monium nitrate. The regulation willcome into force on 1st June.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Derry bank raidA branch of the Munster andLeinster bank at Pennyburn hasbeen held up by two armed menwho got away with an undisclosedsum of money. Both men are saidto have been in their twenties andmade off in a waiting car.

Wednesday 17th May 1972Bullet-proof fence demandedDUP Councillor Fred Proctor hassaid that the people of Springmartinwant a bullet-proof fence erected

between the New Barnsley andSpringmartin areas to stop IRAsnipers shooting into the area. MrProctor called for the immediatebuilding of a fence, which wouldbe at least 10 ft high and run fromBlackmountain Avenue toSpringfield Road. He also pointedout that the fence should only be atemporary measure until a doublebrick wall could be built.

Thursday 18th May 1972Kelly’s Bar an IRA accident saysWhitelawThe Secretary of State, Mr WilliamWhitelaw has told the Commonsthat the bomb which exploded atKelly’s bar and sparked off a week-end of violence exploded prema-turely. It was, he believed, an IRAaccident and he added that “the factsdo not support the theory that thebomb was planted by Protestantextremists.

Thursday 18th May 1972Soldier dies after sniper attackA soldier has died in a Belfast hos-pital three days after he was shotby an IRA sniper. The soldier LanceCorporal John Hilman, was struckby a bullet in the temple as hemanned an observation post in FlaxStreet.

Thursday 18th May 1972Murdered man’s car is recoveredThe RUC have recovered a car,which is thought to belong to a Bel-fast Company executive who wasmurdered near a popularCarrickfergus beauty spot. It isthought that the dead man, MrBernard Moane, a 46-year-old trav-eller for the Irish Bonding Com-pany, was abducted sometime onWednesday as he was doing hisrounds. The father of six fromAilsbury Drive off the OrmeauRoad, it is thought, was taken to theKnockagh War Memorial, nearGreenisland where he was shottwice in the head.

Thursday 18th May 1972Bomb wrecks disused barA large explosion has completelywrecked the disused Roddy’s bar atthe corner of Broadway andDonegall Road. The bar is near theentrance to the M1 motorway. Ad-joining houses suffered structuraldamage.

THE TROUBLES

Thursday 18th May 1972Girl shot in AndersonstownA woman from the Tullymore Walkarea of Andersonstown has beentaken to hospital suffering fromgunshot wounds. She was injuredas a sniper opened fire on soldiersas they investigated what theythought was a stolen car. None ofthe soldiers from the 2nd Field Regi-ment, Royal Artillery were injuredin the attack.

A man has been shot in the FallsRoad-Leeson Street area in an inci-dent not involving the securityforces. The 61-year-old man hasbeen taken to the Royal VictoriaHospital where the police await tointerview him.

Thursday 18th May 1972America evangelist to visit NorthAmerican evangelist Dr. BillyGraham is to visit Belfast at the endof the month to encourage recon-ciliation between Protestants andCatholics. Dr. Graham has beeninvited to Belfast by a prominentleader in the community whoseidentity has not been disclosed andit is thought he will spend three daysin Belfast.

Thursday 18th May 1972Mackies workers on protestmarch5,000 workers from Mackies on theSpringfield Road have walked outand marched to the City hall for amass rally. Troops saturated theKashmir Road-Cupar Street area toprevent a repetition of Wednesday’sshooting, when a gunman firedshots into a crowd of Mackiesworkers. Army snipers took up po-sitions on every street corner as the

protestors walked from the factoryto the Shankill road carrying Un-ion and Ulster flags. Six peoplewere taken to hospital, five werewounded and the sixth treated forshock. It is believed that the gun-man fired 10 shots from the direc-tion of Oranmore Street.

Thursday 18th May 1972Man shot after ignoring order to haltThe Army a have shot a 21-year-old man in Commedagh Drive,Andersonstown. Three men are re-ported to have ignored a “halt” or-der and ran away at waste groundbefore troops opened fire. The in-jured man, from Corby Way,Andersonstown, was taken to hos-pital.

Thursday 18th May 1972Soldier shot dead at CrossmaglenA soldier has been shot dead andanother seriously injured when gun-

THE TROUBLES

men opened fire at troops workingoutside Crossmaglen RUC bar-racks in County Armagh. The deathof Sapper Ronald Hurst, aged 25,from Cumberland, brings thenumber of soldiers and UDR mento 78. Sapper Hurst, who was at-tached to 50 Field Squadron, RoyalEngineers, was working outside thebarracks at around 7.25pm when acar drew up in Crossmaglen Square.Ten shots rang out and the soldierfell to the ground.

Thursday 18th May 1972Bomb attack in Roden StreetA bomb has exploded withoutwarning at the junction of RodenStreet-Beit Street. The bomb, in aparked car, caused extensive dam-age to three houses and fourteenpeople were treated in hospital forinjuries.

Thursday 18th May 1972Shots fired at carA patrol of Military Police havestopped a car at the junction ofFisherwick Place-Howard Street.The car was being driven by awoman and a man in the passengerseat produced a gun. As the car wasbeing driven off a military police-man fired at the gunman who wasseen to slump forward in his seat.An RUC spokesman has said thatthere are no reports of anyone be-ing admitted to hospital with gun-shot wounds.A short while later a car with armedoccupants was seen in the DonegalRoad area. The vehicle was laterspotted by a patrol on the GrosvenorRoad which opened fire. The back

window of the car was broken butthe vehicle did not stop.

Thursday 18th May 1972Troops attacked in Oldpark areaShots have been fired at troops inVelsheda Park in the Oldpark Roadarea of Belfast. The soldiers re-turned fire but did not report anyhits. No one was injured in the at-tack.

Thursday 18th May 1972Protestant youth shot in East BelfastA Protestant youth has been shot inthe leg in East Belfast. The shots,which were directed at a group ofyoung people, were fired fromYoung’s Row. The youth, who livesat Redcliffe Street was taken to hos-pital but his condition is notserious.

Thursday 18th May 1972Claymore mine discoveredA small Claymore mine has beendiscovered by troops at Derryvore,Rosslea, County Fermanagh. AsArmy explosive experts were work-ing on the mine a shot was aimedat them from across the border. Noone was injured in the attack.

Thursday 18th May 1972UDR man injured during shooting practiceA Warrant Officer, who is an in-structor, on the permanent staff ofthe UDR in County Fermanagh hasbeen taken to hospital sufferingfrom gunshot wounds. He was shotwhile on the rifle range atLetterbreen, near Enniskillen. Thebullet passed through his wrist andlodged in his hip. The man was firsttransferred to Erne Hospital,Enniskillen before being flow n byhelicopter. He is described as be-ing seriously ill.

Thursday 18th May 1972Soldier shot in DerryA soldier has been taken toAltnagelvin Hospital after beingshot by a gunman as he worked ona sandbag emplacement outsideBligh’s lane Army post in Derry.The incident happened at around7.00 pm and his condition is notthought to be serious.

Thursday 18th May 1972Engineering works bombedTwo men have driven a car into theforecourt of Craig’s Engineeringworks at Strand Road and told staffthat they had 15 minutes before thebomb would go off. But the bomb,estimated to contain 15 lbs of ex-

THE TROUBLES

ploded causing little damage and nocasualties.

Thursday 18th May 1972Customs post attackAn explosion followed by a fire hasbadly damaged Killea customs poston the main Derry-LetterkennyRoad. The attack was carried outat around 1.00 am.

Thursday 18th May 1972Derry shootingsThere have been seven shootingincidents in Derry City between8.00 pm and midnight. In two ofthem sentries on duty at Bligh’sLane Army post And RosemountRUC barracks fired at identifiedgunmen and hits are claimed in bothcases. The other attacks took placeat Brandywell and Brooke ParkArmy posts.

Thursday 18th May 1972Mini zoo to closeThe mini zoo at Magilligan on theNorth Derry coast, which opened in1969, will not open this year. Theclosure is a result of the adversepublicity that Magilligan has hadover the last few months: firstly bythe setting up of an internmentcamp there followed by the estab-lishment of a regular prison. Thistogether with the fact that a roadleading to the beach has been closedhas led to fears that tourists will notbe visiting the area.

Thursday 18th May 1972Mini zoo to closeA man has been shot dead and an-other wounded at Boundary Street,Shankill Road. The shooting is re-ported to have come from the DivisFlats area.

Thursday 18th May 1972UDR man shot deadA full time corporal in the UlsterDefence Regiment was dead onadmission to Massereene Hospitalafter a shooting incident in hishome. The 25-year-old soldier fromBirchill Park, Antrim was marriedwith two children. He has beennamed as Brian Herron and an RUCspokesman has said that it is notthought there is any thing politicalor sectarian concerning his death.

Friday 19th May 1972Derry car bomb injures tenAround a dozen people, includingtwo soldiers, have been injured inDerry when a bomb exploded with-out warning in a residential area ofthe town. The blast, which took

place at 1.00 pm occurred in aparked saloon car in an entry offUpper Clarendon Street.

Friday 19th May 1972Mountjoy jail riotDublin’s riot wrecked MountjoyPrison has been partly evacuatedand there is speculation that thepolitical prisoners were beingmoved to a military detention cen-tre at Cork or the old Curragh in-ternment camp. Over 40 IRA menand 100 other prisoners have left thejail in a shambles after the overnightriot. Bus loads of prisoners are be-ing moved under heavy escort toother locations. It is known thatsome of the prisoners are beingmoved to Portlaoise jail in CounyLaois.

Friday 19th May 1972Shot woman comfortableThe condition of theAndersonstown woman who wasshot on Thursday afternoon is be-ing described as comfortable. Thewoman was in the hallway of her

RIGHT - Publicity photograph show-ing troops trying out a new armouredbed designed to protect them from IRAgun attack on British barracks

THE TROUBLES

Tullymore Walk home when a bul-let struck her in the thigh.

Friday 19th May 1972Hands off Ulster demonstrationA 24 hour vigil is to be staged thisweekend outside the Irish Embassyin London by a group demandingthat the Dublin Government shoulddrop its “undemocratic” claim to theNorth. The demonstration will beheld by the Workers Association forthe Democratic Settlement of thenational Conflict in Ireland.

Friday 19th May 1972School closes after Army is at-tackedShots have been fired at an Armypost after rival crowds clashed in

TOP LEFT - A burning bus blocks theShankill Road in West BelfastBOTTOM LEFT - Members of the UDAon parade in the Woodstock Road area

Roden Street Belfast. Soldiers man-ning the post returned fire at thegunman who was operating fromthe direction of the Grosvenor Roadbut the soldiers missed their target.No one was injured in the attack.Children at the nearby Kelvin Sec-ondary School were sent homeearly and where escorted out of thearea by troops.

Friday 19th May 1972Neighbours complain about Ar-magh JailThe residents of four housing es-tates adjacent to Armagh prison aredrawing up a petition to send to theauthorities complaining about thenightly disturbances caused by re-mand prisoners. People living in

Barrack Hill, Grove Terrace, Lang’sCrescent and Gough Avenue claimthat every night at about 8.00 pmthe prisoners start singing partytunes and shout insulting remarksto them. One resident said that thedisturbance continues until almostmidnight and increases with vigourwhen the cell lights are turned outat 10.00p m. He added that chil-dren are wakened by the noise andthat elderly people were unable toget a comfortable night’s sleep.Complaints have already beenmade to Mr Whitelaw but so far noaction has been taken. Many of theprisoners remarks are directed atthe soldiers on duty in sentry boxeson the prison walls with such thingsas “Up Celtic,” “Go home Jock,”and “Donald where’s your trou-sers,” being shouted. Residents saythey are regularly entertained tosongs like Kevin Barry,” “The sol-dier’s Song” and many other Re-publican party tunes, interruptedoccasionally by someone shouting“Up the IRA”. Insulting remarksare also shouted at people on thestreet and on one occasion when aman was lighting a cigarette a pris-oner shouted to him to put it out ashe was not allowed to smoke afterlights out.

