Tag Archives: Joseph McCaig

10th March – Deaths & Events in Northern Ireland Troubles

Deaths in the Troubles, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles

10th March

Tuesday 10 March 1970

Members of the Stormont parliament were given police protection.

Wednesday 10 March 1971

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

Untitled 33 - Sign

Dougald McCaughey (23), Joseph McCaig (18) and John McCaig (17), all three members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers (a regiment of the British Army; BA), were killed by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

The soldiers were off-duty and lured from a pub where they had been drinking. Their bodies were found at Squire’s Hill, in the Ligoniel area of Belfast.

[There was widespread condemnation of the killings and increased pressure on Chichester-Clark, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, to take a tougher line on security in the region.]

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

Sunday 10 March 1974

Michael McCreesh

Two Catholic teenagers were killed by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) booby-trap bomb near Forkhill, County Armagh. The bomb had been intended for a British Army foot patrol.

Wednesday 10 March 1976

Sammy Smith

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) shot and killed Sammy Smyth (46), a former spokesman for the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), at his sister’s house in Alliance Avenue, Ardoyne, Belfast.

A Protestant civilian was shot dead by the IRA in an attack on a public house near Lisburn, County Antrim.

The Irish government referred Britain to the European Commission on Human Rights over the case of alleged ill-treatment of internees in 1971.

[A decision by the Commission was announced on 2 September 1976. The case was then passed to the European Court of Human Rights who made a further ruling on 18 January 1978.] [ Hunger Strike. ]

Monday 10 March 1986

Unionist leaders said that they would resume talks with the British government if the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) was suspended.

Tuesday 10 March 1987

Fianna Fáil (FF), then led by Charles Haughey, formed a minority government in the Republic of Ireland.

Thursday 10 March 1988

Sixty British Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) criticised the shootings in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988.

Tuesday 10 March 1992

The Garda Síochána (the Irish police) uncovered an estimated 3,500 pounds of explosives together with a number of weapons at Drumkeen in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland.

Wednesday 10 March 1993

The House of Commons at Westminster decided by 329 to 202 votes to renew the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The Labour Party voted against the motion whereas in previous years the party had abstained.

Thursday 10 March 1994

James Haggan (33), an Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, was shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) while he was off-duty at a greyhound track in north Belfast.

Friday 10 March 1995

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) rejected all the proposals in the ‘Framework Documents’ (22 February 1995).

Monday 10 March 1997

Maurice Hayes

Maurice Hayes, the former Northern Ireland Ombudsman, was appointed by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to investigate the claim that a Catholic woman, who was the victim of sectarian harassment, was moved from her job in the office of Baroness Denton.

Michael Ancram, then Political Development Minister, condemned the picketing by Loyalists of the Catholic chapel at Harryville, Ballymena. Ancram made the comments when on a visit to Catholic schools in Ballymena which had been damaged in arson attacks.

steven roderick

The parents of Stephen Restorick, a British soldier who had been shot dead by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 12 February 1997, received a letter of condolence from Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF).

See Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick

Tuesday 10 March 1998

Republican paramilitaries carried out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base on the Newry Road in Armagh.

A British Army patrol spotted the mortars and raised the alarm. People were evacuated from the surrounding area and there were no injuries.

[It was believed that the attack was carried out by the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA).]

A west Belfast Republican activist accused members of a joint Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army patrol of firing blank shots at him after they had carried out a body search and an identity check.

A British soldier fired live rounds 20 minutes later in a nearby area when he believed he had seen a gunman. No shots were fired at the patrol.

The chairmen of the multi-party talks issued a discussion paper on the proposed cross-border bodies.

Wednesday 10 March 1999

Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) issued a statement on the present state of the peace process and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Friday 10 March 2000

The Belfast shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff lost a contract worth £400m to build the passenger ship Queen Mary II. The contract would have helped to secure the company’s future.

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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles

Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die

– Thomas Campbell

To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live  forever

– To  the Paramilitaries  –

There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.

13 People   lost their lives on the 10th March between 1971 – 1994

  

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10 March 1971


 Dougald McCaughey,  (23)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Found shot, Squire’s Hill, Ligoniel, Belfast.

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

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10 March 1971

Joseph McCaig,   (18)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Found shot, Squire’s Hill, Ligoniel, Belfast.

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

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10 March 1971

John McCaig,   (17)

nfNI
Status: British Army (BA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Found shot, Squire’s Hill, Ligoniel, Belfast.

See IRA Honey Trap Killings

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10 March 1973
 Denis Eccles,   (25)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: non-specific Loyalist group (LOY)
Shot while in Ulster Defence Association social club, Silverstream Road, Ballysillan, Belfast.

