1973 No Go Area Documentary | Remastered | The Troubles in the North of Ireland

this is londonderry a once peaceful city in northern ireland the roman catholic neighborhoods of the bauxside and kragen are about the size of an average southwestern american town and for a year they held off one of the world's toughest armies it all started back in the 1920s when england granted home rule to all of ireland except ulster there the majority of folks were protestants and they quietly developed a political system that made [ __ ] out of the catholic minority adequate housing employment and the votes were almost forgotten in places like the bog site but the 1960s brought some changes at just about the same time that martin luther king was gunned down a catholic civil rights movement met with violence from protestant extremists the troubles triggered a split in the illegal irish republican army the provisional wing was traditional the approach bombs and terrorism the goal a united ireland the official wing was marxist method guns and politics the aim a socialist state in august 1971 the government sought to crush militant catholics by imprisoning without trial suspected ira members the people of the bog side and craig responded by barricading streets and closing their community official ira man peter collins was interned that august he spent his 24th birthday in jail shortly after peter was imprisoned tommy mccourt signed down with the officials at 23 he's wanted for murder and then there's catherine and phyllis devlin two spencers from the cragon who work in a nearby shirt factory they're all characters in a confrontation with the outside world that showdown started on a cold and windy sunday in january 1972. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] shhh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the organizers of this civil rights march promised that they would be gone the army have said throughout the day that they hope to use minimum force but three hours after the procession began this has ended up as the worst ever confrontation between the army and the catholic people of the cragan and boggside unless you identify how many dead have you seen in the box side appearing to be dead there are the three in that sarasota there are two men lying at the end of this block of flats there's another man at least very close to being dead there's one there are two others up there i'm told that there are some more in these flats here that i haven't seen yet i would say there are probably about four dead at this moment i don't know what those are doing and what hold their labor down [Music] [Applause] colonel once the paratroopers went into the bog side there seemed to have been a very large number of casualties well i suppose large uh five is quite large in these circumstances it's unfortunate but when we got up there past william street here where we're standing and uh up towards rossville flats we came under fire uh we came under fire from the bottom of the flats from the flats we were also petrol bombed and uh some acid in fact was poured on us from the top of the flats local people are saying that you used excessive force when you went in there well what is force if you're being fired at you'll return fire and they know that perfectly well how many gunmen do you feel you've hit in the box side well i'm told from my quicksit trip that three gunmen were hit with no worries about this action none at all but when darkness finally ended that bloody sunday 13 people were dead and the barricades well they had more meaning um to my location [Music] right [Music] um [Music] i was born in the box said love to hear all my life i reckon at a hobby childhood you know everybody in the bog every door was open just like a big commune you know i've seen a weary miner scrub called those promised bike and i've heard the miners children cried for coal to hate the shine yet those pines are made of marble with the guard on every door and the vaults are filled [Music] this place on here reminds me of people that died and the struggle is going on you know first time i ever saw anybody getting shot was shameless cuisine there was a bit of red on you know it wasn't much just before people had really turned against the soldiers it was the office they had hooligans as they were called at the time all of a sudden there that blue this soldier stepped out this middle is small red and bang see mrs cusick fell he's hitting a thigh somewhere you know and uh i remember watching the thing you know when i lost a [ __ ] head kind of run at them shouting and roaring calling murdering bastards and all this but and you know it was stunned like because it never happened in there yet it happened in belfast and we had heard about it we've never actually seen it and everybody was stunned around dairy like wildfire everybody was talking about it the next day there was all these demonstrations people stayed off work building sites come out factories come out there's this big massive demonstration down the strand road barracks or somewhere and uh they ended up in a confrontation i thought that butcher's kid and the army charged down foster we were fighting away and we could run on the uh my own street westminster there was the sergeants come up the laggy road and everybody was standing there you know and all of a sudden that blue two nail bombs they're one of the first nail bombs that have been thrown in dairy you know there's some of the first nobody's ever nobody's used them they just landed right in the left shoulders well i ran up the street and stopped and i stand under his gear and uh heard a couple of shots and the next thing somebody says somebody's been shot and everybody's saying who was it and people were running around the next thing suddenly i'm running over and says there's a pity from rosemont was shot dead well again i was standing away just turned out it was how's girlfriend they were getting engaged the following saturday there was riots for about two weeks after 24 hours a day the