1971 Scottish soldiers' killings

IRA shooting in Belfast, Northern Ireland October 2013 May 2020 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings The Troubles Near Squires Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1515444.jpg 300px White Brae, North Belfast, Northern Ireland British Army personnel 54 38 6.46 N 5 59 35.9 W region:GB_type:event inline,title 10 March 1971 Shooting 3 Provisional IRA The 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings took place in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. On 10 March 1971, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) shot dead three off-duty British soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers. The soldiers were from Scotland, and two were teenage brothers. They were lured from a pub in Belfast where they had been drinking, driven to a remote location and shot by the roadside. Three British soldiers had been killed before this, but all had died during rioting. The deaths led to public mourning and protests. Pressure to act spurred a political crisis for the Northern Ireland Government, which led to the resignation of James Chichester-Clark as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. The British Army raised the minimum age needed to serve in Northern Ireland to 18 in response to this incident. In 2010, a memorial was dedicated to the three soldiers near the site of their deaths. Three IRA volunteers were later named as being responsible, one of whom was a former British soldier. Background British troops had been deployed to Northern Ireland in 1969 as part of Operation Banner, in response to the growing conflict following the 1969 Northern Ireland riots. The British Army became involved in disturbances that culminated in the Falls Curfew of July 1970. English Richard Richard English Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA Pan Macmillan 2004 London 136 https://books.google.com/books?id=VFPiMw8iLyAC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA137 978-0-330-49388-8 6 March 2011 23 March 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=VFPiMw8iLyAC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA137 live http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch70.htm#Jul A Chronology of the Conflict – July 1970 CAIN Web Service 1 April 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110514133724/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch70.htm 14 May 2011 live The Provisional Irish Republican Army was formed in December 1969 after a split in the IRA. After the split, the Provisional IRA planned for an "all-out offensive action against the British occupation".Memoirs of a Revolutionary MacStiofáin Seán Mac Stíofáin Seán 1979 Daly City Free Ireland Book Club 146 Provisional IRA Chief of Staff Seán Mac Stíofáin decided they would "escalate, escalate and escalate" until the British agreed to withdraw. O'Brien Brendan Brendan O'Brien (Irish journalist) The Long War – The IRA and Sinn Féin O'Brien Press 1995 Dublin 166 0-86278-359-3 The IRA Army Council sanctioned offensive operations against the British Army at the beginning of 1971. Robert Curtis was the first British soldier shot and killed by the Provisional IRA, on 6 February 1971, English Richard Richard English Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA Pan Macmillan 2004 London 137 https://books.google.com/books?id=VFPiMw8iLyAC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA137 978-0-330-49388-8 6 March 2011 23 March 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=VFPiMw8iLyAC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA137 live Taylor Peter Peter Taylor (journalist) Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin Bloomsbury Publishing 1997 London 89–91 0-7475-3818-2 and two more soldiers were killed over the following month during rioting. Lost Lives Mainstream Publishing 2008 Edinburgh 70–72 978-1-84018-504-1 Killings Brothers John and Joseph McCaig from Ayr and Dougald McCaughey from Glasgow in Scotland (ages 17, 18 and 23) were privates serving with the 1st Battalion, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, stationed at Girdwood Barracks, beside Crumlin Road Prison in north Belfast.http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1971.html Malcolm Sutton An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland CAIN Web Service 10 March 2011 22 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160422085336/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1971.html live On 10 March 1971, the three soldiers had been granted an afternoon pass which allowed them to leave their base. McCaughey's younger brother was serving in the same unit but was on duty and unable to join them. The three soldiers were off-duty, unarmed, and in civilian clothes. They were drinking in "Mooney's", a Belfast city centre pub in Cornmarket, one of the safer areas of the city for soldiers at this stage of the conflict. One report said that the three soldiers were lured into a car by republican women who promised them a party. The three were taken to the White Brae, Squire's Hill, off the Ligoniel Road in north Belfast. There they were shot dead by Provisional IRA volunteers; two in the back of the head and the other in the chest. Geraghty Tony Tony Geraghty The Irish War: the hidden conflict between the IRA and British Intelligence Johns Hopkins University Press 2000 Baltimore 40 https://archive.org/details/irishwarhiddenco00mrto registration royal highland fusiliers belfast 1971. 0-8018-6456-9 6 March 2011 'I told them to go out and pull a bird...but the girls led them to killers Maggie Barry http://www.thefreelibrary.com/'I+told+them+to+go+out+and+pull+a+bird..but+the+girls+led+them+to...-a0160298269 Daily Mirror 9 March 2007 6 March 2011 London 5 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160305005319/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27I+told+them+to+go+out+and+pull+a+bird..but+the+girls+led+them+to...