Friday 19th May 1972Army end extension of “FreeDerry”Army engineers have removed abarricade of heavy girders whichhad been laced across a Derry street

THE TROUBLES

TOP RIGHT - Members of the LoyalistAssociation of Workers at a parade inCarrickfergus where they listened to aspeech by Pastor Jack Glass fromScotlandBOTTOM RIGHT - Vanguard rally inDouglas Street in East Belfast beingaddressed by Louis Gardner. On hisright is Captain Austin Ardill

by IRA men using a mobile crane.The barricade was erected inWilliam Street by the IRA as 100stone throwing children kept troopsat bay. It is thought the barricadewas to help the IRA extend “FreeDerry.”

Friday 19th May 1972Plan for new prisonThe Under Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland, Mr DavidHowell, has told the commons thatpreliminary planning for a newprison in the North has begun. Hehas also stated that the prisoners inMagilligan and their families hadbeen informed of the financial as-sistance which could be given insuitable cases by the supplementarybenefits commission to meet thecosts of travelling. Arrangementshave been made to provide trans-port for relatives between the near-est railway station and the prison.No charge is made for this service.

Friday 19th May 1972Escalation in use of explosivesAn estimated 4,480 lbs of explo-sives have been used in April 1972against only 250 lbs used in thesame month in 1971. The totalswere revealed by the Under Secre-tary of State for Northern Ireland,Mr David Howell.

Friday 19th May 1972Boy shot near peacelineA 15-year-old Protestant boy hasbeen shot dead in Belfast. The boy,who has been named as HaroldMorris of Court Street was struckin the neck by a bullet and died al-most instantly. The boy had beenplaying with friends on the Shankillside of the peace line at BoundaryStreet-Cargill Street when a burstof automatic fire rang out from thedirection of Divis Street.When soldiers arrived at the scene,

there was a second burst of fire.This too is believed to have comefrom the direction of the Divis Flatscomplex. Fire was not returned.

Friday 19th May 1972Youths shot from passing carTwo Catholic youths, aged 14 and15, have been shot in theSpringfield Road area. The boyshad been playing in ColinviewStreet when seven shots were firedfrom a blue BMC 1100 car whichwas travelling up the SpringfieldRoad. An Army spokesman said

THE TROUBLES

LEFT - fire damage to the Pavilion Baron the Ormeau Road

that the car then travelled up theSpringfield Road and the occupantsfired a further pistol shot at a manstanding on the corner of MayoStreet but he was not hit. A soldier,in position at a sentry post in CuparStreet, then fired one shot at thevehicle and claimed to have hit it.The car sped off into AinsworthAvenue and was abandoned in MillStreet West.

Friday 19th May 1972Water cannon used in North BelfastTroops have used a water cannonagainst youths who were attackingthem at Oldpark playing fields. Theyouths, who were throwing stones,were dispersed. A petrol bomb was

later thrown at a sentry post in FlaxStreet.

Friday 19th May 1972Explosives discovered in derelict houseThe Army has discovered fivepounds of explosives, a detonatorand two riot shields in a derelicthouse in Cawnpore Street.

Friday 19th May 1972Shots heard in BelfastShots have been heard in theBoundary Way area but their sourceor target is unknown. The shots arereported to have been heard ataround 9.30 pm. Minutes later 30shots were also heard in the GlenRoad area.

Friday 19th May 1972Army patrol attacked in LurganA Gordon Highlander’s foot patrolhas been attacked by stone throw-ing youths in Lurgan’s Kilwilkieestate. Soldiers attempted to makearrests but were unable to do so dueto the size of the crowd. Shots werelater fired at troops from the direc-tion of Levin Road. There were nocasualties and troops did not returnfire. Shots were also fired alongVictoria Street. The security forceswere not involved in the incidentand no one was injured.

Friday 19th May 1972Derry Army posts come underfireThree Army posts in Derry Cityhave come under fire in six sepa-rate shooting incidents. The targetswere the posts at Brandywell,Bligh’s Lane and the observationpost on the city walls. There wereno Army casualties and althoughfire was returned on a number ofoccasions no hits were claimed.Five of the attacks came in the twohour period after midnight and theBligh’s lane post came under attackaround 6.00 am when a burst of 15automatic shots were directed to-wards troops.

Friday 19th May 1972Border gunbattleThere has been heavy firing be-tween British troops and IRA menwho were operating from across theborder at Dungooley. The gunmen,using the ruins of Dungooley House

THE TROUBLES

RIGHT - Houses severely damaged bya car bomb on the Mountpottinger Road

for cover, were using automaticweapons. Fire was returned by sol-diers of the Duke of WellingtonRegiment. The IRA men withdrewwhen the Gardai and an Irish Armypatrol arrived. There were no sol-diers injured but it is thought thatone of the IRA men may have beenhit.

Friday 19th May 1972Bomb scare women finedA Newtownards woman has beenfined a total of £50 at Belfast mag-istrates Court after she admittedmaking a bomb hoax call toAnderson and McAuley’s and caus-ing wasteful employment of police.A second woman was acquitted.Both women were telephonists fora Belfast firm of solicitors. Thecalls were traced to their place ofwork.

Saturday 20th May 1972UDR man is shot deadA UDR soldier has been shot deadduring an IRA attack on his LandRover near Dungannon. The sol-dier had been on patrol with threeother members when two gunmenopened fire. It appears that the gun-men lay in wait at Killyliss and asthe army vehicle travelled along thebusy Ballygawley-Dungannon roadone gunman opened fire with a highvelocity rifle, and the other with asub machine gun. He died later inSouth Tyrone Hospital,Dungannon. It is understood thatthe patrol returned fire but no onewas hit. The dead man has been

named as 32-year-old Lance Cor-poral Henry Gillespie, a single manfrom Ballygawley. He had been inthe UDR for 12 months and beforethat had served in the Irish Guardsfor six years.. His death has broughtthe total number of UDR men to bekilled since the force was estab-lished to 13.

Saturday 20th May 1972Loyalist Association of WorkersrallyLoyalists have travelled by bus andtrain to Carrickfergus for a Loyal-ist Association of Workers paradeand rally. The organisers switched

the venue from Elizabeth Avenueeto Barn Field, close to the large Vic-toria Housing estate, where severalthousand people are expected to at-tend.Speakers listed to appear includeLAW Chairman Mr William Hull,Captain Austin Ardill and Scottishevangelist Pastor Jack Glass, whois to dedicate a specially designedstandard for ICI’s Law branch.Vanguard leader Mr William Craigis also expected to attend. Wom-en’s Loyalist Association delega-tions from Rathcoole, Belfast andColeraine will also take part in therally.

THE TROUBLES

Saturday 20th May 1972Man shot in BallyclareA 38-year-old Catholic Barber hasbeen shot and seriously wounded inhis hair salon in North End,Ballyclare. The man had beenworking in the salon when a gun-man entered the premises and shothim in the stomach. The gunmanescaped to a waiting car which isbelieved to have been fitted withfalse number plates. The car, agreen Cortina, drove off in the di-rection of Belfast.

Saturday 20th May 1972Ormeau Road pub petrolbombedPetrol bombers have burned out aCatholic owned pub on the OrmeauRoad and damaged another. Incen-diary devices were found in otherbars. The pub which was guttedwas the Pavillion Bar, near theCurzon Cinema. The Gondola bar,also on the Ormeau oad was alsoattacked. Incendiary devices havebeen found in the Stag’s Head,Whiteabbey, the Merville Inn atWhitehouse and the Ivy Inn atMonkstown.

Saturday 20th May 1972Troops allege youth was a gun-manDuring a night of violence the armyhas shot dead a Derry youth in dis-puted circumstances. The boy whodied has been identified as ManusDerry of Limewood Road Derry.The RUC have given his age as 17but Local residents say that he isonly 15 years old. According to theArmy a soldier on the city’s wallssaid he fired a single shot at a gun-

man but residents point out that theboy was unarmed and had been onan errand. They also pointed outthat he was shot as he appeared onopen ground. The boy died atAltnagelvin Hospital from a headwound around 40 minutes after hewas shot close to the Bogside Innon Lecky Road. Following theshooting around 200 womenmarched in protest from theBogside to the RUC headquartersin the city.There was a second shooting inDerry in which an Army sentryclaimed to have fired at two identi-fied gunmen who were seen atWestend Terrace. No one was in-jured in the shooting.The Army have reported a numberof small explosions in the WilliamStreet area during the night but noapparent damage had been caused.

Saturday 20th May 1972Soldier injured in car bomb blastA soldier has been injured in Derrywhen a car bomb exploded. The 19-year-old soldier, a member of theWorcestershire and Sherwood For-esters received multiple injuries.He is described as being ill. TheProvisional IRA claimed responsi-bility for the attack.

Saturday 20th May 1972Mystery shootings in BelfastThe first of a number of mysteryshootings in Belfast happened at12.28 am when an 18-year-oldyouth from Bombay Street was shotoutside a fish and chip shop atBroadway. A round was fired froma passing car and grazed the youthin the chest. He made his own way

to hospital and was later discharged.About a half hour later a 20-year-old woman from MalcolmsonStreet was shot from a car whilestanding outside the Falls Baths.Her condition is said to be satisfac-tory. The victim of a third shoot-ing, again from a car, is a 18-year-old youth from the Saintfield Road.He had been standing outside theWhitehorse Inn on the SpringfieldRoad when he was shot in the head.His condition is described as beingdangerously ill.

Saturday 20th May 1972Soldier wounded in CrossmaglenA soldier has been wounded in thearm in the South Armagh villageof Crossmaglen. Soldiers from theDuke of Wellington Regiment re-turned fire and a man was seen be-ing put into an Austen Cambridgecar and driven towards the border.The soldier’s condition is not seri-ous.

Saturday 20th May 1972Shots fired in NewtownbutlerTroops on duty Newtownbutler,County Fermanagh, have claimedto have shot a gunman who am-bushed them at around 10.00 pm.Around 20 shots were directed to-wards the troops who returned fire.The gunmen were operating fromthe northern side of the border butmade their escape into the south.

Saturday 20th May 1972Water cannon used against stonethrowersTroops have used a water cannonand rubber bullets to disperse acrowd of youths who were stoning

THE TROUBLES

the Army post at Finiston Schoolon the Oldpark Road. Three arrestswere made.

Saturday 20th May 1972Soldiers fire at petrol bomberSoldiers have fired on a petrolbomber in Norglen Parade shortlybefore 9.00pm. No hits wereclaimed. Earlier in the day soldiershad come under fire atAndersonstown but no casualtieswere reported and fire was not re-turned.

Saturday 20th May 1972Army death squad claim is deniedSuggestions that the British Armyoperates “assassination squads” inthe North have been strongly deniedby Mr Geoffrey Johnson-Smith,Under Secretary for the Army. “Inno circumstances are soldiers em-ployed to assassinate people or inany way deliberately go outside thelaw,” he said. Rumours of assassi-nation squads have been linked toan incident in Belfast on April 15when two people believed to bebrothers were shot and woundedafter a patrol had been fired on. MrJohnson-Smith said that rumoursabout such squads may have re-sulted from misunderstandings,genuine or otherwise, about the

operation of soldiers in plainclothes. He added Army patrols dooccasionally, operate in civilianclothes. The reason for this is sim-ply that soldiers operating in uni-form and with service vehicles areeasily recognised at a distance, andplain clothes are therefore adoptedon occasions when surprise is es-sential. As far as practicable, theArmy work in conjunction with thepolice on these occasions as at alltimes. Patrols work under normalmilitary discipline and in accord

ance with the yellow card.” Thiscard gives soldiers the circum-stances under which they are per-mitted to open fire.

Saturday 20th May 1972Armed robbery in DungannonArmed robbers have gotten awaywith more than £1,000 in a raid inDungannon. Two men entered thepay office of Unit ConstructionCompany and escaped with £1,000in wages.

Monday 22nd May 1972Official IRA kill soldierThe Official IRA in Derry have ad-mitted killing a 19-year-old soldierwho was home on leave from hisunit in Germany. The body of

Ranger William Best, of RathkeeleWay, Creggan, was found on wasteground in William Street. He hadbeen shot twice in the head. Tracesof material found on his civilianclothing suggest that he had beenhooded. Ranger Best, a single man,was one of seven children. He hadbeen serving with the Royal IrishRangers and returned home onMonday.The IRA said that he had been ap-prehended under suspicious cir-cumstances. He had been tried byan IRA court and sentenced todeath. An IRA statement said “Theruthlessness shown by Britishforces against the people of FreeDerry, instanced by the callousmurder of 15-year-old ManusDeery, Seamus Cusack, DesmondBeattie and Kathleen Thompsoncould only be answered in similarterms.”“Regardless of calls for peace fromslobbering moderates, while Britishgunmen remain on the streets in theSix Counties, the IRA will take ac-tion against them.”

