Fighting For Peace
Chapter Two
And into the Lions Den
By
Cpl. Tug Wilson KOSB
Ever since our great victory
at El Alamein we have pitched our moving tents a day's march nearer greatness.
In years to come, when asked,
what did you do in the war, it will be enough to say I was with the Eighth
Army
Field Marshal Montgomery
I would settle for a no score draw
The convoy of vehicles moved along the Springfield Road. Everybody was tense at this stage as they were in soft topped three-ton lorries. There were plenty of armed escorts with them but nevertheless the men could not breathe easy until they had reached their destination of Vere Foster School and Henry Taggert Mission Hall in Ballymurphy. Years later they would look back in fondness at that thought. Who in there right mind would be grateful to be in Ballymurphy, but traveling in soft skinned vehicles was not to be advised at that time. The first few thoughts that the men took in as they arrived was the big Sgt from the guards battalion they were taking over from giving them sixty rounds of live ammunition. They were taken by surprise. I don't know what they might be expecting, but the rounds would certainly come in handy, as nearly everybody would open fire sometime during the coming four months. Or it might have been the posters that were pinned up on the wall. The first one depicted a soldier in a sniper's telescopic sight and said; "Don't stand still and give them a chance. Keep moving." They would soon learn the meaning of that one, or the other poster that said, "Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity." It would take them many years to see the sense of that one. You can't fight for peace, as it always comes through the ballot box, but the men did not let a small detail like that deter them. They had heard the stories and they just wanted to kill the bastards before they killed them. Their ages ranged from eighteen to men in there thirties and the killings that they were about to dish out to the local population would haunt them for years to come but that was in the future and the present the world was their oyster. The sleepless nights would come when they were in there forties.
For the men of 'three three Charlie' the moment was broken when they heard the voice of Mick Henderson calling to them. "Well fuck a duck. Look who's arrived. Britain's best excuse for the birth pill. The IRA heard you were coming and pissed themselves laughing. Get a cup of tea down your neck, as you are going out on patrol in a hour. Get your beds sorted out. You will love the accommodation here, all mod cons and everything you could want, providing you are all three feet tall that is. Andy you come with me as we have plenty to talk about." Mick had not been joking. The place had been a primary school and everything was geared towards children. The tables and chairs and toilets were designed for children under ten and it made for a very uncomfortable stay. Uncomfortable or not here they were and here they would stay. If it were not for the fact it was dangerous out on the streets it would have been a pleasure to go out on patrol. Andy and Mick went for a cup of tea and discussed the tactics they would be using.
"Well then Mick how are things at the sharp end," asked Andy. "Worse than what you think " said Mick. " The regiment that we are taking over from had five killed, and three of them were killed in this area. The bullring, to be exact, is in the area where we are going to patrol in about a hour". He was referring to an area of Ballymurphy that would put years on the men. It was 1972 and the Ballymurphy estate in Belfast was as bad as anywhere you could find in the world. On a bad day it would give Beirut a run for its money. "Just the same Mick, the lads were talking about it on the way over." Don't tell me you have had a change of mind" asked Andy, referring to the conversations they had back in the UK. "Well not exactly, but I have come to a different conclusion. We are not here to have a private war but we have a duty to get the men back in one piece, so lets get on with it like we said, but don't think it will be a picnic. We will be hard pushed, as it is, to get by. It is rough out there. If I had my way I would settle for a no score draw." This surprised Andy, as Mick had been so certain they would do well. What had happened in the last week to make him change his mind? The answer came with his next observation. "Well Andy, as much as we have practiced in the last four months, nothing can prepare you for this. There is no quarter asked for and no quarter given. They hate us and we hate them. Don't be in any doubt that we are not here to win friends., Forget trying to win hearts and minds, as it's them or us, I have no doubt our section is up to it but we will take casualties. It's up to you and I to make sure the casualties don't include our lads." Andy took this in and after a pause he said, "Are you telling me we wont win here?" " We will win, Andy, but we wont like how we do it. To win we must be at the top of our game, second best wont do. If they fuck us we must fuck them harder. Don't underestimate them. Its kill or be killed."
