Unarmed boys, most of them.

Agreed RR.

OMG I haven't been moved like this for years 

How true.

This report has been a long time in coming and I sincerely hope it does bring some closure and vindication finally to the families of the victims.

That they were children is rarely mentioned.

Yeah, a few just 17

It chills me, and makes me think of south Africa.

TBH there were much much younger children shot and killed here.....They were killed by plastic/rubber bullets but at close range or as many of the children were ,shot in the head with them ,they were as deadly lethal as live bullets.

I am very aware of that.  I have been trying to tell people about this all my life. I am so glad people are talking about this now. It was hard enough growing up in the west coast of Scotland. I can not imagine what you have seen and been through.

I was in the north 4 days before the bombing in Enniskillen  over 20 years ago. We drove into a street, took a wrong turning, and saw a family being dragged out of there house by soldiers at gun point. On another day the streets in Belfast were covered in bricks and bottles from the rioting the night before. It was another world. This was aloud to go on for decades. It's shameful.

It is shameful, but that is part of my issue with the West having the cheek to tell developing countries how to run their affairs and Human Rights. This didn't happen so long ago and the Civil Rights movement in the USA is still facing challenges so for the Western superpowers to be clearing up international messes and policing the world is patronising in its highest form.
Fair play to David Cameron for keeping it short and succinct....Mrs. Thatcher was a horror who did more harm than good.

Someone should send a copy to Dave, since he appears to have almost reached the age of 40 without knowing anything about the Troubles, given his convo with Steve the other night.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/e...loody_Sunday_Report/

This is the Spotlight programme that was shown last night I'm not sure if it will work outside of NI but give it a go anyway.  Politicians like Gregory Campbell can be described as nothing more than a bigoted little little b**tard. He really makes my blood boil, how in under God can our country move forward with vermin like him at the helm.

Those of you who "know" me have probably realised I tend to avoid political threads like the plague, so I have thought long and hard before posting in this one.
First let me say, I am glad that there was an enquiry and the truth about Bloody Sunday has now emerged, and I hope it brings some sort of peace to the families of those who died.
However, I am married to an ex-member of HM Forces, who (at the age of 18) was sent on an eighteen month tour of duty to Northern Ireland. (He was not involved in Bloody Sunday.)
During that time, he was spat upon (often by women and children), had bottles, bricks and petrol bombs thrown at him, had snipers shoot at him and had terrorists try to blow him up. He saw other soldiers, including many friends, maimed and killed.
He attended the aftermath of bombings and assisted the injured and carried the dead bodies of innocent civilians. He saw things so terrible, he refuses to talk about them to this day.
Whilst the situation in NI was horrendous for people on both sides of the divide, it was certainly not easy for the soldiers involved.
When someone joins the forces, they cannot chose where they are posted (although interestingly Roman Catholic soldiers were given the option to opt out of NI tours).
I am sure many of the soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq don't necessarily agree with the political reasons for their involvement, but soldiers go where they are told to go. Carrying out orders, without question, is the nature of the beast and one which many civilians find very difficult to understand.
This post is not meant to be confrontational in any way, I just wanted to give an insight into the difficulties faced by soldiers during "the troubles".

 

Well said Yogi
I don't think any side of the appalling situation that went on for years be they UK Govt, Republicans or Loyalists can claim the moral high ground overall.
All that can be done is to take each incident ie Bloody Sunday/Omagh etc and try to ascertain the truth in that particular case.

You will always get people in forums who have no idea what they are talking about or who clumsily try to have their say and are not able to put it across properly. What happened on Bloody Sunday was horrific and it's only right that it should be found to be unlawful and that the victims were totally innocent of any wrong doing.
 The trouble with war and conflict is that there are and always will be innocent victims on all sides.

Do you know what's ironic in this whole situation, the RUC and the British Army at the time refused to see the situation as a war, they looked upon it as Army/Security Forces v Criminals, sure when they were arrested and taken to Long Kesh those arrested claimed prisoner of war status however the British Government refused to accept this. So now when it suits them they choose to view it as a war?

Yogi, I have said before in this thread that not all Soldiers are the same, there were one who went out just to terrorise people with their power but there are ones who go out to do good.  But on the flip side I could tell you a list stories the length of my arm of how my own relatives were terrorised by the British Army- and none of them had any weapons or were terrorists.  My Mother was 9 years old going to school and was being harassed by army officials.  There are hundreds of reports that show collusion between the British Army and loyalist paramilitaries.

Over the years there have been army officials who have terrorised innocent people and these are the reasons you husband has received treatment like this. While I don't agree with it, it is the fault of those who have gone before him

RiverRock, thanks for the link to the Spotlight programme. Very informative, interesting and the witness reports were very moving.

RiverRock, I can understand why this is so personal and emotional for you and I hope, having read my post, you might understand why I felt the need to give an insight from a soldier's perspective.
There were rights and wrongs on all sides of the conflict.

Yep, I would certainly agree with that, but I just wanted to give you a reason what people from the Nationalist side feel so much venom towards the Armed Forces.

Fair enough.