Monday 22nd May 1972Women march on Official IRAheadquartersAround 200 angry Bogside womenhave marched on the Official IRAheadquarters in Derry to protestagainst the killing at the weekendof 19-year-old Derry soldier,Ranger William Best. They assem-bled in Westland Street several hun-dred yards away and marched to theheadquarters where they waited tosee IRA leaders. One of the groupclaimed that the dead soldier hadbeen held for three hours during

Suggestions that the British Army operates“assassination squads” in the North have been stronglydenied by Mr Geoffrey Johnson-Smith, UnderSecretary for the Army. “In no circumstances aresoldiers employed to assassinate people or in any waydeliberately go outside the law,”

THE TROUBLES

which he had been tortured and an-other marcher said that they hadbrought themselves down to thelevel of the Paras on Bloody Sun-day.

Monday 22nd May 1972Van explodes in BelfastFour RUC men, two soldiers and45 civilians have been injured whena van exploded in a Belfast indus-trial estate.

The bomb, which was plantedclose to the entrance to theJennymount Estate, containedabout 100 lbs of explosives It hadbeen hi-jacked some time earlier byfour armed men on Belfast’s FallsRoad.

Monday 22nd May 1972Buses running again on mostroutesBelfast Corporation buses are backon most routes in the city after twobuses were destroyed and four oth-ers hi-jacked during the weekenddisturbances. In fact, buses wereback on the Falls, Glen Road andLadybrooke routes for the first timesince the riots following the shoot-ing of IRA leader Joe McCann,

Monday 22nd May 1972Incendiary devices found in Dub-lin storeAnother attempt to set fire to a largestore in the centre of Dublin hasbeen made. Two men entered theO’Connell Street branch of

Burtons, the men’s tailors. One ofthem tried on a jacket, but they leftwithout buying anything. A mem-ber of staff became suspicious andsearched the pockets of the jacketand found two incendiary devices.Other store owners have been con-tacted and advised to make a thor-ough check of their premises.

Monday 22nd May 1972Children injured by nail bombsThree young children have beeninjured when a nail bomb and twoblast bombs were thrown at troopsin Divis Street. There were noArmy casualties and the childrenwere taken away by Knights ofMalta ambulance.

THE TROUBLES

FACING PAGE - The scene inside theyard of t he Jennymount IndustrialEstate after a bomb attack in which 60people were injuredTOP RIGHT - Bomb attack at a factoryin Donegall StreetBOTTOM RIGHT - Bomb attack inGarfield Street

Monday 22nd May 1972Barricades come down in Protestant areasNo-go barricades set up in manyProtestant areas of Belfast on Sun-day came down voluntarily aroundmidnight after negotiation betweenthe security forces and Ulster Van-guard representatives and local peo-ple. There was no confrontation onthe scale of the previous night.Barricades went up in the Shankilland Woodvale areas and some re-ports said that as many as 1,000were on the Shankill Road at onestage. Hi-jacked buses were turnedinto blazing barricades and anotherof other vehicles used to prevent se-curity forces coming into the areas.

Monday 22nd May 1972IRA seizes border postA party of between 20 and 25 armedand masked IRA men crossed theborder from Donegal at Bridgendand took over the customs post.They forced the two customs offi-cials on duty to lie on the floor whilethey substituted IRA signs for cus-toms signs o the roadway. An Armyspokesman said that the group washeavily armed with a variety ofweapons including Thompson sub-machine guns, rifles and automaticpistols. They held the post for about15 minutes before driving backacross the border. The reason forthe takeover is not clear. One theory

is that the IRA wanted to take some-thing across the border without cus-toms clearance and another is thatit was simply a show of strength.

Monday 22nd May 1972Curragh protestsA 10-mile march is to be held fromNaas, County Kildare to theCurragh Army camp to protest atthe detention of Republcans there.The march is being organised by theSocialist labour Alliance, a group-ing of left-wing organisations, in-cluding the Peoples Democracy.Mr Michael Farrell of the PD, saidthat in Dublin the use of the Curragh

to detain people horrified the “re-sistance movement” because it wasseen as “the spectre of internment.”

Monday 22nd May 1972UDA warning on No-go areasThe Ulster defence Association haswarned that it will continue agita-tion until action is taken against theno-go areas in the Bogside andCreggan areas of Derry. As barri-cades were voluntarily removedthey warned: “We advise that itwould be foolish to interfere withany peaceful gestures by loyalistsor violence could ensue throughoutUlster.

THE TROUBLES

The barricades went up and riotingbegan after soldiers of the ParachuteRegiment tore down “24 hour” bar-ricades in the Willowfield district.In the confrontation one civilianwas shot and a controversy nowrages with the UDA denying thatany civilians fired at the Army. AUDA spokes man said that someParatroopers got separated and inthe confusion thought they werebeing attacked. Soldiers havebacked up their claims that theycame under attacks from loyalistsby producing 37 empty cartridges,which they found in the Shankillarea.

Monday 22nd May 1972Tartan gangs praisedThe Tartan Gangs have been praisedas the “Ulster of the Future” by MrBilly Hull, the chairman of the Loy-alist Association of Workers. MrHull told a gathering of 5,000 loy-alists in Carrickfergus that therewas nothing wrong with the gangs.“These lads have asked to be disci-plined. They are the Ulster of theFuture and thank God they arethere.” He said. Mr Hull has alsowarned against any moves to de-clare an amnesty for rent and ratesstrikers.

“The day Mr Whitelaw proposes towipe the slate clean will be the dayevery loyalist refuses to pay rent,rates or anything else”, he saidMonday 22nd May 1972Man dies as stolen bus crashesJust before 2.00 pm a hi-jackedcorporation bus had been takenfrom the Carr’s Glen terminus went

out of control at Ballysillan Road,skewed across the carriageway andhit a telegraph pole which fell on40-year-old Richard Oliver outsidehis home.

He was dead on arrival in hospital.Monday 22nd May 1972Teenagers shot in BallymurphyA teenage boy, aged 16 and a girl,aged 17, have been shot in an inci-dent not involving the security

forces in the Ballymurphy area. Thepair are said to have been standingnear St Bernadette’s School whenthey were hit. Local residents claimthat the shots came from the Prot-estant Springmartin estate but thisis denied by the Army.Monday 22nd May 1972Shots fired from speeding carsThree teenagers had a narrow es-cape when they were fired on fromtwo cars travelling up the

THE TROUBLES

Stewartstown Road. Two of theboys were grazed by the bullets andbullets passed through a third boy’scoat.

Monday 22nd May 1972Youth dies from gunshot woundsAdrian Barton, aged 18, has diedin hospital from gunshot woundsthat he received near his home onFriday night. Relatives say that hewas walking home from a Univer-sity dance when he was shot.

Monday 22nd May 1972Smoke bomb thrown into schoolThree men and two women havebeen treated for minor cuts andshock after a smoke bomb andbricks were thrown into a Catholicschool where a Bingo session wasin progress.

Monday 22nd May 1972Off-duty UDR man attackedGunmen have opened fire on an off-duty UDR man driving his own car.The shots came from a parked carbut the part-time soldier was notinjured.

Monday 22nd May 1972Border road re-openedThe Army has reported that ten menhave used plant equipment west ofthe village of Clogher to clear a patharound a cratered road.

Monday 22nd May 1972Telephone exchange attackedThe RUC have said that a bomb hasdamaged an unmanned telephoneexchange at Donaghmore.

Monday 22nd May 1972Shots fired in CastledergOver 20 shots have been fired at theArmy north of the town ofCastlederg. Fire was returned butno hits were claimed. The soldierswere investigating a hi-jacked ve-hicle that had been abandoned onthe border.

Monday 22nd May 1972Bomb in NewryA woman has been slightly injuredwhen a bomb exploded at the rearof the Savoy cinema. The bombhad been left in a red mini whichwas parked between the cinema anda supermarket. Both premises were

damaged in the attack as was manyshops and flats above them on bothsides of Monaghan Street.

Monday 22nd May 1972Long Kesh ‘jail’Fifty prisoners have been trans-ferred from Belfast Prison to LongKesh. The men, both Catholics andProtestants have been moved toease the over crowding in Belfastprison. The men, who are short term,ordinary prisoners will be kept com-pletely separate from the compoundwhich houses the internees.

Monday 22nd May 1972Army raids girls’ homesThe Army has raided a number ofhomes in the Falls road area look-ing for five girls in connection withthe recent tarring and feathering ofa girl in Leeson Street. The IRAhas said that the girl was an in-former.

Monday 22nd May 1972Patrol crosses borderA patrol from the 16/5 Lancers hascrossed the border into CountyMonaghan near Clones. The exactposition of the border is difficult todetermine and an Army spokesmansaid that it was simply an error andthat the men only travelled 50 yardsinto the South. They met membersof the Gardai and when they wereturning back their vehicle would notstart. The incident lasted only a fewminutes.

Monday 22nd May 1972Car bomb at MagheraA bomb has exploded withoutwarning in Main Street Maghera.

THE TROUBLES

The car involved had earlier beenused in a Post Office robbery atLisnamuck, which is three milesaway. Two soldiers and two civil-ians were injured in the attack.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Bombers strike five times in BelfastBelfast City centre has been it by awave of bomb attacks. The firstexplosion wrecked a florist’s shopin Garfield Street and damagedother business premises includingthe Belfast Head Post Office. Sixpeople, including a RUC womanwas injured in the attack.Other bombs exploded at officesbelonging to Cresmont Nylon Com-pany, Upper Donegal Street; a fork-lift distributors premises atMiddlepath Street and Morgan Re-

movals premises in the same area.A bomb has also exploded at a fill-ing station on the Donegal Road.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Man shot dead in TyroneA man has been shot dead and twopeople injured in County Tyroneafter gunmen mistook the car inwhich they wee sitting as an RUCvehicle. The shooting happened ataround 7.45 pm and the man whodied, Mr William Hughes, age 54,of Derrygortreavy, Dungannon, wassitting in a car, outside a priest’shome, with his daughter and herfiancé. Local people have said thatthere was a considerable amount ofRUC activity in the area during theday and that the blue Ford Escortin which the man was sitting had a

prominent radio aerial, which theybelieve caused the gunman to mis-take the car for an RUC vehicle. Intotal 67 shots were fired at the ve-hicle from two firing positions. Alocal priest has said he heard theoccupants of the vehicle shout “It’snot a police Car. It’s not a police Car.”

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Troops find bomb partsMen of the 1st Gordon Highlanderssearching the Coagh area following anambush in which a civilian died havediscovered several bomb making com-ponents in a deserted cottage.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972UDR get patrol boatsHigh speed patrol boats are to begiven to the Ulster Defence Regi-

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ment in order to help crack downon arms smuggling. The Army hasannounced that several UDR bat-talions are to be equipped with boatsto patrol the 246 square miles ofinland waterways. The vessels havea speed of up to 35 knots.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Official IRA ordered out of DerryThe Official IRA has defied an or-der by the Provisional IRA to quitthe Bogside and Creggan areas ofDerry. The rift between the twofactions followed protests bywomen from the areas over the Of-ficials execution of a soldier whowas home on leave. Protests overthe killing of Ranger Best is said tohave led to a undertaking from theOfficials that shootings would stopand that they would only engage indefensive action.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Soldier buried in DerryThe funeral of 19-year-old soldierRanger William Best has takenplace in Derry. Twenty five priestsfrom different parishes led 5,000mourners from St Mary’s church inthe Creggan to the nearby cemetery.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972RUC reservists ambushedTwo RUC Reserve constables haveescaped death when they were am-bushed by gunmen in East Belfast.