"I would rather we kept out of trouble but it's wishful thinking. We will have trouble, make no mistake about that," Mick said. Andy thought for a moment and said, "Mick what you say will be. We will be happy doing what you say. How do we go about it?" Mick was relieved. If his second in command would take his word for it the rest of the lads would be a piece of piss. "We do as we practiced in the UK. When we are out we run like fuck. We are not here to be target practice for the local IRA. The last regiment here just used to stroll around. No wonder they took casualties. That's not for us. When we are out there we will keep on the move. The men don't have to waste much time chatting up the locals, as they won't speak to us anyway. It would be handy if we only responded to trouble when we get trouble. I know the lads think it is going to be fair game out there. We will have to jump on them when they try to take the law into their own hands. Get the message across, eyes open at all times and keep moving. When we get a contact we take it as it comes," said Mick referring to the army use of the word contact that means what it says. Contact with the enemy. When that happened you have to respond in a fixed way. First of all you let the company know you are in trouble, usually by radio. Then you assess the situation and respond accordingly. It was a situation the men were aware of. They had practiced it often enough. Mick could see no reason to prolong things. What would be would be. It was time to get the section together and brief them on the patrol that they were due to carry out.
"Get them together Andy and I will brief them. Fighting order for everybody. No flak jackets, as they will only slow them down." Said Mick. The flak jackets he referred to were the bullet proof vests the men were supposed to wear but they were fucking useless. The only use they had was to keep the government happy. They thought they were doing well keeping the troops safe. But as usual the cost outweighed the purpose. If the government had been serious about protecting the troops they would have given them good equipment to wear, but they preferred to talk a good fight rather than fight a good fight. Money comes first. There were plenty soldiers and the money they saved buying sub standard equipment could be put to better use on expensive junkets abroad.
As Mick had asked, Andy had got the men together. Mick started his briefing. He first of all had a look at everybody to make sure they were dressed properly. It would take a good man to get everybody dressed the same. In the army there is always somebody who is excused wearing boots or are deficient in some equipment, but on this occasion everybody was dressed the same. It did not take much. Rifle, boots, denim trousers and a skeleton order of webbing to keep the spare magazines of rounds in and water bottles to help in case of burns they might incur in the event of a explosion.
"Keep your fucking eyes open when you get out there" started Mick. "It will be a quick patrol to familiarize yourselves with the area. The locals will be watching. We are a new regiment in the area and they will be taking note. Show them we mean business. Remember what Andy and myself have told you. The best time for the IRA to hit you will be in the first week and the last week. Fucking switch on! You are no longer on the streets of mainland Britain but on the streets of Belfast. You will load your rifles with a full magazine of twenty rounds and you will have your rifle cocked and ready at all times. If in the event we get a contact take cover right away. There is not much cover out there but still get behind something. If we do get a contact, open fire in the general direction of the hostile rounds. This will keep the enemy's head down and give you time to organize yourselves. Keep your eyes on Andy and me. We will give you all the direction you need. Right. Dress forward to the loading bay with a magazine of twenty rounds, Load. Ready." At his command the men put their magazines on their rifles and cocked them. All it took now was a switch of the safety catch to make the rifle ready to fire. Mick looked at his men who were in the order he put them in for patrol. Behind him was John Green, a private who was twenty years old.
A good lad but he looked slightly nervous. Behind him was Bob Douglas. Thick as fuck but looked as if he had been waiting for this moment for all off his life. Next came Private Don Charles a lad of twenty-one and a trained sniper. He looked as cool as you could be. He was single and in fact would never marry. Snipers in the British Army very rarely married. They were too dedicated to their task and too selfish. Bringing up the rear on Mick's side was Private Charlie Brook who at eighteen was the youngest in the section. On the other side of the patrol was Andy brown his 2i/c, married with two kids. Mick would trust him with his life. Behind Andy came Ronnie Smith, a private who was twenty years old. He looked ok and was enjoying the moment. Next in line was Harry Downs, still a private after six years' service. He had loads of experience but not much go in him. Next up was Dave Foster who was twenty-two and was engaged to be married and he looked ok. Last of all was Eddie Goode, a lad of nineteen who would follow Mick anywhere. Mick was happy with what he saw. He lifted the voice box on his radio to his mouth and said, "hello 3 this is 3/3 Charlie, radio check, over." Back came the reply, "3 ok over." Mick said in return, "3/3 Charlie ok out" and with that, at two minutes past twelve, Mick took his section on to the streets of Ballymurphy.
Out of the gate and turn left into new Barnsley Park on to Springfield Road. Run! Run! Run! Take a quick look and then run again. Don't stop unless you have too. The area was quiet, two quiet as it happened. They would learn in the months to come when it was quiet something was about to happen. From the Springfield Road they turned into Divismore Way and there in front of them was the Ballymurphy bullring. He stopped his patrol to let the men get their bearings before taking them into the bullring proper. No words were spoken, not because of operational reasons but because of necessity. You are too tired too talk .and you get by with a serious of hand signals. Mick gave a signal just at that moment. "Lets' go forward and see what is happening" the signal he gave was normal. All the lads were ready to go. Mick went first and as they turned into Glenalina Park, it happened. Crack! Crack! Crack! Everything happened at once. The first thing that the men did was instinct. They shouted, "Take cover! Take cover!" It was the first time they had come under fire in their lives but they knew what to do. Man's instinct is to preserve his life so you tend to keep a grip on yourself even under fire. Mick knew what he must do. First off all make a contact report on the radio. "Hello 3 this is 3/3 Charlie. Contact. Wait out." Several things happened at once. For a start Mick's radio message got through to company headquarters.