army claimed the daisy beat it was a nail bomber and seamus cusick was carrying a rifle well i mean everybody in terry knew it wasn't true you know including myself and there was these reds which surrounded essex we had themselves for two weeks almost steady and there's all these uh we used to this thing we used to say when they you know when the army released in terms we released the troops from the essex well that really applied then you know because uh they couldn't get out they used to drop on supplies by helicopter and it was like a it was like an afternoon picnic there was about two thousand people and there was about maybe one and a half seasons sitting up in this field and they were watching the over 500 rotten and every now and again people out of 500 over red and would come up and sit down and always go down and take our place and there's a continuous thing 24 hours a day the next one was a net mcgavigan there was a bit of a ride on and i was throwing stones at the army and i got hit by a gas canister a rubber bullet and he was a gas canister and i failed i was up at the front of the red it's my usual place anyway and i fell and uh i remember the brother-in-law and this gear picked me up and sort of held me back and the army was making a charge when i got back down it was just a young girl you know what she says to me you know while you were looking there and all i said geez i nearly got caught she says oh you're like it wasn't a real one you know and i says i know you're talking about an hour later like a red sort of continued and died doing it but but an hour later there was a nail bomb was thrown at the army there was a bang then about a minute after that three minutes after there's three or four shots running out from the army and i was just standing in the corner and i seen this body more or less swinging around the corner you know hitting the ground like at the time i didn't sort of streak it it was just some gear i loved her along with all of some other people talking around the house well the house was packed you know everybody was coming and they see what was wrong who was happy was she there and all this so i more or less [ __ ] everybody up you know i just said right out and it left the body and me in the kitchen i got turned like i looked at her and suddenly struck me you know it was the same girl but it helped me earlier on i remember looking at her you know when she was lying knees were open she had sort of prominent teeth you know i love her back like this and uh i just thought that it was [ __ ] me you know so weak here like 15 i think she was people say they are a terrorist murderers and stuff like this here like what do you do when you see 15 year old girls getting shot there they're honest and men's shot in the he has no choice you've got to fight you know what we've done was we said well we're going to stop at the earth in our area we want the mood and in order to keep them out we had to use the same forces they were using we had to use guns and we built up a free their area we pulled up barricades and we sit there and they aren't coming in and we stopped them with any means that we had we could stop with guns we used guns and we stopped and we the people coming out sitting in the barricades we did that the whole reason was to keep them out because we saw what happened when they were in when they were on people died innocent people died [Music] i was born and dirty i was brought up and dirty i went to school here i've been here all my life my grandfather's member of the aries republican army my father was officer commandant of the ira as a child i was pushed around in a pram with guns under the madras and our home was always used for secret meetings i grew up with the ira you were never told anything about the republican movement what my father was doing but all these strange men coming under the house was all about you know there were meetings going on in the house as soon as these other members started arriving you were put to uh you're put on there another room i mean mueller would come under the other room because she wasn't already know what was going on and uh it wasn't as much that you were told but there's something deep down in your gut there that said this is something to do with that ira uh my father's it was with the gun get the guns out free ireland let the people decide whichever exactly my attitudes up there a couple of years back and um it's actually approval i know that they say that they should do the fighting and then let the people decide there's no good saying that the people deciding the people have nothing to decide about i changed without knowing it simply and solely by being in the company of people who didn't know what they wanted who had the political alternative this is johnny white i'm talking about and listening to johnny there's an education in our journal the way i didn't even realize that at the time either we'd be out there for a drink you know and johnny be talking away there about socialism and one thing another and i even those days i even looked in johnny white purely and simply as a politician there is absolutely no mention of the number of pensioners in this area by the number of young married couples who are forced to live on a measly standard of living the whole essay of the economic conditions under which people live was never referred to that has never been brought up by any of our liberal bourgeois politicians and any westminster or storm empowerment democracy of the people the people of this area have taken no bad struggle that the people of this area have taken upon themselves to fight against oppressive legislation in order that they may go forward go forward in the struggle for complete emancipation and no one but nobody and no party or organization has the right to take away the will of the people and to dictate the terms under which the people will give up this struggle or under which they will stay on behalf of people we will have enough and we will stop here when i was picked up and