The two RUC men were investigat-ing a suspicious parcel at a bar inPark Avenue, Sydenham when twomen in a car fired four shots at them.The shots missed. The parcel wasfound to contain a cylinder attachedto a fuse which had burned itselfout.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Belfast shooting incidentsTen shots have been fired in RodenStreet when rival crowds clashedwith each other. A gunman openedfire from the Grosvenor Road endof the street as about 100 peoplethrew stones and bottles at eachother. No one was hit and thecrowds dispersed after the shooting.Shots have been fired at Army postsin Ballymurphy and Percy Streetbut no one was injured and fire wasnot returned.Four shots have been fired at anArmy patrol in Divis Street but fire

was not returned. Shooting washeard in other parts of the city dur-ing the night but there were no casu-alties.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Bomb placed on window sillA bomb has been placed on the win-dow sill of a newsagent’s shop inthe Springfield Road area of Bel-fast. It damaged the shop and brokewindows nearby.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Pylon attackedA bomb has slightly damaged anelectricity pylon between RodneyParade and the M1.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Tartan gangsShop windows in the Ormeau Roadhave been broken by Tartan gangswhich roamed the area for over anhour. One youth was arrested.

FACING PAGE - Bomb attack on thepremises of John Mortimer & Co.,chemical wholesalers in Derry.RIGHT - Bomb attack on MoneymoreRUC barracks

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Tuesday 23rd May 1972Bomb in NewryIn Newry, a 50 lb bomb has badlydamaged the customs clearance sta-tion on Dublin Road. The bombwas in a Ford Cortina which hadbeen stolen in Dundalk. The RUCreceived a warning that the bombwould explode in 15 minutes andthe area was cleared. No one washurt in the attack.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Customs post attackedThere are reports of an explosionoccurring at the customs post atKeady but the security forces intendto wait until daylight before theybegin to examine the scene.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Arson attack on bar in WhiteabbeyThe Half-Way House bar, ShoreRoad, Whiteabbey has been thesubject of an arson attack. It is re-ported that petrol was set alight onthe stairs at around 9.00 pm. Dam-age was slight and customers andstaff managed to put out the blaze.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Derry protestsWomen from the Bogside andCreggan no-go areas who said thatthey have gotten an undertakingfrom the Official IRA that they willstop offensive shootings in the citysay they will be seeking a similarmeeting with the Provisional IRA.The women, who marched to theOfficials headquarters in Derry,which is situated in an unoccupiedshop at Meenan Square said thatthere were heated exchanges be-tween them and the Officials. Scuf-

fles broke out and one girl claimedthat she was struck in the face. Fol-lowing the Provisionals call for theOfficials to leave the area, fist fight-ing is said to have broken out be-tween rival factions.The Provisional command in Derryas released a statement in whichthey state: “The people of FreeDerry have asked us to make pub-lic their wish that the National Lib-eration Front (Official IRA) are nolonger welcome in the Bogside orCreggan areas, and we call on themto withdraw immediately.” Thestatement also said that “We repeatthat we will at all times defend thepeople against attack from anyquarter.”

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Arson attacks in DublinThe Gardai have so far failed to findany trace of the arsonists who havebeen planting incendiary devices inlarge stores in the centre of Dublin.Following the discovery of incen-diary devices in a jacket in Burton’sO’Connell Street branch, furtherincendiaries have been discoveredin Woolworths and Egan’s Stores inHenry Street. They were defusedwithout causing any damage.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Family made homelessA catholic family of four has beenleft homeless after their home atCraigmore Street in the DonegalPass area of Belfast was burned tothe ground. The family had beenstaying with relatives for a few daysdue to the disturbances in the areaand returned to find the houseburned to the ground.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Women may be recruited to RUCReserveThe Under Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland, Mr David Howellhas said in the Commons that theestablishment of a women’s sectionof the RUC Reserve is being con-sidered by the Government.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972List of names stolenA list of the names of the 15,000members of the Catholic ex-Serv-icemen’s Association in the Southhas been stolen from the home ofits secretary who lives at PinewoodCrescent, Ballymun, Dublin. Thesecretary has sad that he intends totravel to Belfast to discuss it withthe Association’s general organiser.Membership forms were also sto-len.Tuesday 23rd May 1972Loyalist food strikeA hunger strike by 30 loyalist pris-oners in Armagh jail has entered itsthird day. A visitor to the prison saidthat that the men had gone on hun-ger strike to draw attention to con-ditions and food in the jail. Thestrike, he said, will continue indefi-nitely. Since it began on Saturdaynight after tea-time, the prisoners,all of whom are on remand, haveonly been taking milk.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Television producer to join SDLPA senior television producer hastaken on the full time post of gen-eral secretary of the SDLP, and isdue to start work in Belfast in a fewweeks time. He is Julian Jacotet,who resigned recently from the

THE TROUBLES

BBC in London where he hadworked on current affairs and gen-eral features. Mr Jaccotet was oneof the senior producers involved inthe epic TV series The British Em-pire. An official announcementfrom the SDLP is expected shortly.The salary proposed for the job isthought to be over £4,000.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Minster to probe torture allega-tionThe Army Minister, Mr GeoffreyJohnston Smith is said to be inves-tigating an incident in which a manarrested by the Army had a smoul-dering twig thrust up his nostril bysoldiers. It is said that the incidenthappened in Mulhouse Street bar-racks after he was take there by twosoldiers.

Tuesday 23rd May 1972Official IRA accuses ProvisionalsThe Official IRA has accused theProvisionals of trying to provoke acivil war by its shooting and bomb-ing campaign. A statement issuedin Dublin said, “The ProvisionalAlliance claims to be non-sectarianand to act in the interests of theworking people of Ireland. The lieis clear; to shoot an Irish workerbecause of his religious allegiance,to attack a public place – a pub, astore, a factory – because of the re-ligious affiliation of the people whofrequent it, is naked sectarianism,for which there can be no excuse.Sectarianism divides the workingclass on lines that lack reality andthe intention of the Provisional

leaders who promote sectarianismis to create the ultimate, divisivedistraction in the workers’ struggle– civil war.”

Wednesday 24th May 1972Special Courts for the SouthA special session of the Dail hasbeen held in order to rush throughthe Government’s emergency leg-islation to permit the transfer of ci-vilian prisoners to military custody.And at the same time a hint was thatthe Government could announcewithin a matter of days the estab-lishment of special criminal courtsto hear the charges against membersof illegal organisations.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Compensation for Co-opThe Ministry of home Affairs hasagreed to pay £1 million immedi-ately to the Belfast Co-operativeSociety for damage which occurredwhen the big York Street store wasdestroyed by explosion and fire.This initial sum is so that the Co-op can replenish stock which waslost in the blaze.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Dublin bomb scareThousands of people were late forwork because of a bomb scarewhich completely disrupted trafficin the centre of the city. Severalstreets were sealed off after a sus-picious looking parcel was seen atthe base of the Thomas Moorestatue in College Green, facingTrinity College. An Army explo-sives expert was called in to deto-nate the parcel, which containedonly paper.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Car bomb explodes in BelfastThe RUC have made radio and tel-evision appeals for shop owners tosecure their premises after a 100 lbbomb which had been strategicallyplaced outside a Fountain Streetsupermarket exploded. The blastwas heard in many parts of the cityand debris littered the surroundingstreets. Among the worst damagedbuildings in the area was OlivetreeHouse which is used by the Inlandrevenue.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Man shot dead at his front doorA 22-year-old Finaghy man hasbeen shot dead as he and his wifewere returning home to their SiclyPark home. The man, who has beennamed as Andrew Brennan, aCatholic, who is originaly from theAndersonstown area, had just gotout of his car and was walking to-wards his front door when a hiddengunman fired four shots. Mr.Brennan was shot in the chest anddied on his way to hospital.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Sniper kills soldier inBallymurphyA 20-year-old West Indian soldierhas been killed in the Ballymurphyarea of Belfast. The soldier, PrivateEustace Handley, a member of theKings Regiment, was a member ofa patrol covering an Army workingparty in the Springhill Avenue area.His comrades returned fire at thegunman who was thought to be op-erating from the Divismore Parkarea. Private Handley who was

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born in St Kitts died almost imme-diately.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Troops attackedPetrol bombs and stones have beenthrown at troops in the Riverdalearea of Belfast and later soldiersrecovered an unexploded pipebomb.Two blast bombs were also thrownat an Army post in an Albert StreetMill but there were no casualties.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Co-op building attackedThe RUC are investigating thecause of a fire which swept throughthe top floor of Co-op premises atFederation Street, off RavenhillAvenue. A spokesman said thatextensive damage has been causedby the blaze. It is thought that thefire started on the top floor of thebuilding.

Wednesday 24th May 1972IRA training camp discoveredSoldiers of the Duke of WellingtonRegiment have discovered whatthey believe was an IRA trainingcamp when they were searching thehills above the village of Rostrevor.An Army spokesman said the camp,concealed in a wood, appeared tohave been used in the last three tofour days by six to ten men. Troopshave found a loaded .303 rifle, two12 bore shotguns and a .22 rifle andpistol. Over 300 rounds of assortedammunition, smoke canisters, aswell as cooking utensils and camp-ing equipment were also discov-ered. The soldiers used a trackerdog to help locate the find.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Ambush at CladyTroops have claimed a hit whenthey were ambushed by two gun-men near the border Fourteen shotswere fired at the Royal Welch Fu-siliers who returned fire as the gun-men returned across the border. Asthe army patrol returned to Clady,they were stoned by local childrenand one rubber bullet was fired.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Machine gun discovered atCoaghTroops carrying out a search nearthe scene of an ambush atMoortown, Coagh, where a civil-ian has been killed, have discovereda loaded Thompson sub machinegun magazine

Wednesday 24th May 1972Bomb attack in DerryA 15 lb bomb has been thrown atan Army observation post in BrookePark. The bomb fell short of its tar-get and landed at the rear of a house.Two elderly women in the housewere treated for shock. There arereports that the three youths whothrew the bomb crossed openground to do so and as they ranaway, they grabbed three childrenfor cover. Fire was not returned andthe children were unharmed.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Bogside machine gun still not confirmedThe Minister of State for NorthernIreland, Mr Paul Channon, in a writ-ten Commons reply, has said thatthe existence of a Browning ma-chine gun in a “no-go” area of Derryhas not been confirmed. He pointed

out that Mr. Whitelaw was awareof the photograph which apparentlyillustrates the gun but its existencehas yet to be confirmed.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Court protestMiss Bernadette Devlin wasamongst a group of Sinn Fein dem-onstrators involved in a scuffle with

THE TROUBLES

police outside Monaghan Court-house. Nearly 30 supporters of bothwings of the Republican movementwere appearing inside the court oncharges arising out of recent distur-bances. About 100 placard-carry-ing demonstrators walked in a cir-cle in Church Square, while a dou-ble row of police inside the circletried to keep the traffic moving.There were occasional scuffles asthe police pushed the demonstratorsaside to allow vehicles through.Miss Devlin spoke from a platformand the pubic meeting lastedthroughout the lunch hour.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Soldiers get awardsEleven Military Crosses and Mili-tary medals have been awarded tosoldiers in the North. No details ofthe circumstances surrounding theawards have been released for se-curity reasons.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Grenades found by troopsTroops have found two grenadesand four timing devices in a housein the Short Strand area of Belfast.One person has been arrested. It isestimated that between 30 and 40people demonstrated outside thehouse while the house was beingsearched.Soldiers have also found a rifle, pis-tol and revolver under a gorse bushduring a routine search near Coagh,County Tyrone

Wednesday 24th May 1972Gardai search for sniperThe Gardai in Dublin are searchingfor a sniper who shot a security

THE TROUBLES

guard in the arm at a paper factory.The man had been checking secu-rity at Swiftbrook Paper Mill,Saggart, when he was shot frombehind. The bullet went through hisforearm and smashed a window.The Gardai cordoned off the areaand carried out an intensive searchbut nothing was found. There havebeen a number of incidents at themill since it was taken over recentlyand workers were made redundant.

Wednesday 24th May 1972More Incendiary attacks in Dub-linAfter five more incendiary deviceswere found in Dublin stores, ananonymous telephone call to anewspaper has claimed that the ar-son attacks were carried out by the“Irish Angry Brigade”. The callersaid that they accepted full respon-sibility for the attempted burning ofvarious Dublin stores. A Gardaispokesman said they had no knowl-edge of any such organisation.

Wednesday 24th May 1972Golfers warnedTop British golfers are said to havereceived warnings from Sinn Feinin relation to participation inCarroll’s tournament in Dublin.

