1971 Scottish soldiers' killings

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 had become involved in the disturbances culminating in the Falls Curfew of July 1970.{{Cite book | author-link = Richard English | access-date = 6 March 2011 | archive-date = 23 March 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=VFPiMw8iLyAC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA137 | url-status = live | author-link =Brendan O'Brien (Irish journalist) | author-link = Richard English | access-date = 6 March 2011 | archive-date = 23 March 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=VFPiMw8iLyAC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA137 | url-status = live | author-link =Peter Taylor (journalist)

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. 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 of them in the back of the head and the other in the chest.{{Cite book | author-link=Tony Geraghty | url-access = registration

Aftermath

The day after the killings, British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling made a statement in the House of Commons in which he informed the house 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 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 the soldiers had been drinking in the pub prior to their deaths.

The deaths led to a crisis for the Government of Northern Ireland with calls for increased security measures. Ian 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." On 12 March, 4,000 loyalist shipyard workers took to the streets of Belfast to demand internment.{{Cite book | author-link = Tim Pat Coogan | access-date = 6 March 2011 | archive-date = 23 March 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=33sWKhmPl3UC&q=internment+scottish+soldiers&pg=PA143 | url-status = live | access-date = 6 March 2011 | archive-date = 23 March 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220323042405/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ukzbp2i3TvgC&q=%22royal+highland+fusiliers%22+belfast+1971&pg=PA166 | url-status = live

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.

Perpetrators

No one has been convicted of the killings. The Daily Mirror reported in November 2007 that three IRA volunteers were responsible for the deaths: 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;{{cite book | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20121105171245/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-152202590.html | url-status =dead | archive-date =5 November 2012

In 2020, a BBC Spotlight investigation made allegations that Paddy O'Kane (died 2009) was one of those involved in the killings. He had been a member of the Parachute Regiment from 1957 to 1964. O'Kane had been drinking with the soldiers before they were shot, and afterwards he spoke openly about his role in the killings.

Memorial

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. 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 to the soldiers at nearby Ballysillan Avenue. A service of remembrance with regimental drums and colours was then held at Ballysillan leisure centre attended by around 1000 people including Lord Mayor of Belfast Naomi Long and North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds.

The memorial at White Brae, Ligoniel, that marks the place of the killings has been vandalised several times since 2011.

References

References

1. "A Chronology of the Conflict – July 1970". CAIN Web Service.
2. "Malcolm Sutton An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland". CAIN Web Service.
3. Maggie Barry. (9 March 2007). "'I told them to go out and pull a bird...but the girls led them to killers". Daily Mirror.
4. "Northern Ireland: An Appalling Crime". [[Time Magazine]].
5. (11 March 1971). "BRITISH SOLDIERS, NORTHERN IRELAND (MURDER) HC Deb 11 March 1971 vol 813 cc597-605". [[Hansard.
6. ''Belfast Telegraph'', 15 March 1971.
7. Walker, Graham. (2004). "A history of the Ulster Unionist Party". Manchester University Press.
8. "Extracts from 'Brits Speak Out', compiled by John Lindsay (1998)". CAIN Web Service.
9. (11 March 1971). "Defence Estimate. 1971–72 (Army), Vote A House of Commons Debate 11 March 1971 vol 813 cc671-742". [[Hansard.
10. (25 February 2020). "Para turned IRA man Paddy O'Kane 'central to murders'". [[BBC News]].
11. (30 May 2010). "Memorial To Murdered Scottish Soldiers Sought". 4NI.co.uk.
12. (30 May 2010). "Poignant tribute to murdered soldiers". The Newsletter.
13. "Three Scottish Soldiers Memorial". CAIN Web Service.
14. (12 December 2012). "Memorial to murdered Scottish soldiers 'vandalised for fifth time'". BBC.
15. (9 June 2014). "Memorial to three Scottish soldiers attacked in north Belfast". BBC.