got internment i'd tell monster really realized then what johnny was talking about and i was in long case that i realized just that he was spot on and everything he said that this was the alternative that the reason i wasn't turned the same as a lot of other fellas was simply because of our politics the secretary of state for northern ireland mr white law toured londonderry it was mr whitelaw's first visit to the city since his appointment by mr heath and while walking through a shopping district near londonderry's no-go area mr whitelaw met catholic housewives [Music] [Music] well you just have to make sure i can't nice to see you well i'd like very much to do that and you tell some of these people that you hear that just i would love to come everybody's welcoming well i would love to come there you just say that very good because at the moment you couldn't go unless you had a strong military force to take you in there well uh i would have to see uh but obviously i have to have regard to the current positions it stands but i very much hope that people there all of them will see but they have nothing to share my immediate reaction have to commit a long quest and seeing all the men that we have now like where were they before in tournament have i stopped at a roadblock there some of these young lads knew that they didn't know me i was no thinking in my own mind who in the name of christ do they think they are where i had absolutely no right to say this as it stands now i have got greatest respect for them saving for this they talk about it here they talk about it there they talk of revolution everywhere so work and clash unite and come and join the fight it's a faith for a socialist republic now he affaired a phenophile from cork to done eagle they still claim to be republican but sure there is no diet that they have sold a site let's fight for the socialist republic now your workers must unite the capitalists we must fight exploitation we must end so stand by your demands the powers in your hands let's fight for a socialist republic now they talk of liberty airline one and ireland free that [Music] socialist republic now so listen to what i say come join the ira let's fight for the ideals of connolly oh let us agitate [Music] organize and wreck the state let's fight for a socialist republic now [Music] in northern ireland american evangelist dr billy graham has visited bombed areas while in washington senator edward kennedy discussed the ulster conflict with our correspondent i would think that the united states could offer its good offices and a realization that you have a pluralistic society that you must live together are there firings across the border now in the north that there's a false religiosity so this is an international dispute and i think this is part of the problem that as a friend i would hope that there would be some role that the united states could play to to end the violence was a provisional wing of the ara and uh there's the official wing the official the professionals policy seems to be that they're gonna they think they're gonna bomb and shoot and blow practically british imperialism out of this country shoot the british army out and all the rest of it we don't believe this is possible we think you've got to use politics and we've got you've got to involve the masses of people the officials policy on violence as we might say would be defense and retaliation that would mean a defense of the area and so far as the british army is trying to come on the official ara would get themselves involved trying to get the people on the streets to stop them but if the army started shooting something like this the people down obviously wouldn't stay in the streets so uh what would happen would be they are able they don't have to involve things but they don't have to involve themselves in a gun battle with the british airmen in effort to keep them out um the policy of retaliation is that the british army as they do quite often shoot somebody innocent on the streets then the ara would uh say will we retaliate for this they do this by either attacking foot patrols in the street or an army post like this one back here could be a target this could be done by a sniper attack on the post or bombs they are in would do this in retaliation um the reason for italia isn't like did most people might sound like a sort of knife and a twist for a tooth well this isn't the fact that what it is is a symbol that if you're going to say that people will defend and will help then you've got to prove yourself as a viable organization to do this and uh the way you do this is when a civilian shot you in turn uh shoot a soldier the reasons again and all the reason for this is that you obviously have so many murders somebody you want to bring them to josephus now when uh the british army murder people that's been tried before bringing them through the normal sort of course of the law and order you know you're bloody sunny the would tribunal in various cases where soldiers were brought up for murder and they got away with it was open verdicts and things like this were recorded so i mean if the system is not going to bring murders to justice then the ira will bring them to justice the people will in their own way and the only way they have is we haven't accessed the courts access the jails and things like this then they are retaliate themselves and the only way they can do this is by the bomber bullet and that does the policy i mean people will retaliate the people will defend themselves and retaliate the only way they can i mean that's the way it goes i believe in the power of evil i believe there is a devil i believe he's stirring people up to get one group to hate another and to fight against another and shoot another and this can only be combated by another spiritual force and that must be the force of god and that can only be let loose when people show concern and prayer in other northern ireland news the londonderry chamber of commerce announced plans for the acceleration of