Thursday 25th May 1972Advisory Commission set upAn eleven man advisory commis-sion, which will work with him inthe administration of the North, hasbeen announced in the Commonsat Westminster, by the Secretary ofState Mr Whitelaw. The team ismade up of seven Protestants andfour Catholics.

Thursday 25th May 1972Security forces murdered mansays IRASecurity authorities are sceptical ofdenials by both wings of the IRAthat they were involved in the kill-ing of a man outside a priests housenear Cookstown

Tomato growers in the South aresuffering financial loses becausetheir produce is being boycotted inthe North. The Irish Farmers As-sociation are saying that they arebeing force to seek alternate mar-kets abroad. They say that becauseof the political situation supermar-ket owners have reservations aboutdisplaying produce from the south.

Thursday 25th May 1972Prisoners on hunger strikeSome Republican prisoners at Bel-fast jail are in the tenth day of ahunger strike for political status.The Provisional IRA have claimed

that their “Officer Commanding” atthe prison, William McKee, jailedon an arms charge, was also start-ing a thirst strike.

Thursday 25th May 1972Shot man is seriously illTwo men have been shot at the cor-ner of Falls Road and SpringfieldRoad at around 1.30 am. The men,who were standing at a corner wentover to speak to the occupants of aparked car. Shots were then firedfrom inside the car before it madeoff up the Springfield road. One ofthe men was shot in the stomach andis said to be seriously ill. His com-panion received a flesh wound.

Thursday 25th May 1972Armed robbery in DunmurryThere has been an armed robberyat a service station at Black’s Road,Dunmurry. Three armed men gotaway with between £60 and £100.

THE TROUBLES

Thursday 25th May 1972Shots fired during the nightShots have been fired at Army pa-trols at Ardoyne and WhiterockDrive during the night but therewere no casualties and fire was notreturned.

Thursday 25th May 1972Timing device uncoveredSecurity forces have found a homemade timing device in a house inClyde Street. It is believed that theywere acting on information.

Thursday 25th May 1972Ammonium Nitrate discovered inNew LodgeA hundred weight of AmmoniumNitrate, which can be used to makeexplosive mixtures has been foundin a shed in Bruslee Way.

Thursday 25th May 1972RUC men ambushed in DerryTwo RUC men had a narrow escapeas they came under automatic fireas they patrolled the Belmont es-tate in the city’s Shantallow area.The gunman, operating fromGreenhaw Road, fired a total of 14shots in two bursts from aThompson sub-machine gun. The

RUC men dived for cover and didnot return fire.Seven shots were also fired at theBrandywell Army post and one atthe city walls. During the night,single shots were fired at Drumahoeand Bligh’s Lane posts.

Thursday 25th May 1972Joint Army-RUC searchA joint RUC-Army search near theshores of Lough Neagh has uncov-ered a rifle, a .45 pistol, a revolverand 11 rounds of ammunition. Thefind was made near the spot whereMr. William Hughes was shot deadin a gun attack on Monday night.Forensic experts are examining theitems to see if they can establishwhether they were used in theshooting.

Thursday 25th May 1972Arms find by UDRA UDR patrol has found a maga-zine containing 11 rounds of am-munition and five reels of safetyfuse.Thursday 25th May 1972RUC attacked in ArmaghAn RUC vehicle has been fired onwhile travelling along Irish Street,

Armagh. Two bursts were fired atthe vehicles but there were no casu-alties.

Thursday 25th May 1972Bessbrook shootingAn Army vehicle is thought to havebeen hit by bullets when it was firedon at Bessbrook. Fire was returnedbut no hits were claimed.

Thursday 25th May 1972Troops attacked in NewryA patrol of the Duke of Wellington’sRegiment has been fired on near thetown of Newry. Fire was returnedbut no hits were claimed.

Thursday 25th May 1972Vanguard alleges “over reaction”by troopsThe East Belfast Division of theVanguard Movement are seeking ameeting with Army chief GeneralTuzo to complain of alleged over-reaction by troops attacking a largeloyalist no-go area in Willowfield.Vanguard claims that a detailed in-quiry revealed that the Army firedover 80 lead bullets, 120 rubberrounds and many canisters of gas.Two people had been shot, 12 as-saulted with rifle butts and batonsand 17 houses were badly damagedwhen, it is alleged the officer incommand lost control of his sol-diers. Statements have been takenfrom 40 residents and are in thehands of legal advisers. If therewere any repetition of events, Van-guard would not be responsible forthe action of others.

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Thursday 25th May 1972Jesus freak is back in BelfastArthur Blessitt, leader of theAmerica Jesus Movement is backin Belfast for 40 days. At a pressconference, he said “I believe thatby the 1st July the sound of Jesuscheers will echo louder thanbombs.” The 31-year-old JesusFreak has cancelled a trip to Europeto return to Belfast because he be-lieves that the North is on the brinkof “an awakening”. On Saturday,

he will be holding an open air rallyoutside the City Hall and expectsbetween 10,000 and 15,000 to at-tend. He also has plans to make areturn visit to Crumlin Road jail andhopes also to visit Long Kesh.

Thursday 25th May 1972De Valera signs Prisons BillIn the South President De Valera hassigned the Prisons Bill 1972, whichgives the Justice Minister the powerto transfer prisoners from civilian

jails into military custody. The Billwas rushed through the Dail andSenate in order to close any loop-hole in legislation through whichprisoners already moved to theArmy camp at the Curragh mightseek their release. The Minister, MrDes O’Malley, told the Dail that ithad been necessary to transfer 180prisoners from Mountjoy jail afterthe riot there on Thursday night.Most of these have been accommo-dated in other jails But 40, mainly

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Republicans, were moved to theCurragh where they are in militarycustody.

Friday 26th May 1972No warning bomb in OxfordStreetAt least 40 people have been in-jured, some seriously, when a 150lb car bomb exploded withoutwarning in Belfast’s Oxford Street.The RUC are unable to confirmearly reports that two people havedied in the blast. The bomb is be-lieved to have been hidden in a sto-len Volkswagon which was parkedoutside Robinson’s motor show-rooms, not far from the Queen’sbridge and Oxford Street bus sta-tion. People who raced to the sceneafter the blast said that a man hadbeen killed and a woman was veryseriously injured, possibly dead.

Friday 26th May 1972Tennis club destroyedQueens University tennis club hasbeen destroyed by a bomb. Theparcel bomb had been placed at thebuilding, but the area had beencleared before it exploded. Nocasualties were reported.

Friday 26th May 1972Intelligence officers attacked onShankillThree Army intelligence officershave been seized and beaten by amob on Belfast’s Shankill Road as

they tried to apprehend some menthey had been following. The menare believed to be on the Army’swanted list; however, it is thoughtthat local people saw one of the sol-dier’s pistols and thought they wereabout to be killed. The incidenthappened between Silvio Street andCrumlin Road. The Army has re-leased a statement about the inci-dent in which it said that a militarypatrol on surveillance duty and incivilian clothes had cause to checka suspicious car containing fourmen in Jaffa Street. One of the sol-diers identified himself in the nor-mal manner and the car drove offat high speed. The patrol gavechase and managed to stop the carin Upper Cargill Street. Two menin the car produced pistols and oneof the soldiers fired one round butdoes not claim a hit. The car man-aged to escape up the ShankillRoad. At this point an angry crowd

appeared and not realising the menwere soldiers began to attack them.The soldiers were taken to hospitalbut only suffered cuts and bruises.

Friday 26th May 1972UDR man not torturedAn inquest into the death of UDRCorporal James Elliott who waskidnapped and shot 11 times hasbeen told that the State Pathologistwas satisfied that he had not beentortured, nor had his body beenmutilated or tampered with as hadbeen previously been reported. The33-year-old UDR man was kid-napped on 17th April and his bodywas found surrounded by explo-sives and claymore mines. The in-quest heard that although the explo-sives were intended to kill the se-curity forces who went to recoverthe body, the body itself was notbooby-trapped.

FACING PAGE - The remains of a carbomb used in a bombing attack inBelfast’s Oxford StreetRIGHT - A lorry destroyed in theOxford Street attack

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Friday 26th May 1972SDLP say Lets get back to work”The Social Democratic and labourParty have called on all those whohave withdrawn from pubic bodiessince internment to return to theirpositions – as a demonstration oftheir determination to bring aboutcommunity reconciliation. Themove is urged in a new policy state-ment issued by the party, in whichit also says it will seek talks withProtestant leaders and wants a cleardeclaration from the Secretary ofState that the policy of internmenthas ended. The party says that itscommitment on internment remainsbut it hints that if the IRA contin-ues its campaign with the object ofmaintaining internment, and sokeeping MP’s away from politicaltalks, it may decide to take part intalks anyway. A spokesman for Mr.Whitelaw has said that the SDLPmove is very welcome.

Friday 26th May 1972Derry bomb attackA fire, which has been caused by abomb has destroyed a block of busi-ness premises in Derry. The targetof the bomb was the wholesalechemist store of John Mortimer &Son Ltd in Foyle Street. The drap-ers store of Robert Cooke ofButcher Street was among the busi-nesses destroyed in the attacks.

Friday 26th May 1972Man tarred and feathered and shotA 24-year-old man who was foundin Catherine Street just after mid-night had been tarred and featheredand shot in the thigh. He is reportedto have told the RUC that he was

picked up in the University area bya number of armed men, taken to aderelict house in the Markets, thentarred and shot in Eliza Street. Theman, who is being treated in theRoyal Victoria Hospital is thoughtto be a victim of an IRA punish-ment.

Friday 26th May 1972Bomb attack in MoneymoreA bomb, estimated to contain be-tween 80 and 100 lb of explosiveshas exploded in a parked car out-side Moneymore RUC barracks.The Barracks, which is a “limitedopening” station was completelydestroyed in the blast.

Friday 26th May 1972Army patrols attackedShots have been fired as soldiersremoved a broken down Army ve-hicle from Shaw’s Road in theAndersonstown area but there wereno casualties. Earlier soldiers fireda baton round at crowd which at-tacked them and a petrol bomb wasthrown at Ladybrook Park but noone was injured.

Friday 26th May 1972UDR men ambushedFive shots have been fired at UDRmen on duty at Castlereagh electric-ity sub-station. The part-time sol-diers returned fire and it is thoughtthat two blast bombs were alsothrown at their position.

Friday 26th May 1972Gelignite discoveredTwelve sticks of gelignite and aquantity of inflammable liquid, con-nected to a timing device, have been

discovered in the hallway of theBay Inn, Dundrum. The Armysealed off the area and an Armyexpert defused the device.

Friday 26th May 1972Derry shootingsFour separate shooting incidentshave been reported in Derry over-night. One shot was fired atBrandywell Army post and troopsat Bligh’s Lane came under firetwice but there were no casualties.Troops fired at a gunman who wasseen in Demesne Avenue but no hitwas claimed.

Friday 26th May 1972Young Vanguard defends tartangangsColeraine Young Vanguard havecriticised the mass media for whatthey describe as the discriminatorypresentation of tartan youth. A reso-lution passed by them states that thetartans are generally motivated byloyalty to Ulster and a wish to de-fend it but were invariably pre-sented as hooligans and gangs.“Furthermore we deplore thatsometimes unnecessary actions aretaken against our young fellow citi-zens.”A second resolution passed by theYoung Vanguards calls for more“no-go” areas to be set up outsideBelfast in view of the events in loy-alist Belfast recently and the actionsof the Whitelaw administration.

Saturday 27th May 1972Militant Protestants marchthrough BelfastThousands of militant Protestants,many of them members of the Ul-

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ster Defence Association, withfaces hidden behind masks, hoodsand dark glasses, marched in para-military style through the streets ofBelfast. Many of the marchers pa-raded in silent ranks, taking ordersfrom uniformed “commanders”The UDA contingent, which leftseveral minutes behind marchersfrom the Loyalist Association ofWorkers, were clad in Khaki and asnumbers grew it became impossi-ble to put any figure on the size ofthe parade except to say it was manythousands. It was the biggest dis-play of Protestant militancy in theBelfast for many years.UDA companies from Woodvale,Oldpark, Ardoyne andNewtownabbey and many other ar-eas were cheered by the crowds asthey swung into Sandy Row for thestart of the parade.