-a0160298269 live The inquest in August 1971 was not able to establish the exact sequence of events. It was established that all three were shot at very close range, probably in a line. All had been drinking, and Joseph was found to be severely intoxicated. The jury was told that the three were probably shot whilst relieving themselves beside the road. The coroner commented: "You may think that this was not only murder, but one of the vilest crimes ever heard of in living memory".Lost Lives Mainstream Publishing 2008 Edinburgh 70–72 978-1-84018-504-1 The bodies were heaped on top of each other with two beer glasses lying nearby.Northern Ireland: An Appalling Crime http://time-demo.newscred.com/article/27310beedc82ae77b1195f6d554d2ad1.html/edit Time Magazine 6 March 2011 US https://web.archive.org/web/20110714173955/http://time-demo.newscred.com/article/27310beedc82ae77b1195f6d554d2ad1.html/edit 14 July 2011 dead After failing to return to their barracks by 18:30 the three were listed as AWOL. Their bodies were found by children at 21:30.English Richard Richard English Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA Pan Macmillan 2004 London 137 https://books.google.com/books?id=VFPiMw8iLyAC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA137 978-0-330-49388-8 6 March 2011 23 March 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=VFPiMw8iLyAC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA137 live'I told them to go out and pull a bird...but the girls led them to killers Maggie Barry http://www.thefreelibrary.com/'I+told+them+to+go+out+and+pull+a+bird..but+the+girls+led+them+to...-a0160298269 Daily Mirror 9 March 2007 6 March 2011 London 5 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160305005319/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27I+told+them+to+go+out+and+pull+a+bird..but+the+girls+led+them+to...-a0160298269 live Aftermath The day after the killings, British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling made a statement in the House of Commons in which he said that security arrangements for off-duty soldiers were being reviewed and suggested that the aim of the IRA was to provoke the British security forces into reprisals. He said: The battle now joined against the terrorists will be fought with the utmost vigour and determination. It is a battle against a small minority of armed and ruthless men whose strength lies not so much in their numbers as in their wickedness.https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1971/mar/11/british-soldiers-northern-ireland-murder#S5CV0813P0_19710311_HOC_300 BRITISH SOLDIERS, NORTHERN IRELAND (MURDER) HC Deb 11 March 1971 vol 813 cc597-605 Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) 11 March 1971 1 April 2011 20 October 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121020165113/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1971/mar/11/british-soldiers-northern-ireland-murder#S5CV0813P0_19710311_HOC_300 live Belfast Cenotaph, focus of the public mourning in Belfast|200px|thumb The funerals were held in Scotland with John and Joseph McCaig buried together in Ayr. Their older brother, serving with the Royal Marines in Singapore, was flown home for the service. That day, 20,000 people attended rallies in Belfast and Carrickfergus. In Belfast, the cenotaph at City Hall was the focus of the mourning, with 10,000 people attending, including workers from factories in a gathering that stopped the traffic in the city centre. Many wept openly. The Reverend Ian Paisley led the mourners in laying dozens of wreaths. The crowd observed a two-minute silence and sang a hymn and the British national anthem. Days later, in retaliation, a bomb planted by loyalists destroyed Squire's Hill Tavern at Ligoniel near where the bodies of the soldiers had been found. The owner denied rumours that the soldiers had been drinking in the pub prior to their deaths.Belfast Telegraph, 15 March 1971. The deaths led to a crisis for the Government of Northern Ireland with calls for increased security measures. Paisley demanded the Government's resignation, saying "We can no longer tolerate your weakness. You must go before the whole land is deluged with the blood of innocent men and women." Northern Ireland: An Appalling Crime http://time-demo.newscred.com/article/27310beedc82ae77b1195f6d554d2ad1.html/edit Time Magazine 6 March 2011 US https://web.archive.org/web/20110714173955/http://time-demo.newscred.com/article/27310beedc82ae77b1195f6d554d2ad1.html/edit 14 July 2011 dead On 12 March, 4,000 loyalist shipyard workers took to the streets of Belfast to demand internment. Coogan Tim Pat Tim Pat Coogan The troubles: Ireland's ordeal, 1966–1996, and the search for peace Palgrave 2002 New York City 143 https://books.google.com/books?id=33sWKhmPl3UC&q=internment+scottish+soldiers&pg=PA143 0-312-29418-2 6 March 2011 23 March 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=33sWKhmPl3UC&q=internment+scottish+soldiers&pg=PA143 live The Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark flew to London to request more troops, and when the numbers were less than he wanted, he resigned. White Robert William Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: the life and politics of an Irish revolutionary Indiana University Press 2006 Bloomington 166 https://books.google.com/books?id=Ukzbp2i3TvgC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA166 0-312-29418-2 6 March 2011 23 March 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ukzbp2i3TvgC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA166 live On 23 March, Brian Faulkner was elected Ulster Unionist Party leader and was appointed prime minister the same day. Walker Graham A history of the Ulster Unionist Party Manchester University Press 2004 Manchester 190 0-7190-6108-3 The British Army raised the minimum age for serving in Northern Ireland to 18 in response to outrage over the death of 17-year-old McCaig.http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/people/accounts/lindsay.htm Extracts from 'Brits Speak Out', compiled by John Lindsay (1998) CAIN Web Service 1 April 2011 6 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101206151940/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/people/accounts/lindsay.htm livehttps://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1971/mar/11/defence-estimate-1971-72-army-vote-a Defence Estimate. 