When a contact report goes in the company net goes quiet. This allows the man on the ground to assess the situation and report back with the relevant information. At the same time the duty operator at headquarters presses the switch on the intercom to tell the company commander that 3/3 Charlie has had a contact. Another operator will inform battalion headquarters that we have a call sign radioing in with a contact. They in turn will put the medical staff on standby to help with any casualties Mick knew all this would be happening and was assessing the situation. The company commander, Major Ian Scallion, MC, ordered the stand by platoon to get ready.
Mick's mind was working overtime. This is what he was paid for so it was up to him to get the men out of the situation. As far as he could see the threat was coming from the bullring so he made the decision to back off for the moment. He signaled to Andy to come over by putting his hand on top of his head. Andy knew what was coming and threw himself forward towards Mick. At that moment the IRA opened fire again and Andy went down on the road like a sack of shit. Mick's heart gave a start but his sense of duty overrode this. "Hello 3 this is 3/3 Charlie. Reference my last. We have a man down. I repeat a man down. I require back up now, over." The company commander came on the net. "Hello 3/3 Charlie this is 3/9. We will be with you in figures five" so Mick knew that the company would be sending help in five minutes but that did not help him now. He could see that his men were returning fire towards the general direction of the gunmen, and that the target of the gunmen was Andy. He ran forward to help his mate.
When you read in the paper about soldiers who win medals it always contains words like "with complete disregard for his own safety" and "above and beyond the line of duty" but you don't know what it really means.
. Everybody there that day knew what it meant. As Mick went forward to get his mate to safety, the gunmen opened fire with renewed ferocity. Mick could see the road in front off him come alive with rounds being fired at him and Andy. The tarmac was boiling with the amount of rounds that were hitting it. He was on his way to collecting a military medal but for the moment he did not care. His mate was in trouble and it was his duty to get him safe. He grabbed Andy and ran to the nearest cover he could find, a hedge that was about six feet high. He threw Andy over the hedge and tried to go over himself but it was too high. He had lost momentum by stopping to throw Andy over and he could not get over himself. He ran to the first available cover he could find and took stock.
He was a bit away from his men but as far as he could see they were doing well. The whine of an armoured car filled the air and Mick knew that the reinforcements had arrived. The men were pointing to where Andy was and the guys from the armoured car ran out and grabbed him. There was no attempt to nurse him, as one guy grabbed him by the chest and another by the bollocks and threw him into the armoured car. There was no National Health Service on the Ballymurphy estate.
At the same time the company commander came on the radio. "Hello 3/3 Charlie this is 3/9. We have picked up your casualty and are returning to base. You will have to withdraw your men and make it back yourselves, over." "Roger that" said Mick. He just got the words out his mouth when he heard the sound of two rounds from an army 7.62 rifle. " Who fired them?" Said Mick. "It was me" replied Don Charles. " I have seen and shot a gunman." Mick looked at his watch and saw it was half past twelve. "Fuck me," he thought. "We have been on the streets 28 minutes and already I am a man down and we have shot a gunman. So much for the no score draw". At the same time the company commander came on the radio. What was that 3/3 Charlie?" Mick was back on the radio right away. " Hello 3/9 this is 3/3 Charlie. We have shot and most likely killed a gunman, over." After the briefest of pauses the company commander came on the net." Well done! We will be with you right away. Your casualty is back in the company location and being assessed. Out." Mick knew things would change quickly. He could see other call signs starting to flood into the area and he knew it would be safe now. He indicated to his men to move forward to where the gunman was laying.
The locals were now milling around and shouting at the soldiers, calling them murdering bastards and telling them to get back to there own country. Mick was right in his assessment of the gunman. He was dead right enough. You tend to be dead after being hit with a round from a British Army self-loading rifle. The man had a small entrance hole in his chest where the round had entered, and a hole about a foot wide in his back where it had come out. It's not like the movies where you can see a man getting shot then saying, The bastards got me" or "Help me somebody." When you get it in real life the force of the round throws you about ten feet in the air and knocks you back about twenty feet. If the round hits a bone the bones start spinning through your body as well and that's what causes the big exit wound. The first thoughts that Mick had was that Don had shot well. Don himself looked on with little interest. Here was a man who had eaten his breakfast in mainland UK at five o clock that morning and seven and a half hours later had killed his first man. A sniper in the British Army is hard to impress.