Saturday 27th May 1972UDR mobilisedThe Ulster Defence Regiment hasbeen mobilised in Belfast as part ofa massive security operation whichincluded road blocks on all the maincity roads. With thousands of Prot-estants participating in the loyalistrally at Woodvale Park and the pos-sibility of further no-go protests inProtestant areas of the city, the situ-ation was being described by theRUC as being tense.Although no one was prepared tostipulate specific areas, there isspeculation that the Donegal Roadand sandy Row areas will be barri-caded off for a 24-hour protestwhich will be aimed at bringingpressure on the authorities to dealwith the Free Derry problem. A

member of the Ulster Defence As-sociation in West Belfast has said“We are not saying where, but thebarricades will be going up for 24hours.”

Saturday 27th May 1972Unionist Association’s loyalistpolice planA statement from the West BelfastImperial Unionist Association hassaid that they are launching a re-cruiting campaign to enlist men toa “loyalist civilian police force.”The statement said that if any formof civilian police force ever cameinto the streets of IRA no-go areas,then the loyalist force would beused in loyalist areas under the con-trol of the Ulster Defence Associa-tion.

Saturday 27th May 1972Soldiers hurt in bomb attackFour soldiers have been injured ina bomb attack at Forkhill, CountyArmagh. The troops were in a mo-bile patrol when a car they werepassing exploded. Their injuries arenot thought to be serious.

Saturday 27th May 1972Protestants jeer WhitelawA group of Protestants have jeeredMr William Whitelaw when he ar-rived at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Pastor Jack Glass, leader ofthe 20th Century ReformationMovement and five supporters hadwaited at the entrance of the palaceto see Mr Whitelaw arrive to havelunch with the Lord High Commis-sioner of the General assembly ofthe Church of Scotland. They wereprotesting at his handling of the

situation in the North and shouted :“IRA sell-out” and “IRA lover”.

Saturday 27th May 1972Red Cross to visit Long KeshIt has been disclosed that anotherRed Cross delegation has visitedLong Kesh. Two men, both Swiss,visited the camp on Wednesday andThursday with the approval of theSecretary of State. A statementfrom Mr Whitelaw’s office said thedelegates were able to freely carryout their task and to converse pri-vately with internees and detaineesof their own choosing. As is nor-mal practise a report of the visit willbe given to Mr Whitelaw.

Saturday 27th May 1972No jury courts for SouthWith the setting up of special courtsto try IRA men under the OffencesAgainst the State Act in the Souththere is speculation in Dublin thatthis is the prelude to the longawaited crackdown on illegal pri-vate armies in the Republic. Thenew special criminal courts will actwith three judges, but without ju-ries. The decision as to which de-fendants will appear before the spe-cial courts lies with the AttorneyGeneral. The move follows the ac-quittal of a number of IRA menbrought before ordinary courts inthe Republic; acquittals whichseemed to have been totally againstthe weight of evidence presented.

Saturday 27th May 1972Woman killed in bomb attackOne woman has died and a man isseriously ill in hospital after the carbomb explosion in Oxford Street.

THE TROUBLES

Altogether 43 people were rushedto hospital after the explosion. Thedead woman has been named asMrs Margaret Young of Lord Street.She was walking along OxfordStreet when the bomb went off. Asa result of the explosion eight menand one was detained in hospital.

Saturday 27th May 1972Man found shot dead inAndersonstownThe body of a man has been foundby local people at the junction ofFinaghy Road North and RiverdalePark Avenue at around 2.00 am.The man has been identified as 20-year-old Gerald Duddy ofInishmore Crescent. An RUCspokesman said it is not known howor why the man was killed butpointed out that in the past fewweeks two such mystery killingshave occurred in the area. The onlycommon denominator being theywere Catholics. The RUC has saidthat the dead man had no knownlink to any illegal organisation.

Saturday 27th May 1972Soldiers shot in OldparkAn army medical officer attachedto the Royal Regiment of Wales hasbeen shot in the stomach after abomb weighing between 50 and100lbs exploded without warning atBrown’s furniture shop on theOldpark Road. The bomb whichhad been left outside the front doorcaused widespread damage to theshop and about 20 neighbouringshops and houses. The medical of-ficer was attending to a soldier whowas suffering from concussion af-

ter the blast when a gunman firedseven shots from an automaticweapon from the direction ofBallycastle Street. Troops in anArmy post at Louisa Street returnedthe fire and claimed to have hit thegunman who disappeared into thedarkness.

Saturday 27th May 1972Men wounded in New LodgeShots have been fired at a numberof men standing at the junction ofNorth Queen Street-HardingeStreet. Three men were hit in thelegs by the hail of bullets but noneof them were seriously injured.

Saturday 27th May 1972Soldier shot in Ballymurphy’sBull RingA soldier has been grazed by a bul-let when a sniper fired one bullet atan Army vehicle in the Bull Ringin Ballymurphy. The shot wentthrough an open hatch on the vehi-cle and grazed the soldier, a mem-ber of the Duke of Wellington’sRegiment, in the shoulder.

Saturday 27th May 1972Gunman shot in Derry say ArmySoldiers have claimed to have shota gunman in Derry City. An Armyspokesman has said that soldiersfired at two gunmen seen at Char-lotte lace and hit one of them. Twosingle shots were also fired at theBrandywell post but there were nocasualties and fire was not returned.

Saturday 27th May 1972Foyle Road bomb attackTwo men, one armed with a gun,have planted a bomb in a car show-

room at Foyle Road. It explodedsoon afterwards and caused exten-sive damage to the building. TheProvisional IRA has claimed re-sponsibility for the three bomb at-tacks in the city.

Saturday 27th May 1972Car bomb in BellaghyA car bomb left in Barrack Street,Bellaghy has caused considerabledamage but there were no casual-ties. Two youths were seen runningfrom the vehicle, which had earlierbeen stolen from the Portglenonearea and the alarm raised.

Saturday 27th May 1972Shots fired at CladySeven shots have been fired fromthe South at an Army patrol near thevillage of Clady. There were nocasualties and fire was not returned.

Saturday 27th May 1972Belfast cinema bombedA car bomb has exploded at theCrumlin Cinema on the CrumlinRoad Belfast. Windows in the sur-rounding area were damaged, aswere houses in the nearby Tasma-nia Street. Seven people, includ-ing a city councillor were injuredin the attack.

Saturday 27th May 1972Paisley demands probe into ParasactionsMr William Whitelaw, has turneddown a request by Mr Ian Paisleyfor an immediate inquiry into the“situation arising out of the entryof the Parachute Regiment intoDouglas Street on Sunday 21st May.During a Commons explanation for

THE TROUBLES

his refusal it was pointed out thatarmed men were seen in the area;that shots were fired at troops andone man was wounded. Rubberbullets were also fired.

Saturday 27th May 1972IRA man’s fine is paidThe £10 fine imposed on Provi-sional IRA Chief of Staff, SeanMacStofain, at Navan Court hasbeen anonymously paid. The finewas imposed when the IRA leaderfailed to answer a charge of havinga bullet in his Navan home, carrieda six-month prison sentence if notpaid inside a month. ProvisionalIRA members are prevented frompaying fines because of a strict ruleof their organisation. They believethat payment of fines or acceptanceof bail is a recognition of the court.

Saturday 27th May 1972Revolvers found at borderAn Army patrol manning a roadcheckpoint in South Armagh havefound three fully loaded .38 revolv-ers which were thrown from a car.The weapons were found by menof the Duke of Wellington Regi-ment who were manning the roadblock at Carrieve, west of Forkhillat around 10.00 am. An Armyspokesman said that a black AustinCambridge car approached thecheckpoint suddenly turned roundand as it did something was thrownfrom the window of the vehicle.The troops investigated the incidentand discovered the weapons. Thecar turned into a side road and it isassumed that it resumed its journeyinto the South.

Saturday 27th May 197224 hour hunger strikeA 24 hour hunger strike organisedby Armagh’s Peoples Democracystarted has started at Irish Streetcorner. The strike has been organ-ised to express solidarity with themen in Armagh and Crumlin Roadjails who are refusing food.

Monday 29th May 1972Short Strand bomb – eight mayhave diedThe RUC are working on the theorythat the death toll from the bombexplosion which devastated an EastBelfast street may rise to seven orpossibly eight. Four of the six vic-tims are being described as officersin the Belfast Brigade of the IRA.The dead have been named as:Edward McDonnell, aged 26, ofKilmod Street;Martin Engelen, aged 20, of AltcarStreetJohn Nugent, aged 31, ofCullingtree WalkHarry Crawford, age 34, of HarperStreet.Mary Clarke, age 28, of AndersonStreetThe IRA have claimed that StaffCaptain Joseph Fitzsimmons andLieutenant Jackie McIlhone havedied in the blast. McDonell is de-scribed as being a Lieutenant andEngelen as a 1st Lieutenant.In a statement released by the Bel-fast Brigade of the Provisionals theyclaimed that two minutes before thebomb exploded two cars were seento enter the Anderson Street areaand one was abandoned. Republi-

cans in the area immediately alertedan “Active Service Unit” and whenmembers of this unit approachedthe vehicle, it exploded. But onedeath notice referring to EdwardMcDonnell said that he died as aresult of an accident. The Army andRUC are of the opinion that the ex-plosion was caused by an IRAbomb which went off accidentallyas it was being taken to or from acar in the Street. The car, wreckedby the 20-40 lb bomb is thought tohave been hi-jacked at gunpoint inBrompton Park, in the Ardoynearea. The security forces say thatthe crater caused by the bomb indi-cated that it had not exploded in thevehicle but between it and a house.A damaged .45 revolver was found10 yards from the scene.

Monday 29th May 1972Shot girl fights for her lifeA 12-year-old girl is fighting for herlife in hospital after being shot whena gunman opened fire on an RUCpatrol in the Oldpark area. The girl,Joan Scott, who is originally fromBelfast, has been living Englandfor the past year. Her parents, whohave flown to Belfast to be with herhave said that she had been home-sick and wanted to visit her friends.

Monday 29th May 1972Shooting victim namedThe RUC have named the 21-year-old Catholic who died after anothermystery shooting on Belfast’sSpringfield Road. He is James Teer,of Whiterock Drive, who died aftershots were fired at him from a pass-

THE TROUBLES

ing car at the West Circular Roadjunction at 11.00 pm. This latestkilling comes just over a week af-ter 18-year-old Adrian Barton ofSpringfield Road was shot deadagain from a passing car – as hewalked home from a dance.Monday 29th May 1972Troubles death tollThe death toll in the North since thetroubles began in 1969 is now 348but with fears that the AndersonStreet explosion could reach eight,the number may rise to 350.Monday 29th May 1972Uniform protest at prisonA number of Protestant prisoners atBelfast’s Crumlin Road Prison arerefusing to wear uniforms. Themen, thought to be 16, are wearingclothes, probably made by them-selves, during handicraft sessions.The refusal is an attempt to havethemselves called “political” pris-oners.

Monday 29th May 1972Cleaning firm attackedA cleaning firm in NewcastleCounty Down has been set on firebecause it has cleaned uniforms forthe Army. Three men walked into

the Concord cleaners on CentralPromenade and told staff to get out.The premises was sprinkled withpetrol and then set alight. The shopwas completely gutted.

Monday 29th May 1972Army attacked at WarenpointFour shots have been fired acrossthe border at an Army mobile pa-trol near Warrenpoint. None of thesoldiers were injured and fire wasnot returned. A single shot has alsobeen fired at troops in the NorglenParade area of Belfast. There wereno casualties and fire was not re-turned.

Monday 29th May 1972Cork arms raidPolice in Cork are searching for twomen who got away with seven ri-fles, four shotguns and a smallamount of cash in an armed raid ona sports shop in Tuckey Street.

Monday 29th May 1972Bombs explode in BelfastThree bombs have exploded in Bel-fast causing extensive damage. Just

before 8.00 pm a bomb caused dam-age to premises at Upper AnnStreet, Cornmarket, High Street,Arthur Street and Chichester Street.The 50-100 lb bomb was concealedin a Ford Cortina which had beenhijacked in the University area.There were no casualties.