a city-wide industrial expansion program chamber president mr frank gookian said that recent events and impressions created by the mass media may well have hidden the true picture of a city which is determined to succeed in its efforts to create a fully employed viable community the expansion plan met with criticism from militant labor leaders who cited poor working conditions low wage scales and seasonal layoffs in the city's existing factories meanwhile provincial unemployment percentages increased to eight point seven percent more than one point higher than last month's total in londonderry some officials estimate that as many as three out of four men in the city's no-go district are receiving unemployment benefits [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] he rounds them up like [Music] [Music] i think of all my friends and the country i was born in paris hopes and children stream sure they fade away our modern i signed on and bastard team with a man in high positions [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] children stream sure they fade away our morning they give me six people to be spent on pure enjoyment they called the police in when i died asked for employment a man says to me son i try not to be nervous now give me a gold watch for me years of faithful service should i stay in belfast [Music] for [Music] [Applause] you'll see their hearts are breaking they've worked most of their life i and i they are forsaken to those who have control they were not when i warned you you'd better give us jobs and take them from [Music] [Music] hopes and children scream sure they fade away our mourners i'm a revolutionary i suppose it's because it's basically a way of life in the box side i've always been the sort of person who i felt somebody was the underdog always liked to help him and uh i became involved in october the fifth in the first demonstration of derry got back around the head of the police saw my friends getting banned saw me area getting invaded by the cops and uh i adopted a policy of doing something about it i didn't know exactly what or or anything else so uh became involved in the local elections that were coming up and i went for the underdog again which happened to be a socialist candidate at that time i had no particular politics through that election i became secretary of the young socialist and dairy and got involved with uh socialism with politics and area began to know what was going on began to realize what the system was all about i used to argue with people if they put up a better organ they defeated me i used go away get another argument and come back and if uh defeated them that time i knew the argument was right i never read any socialist books never read lennon marx trotsky or even connolly vladimir you know the point is within society like northern ireland with a special perfect operating and on the special perfect you're not allowed to do certain things you're not allowed to like if you're a number of champion it's a political wing of the area you're not allowed to go down the guildhall square and stand up and say well i'm a member of sean fayne this is my political belief because if you do you're in turned or lifted we don't want a repeat of last january's events no sir but we've got to break every barricade before the ira obtains better weaponry you're aware that ulcer is pregnant with no-go districts in london there the barricades are hair hair hair hair and finally hell the toughest and most suicidal die hard roam these streets i o 400 our tanks will have crossed the bridge and the assault will be launched from here our supplies will be stationed 1500 yards from that area it's the british army or any other force heads of people to [Music] hello hello dublin and this is terry listen uh that particular on a bit before you know well we need as soon as possible how long do you reckon it'll be you know thank god you lads are finally gonna kill those [ __ ] tanks but listen i got all the stuff here you can have your anti-tank rocket in the best part of a day okay turn you know and uh hit car and see and collect it bring it back up okay hey that's fine [Music] was over [Music] [Music] so [Music] that morning when they murdered james conley [Music] won't your armor be exposed to ambush here they can't stop tanks isn't this road dangerously close to the border i've decided on another route where i'll join the unit as soon as my command car is ready gentlemen it'll make the trip to ulster alone it's a well-armored humber pig recently acquired from a civilian dealer of course i'm having it spruced up a bit as i was climbing [Music] she looked over the window the army had arrived [Music] but [Music] [Applause] [Music] another one some medals fought the wind but all he got right up there with the letterman's run they've been done [Music] like [Applause] [Music] the [Music] it wasn't made of silver it was only literal but once again it's [Music] [Applause] [Music] is not bad at all anti-tank rocket our first to hit against the [ __ ] ba how good is it well it isn't exactly a h-bomb but it'll kill a tank at the range of a mile catholics in londonderry protested against the official ira's execution of a british army soldier who was a resident of the area and home on leave this murder was [Applause] committed that it took place it was done in our name as if it were done for us we protest about it in the strongest possible world i knew that the people of the parkside and the pregnancy are aghast last night the women showed their experience they showed what the people of the pregnancy we want them to continue showing that so that this values will cease once and for all and that peace and justice may come right just pay attention this is a thompson submachine gun everybody in my opinion has got his own ideas of these ideal women i prefer the big team he solves that's the only weapon that i pick up and say by jesus have wrote me she seemed to [ __ ] my hand perfectly on the first day i picked her up i get through the weapon