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Murder
of two British corporals at IRA funeral
"Despite
it all the people in Belfast did what they could to get on
with life and, no matter which side of the political chasm
they were on, they still wanted the best for their families."
- Richard
Moore
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Horrifying
spectacle
Still
shaken by the Milltown Massacre three days before I decided not
to go to the funeral of Caoimhín Mac Brádaigh, one of the men who
died at Milltown.
Two
English guys staying at my bed and breakfast and I decided to watch
the rugby international between Ireland and England.
During
the match a news item broke in to the coverage saying that two British
soldiers had been killed at the funeral.
We
watched in horror as the story unfolded.
Two
off-duty British soldiers stupidly disobeyed orders and went to
observe the funeral.
Their
car was surrounded and the windows smashed, and irate people tried
to drag out Corporals David Howes and Derek Wood.
Corporal
Wood partially climbed part out of a window, firing a shot in the
air that briefly scattered the crowd.
But
they attacked again and the pair were dragged from the car and kicked
to the ground before being dragged to a nearby sports ground where
they were beaten further and stripped to their underwear.
Then
they were thrown over a high wall to a black taxi and driven to
nearby waste ground where they were murdered by the IRA.
Corporal
Wood was shot six times, twice in the head and four times in the
chest. He was also stabbed four times in the back of the neck and
had multiple injuries to other parts of his body.
A
Catholic priest Father Alec Reid gave the bloodied bodies their
last rites in a famous photo of the incident.
The
utter babarity of the attack shocked me to the core. My English
pals were horrified at the uncut film we saw.
We
decided to go to the nearby Wellington Park Hotel where over the
next 10 or so hours proceeded to try to erase the images from our
minds through applying copious quantities of Guinness and Black
Bush chasers.
We
succeeded to the extent that we were unable to find our bed and
breakfast on the way home, despite it being only 100 metres away
and on the same side of the road.
-
Richard Moore
Copyright
Richard Moore All Right Reserved |
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