Bloody Sunday

Well it was Sunday bloody Sunday
When they shot the people there
The cries of thirteen martyrs
Filled the Free Derry air
Is there any one amongst you
Dare to blame it on the kids?
Not a soldier boy was bleeding
When they nailed the coffin lids!
—John Lennon and Yoko Ono "Sunday Bloody Sunday"


On 30 January 1972, 13 people were killed when soldiers from the British Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights march in Derry. The day became known as Bloody Sunday/Irish: Domhnach na Fola/Bogside Massacre.

14.50 GMT
About 10,000 people gather in Creggan area to march to the Guildhall for a rally organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association to protest at internment without trial. The Stormont government had banned such protests.



15.45 GMTArmy barricades block marchers from the centre. They turn into Rossville Street. In William Street some throw stones at soldiers who respond with rubber bullets, CS gas and a water cannon. Two men are shot and wounded.



16.05 GMT
A unit of the 1st Batallion Parachute Regiment advances down William St and Rossville St with orders to arrest as many marchers as possible. At 16.10 the shooting begins.



16.40 GMT
After 25 minutes of shooting, 13 marchers have been killed and 13 wounded, one of whom later dies. The soldiers claimed they were fired upon first, but the marchers said the Army shot indiscriminately at unarmed civilians.



The dead

• John (Jackie) Duddy (17). Shot in the chest in the car park of Rossville flats. Four witnesses stated Duddy was unarmed and running away from the paratroopers when he was killed. Three of them saw a soldier take deliberate aim at the youth as he ran. He is the uncle of the Irish boxer John Duddy.

• Patrick Joseph Doherty (31). Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety in the forecourt of Rossville flats. Doherty was the subject of a series of photographs, taken before and after he died by French journalist Gilles Peress. Despite testimony from "Soldier F" that he had fired at a man holding and firing a pistol, Widgery acknowledged that the photographs showed Doherty was unarmed, and that forensic tests on his hands for gunshot residue proved negative.

• Bernard McGuigan (41). Shot in the back of the head when he went to help Patrick Doherty. He had been waving a white handkerchief at the soldiers to indicate his peaceful intentions.

• Hugh Pious Gilmour (17). Shot through his right elbow, the bullet then entering his chest as he ran from the paratroopers on Rossville Street. Widgery acknowledged that a photograph taken seconds after Gilmour was hit corroborated witness reports that he was unarmed, and that tests for gunshot residue were negative

• Kevin McElhinney (17). Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety at the front entrance of the Rossville Flats. Two witnesses stated McElhinney was unarmed.

• Michael Gerald Kelly (17). Shot in the stomach while standing near the rubble barricade in front of Rossville Flats. Widgery accepted that Kelly was unarmed.

• John Pius Young (17). Shot in the head while standing at the rubble barricade. Two witnesses stated Young was unarmed.

• William Noel Nash (19). Shot in the chest near the barricade. Witnesses stated Nash was unarmed and going to the aid of another when killed.

• Michael M. McDaid (20). Shot in the face at the barricade as he was walking away from the paratroopers. The trajectory of the bullet indicated he could have been killed by soldiers positioned on the Derry Walls.

• James Joseph Wray (22). Wounded then shot again at close range while lying on the ground. Witnesses who were not called to the Widgery Tribunal stated that Wray was calling out that he could not move his legs before he was shot the second time.

• Gerald Donaghy (17). Shot in the stomach while attempting to run to safety between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park. Donaghy was brought to a nearby house by bystanders where he was examined by a doctor. His pockets were turned out in an effort to identify him. A later police photograph of Donaghy's corpse showed nail bombs in his pockets. Neither those who searched his pockets in the house nor the British army medical officer (Soldier 138) who pronounced him dead shortly afterwards say they saw any bombs. Donaghy had been a member of Fianna Éireann, an IRA-linked Republican youth movement. Paddy Ward, a police informer who gave evidence at the Saville Inquiry, claimed that he had given two nail bombs to Donaghy several hours before he was shot dead.

• Gerald (James) McKinney (34). Shot just after Gerald Donaghy. Witnesses stated that McKinney had been running behind Donaghy, and he stopped and held up his arms, shouting "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!", when he saw Donaghy fall. He was then shot in the chest.

• William Anthony McKinney (27). Shot from behind as he attempted to aid Gerald McKinney (no relation). He had left cover to try to help Gerald.

• John Johnston (59). Shot in the leg and left shoulder on William Street 15 minutes before the rest of the shooting started. Johnston was not on the march, but on his way to visit a friend in Glenfada Park. He died 4½ months later; his death has been attributed to the injuries he received on the day. He was the only one not to die immediately or soon after being shot.

Bloody Sunday Memorial on Rossville Street
What happened next ?
The events of Bloody Sunday caused shock and revulsion across the world. In Dublin, a crowd of protesters burnt the British Embassy.
In Northern Ireland, it marked the effective end of the non-violent campaign for civil rights.
Some young people who had previously regarded themselves as non-political joined the IRA.
Two months after Bloody Sunday, the Stormont parliament which had ruled Northern Ireland since its creation in the 1920s was suspended and direct rule from London was imposed.
In April, the Widgery Inquiry concluded that the Paratroopers' firing had "bordered on the reckless".
It also concluded the soldiers had been fired upon first and some of the victims had handled weapons, despite evidence from witnesses who said the victims were unarmed civilians.
The Catholic community rejected these findings as a "whitewash" and began a long campaign for another inquiry.
In 1998 a fresh inquiry, headed by Lord Saville, was announced.

Courtesy:

1. Wikipedia

2.BBC