look at the muzzle foresight blade pearl air cool influence what's their twenty eight your cog and handle with a fixed battle site your [ __ ] and hand away your cargo handle recess no there's a lot of things i would say to tell me about the big t you know that at a distance of six or seven eight hundred yards you cut blazers into the ba which is a lot of nonsense but i'm not gonna say that they tummy you know i'll defend the big t no matter that he'll worry once they throw against the therapy a jet you know people might know this you know but big t's can shoot down a jet at a thousand feet in the air right next turn the weapon under your arm release button just easier forward never force it when you take a certain distance to your stop just squeeze it on your trigger take your pistol grip pop your hand over the back now this is your main recoil spring the reason that you cut your hand over here is because when she's released as she springs forward your hands cut the stubble right bring your reach block back just tip her over bring your car handle forward turn over again i'll name these parts really i'm going into parsley look at your magazine your butt your pistol groovin your main recoil spring buffer buffer pilot and flange right your breach plug if you look towards the center you see the firing pin return through it right you get your extractor and your ejector right you what's up you what's this here what's this you remember the day we went out in the first civil rights march we walked over the bridge and then we all assembled over the old railway station and the waters say that's right and we thought there were only going to be a few hundred people there oh i was amazed when i seen so many people there was twenty thousand i mean yeah everybody went down remember we saw the doctors our doctor um all the priests are the cathedral parish i remember following my we walked in front of us yes and farming laughing was there yeah and all the students out of queens i couldn't get over the young people they were great yeah weren't they that's right it was great and we came to the bridge i remember i felt this feeling that i was free for the first time for 50 years and we always felt we were held down we never really got like we never really went out and showed our feelings then no well we didn't have a chance no because we always felt that you know we were being kept there and we didn't know why so we walked over that day and i remember when we got to the middle of the bridge we had to sit down because they are you see were at the far side that's right and they wouldn't allow us to cross the bridge cross through the gates up caroline no no you would never cross no because we're going through the walls remember we're going through over the old walls yeah and that was reserved for the orange man do you remember that's right and there we go so imagine in your own turn if the lads up north can kill just one tank with this wee rocket it'll be a hell of a victory it'll put the fear of god into those bloody british haydens yeah hey how are you going to carry it i'm gonna have the sound [ __ ] welded underneath my car are no flowers blooming but the shamrocks still growing [Music] or the grave of james conley they irish [Music] many years have gone by [Music] since the iran [Music] they loudly did speed [Music] and the bold way i heard [Music] taste the children we didn't know the boys then katherine you remember but um remember when we used to be going to our work in the morning well it was a cold winter mornings and they were all sleeping in these old cars i thought a pity of them and we had so much room and that's what had bothered my conscience yeah when i thought nala remy had and they could have been sharing them you know so remember the night joking we were in bed and that's right and uh when he came up the stairs he put on the light and i called out to him i remember he opened our bedroom door and he said what room do i go into and i said we were all amazed and he said um what room do you sleep in and i called the room at the end of the corridor and i called put out the light quick because we were afraid the neighbors would see him that's right well we didn't we thought the area were terrible crowd there we didn't hear so much talk about them well they just don't reference anybody else first time i joined there's a republican army there was an initiation in ceremony this isn't done anymore but uh was to prove the man was responsible they were coming under the movement that they could obey orders one thing another what i had to get through was there's a pretty close friend of mine and there were five of us including him one over the border the donny goal when we got down there i had been told that they've been a court martial we're taking the dhoni goal and we get out of the car the five of us walks up this hill two of them grabbed me mate throws him against this hedge pushes a 45 wibbly revolver under my hand and he said uh this man has been court-martialed he's been found guilty to be executed here to carry out the order i cocked the whibley fired four rounds the gun was empty but i proved to them that i was willing to obey orders there was one they killed me best mate and uh the way i look in the thing is that if it has to be done when it has to be done somebody has to do [Music] squires the movement checked you out you're the perfect cover on this job [Music] warned of sectarian conflict meanwhile a member of the official ira killed during rioting in the north will be buried this afternoon in the republic of ireland with an ira guard of honour in other unemployment [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] let us pray for our brother to the lord jesus christ who told us i am the resurrection and the like the man who believes in me even if he dies will never suffer eternal death [Music] is oh uh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] headquarters stop official ira northern command provisional ire friends of tobias malloy the dirty