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10 March 1974


 Michael McCreesh,   (15)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb hidden in abandoned car, Dromintee, near Forkhill, County Armagh. Intended for British Army (BA) foot patrol.

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10 March 1974
 Michael Gallagher,   (18)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Injured by booby trap bomb hidden in abandoned car, Dromintee, near Forkhill, County Armagh. Intended for British Army (BA) foot patrol. He died 14 March 1974.

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10 March 1976
 Robert Dorman, (60)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot during gun attack on Homestead Inn, Ballyaghlis, near Lisburn, County Antrim

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10 March 1976


 Sammy Smyth,   (46)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot while at his relative’s home, Alliance Avenue, Ardoyne, Belfast.

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10 March 1977
 Norman Sharkie,  (18)

Protestant
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot during bomb attack on his workplace, a shop in York Street, Belfast.

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10 March 1987


 Peter Nesbitt,  (32)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by remote controlled bomb hidden in derelict shop, detonated when Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) mobile patrol lured to bogus robbery at an adjoining shop, Ardoyne shops, Crumlin Road, Belfast.

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10 March 1989


 James McCartney,  (38)

Catholic
Status: Civilian (Civ),

Killed by: Protestant Action Force (PAF)
Security man. Shot outside Orient Bar, Springfield Road, Belfast.

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10 March 1993


 Norman Truesdale,  (39)

Protestant
Status: Ulster Defence Association (UDA),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Shot at his shop, Century Street, Lower Oldpark, Belfast.

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10 March 1994


 John Haggan,  (33)

Protestant
Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),

Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot while at Dunmore Greyhound Stadium, off Antrim Road, Belfast.

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IRA Honey Trap Killings – Despicable Murder of three off – duty Scottish Soldiers’ 1971

Major events in The Troubles, , , ,

IRA Honey Trap Killings 

Shame on Republican Women & IRA Killers

THREE YOUNG SOLDIERS MURDERED IN NORTHERN IRELAND 10th MARCH 1971

Untitled 33 - Sign

Murder At The Roadside

THE BRUTAL DEATHS OF THREE YOUNG ROYAL HIGHLAND FUSILIERS WILL NEVER BE  FORGOTTEN

Pte John McCaig Aged 17,  

Pte Joseph McCaig  Aged  18

Pte Dougald McCaughey, 23 

1st Battalion, The Royal Highland Fusiliers,stationed at Girdwood Barracks, Belfast

See Palace Barracks for full story

Although the IRA carried out a number of Honey Trap killings the despicable murder of  the three young off-duty Scottish Soldiers outraged and shocked the UK and all decent people of Northern Ireland. Forty four years after the murders this still ranks of one of countless IRA atrocities that hunt the memory and in my book can never be forgiven.

See 23rd March for other IRA Honey trap Killings

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1971 Scottish Soldiers’ Killings

Never Forget they died serving their country

The three Scottish soldiers’ killings was an incident that took place in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It happened on 10 March 1971, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army shot dead three unarmed British Army soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers. Two of the three were teenage brothers; all three were from Scotland. They were killed off-duty and in civilian clothes having been lured from a city-centre bar in Belfast, driven to a remote location and shot whilst relieving themselves by the roadside. Whilst three British soldiers had been killed prior to this event, all three had been on-duty and killed during rioting.

The deaths led to public mourning and protests against the Provisional IRA. Pressure to act precipitated a political crisis for the government of Northern Ireland, which led to the resignation of Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark. 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 to where they were killed in north Belfast.

Events

Brothers John and Joseph McCaig

British troops had been deployed to Northern Ireland in 1969 for Operation Banner in response to a deteriorating security situation following the 1969 Northern Ireland riots. The British Army had become involved in the disturbances culminating in the Falls Curfew of July 1970. The Provisional Irish Republican Army was created in December 1969 after a split from the Official Irish Republican Army. After the split, the Provisional IRA planned for an:

“all-out offensive action against the British occupation”.

Provisional IRA Chief of Staff Seán Mac Stíofáin decided they would “escalate, escalate and escalate” until the British agreed to go.[4] The IRA Army Council sanctioned offensive operations against the British Army at the beginning of 1971. In this year, Robert Curtis was the first British soldier shot and killed by the Provisional IRA, on 6 February 1971, and two more soldiers were killed prior to 10 March.

Scottish_fallen 22222
Dougald McCaughey

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 in Belfast.