Seven people were taken to hospi-tal after a 50 lb bomb exploded inan 1100 car at Patterson’s Place, offDonegal Square East. Their inju-ries are not thought to be serious.The third car bomb came after ananonymous telephone call warningof a bomb at Long Lane, off LowerNorth Street. The 20 lb bomb wasin a Ford Zephyr car and injured anRUC man when it exploded.

Monday 29th May 1972Oldpark shootingsTwo people on the Oldpark Roadhave been taken to hospital aftershots were fired from Louisa Street.Soldiers also fired at a nail-bomberin the same area. The troops saythat he dropped a second nail bombas he ran off.

Monday 29th May 1972East Belfast barricadesIn East Belfast barricades have goneup in the Willowfield district al-though on a much smaller scale thanbefore. However, troops came un-der fire as they moved in to disman-tle them.

LEFT - The scene of the explosion inAnderson Street in which four membersof the IRA were killed along with fourcivilians

THE TROUBLES

Monday 29th May 1972Protest at RUC barracksAround 150 women carrying plac-ards proclaiming “solidarity withthe political prisoners” and flankedby unformed Fianna membersmarched past Andersonstown RUCbarracks.

Monday 29th May 1972Shot men detained in hospitalTwo of the men who were shotfrom a passing car as they werestanding at the junction of HardingeStreet and North Queen Street arestill being detained in hospital. Arelative of the men say that after theincident the car drove off towardsDuncairn Gardens.

Monday 29th May 1972Malicious fire in ArmaghThousands of pounds worth of dam-age has been caused to ArmaghCounty Welfare old people’s homewhich was being built at Cloughrea,Bessbrook. According to the RUCthe fire had been started in five dif-ferent places.

Monday 29th May 1972Town hall bombedKilrea town hall has been exten-sively damaged by a 50-100 lbbomb. An anonymous warning wasreceived at Ballymena telephoneexchange. The area was evacuatedand there were no casualties.

TOP LEFT - A woman takes coverduring a gun battle in the Turf LodgeestateBOTTOM LEFT - Troops run for coverduring gunfire in Turf Lodge

THE TROUBLES

Monday 29th May 1972Vanguard rally in DungannonAbout 5,000 people attended a Van-guard rally in the Square,Dungannon. The speakers includedMr Willaim Craig, the Rev martinSmyth and Capt Austin Ardle.

Monday 29th May 1972Lurgan incidentThe Army has said that around 150peple have overturned cars inWilliam Street. They also erectedbarriers and smashed windows be-fore dispersing.

Monday 29th May 1972Soldiers ambushed in ArmaghGunmen operating from the ruinsof a burned out school fired 24 shotsat a two vehicle patrol of theGordon Highlanders travellingalong the ring road flyover in Ar-magh. No soldiers were hit and firewas not returned.

Monday 29th May 1972Armagh bomb scareAn Army bomb disposal team hasblown the boot off a stolen aban-doned car which was parked behindthe Ritz cinema. There had been atelephone warning that a bomb hadbeen left in a car at Market Street,but after the controlled explosionnothing was found.

Monday 29th May 1972Car bomb explodes in RasharkinA car bomb has exploded at Millar’spetrol station and shop inRasharkin. The car exploded in thegarage forecourt and an anonymouscaller warned the owner, who lives

in a bungalow about 30 yards awayto get out. There were no casual-ties.

Monday 29th May 1972CRA calls for disobedienceA call for a massive rededication tocivil disobedience has come fromBannside CRA executive. In astatement they say they intend tostrengthen civil disobedience inCounty Antrim and call on othercivil rights committees to do thesame.

Monday 29th May 1972Suitcase bombAbout 30 bedrooms in a three sto-rey wing of Derry’s main hotel, theCity, have been badly damaged bya bomb. Two men with suitcaseshad booked into the hotel and weretaken to their room. After leavingtheir cases there they returned thekeys to the desk and left the hotel.A short while later a warning tel-ephone call was received and thehotel evacuated. No one was in-jured in the attack. The hotel hasbeen used as a base for the World’spress covering events in Derry.

Monday 29th May 1972Republican prisoners on hungerstrikeRepublican prisoners in CrumlinRoad Prison are continuing withtheir hunger strike. Some of themen are into their 14th day of thehunger strike, all are taking liquidsand none are in a serious condition.Earlier reports had said that one ofthe men was also on thirst strike butthis claim has been dropped fromthe latest statement.

Monday 29th May 1972Stranraer bomb hoaxPolice have searched a café inStranraer after a caller claimed thata bomb had been planted in a cafébut it was found to be a hoax. Theincident occurred when more than1,000 from the North were in townattending a pipe band contest.

Monday 29th May 1972Booby trap bomb in torchAn Army torch which had been con-verted into a booby-trap bomb anddesigned to explode when it wasswitched on has been discoverednear a vehicle checkpoint on theStrabane-Lifford Road. Army ex-perts who have examined the devicesay that it is identical to the onedescribed in ”The Terrorist’s CookBook”.

Monday 29th May 1972Loyalist strike at CourtauldsAbout 100 more workers havejoined the strike at Courtaulds fac-tory in Carrickfergus. Talks are tak-ing place to settle the loyalist strikeat the factory which led to a minorno-go area being set up for sevenhours.

Monday 29th May 1972Army carry light machine gunsin BelfastThe Army are once again openlycarrying Light machine guns onBelfast streets for the first timesince 1969. It is the Army’s numbertwo machine gun and can fire nearly1,000 rounds a minute. The weaponhas been mainly used in border ar-

THE TROUBLES

eas but strict regulations are in forceon where and when the weapon canbe used, particularly in built up ar-eas.

Monday 29th May 1972UDR man dies in gun accidentA 27-year-old UDR Sergeant hasdied after his gun accidentally wentoff while he was in the home ofanother part-time soldier. He is SgtWilliam Reid form Lisburn.

Monday 29th May 1972IRA attacked in WexfordconferenceStrong condemnation of IRA vio-lence has been made at the annualconference of the South’s secondbiggest union, the Worker’s Unionof Ireland. The General SecretaryDenis Larkin, the son of Labourleader James Larkin, said his father“murdered no man and would notsupport the violence in the North.”Some of the bombers, he saidclaimed James Connolly for theirinspiration and Mr Larkin said thatConnolly in 1916 had ended theuprising because he wished to avertcivilian casualties.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Official IRA ceasefireThe Provisional IRA kept up itsbombing campaign indicating thatit intends to have no part in the in-definite truce announced on Mon-day night by the Official IRA. TheOfficial RA announcing its cease-fire say that while it has ceased hos-tilities it has not ven up its defen-sive role.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Laundry bombedPart of the Liliput Laundry inDunmurry has been extensivelydamaged by a bomb. Earlier twomen and a teenage girl planted twobombs at Morton’s bottler’s on theDonegal Road.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Short Strand death toll con-firmedEight people, six men and twowomen, are now known to havedied in the explosion In AndersonStreet. The RUC have said they canonly confirm seven names, howevera newspaper insertion has namedthe eighth person as Miss GeraldineMcMahon, of Stanhope Drive.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Murdered man namedThe 32-year-old porter shot dead inthe Millfield area has been namedas Thomas Joseph Wardlow, ofDurham Street Mr Wardlow is be-lieved to have been returning homefrom a wake in the New LodgeRoad area. His body was found byparatroopers who were investigat-ing two shots that they heard. Aswith a number of recent attacks onCatholics, there is no apparent mo-tive.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Ardoyne shootingsTrouble has flared in Ardoyne sol-diers detained about 70 men at twolocal clubs and took them to theFlax Street military post for ques-tioning. An Army spokesman saidit was a routine search operationwhereby certain people were de-

tained for questioning and then re-leased. During the night, 25 sepa-rate shooting incidents were re-corded in the Ardoyne area. Thir-teen of these involved soldiers. Asoldier was shot in the back as hewent to investigate a blast in Ja-maica Street. He was rushed tohospital where he is said to be seri-ously ill. A second soldier waswounded in the leg.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Border gun attackA total of 24 shots have been firedfrom the south at an Army patrol atClady. There were no casualtiesand fire was not returned.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Quiet night in DerryDerry has had its quietest night formonths and neither the Army orRUC have reported a single inci-dent.

Tuesday 30th May 1972100 UDA women in protestMore than 100 members of theWomen’s UDA marched toWhiteabbey RUC barrack to pro-test about the security situation.The women also complained aboutthe rough handling of young boysby the Army, RUC ad UDR.

Tuesday 30th May 1972RTE axes Sinn Fein interviewA scheduled interview with MrRory Brady of Provisional SinnFein has been axed by RTE authori-ties because it was deemed not ap-propriate. Mr Brady said later thatit was obviously not convenient for

THE TROUBLES

the government to hear criticism ofits policies.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Troops come under fireTroops have come under fire inBelfast. Ten shots have been firedat a patrol in the Glenmachan Streetarea, off the Donegal Road. Firewas returned but no hits wereclaimed. Three shots were alsofired in Ramoan Gardens in theAndersonstown area and an Armyobservation post at Musgrave ParkHospital also came under fire butno one was injured in the incidents.

Tuesday 30th May 1972Protest at CurraghPeople’s Democracy plan to holdsa march from Naas to the CurraghCamp on Saturday to complainabout the holding of detainees there.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Soldier killed in Springfield Roadbomb attackThe bomb, which exploded in alocker inside Springfield Road

RUC-Army barracks contained 20lb of explosives and may have beensmuggled into the base piece bypiece and assembled on the spot.This is one theory being exploredby the RUC detectives who are in-vestigating the attack in which asoldier was killed and six other peo-ple, including two civilians wereinjured. The dead soldier has beennamed as Private Marcel JamesDogley, a 28-year-old man who ismarried with two children. PrivateDogley is originally from the Sey-chelles.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Hi-jacked lorries used to blockroadTwo articulated lorries were hi-jacked at gunpoint by five men. Thelorries were then driven across themain Belfast-Dublin road andblown up.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Derry bank is bombedA three storey building in Derrywhich houses the Ulster Bank has

been bombed by the IRA. It is be-lieved that the bomb was plantedby a number of armed men in a sec-ond floor office. The bomb ex-ploded twenty minutes later andWaterloo Place, on to which theBank faces, was strewn with ma-sonry and thousands of documents.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Troops stoned in StrabaneTroops have fired rubber bullets inStrabane to break up a crowd ofyouths who stoned them on twooccasions on the Dublin Road.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Dead soldier is namedThe soldier who died earlier todayafter five shots were fired from acar at a mobile patrol on theAndersonstown Road has beennamed as 27-year-old MichaelDenis Bruce of the Royal Corps ofTransport.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Bomb in Turf LodgeThe Army has reported that a bomb

THE TROUBLES

has been thrown at troops of the 1st

Kings Regiment at Monagh Roadbut no casualties were reported.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Girl dies from bullet woundSchool girl, Joan Scott, who wasshot while walking with friends inthe Oldpark area of Belfast has diedin hospital. The girl, aged 12, wascaught in the line of fire betweengunmen and the RUC.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Punishment shootingA man from the Stanhope Drivearea of Belfast has been found shotin both legs in a flat near his home.A placard was hung around his neckaccusing him of a crime. It is be-lieved he was the victim of an IRApunishment shooting.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Sniper attack in Donegal StreetA shot was fired at the securityforces in Lower Donegal Street butthere were no casualties and thesource could not be located.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Troops attacked at Belfast Con-ventTroops have come under fire as theyinvestigated a bomb call to a GlenRoad Convent. An anonymouscaller said that a bomb had beenplaced in the building.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Army attacked in North BelfastTwenty-five shots have been firedat troops from the direction of HolyCross School Ardoyne. The Armywas also fired on as they entered

Hooker Street but no one was in-jured in the attacks.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Bombs explode in ClaudyTwo bombs which were planted inthe workshops and showroom of theHillfoot garage at Glen Road ex-ploded around midnight badly dam-aging the garage and 24 cars.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Dungiven RUC barracks bombedThe unoccupied married quarters atDungiven RUC barracks have beenextensively damaged by a 50-100lb bomb. No warning was givenbut no one was injured in the attack.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Shots fired in StrabaneTwo shots have been fired towardstroops at the rear of Strabane RUCbarracks. They struck the buildingbut there were no casualties and firewas not returned.