command official ira [Applause] once again you're assembled here in silence to very one of our dead it has become a very common thing for these meant to assemble around the graves of ivy citizens murdered by the forces of british imperialism and here we have now another republican who was killed as it would seem ignominiously by a rubber bullet now remember rubber bullets are supposed to be not lethal they're supposed to be for scaring away the youngsters throwing stones but here we had a british soldier we've shattered pine flank reigns an av citizen a member of the official irish republican army and on behalf of the army council the northern command and in particular the dairy command of the official ira i wish to offer my condolences to the relatives of thomas miller he won't tell me it get away [Music] oh [Music] and try to take them from me [Music] [Music] what do you want to know there's no chicken feet i want everyone to be very clear careful i want the cover men to be in position long before the time i want your heads down and your eyes open you all know what they're doing alright [Music] up dear people i wonder what would our lord say if he came amongst us as a man today what would he say about the destruction in our city what would he say about the recent slaughters going on in different parts my dear people our lord would condemn those who have continued this violence the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offenses and all who are evil and threw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth only a few men actually nailed our lord to the cross but there were the bystanders who approved now all of you could examine yourselves and see whether you have been supporting violence so that by condemnation you are responsible third day arose from the dead as the scriptures had foretold be to heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the caller he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end i believe in the holy spirit it's back in 1960 killed here during the training session revolver went off accidentally and uh strange away history repeats itself the um young lad was killed just in a few months ago just the exact same way during a training session above ruined off accidentally i personally don't think about death about dying it's something that uh you just have to take for grantedness this sort of game if you think about death you automatically uh become slow in your reactions when you have to do something when you're waiting the weight is the worst part you know whitney going to do a particular thing so if you do start thinking about getting injured or you've been killed you immediately have to trample over your head you must be worth it 100 if you don't you're going to make a balls of the lady getting badly injured can lady getting someone else injured at least you're getting killed but there's there's always the consolation more or less of knowing that they say the one that kills you you'll never hear it coming [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] the catholic church they never backed any struggle of the people you can take a man's life just by making them accept and justice that have been perpetrated upon them by the state the catholic church was willing to do this [Music] to be a socialist does not necessarily mean that you have to give up religion the teachings of jesus christ is through socialism you know do on the others as you would want others to do under you and my personal opinion you don't get any more of a social statement than that [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] hello yeah this is squires well it's going okay so far we'll make it before night okay i'll find it bye [Music] whenever you use a given the order to drop the piece of truth because whenever that order is given cause there is an enemy of the front whenever you do drop you will fall into a sniping position the two rear men will come to the and on top of the front both right and left and say it's also an observer whenever you're asked to move out you can move out of the double i don't want to see anybody hesitating at all whatsoever right roommate number three keep your rifle at the high point and the obstacles that send your rules you will not bypass them you'll step over them jump over the merge fall under them number four if i have to tell you they spread yourself out again i'll spread you at the right road what sort of a lion position is that get yourself right there in there get into that position in the future and stay in it right move it drop come on number four you should have been dropped if you're right-handed you'll come to the right-hand side of the tree not the left yes to the right number three cover your rear realize what are you doing right in the open get onto your [ __ ] behind the tree there move it come on move it number three you better sweat yourself up you're supposed to be covering your front covers you should have been in that position a minute you were totally dropped right number one come on move it come on man move it faster number three pick up one by section whenever you get to the bottom and you shall observe your front and sides come on t number three come on man move it you're gonna have to get your rifle cut up when you move number four come on check it right follow me back and move come on we are the army of the people and as such we must offend the people the same way as the people defend us without the people we can't exist we wouldn't be able to hold on to our big teeth or sweet damn all else a delegation of women from londonderry's no-go district have met with mr whitelaw the women leaders of a bog side and craig and peace committee said that they represented the majority of people in the ira stronghold i was more than afraid that he was so enlightened about the problems what did you expect he is a gentleman well he's a gentleman and believe you me it's the first time i met mr whitelab i hope it isn't the last and i was a bit scared believe you me what do you