The shootings occurred on 10 March 1971 after 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 bar in Cornmarket, one of the safer areas of the city for soldiers at this stage in “the Troubles”. The three previous shootings that year had occurred in different circumstances, during rioting. One report said that the three Scottish soldiers were enticed 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 murdered by Provisional IRA members; two were shot in the back of the head and the other in the chest.

John McCaig, Dougald McCaughey, and Joseph McCaig, the three killed Scottish soldiers

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”.

The bodies were heaped on top of each other with two beer glasses lying near to them 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.

Aftermath

Grief: The family of murdered brothers Family John and Joseph McCaig were supported by friends at the funeral

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 killers was to provoke the security forces into reprisals. He said that:

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.

Belfast Cenotaph, focus of the public mourning in Belfast

 

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 the 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 national anthem.

The deaths lead to a crisis for the government of Northern Ireland with calls for increased security measures. Ian Paisley demanded the Stormont 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 shipyard workers took to the streets of Belfast to demand internment. The Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark flew to London to request more troops, and when the numbers were not what he wanted, he resigned. On 23 March 1971, Brian Faulkner was elected Ulster Unionist Party leader and was appointed Prime Minister the same day.

The British Army raised the minimum age for serving in Northern Ireland to 18 in response to the death of 17-year-old John McCaig.

No one has been convicted of the killings. The Daily Mirror reported in November 2007 that three Provisional IRA men were responsible for the deaths: Martin Meehan (died 2007), Patrick McAdorey, and a third unnamed man. Meehan was questioned over the killings but was never charged.

McAdorey was shot and killed in August 1971 during a gun battle in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. He was also suspected of the fatal shooting, hours before his own death, of Private Malcolm Hatton of the Green Howards. The case of the three soldiers is one of those being re-examined by the Police Service of Northern Ireland‘s Historical Enquiries Team.

 

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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.

Vandalism

The memorial at White Brae, Ligoniel, that marks the place of the killings was vandalised on July 2011. Sectarian graffiti was daubed on the memorial and the stones surrounding the memorial were scattered across the road. The ceremonial ropes were ripped off and the poppy wreaths that had been laid at a recent ceremony on 29 May 2011 to mark the first anniversary of the memorial’s opening were scattered across nearby fields.[24] The memorial has been attacked on numerous occasions since, costing thousands to repair. Memorial vandalised again in hate crime. Since the erection of the memorial, there have been 23 attacks of vandalism.

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Memorial to three Scottish soldiers attacked in north Belfast

Paint was thrown over the memorial
Paint was thrown over the memorial in north Belfast

A memorial to three Scottish soldiers murdered by the IRA in north Belfast has been vandalised.

Paint was thrown over the memorial at White Brae on the Ligoniel Road. Police said they are treating it as a hate crime.

Jim Wright of the the Royal British Legion said it was the 10th time the memorial had been attacked in recent years.

He described those responsible as cowards.

“As determined as these faceless thugs are to destroy the memorial, we are doubly determined to ensure that it remains at this site as a reminder to those in the IRA who were responsible for luring three young boys to this spot and murdering them in cold blood,”

he said.

 “It is a sad indictment that someone in our society thinks it is OK to desecrate a memorial. I would like to offer my thanks to those responsible for cleaning the memorial.”

North Belfast Sinn Féin councillor Gerry McCabe said it was a “despicable act”.

“I’m saddened to hear that the memorial at the White Brae at Ligoniel to the three soldiers has been defaced by mindless thugs,” he said.

“The actions of those involved in this are not representative of the people of this community.”

Original story BBC News

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Three Scottish soldiers killed in honeytrap remembered

A service took place this morning to the three Scottish soldiers, John McCaig, Joseph McCaig and Dougald McCaughey, who were killed by the IRA after being lured to the remote spot from a city centre bar by republican women on March 10, 1971
A service took place toremember the three Scottish soldiers, John McCaig, Joseph McCaig and Dougald McCaughey, who were killed by the IRA after being lured to the remote spot from a city centre bar by republican women on March 10, 1971

They were the fourth, fifth and sixth soldiers to be killed during the Troubles and the first to be killed off duty.

Veterans travelled from Scotland at the weekend to take part in a memorial service to the three soldiers at the spot where they were killed.

Dougald’s cousin David, and former platoon sergeant Phineas Sloan were among those who travelled for the service.

David said it made him feel “sick to the stomach” that the memorial to the soldiers has been attacked six times in 18 months.

It cost £1,700 to repair last year, and after it was repaired was almost immediately attacked again.

See 23rd March for other IRA Honey trap Killings

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Unrelated

IRA Honey Trap

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