The company commander arrived at the scene and took in the situation at a glance. The first thing he noticed was the local priest giving the gunman the last rites. Major Scallion shouted to nobody in particular, "Right, get that man into the armoured car and get him back to our location." The priest looked up and said, "For pity's sake, I am giving this man the last rites. Have some respect for the dead." ""He shouldn't play with big boy's toys then" replied the company commander looking at the Armalite rifle the gunman had been using. "This man was fighting to protect his community from the occupational army," said Father Joe Flanagan. "Well his fighting days are over" replied the major. "He belongs to us now." Major Ian Scallion was not to be messed with. He had won a Military Cross as a young officer in Aden in 1965 and took no shit from any man. His men and their welfare were all he cared about. Father Flanagan looked at him again, " Can we not wait until the man's wife gets here and gives her husband a last kiss?" "She can kiss my arse for all I care" replied Major Scallion to the delight off his men. "He is coming with us." Father Flanagan drew himself up from his kneeling position and faced Major Scallion. " The last regiment that was here did not treat us with such contempt. They would observe a proper respect for the dead." The major replied, "That's why they had five men killed by your thugs. It's the King's Rifle Regiment you are dealing with now, Charlie Company in particular. You will find we don't mess around. Leave us alone and we will leave you alone. Give us stick and we will give you ten times as much back in return. My men only respond to the level of violence shown to them. I can tell you now, Father, that we do not intend to go down in history as the company that took the most casualties in Ballymurphy. Get the message across to the thugs that rule this area. Fight us and you will be killed; leave us alone and we will still do our best to kill them." said major scallion quite uncompromisingly.
It was what the colonel had promised back in mainland UK. The officers would back the men to the hilt. This thrilled the men no end and set the tone for the coming four months. When it came to violence the men of Charlie Company could dish it out. It would remain to be seen if they could take it as well.
This, of course, angered the local population who were more used to the resident battalion in Ballymurphy being scared out off their wits. If they had any sense they would have read the signs that were there for all to see and backed off. But you can't educate pork, you have to cure it. Looking around them they could see that a ring of steel surrounded them. The gunmen that had taken on 3/3 Charlie had long gone. The IRA doesn't waste their men and weapons in a no win situation despite the fact they were sworn to defend the area. The gunmen had been dispersed amongst the sprawling housing estate and their weapons had been hidden. It was useless to try and find them at that moment. They were long gone. Father Joe Flanagan had one last try at Major Scallion to try and get him to change his mind. "Will you not let me take the deceased to my chapel?" He asked. " Not a chance," replied the major. "If you live by the sword, you die by the sword."
"Get that body into the armoured car and get it back to our location," was the reply from the major. The men did as they were told and soon the armoured car ,that the men called a pig, was speeding up the road. This had taken a bit of time and the company commander decided it was time to get back to base. He gave the order to mount up and then had a word with Mick Henderson. "Cpl Henderson, I want you to continue with this patrol, I don't want the locals to see we are backing off completely. We are only a radio call away so don't feel you are being abandoned. Only spend about another half an hour patrolling, just to show the locals we will not be intimidated. When you come back to base we will discuss this contact." He could see the look in Mick's face and continued, "You have done nothing wrong. I just want to debrief you on the events so we can learn from them. Have you any questions?" " I would like to know about Cpl Brown," said Mick. "I am worried to death about him." The reply from the company commander would shock many a civilian but was in fact the correct response. "Fuck Cpl Brown. What will be will be. There is nothing we can do to change the situation. He is in good hands and our job now is to look after the men under our command. I can assure you I will do all I can to give him the best chance when I get back to base. In the meanwhile keep your eye on the ball." It was good advice. When you can't change a situation, why worry. Get on with what you are doing and let others who can change things, do it. Andy was in good hands and Major Scallion was right. If Andy was already dead nothing could be done. If he were still alive everything possible would be done to keep him that way. "Sir, I understand you," replied Mick. "I will see you when we get back." The company commander gave the sign for his escort to mount up and soon he was heading back to base. Mick told his men to get into patrol formation and for half an hour patrolled the area.