think the ira's reaction to your community mr white thought is [Music] our whole job is to be able to bring the gun and politics together to create a revolutionary movement and by doing so to create a revolutionary situation where we're not just fighting for the tri-color over the guild hall [Music] now jack lynch came down from dublin and he had ten thousand men he marched them up to the border and he marched them down again as such an armored column lads the light was never seen 500 mounted bicycles [Music] [Applause] [Music] relax squires the only thing they'll ask you for is your passport now i see you're in your big teeth i mean she's not all she's crackled what good she against a flag person a pa look he must take into consideration the reasons of the big team was made the three main reasons for it is street fighting hoist clearance and cover fire for those reigns there's not another weapon yes they just stood there they stood there corners everything then out of the darkness the big lady speaks oh jesus what's the first thing happens some officer class started shooting there's someone isn't it thompson there's somebody using the thompson everybody dies for cover immediately but i'll tell you when that that's that's when we make him run first and the magical weapon of the ar it was about thompson this was not when they came unfortunately that was christmas in the past nine months so they were on a tv themselves a british army standing with thompson's and if i see him what do you think of it he says it's a very cumbersome heavy weapon it's not very effective yeah but the point and armada are in is arizona then they say no there's a weapon yeah but this is all very famous you're taking them out of context you're taking out the context that we're talking about to put the values of the weather absolutely no i'm not mentioning for stopping the british army coming in i don't think i picked anybody for stopping us before but agrees going forward the statistics for the agrees going well she's probably named the m1 machine guys you're 45 yeah i'm one yeah i'm m45 m1 well that's mercury that's our caliber when i tell you our rate of fire is 300 point something something rounds per minute the big t is 600 point something something right per minute no i don't know you take it another way the grease gonna fully automatically right oh i mean okay so there's refinements on the town northern ireland was shattered by violence as more than 20 bombs exploded in belfast and londonderry in a two-hour period it was one of the worst days of terrorist activity since the troubles began in 1969 and at least 11 people are reported dead and more than 130 others injured the provisional wing of the ira has admitted responsibility for the bombs many of which authorities say went off without adequate warning warehouses a car dealer crowded shopping districts and a bus station were among the targets and were left in either blazing infernos or masses of rubble the devastation provoked strong and outspoken response from loyalist leaders they demanded that the government direct security forces to beat bombers and gunmen into the ground while smashing ira no-go areas throughout northern ireland yeah well if they heard me that british army do move on here you know there's going to be a lot expected of these people and the pro is if they start opening up you cannot expect the people here in the streets tonight no i know that yeah don't preach that they get open elderly on the sermon they were saying that people it was very nervous knowledge but they kept saying that something like that we all know that this thing was going to happen he didn't say exactly what it was you know he's saying that there'll be some serious advance in dairy over the next weeks or week couple weeks and if there's old people here and uh nervous people and all those who aren't old or aren't nervous they help those that are and they'd be prepared to meet their god and all this but you know there's obviously talking about innovation i am quite clear that i am not going to take purely military action which is going to cause substantial casualties in my judgment of innocent women and children i don't know i could see a lot of people doing this call me very shortly you know yeah and even this time being good belfast have gone through it there he has yet to get through it really well there he is bloody sunday and all that but they haven't really concentrated on it it all happened and sort of period you know like two hour periods and then i'm a peaceful honorable relative piece for so long another big thing but uh but the people's battle really oh people are battling i mean that's fitted every day and every night like it's good shooting shooting and the unfortunate thing about it is that this was all going on it's achieving absolutely nothing we interrupt this program to bring you a news bulletin we've just heard that mr whitelaw has announced heavy troop movements in various parts of northern ireland the objects the statement from belfast says is to enable the security forces to move freely throughout all areas and so to protect the whole community meanwhile our correspondent in londonderry reports that the army has placed a ring of steel around the city he says armored cars seem ready for what looks like a move against the bases from which units of the illegal ira currently operate our correspondence says that rumors have circulated the city for almost a week some say that the ira plans to hit troops with massive new firepower others that all of the barricades have been mined off the northern ireland coast it's thought that the ship may be used as an army communications headquarters in addition patrols and roadblocks throughout northern ireland have been increased it was also learned in londonderry that additional armored cars are on the way to the city and may be used as reinforcements for a barricade smashing operation it's like peter says johnny's a command and if he says we don't fight we don't fight get away to tommy