Good post Yogi and yes you are right, not all british soldiers sent here wanted the trouble it brought, the ones making the decisions to send them here and ordering the middle of the night raids of full streets of houses knew what they were doing though.  I live in a very republican area but because my grandad came here from england to raise his family we were brought up to think outside the box and not judge someone because of where they came from.  However I do recall being woken in the night by armed soldiers telling us to get out of bed and stand in the next street while they trashed our houses and laughed as we cried about being tired and cold.  On the flip side there were soldiers who were positioned daily at the end of our street who would always say hello and tell us not to wander off or mum would be worried.  Bloody Sunday had happened YEARS before that I think it had a knock on effect for both sides and made a lot of things worse than they ever should have been.  I'm just glad my kids are oblivious to it all and wouldn't think to spit on a soldier when they see them.

Brian Faulkner sanctioned internment,internment without trial where without evidence or a trial people were held for years it was actually the government who initiated POW status which they later revoked  ....The judiciary system wasn't much better tbh, fair trials were unheard of when Diplock courts were set up,no jury meant the verdict was made solely by a judge whereas all other criminal trials were heard by a jury....From A to Z it would take decades to uncover the actual truth much of which the GBP on the mainland were purposely kept in the dark about.

EllaThe world would be a better place if there were more people like your grandad.

Yogi I can completely understand how and why your husband ended up being posted here and thank god he managed to return home safely.....One thing I do find interesting is that Catholic soldiers were gave to the option to opt out of serving here I wonder why ....Could it be that  Catholics were painted as bad as they could possibly paint us, where man woman and child were a possible enemy or that catholic soldiers may have ran the risk of being compassionate to those who shared the same faith....I'm actually puzzled by this tbh.

  Thank you, I never got the pleasure of meeting him but I have heard numerous stories of how he was a gentleman and one of the only Englishmen who lived in the Bogside and thought highly of by all residents including republicans.  My grandmother was a republican so I can;t imagine how they ended up together but I guess that's love for you and they did meet before the troubles began so I'm thankful they didn't have to deal with the fallout that other people did when entering a relationship like theirs.

Lee.....do you think it may have been for their own safety?  Maybe they would have been thought of as traitors?  I dunno, I'm just guessing but that was the first thought that came to my mind when I read your post.

No, I don't think that was the case, Lee, but I'm not sure of the exact reason - I'll ask hubby tonight.   As far as I can remember, most opted to go.

Absolutely.  Love breaks down barriers of faith, colour and politics - and I say that as a Scot married to an Englishman, who holds completely different political views from me.

Lord knows Ella....TY Yogi,I remember years ago ex soldiers came here and went public on how they were briefed before they were posted here, in relation to what area they were posted. and how they were to interact/deal with the community...It was all over some of the papers and the stark differences were sad tbh .

Lee, I can only imagine what it was like for you during that time, it must have been a living nightmare.

I have never heard of. Catholic soldiers being able to opt out of going to Northern Ireland. When I was young I remember it being a worry for people I knew who considered joining the army. I also know several Catholics who served in NI who said they didn't want to go but they had to . It was a long time ago so perhaps I am miss remembering.

Ding Dong, I can't get hold of hubby at the moment but I am sure I remember him telling me about the opt out. If I have got it wrong, I will come back and apologise.

No worries Yogi. I am just saying I have never heard of it. 

A distant relative of mine (I'm from the south as are nearly all my relatives) joined the British army over here (he was born here).

Anyhoo he was asked if he wanted to serve in NI (he's catholic) he said yes as he didn't think he should be allowed to pick and choose as his comrades weren't allowed to.  One night he was about to go on patrol and they were given an address of a supposed 'IRA member' who needed picking up and somehow the address seemed familiar to him.

They arrived at the address and went in (kicking through back and front doors and going through the windows)  only to find a woman in her 60s there alone.  As they checked to make sure no one else was there, she recognised one of the soldiers (my distant relative) who it turned out was her nephew.  It took 3 burly soldiers to stop her bopping him on the head with a frying pan!  It turned out they had the right name, wrong address!

 I'm glad the enquiry has found resolution for the families and I'm disgusted that it took 12 years to come to that conclusion.  As for Widgery - don't get me started.  I feel it's doubtful anyone will be prosecuted for this but I really do feel the UK Government should be in the dock over this 

@ Yogi - I used to go to the North a lot during the 'troubles' and I met some decent soldiers and some very very bad ones.   We used to go across the border from my county in the South for shopping as it was cheaper in the North than where I lived (especially ciggies )  Because we used to go so often, we were deemed 'potential terrorists' and our car had it's tyres shot by soldiers on more than one occasion.  I accept that they were doing their job but a lot of times it was indiscriminate and they didn't care if children were in the car either.

I thanked God every day I lived in the South.

Thanks Pengy, I thought my menopausal memory might have been playing up.

Is it wrong to laugh at the story of the lady with the frying pan?
Thank you for telling me what it was like for you. It is only when we hear from all sides in a conflict that we get a true picture of how everyone was affected.
War/terrorism/conflict, call it what you will, there is pain and suffering for everyone involved.

Still happening today although without shooting tires!  My OH gets stopped frequently and should a police car catch a glimpe of him they pull him over for the same old routine, where are you from?  what are you doing?  where are you going?  They know exactly where he's from, what he is doing and where he is going because it;s the same 2 cop cars that stop him everytime.  He's effing working and they are constantly stopping him even issued him a ticket saying he had no seatbelt on when he ws sat wearing it :S  They said what good is your word over 3 policemen......what's he supposed to say to that?

No   whilst I don't want to detract from the seriousness of the enquiry.  The only thing we hear about the troubles in the North unfortunately for all sides is bad news and I thought I'd bring a funny little story to show it wasn't all bad news up there 

They have changed thair name and thats about it. They are still glorified Unionists.