Tich Leedhams Claim to Fame
Jim Love
 Para and French Foreign Legion vet

So its 1974 and we're driving through Newry and its Derrybeg estate. There's two open topped landrovers with GPMG's mounted on roll bars  manned by the lads in the back.The lights starting to fade and as we pull round a corner at the end of the street it appears at first that the pavements on fire. With the warning about the strange sight up ahead from the guys in the front. The two of us in the back check our sights are up and brace for action. What kind action at that moment nobody was exactly sure.

As we get closer it becomes apparent that some one's set up an impromptu shrine on the corner where one of the poor locals (tomorrow he'll be one of the valiant fallen and  a much mourned loving father etc) had been shot as he had tried to take a pot shot at one of our patrols, the previous week. Anyway there's pictures of him propped up and surrounded by candles. We're just coming level with all of this and becoming a bit wary as there is not another soul on the streets and there are no lights showing in the houses.

When suddenly Tich screams out for us to stop and he's up and jumping off the back of the rover, and I'm off with him. Before I know it I' m right up his arse cause he's stopped in front of the candles.I scurry off into a door way and Tich the "mad bastard" bends down in front of the candles and photos.

Squatting Tich places his weapon across his knees and starts to sing "Happy Birthday" then blows all the candles out. With 10 seconds of our arses hitting the seats in the back of the wagon the streets were full of brick throwing locals,eating our dust as we disappeared into the darkening night.  4 days of rioting followed.But we had to have something for the Marines advance party to experience. It was getting a bit boring and we only had 14 days to push.