so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] okay come on [Music] around here okay hold it get out of the car please oh what is this get out of the car please [Music] what's going on here your passport please what are you doing here mr squires you're a long way from california just doing a bit of driving seeing the sights that's all right now face the cow put your hands on the roof and your legs apart okay open the booth the what the boot the boot three positions this is three where junction 13 and holding procedures control clear worker control very clear this man can go so [Music] [Music] this is okay [Music] [Music] oh well but still i don't know whether they gain anything bad at all they may they may not i don't think it'll be in our lifetime anything yeah i don't think so i think the next generation hey dude i think it will be in your lifetime maybe in yours not tonight oh i'm too old for that tonight oh my god i think it'll be in our lifetime do you think however uh they're so nice fellas you mean you can understand their feelings um about workers are exploited in this town i mean look at us the way we work so hard and aware that's right that's ridiculous like when we were young we never thought in those things no never no i don't know why we were so stupid not to of course we wouldn't have made anything of it i mean you have a lot to be thankful for them like you know they're they're here and they're protecting us against the british army well that's true i mean if they weren't here who was going to protect us right who's going to protect the district see if the british army come in here tonight now they would come and then they would read all the homes and take the manor so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] in an operation larger than anyone had dared to predict the army began its move into the bog side and kragen at about four o'clock this morning it was some six hours after mr whitelaw's dramatic announcement from belfast more than 1500 troops in 300 armored vehicles cleared perimeter as well as internal barricades the security forces quickly established key checkpoints throughout the former no-go area the army called the operation motorman and said that they encountered virtually no resistance other than a burst of submachine gun fire they said that five gunmen were hit and two are believed dead [Music] [Music] the security forces made it clear that their main objective was to restore law and order and in their words to get the ira off people's backs in an interview in belfast mr whitelaw was asked why the ira had been given so much advance warning that the troops were coming in felt that i had an overriding responsibility for the civilian population as a whole to make it perfectly clear to them that measures were going to be taken but there would be considerable activity and that it would be in their own interests and to keep off the streets i'm very glad to say that they responded very well to that and i think that it was my duty to do everything i could to prevent civilian capitals in undisputed control of the area the army later in the morning occupied schools flats and even the bog side inn said to be the headquarters of the official ira in a major mopping up operation troops used hand-held metal detectors to search houses claimed to have been used by the ira [Music] car checks were intensified and traffic on most streets was brought to a virtual standstill other army units checked pedestrians in an efforts to seize bombs and small arms thought to have been distributed to ira supporters in the former no-go district the army believes that the ira has hidden its major weapons in dumps outside the city where they could be retrieved for use in future campaigns meanwhile in belfast protestant as well as catholic barricades have been reported he's caught recruiting in the ruc he was the bug slammer steady on your aim with a petrol bomb [Music] they looked up the sky and it started to rain [Music] i'm pretty sure we do come in here and take over the area the lesson must be learned is the people's spirit has left them and we must be held responsible to certain extent peter and his comrades learn some pretty hard lessons some of his buddies are gone now but peter stays on specials came in brian and black your granny ran out and they all ran back she married the bug side none steady on your aim with a petrol bomb don't throw it until the peelers come i am the bug's side man johnny white always said that it was impossible for a guerrilla army to tackle a superior force without popular support he's now on the run the fact is that these are the realities which confront us as members of the working class and will confront us as members of the working class regardless of whether there's a barricade standing in roswell's feet or whether there isn't a barricade standing on russell's face we're all blind off with the midnight ridge every mountain the barrack kids we are the bug sign [Music] [Music] stay down for a few days after the army came in but hiding out in the bog side was too dangerous he's now somewhere in southern ireland however do you get i'd like to at least have a monitor you know maybe there's a car or something and you might have a last minute repentance or something like that i mean [Music] said the fight [Music] this proud [Music] i have four [Music] so [Music] [Music] you

Channel: A Troubled Land Archive

Views: 37,911

Keywords: ira, inla, cira, uff, uda, uvf, lvf, sas, Irish, ireland, Belfast, PIRA, MI5, MI6, Collusion, Hunger Strikes, Bobby Sands, Gerry Adams, Peace Process, Bombings, War, Peace, British Army, British State, Thatcher, The Troubles explained, 1916, 1921, roth ira, traditional ira, what is an ira, ulster history documentary, Republican, loyalist, unionist, protestant, udr, northern ireland, orange order, bbc documentaries, ira documentaries, full length documentaries, ira video, uda videos, Sinn Fein

Id: 1t7hGQdxLuk

Length: 81min 7sec (4867 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 27 2022