1971–72 (Army), Vote A House of Commons Debate 11 March 1971 vol 813 cc671-742 Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) 11 March 1971 1 April 2011 20 October 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121020164950/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1971/mar/11/defence-estimate-1971-72-army-vote-a live Perpetrators No one has been convicted of the killings. The Daily Mirror reported in November 2007 that three IRA volunteers were responsible: Martin Meehan (died 2007), who was questioned over the killings but never charged; Patrick McAdorey, who was suspected of killing another soldier in August 1971 hours before he himself was killed in a gun battle; Lost Lives Mainstream Publishing 2008 Edinburgh 79–80 978-1-84018-504-1 and a third unnamed man. The case is one of those being re-examined by the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Historical Enquiries Team. Cold Case Cops Probing 'Honeytrap Outrage http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-152202590.html https://web.archive.org/web/20121105171245/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-152202590.html usurped 5 November 2012 Sunday Life 1 August 2006 2 April 2011 HighBeam Research subscription Belfast In 2020, a BBC Spotlight investigation made allegations that Paddy O'Kane (died 2009) was one of those involved. He had been a member of the Parachute Regiment from 1957 to 1964.Para turned IRA man Paddy O'Kane 'central to murders' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-51614127 BBC News 25 February 2020 8 February 2022 8 February 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220208230804/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-51614127 live Memorial thumb|Memorial in Belfast The mother of the two McCaig brothers visited the site of their deaths in May 1972. She expressed a wish to leave a monument to her sons but was advised that it might well be damaged by vandals. She later said that she was touched by the wreaths and flowers that had been left at the spot. In 2010, the Royal British Legion Oldpark/Cavehill branch in Belfast raised money from the sale of badges to erect a memorial to the men. Memorial To Murdered Scottish Soldiers Sought http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=92023 4NI.co.uk 30 May 2010 8 April 2009 Northern Ireland 14 March 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120314055155/http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=92023 live On 28 May 2010, a memorial stone was placed at the site of the killings on Squire's Hill by the families and former regimental colleagues of the three soldiers. The next day a 15-foot obelisk incorporating carved images of the deceased was dedicated at nearby Ballysillan Avenue. A service of remembrance with regimental drums and colours was then held at Ballysillan leisure centre, attended by around 1,000 people including Lord Mayor of Belfast Naomi Long and North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds. Poignant tribute to murdered soldiers http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/poignant_tribute_to_murdered_soldiers_1_1847966 The Newsletter 30 May 2010 6 March 2011 Northern Ireland 3 October 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121003104103/http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/poignant_tribute_to_murdered_soldiers_1_1847966 deadhttp://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/AHRC/monuments.pl?id=722 Three Scottish Soldiers Memorial CAIN Web Service 9 March 2011 23 March 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042408/https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/cgi-bin/AHRC/monuments.pl?id=722 live The memorial at White Brae, Ligoniel, marking the place of the killings, has been vandalised several times since 2011.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14292072 Memorial to murdered Scottish soldiers 'vandalised for fifth time' 12 December 2012 BBC 20 June 2018 2 December 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181202114129/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14292072 livehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-27772680 Memorial to three Scottish soldiers attacked in north Belfast 9 June 2014 BBC 20 June 2018 17 December 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181217192126/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-27772680 live See also collapsed Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1970-1979) Corporals killings Provisional IRA Honey Trap killings References External links http://www.rhf.org.uk/Docs/orderofservice.pdf Order of Service for the memorial ceremony Royal British Legion 1 April 2011 http://home.btconnect.com/shankillmirror/shankill-mirror-the-three-scottish-soldiers-memorial.htm The 3 Jocks Memorial Shankill Mirror Category:1971 murders in the United Kingdom Category:1971 in Northern Ireland Category:1971 in Scotland Category:1971 in military history Category:Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Category:Military history of County Antrim Category:Military history of Scotland Category:The Troubles in Belfast Category:Provisional Irish Republican Army actions Category:People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army Category:British Army in Operation Banner Category:Military actions and engagements during the Troubles (Northern Ireland) Category:March 1971 in the United Kingdom Category:Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1971 Category:1970s murders in Northern Ireland Category:1971 murders in Ireland Category:Terrorist incidents in Ireland in the 1970s Category:British military scandals