Wednesday 31st May 1972RUC Land Rover attackedTwelve shots have been fired at anRUC Land Rover near the LoughRoad motorway inter-change.There were no casualties.

A UDR man who was accidentallyshot on a firing range has died twoweeks after the incident. He is 29-year-old Bernard Anderson, fromEnniskillen

Wednesday 31st May 1972O’Brady rules out IRA cease fireThe President of Kevin Street SinnFein, Mr Rory O’Brady has ruledout the likelihood of a ceasefire by

the Provisional IRA until the Brit-ish Government makes a positiveresponse to its demands. He saidthat a temporary peace of five yearswas no go because their childrenwould have to take up the fightagain.

Wednesday 31st May 1972RUC man drunk in charge of gunAn RUC detective with 25 yearsservice has appeared in courtcharged with possession of a loadedrevolver while drunk. The RUCman accidentally discharged it andwounded a friend. The court heardthat he took the gun out with himwhen he was going to see an in-formant after which he went for adrink. He was fined £25.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Hunger strike goes onRepublican hunger strikers at Bel-fast Prison had not started eatingagain as earlier reports had sug-gested. The men have not calledoff their fast.

Wednesday 31st May 1972Derry electionsMr Paddy Doherty, former vice-chairman of the Bogside DefenceAssociation, which controlled theBogside for nine weeks after theArmy moved into Derry in 1969 isone of three well-known figureswho have been nominated for theforthcoming “Free Derry” elec-tions. He is one of five independ-ent candidates nominated for theelection on the 15th June .Sinn Feinhave nominated thirteen candidates,two of these are ex-internees andfour are women.

THE TROUBLES

Martha Campbell

THOSE WHO DIEDDAVID CURRIEAGED 261st May, 1972Mr Currie was killed when theIRA launched a major bombattack on the Courtaulds fac-tory in Carrickfergus. He andsome work colleagues went toinvestigate after the firstexplosion and were caught ina second. Eight bombs wereplanted and one worker said:-“The bombs were planted ex-actly where they would domost damage. Whoeverplanted them knew just whatthey were doing.”

VICTOR ANDREWSAGED 204th May, 1972Victor was a seaman home onshort leave when he was ap-proached by members of theUDA in Baltic Avenue inNorth Belfast and stabbed todeath.

JOHN BALLARDAGED 1811th May, 1972A soldier in the Royal AnglianRegiment he was shot dead bythe IRA while on foot patrolin the Sultan Street area of theFalls in West Belfast.

PATRICK McVEIGHAGED 4412th May, 1972Mr McVeigh was shot dead bythe army who opened fire onmembers of the Catholic Ex-Service Men’s Associationwho were manning a checkpoint at Riverdale Park Southand whom Mr McVeigh hadstopped to talk to. It lateremerged that the shooting wascarried out by the undercoverarmy unit, the MRF (MilitaryRe-Action Force).

TOMMY McILROYAGED 5013th May, 1972Shot dead by loyalist gunmenfiring from the SpringmartinEstate. Mr McIlroy was thefirst of four people to be killedin a series of events whichbegan with a loyalist carbomb attack on a Catholic barand which led to an intensethree way gun battle betweenthe IRA, British Army andloyalists.

ALAN BUCKLEYAGED 2213th May, 1972Mr Buckley was a corporal inthe King’s Own ScottishBorderers and was shot deadby an IRA gunman as he saton a Ferret armoured vehicle.See above.

MICHAEL MAGEEAGED 1513th May, 1972Michael was a member of thejunior wing of the IRA andwas shot dead during the dis-turbances, which followed the

bombing of Kelly’s Bar on theWhiterock Road.See above.

ROBERT McMULLANAGED 3213th May, 1972Mr McMullan was shot deadduring the gun battle whichfollowed the bombing ofKelly’s Bar close to his home.He had been an innocent by-stander as the RUC laterconfirmed that he was notconnected to any illegalorganisation.See above

One of those injured during the bombattack later died on the 23rd of May.John Moran was a barman fatallyinjured in the explosion.

GERARD McCUSKERAGED 2413th May, 1972Gerard’s body was found inHopeton Street off theShankill Road after membersof the UDA attacked him, beathim and then shot him dead.His blazer, wallet, cufflinks,rings and watch were allstolen.

JOHN STARRSAGED 1913th May, 1972A member of the IRA, he wasshot dead by the military inthe William Street area ofDerry. He and another IRAmember launched an attackon the army and was killed inreturn fire.

JOHN PEDLOWAGED 1714th May, 1972Soldiers who had beenengaged in a major gun battlewith the IRA shot John deadin the Protestant Springmartinestate.

MARTHA CAMPBELLAGED 1314th May, 1972She was shot dead by the UVFas she walked alongSpringhill Avenue. The gun-men were firing from high rise

John Ballard

John Pedlow

John Starrs

THE TROUBLES

flats in the Springmartin es-tate which overlook the areaand where John Pedlow hadbeen shot dead a few hourspreviously.

BERNARD MOANEAGED 4617th May, 1972Mr Moane was shot dead byUDA gunmen at theKnockagh Monument, over-looking Carrickfergus, wherehe was taken to after beingabducted at a bar on theShankill Road. He had beena drinks salesman supplyinglocal pubs and his killers satwith him drinking samples forover an hour.

RONALD HURSTAGED 2517th May, 1972A soldier in the Royal Engi-neers he was shot dead by anIRA sniper while erecting amilitary sangar outsideCrossmaglen RUC barracks

JOHN HILLMANAGED 2918th May, 1972He had been fatally injured inan IRA gun attack on a mili-tary post in the Ardoyne areaof North Belfast three dayspreviously.

HAROLD MORRISAGED 1518th May, 1972Harold was standing close tothe peaceline between theShankill and Falls area ofWest Belfast when republi-cans who fired an automaticweapon into Boundary Streetshot him dead.

MANUS DEERYAGED 1519th May, 1972Manus was shot dead by amilitary sniper in Derry’sLecky Road. The sniper wasfiring from the city walls.

HENRY GILLESPIEAGED 3220th May, 1972A member of the UlsterDefence Regiment, MrGillespie was shot dead in anIRA ambush at Killyliss, threemiles outside Dungannon.

ADRIAN BARTONAGED 1821st May, 1972Adrian, a student, was shot ashe walked home from a danceat Queen’s University. On the19th of May he and two friendswere walking along theSpringfield Road when a carpulled up alongside them anda gunman opened fire. It isbelieved that loyalists werebehind the attack mistakingAdrian for a Catholic.

WILLIAM BESTAGED 1921st May, 1972William was a soldier servingwith the Royal Irish Rangersin Germany. He was home onleave visiting his family in the

Creggan estate in Derry whenhe was abducted and shotdead by the Official IRA. Hisdeath caused such an outcrythat it was a major factor inthe Official IRA calling aceasefire later the samemonth.

RICHARD OLIVERAGED 4621st May 1972Mr Oliver was killed when hewas struck by a telegraphpole, which had been knockedover by a bus hi-jacked by theUDA in the Ballysillan areaof North Belfast.

WILLIAM HUGHESAGED 5622nd May, 1972He was shot dead during anIRA gun attack on a car as itsat outside the parochialhouse in Moortown, Coagh.They IRA had mistaken it foran RUC vehicle.

JOHN MORANAGED 1923rd May, 1972Mr Moran died as a result ofinjuries received in a loyalist

car bomb attack on Kelly’sBar on the Whiterock Road onthe 13th of May. He was a stu-dent and had been working asa part time barman.

EUSTANCE HANLEYAGED 2023rd May, 1972Mr Hanley was a soldier in theKing’s Own Regiment whowas shot dead by the IRAwhile he was guardingsoldiers clearing barricades inSpringhill Avenue in WestBelfast.

ANDREW BRENNANAGED 2623rd May, 1972Mr Brennan was shot dead bya UDA gunman and he got outof his car outside his home atSicily Park in the LisburnRoad area of South Belfast.

MARGARET YOUNGAGED 6026th May, 1972Margaret was killed in a nowarning car bomb attack inOxford Street in CentralBelfast. The IRA had placeda 100 lb device in a car, whichdevastated the area andinjured over 40 people.

GERARD DUDDYAGED 2027th May, 1972Shot dead by the UDA at thejunction of Finaghy ParkNorth and Riverdale Park

Bernard Moane

Eustace Hanley

William Hughes

THE TROUBLES

South after he had walked agirl to her home. One of thefew Catholics who worked inthe shipyard he had beenthreatened on a number ofoccasions.

JAMES TEERAGED 2128th May, 1972Shot dead by members of theUVF who opened fire onJames from a passing car onthe Springfield Road.

JOHN NUGENTAGED 3128th May, 1972Mr Nugent was one of eightpeople killed when an IRAbomb exploded prematurelyin Anderson Street in theShort Strand area of East Bel-fast. Four of those killed weremembers of the IRA and theothers civilians. An RUC in-spector said that when he ar-rived at the street it was in‘complete devastation.’ Hesaid that at least 50 homeswere badly damaged in theincident, which took place inthe early hours of the morn-ing.

GERALDINE McMAHONAGED 1728TH May, 1972Geraldine was one of thosekilled in the prematureexplosion in Anderson Street.See above.

HARRY CRAWFORDAGED 3928th May, 1972Harry was one of those killedin the premature explosion inAnderson Street.See above.

MARY CLARKEAGED 2728th May, 1972Mary was one of those killedin the premature explosion inAnderson Street.See above.

JOSEPH FITZSIMMONSAGED 1728th May, 1972Joseph was one of the IRAmembers who died in the pre-mature explosion in AndersonStreet.See above.

JACKIE McILHONEAGED 1728th May, 1972Jackie was one of the IRAmembers who died in thepremature explosion inAnderson Street.See above.

MARTIN ENGELENAGED 1928th May, 1972Martin was one of the IRAmembers who died in the pre-mature explosion in AndersonStreet.See above.

EDWARD McDONNELLAGED 2728th May, 1972Edward was one of the IRAmembers who died in the pre-mature explosion in AndersonStreet.See above.

THOMAS WARDLOWAGED 3429th May, 1972Thomas was shot dead bymembers of the UVF nearWilson Street in the Shankill

Copies of our publication on the McMahonFamily Murders are still available directly fromthe Glenravel Project. This explores the factsbehind the horrific murders carried out by anRIC murder squad led by County InspectorHarrison and District Inspector Nixon at the for-mation of the Northern Ireland state.To obtain your copy simply send a cheque orpostal order for £2.50 to the address on pagetwo. Postage in Ireland and Britain free.

THE McMAHONFAMILY MURDERS

Joan Scott

area of West Belfast. He hadbeen on his way to a wake inthe Unity Flats complex.

LEONARD McATEERAGED 2330th May, 1972Shot dead by a farmer nearBanbridge who was under theimpression that his familywere about to come under at-tack.

JOAN SCOTTAGED 1230th May, 1972Joan was fatally woundedduring a gun attack on anRUC patrol in the Oldparkarea of North Belfast. She had

arrived from England to staywith a friend because she washomesick and was caught inthe line of fire after going outwith her friend for a walk.The IRA was almost certainlyresponsible.

MICHAEL BRUCEAGED 2731st May, 1972IRA gunmen shot Michael, asoldier in the Royal TransportCorps, when they opened fireon his patrol from a passingcar in the Andersonstown areaof West Belfast. He wasrushed to the nearbyMusgrave Park Hospitalwhere he died a short timelater.

MARCEL DOGLAYAGED 2831st May, 1972A soldier in the King’sRegiment, Marcel was killedin an IRA bomb attack onthe Springfield Road RUCbarracks in West Belfast.

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ISSUE 2Covering the period January - June 1970

ISSUE 3Covering the period July - December 1970

ISSUE 4Covering the period January - April 1971

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ISSUE 1Covering the period from Partition to 1969

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ISSUE 7Covering the period September - October 1971

ISSUE 5Covering the period May - July 1971

ISSUE 8Covering the period November - December 1971

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ISSUE 11Covering the period March 1972

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ISSUE 13Covering the period May 1972

At present the Glenravel Projectare working to place sold outcopies of the magazine on theinternet for free downloading.

We hope to have this in place bySummer 2004

The Troubles 13

Documents

Transcript of The Troubles 13