When the men in Mick's patrol saw the entrance to the front gate at the Vere Foster they started to relax. It had been an eventful patrol and they were glad to be back at base. A loud shout from Mick put them back into reality. "Keep your fucking eyes open. You are not there yet. I told you before you went out to never relax until you get back. Fucking switch on. Keep running until we are inside and under cover." When the men got inside the base he formed them up beside the loading bay and took them through the drill for unloading the weapons. Before he could do anything else the company sergeant major was by his side. "Cpl Henderson, the company commander wants to see you right away." " Just a minute sir, I want to see that my men are ok and get fed," a typical reply from a good section commander. " I don't think you have to worry about them," replied the sergeant major, looking back.
Mick looked back and could see everybody who was not on duty swamping Don Charles to congratulate him on getting the first company kill. So it was with the army. Soldiers were happy when the enemy was killed. They did not give a thought that the dead man might have a family. When one off their own was killed it was a different matter, but for now they would enjoy the fruits of their victory. Another thing puzzled Mick. The sergeant major did not seem particularly unhappy. Sergeant majors in the British Army were not prone to giving vent to their feelings very much but nevertheless Mick was expecting the sergeant major to show a bit of concern about Andy Brown. He was almost laughing as he watched the men celebrating and Mick could not work it out. He hurried along to the company commander's office and the sergeant major ushered him in. The first thing he saw was Andy Brown sitting on a chair with one of his boots on the desk. Andy had a big grin on his face. "Hello Mick what kept you? I have been back for ages. You have no chance of getting a hot cup of tea as I have drunk it all." Mick nearly had a fit.
The last time he had seen Andy was when he had been thrown into the back of the pig. He thought then that Andy might have been dead. "What the fuck is going on here?," asked Mick. He could not believe his luck, his mate was not only alive and ugly, but he looked as though nothing was wrong with him. Major Scallion put him in the picture. " The round that hit Cpl. Brown did not hit anything important. It hit him on his boot and took his feet away. If you look on the desk you will see that the boot has no sole. He is one lucky bastard." Mick looked at the boot and then at Andy then launched himself forward to shake his mate's hand. "For fucks sake Andy I thought you were dead, I have been out off my mind with worry." The company commander broke into the conversation then and said, " We now know what you've done Cpl. Henderson. I am in possession of the facts. You will be recommended for the Military Medal" " I don't give a fuck for the Military Medal" replied Mick. " I am just glad to see my mate is ok." "I am sure you are, Cpl. Henderson, but I don't put soldiers forward lightly for medals. If you are accepted you will take it and go to Buckingham Palace to receive it. Is that understood?" "Yes sir I understand you perfectly" said Mick.
At that moment Mick could not give a flying fuck for the medal. He only cared about his mate. Mick would go on to get the medal and his life would change completely. A holder of the second highest medal your country could give you at the time would sometimes be a millstone round his neck. It would guarantee him promotion to sergeant and on to regimental sergeant major before his time was finished. It would also give him no end off trouble during the remainder off his service. When you are a holder off the Military Medal you belong to everybody. He did not know it at the time but his days of being with the lads and getting drunk were numbered. That was in the future. The present had still to be dealt with. "What happens now sir?" asked Mick. " For now, nothing has changed. Get your patrol together and debrief them. Give any information you might have to intelligence so they can collate it and get your men ready for patrol in about two hours.
"The medical officer has assessed Cpl .Brown and stood him down for two days." He could see Andy Brown was going to argue with him and cut him short. "Don't argue Cpl Brown, the medical officers' word is law. Cpl. Henderson will get along fine without you. You will come in handy working in the ops room for a couple of days." Mick and Andy left the company commander's office together and before they could reach the billets where the men were Andy grabbed a hold of Mick. "Mick I want to thank you for getting me out of trouble out there. I was so scared you would not believe it" " I know you were scared Andy. I could see the shit squirting out the lace holes of your one good boot," said Mick trying to make his mate feel at ease. In truth he did not know what to say. He loved Andy but at the back off his mind he thought about the contact they had out on the streets. Andy had not been injured, yet he did not get up. He had left it to Mick to collect him and get him into cover. It was the start of the niggily-naggaly doubts that Mick was starting to have. To survive they would have to have trust in each other. Could it be that the man that Mick had put so much faith in would turn out to be lacking? Somehow Mick doubted this. It was better to think that it was down to the first live contact they had. Everybody was nervous and mistakes could be made. " Don't worry about it. We did ok. I shouldn't have given you the sign to come over until I had properly assessed the situation. We will get better."
"Don't worry. Anyway what did you think about Don's kill? Not bad eh?." Andy agreed with Mick. He knew what Mick had known that Don would perform the right way on a contact. When the British Army selected you for a snipers' course, they knew what they were doing. Don was not quite a one-off, as the other companies had their snipers but 3/3 Charlie's Don was to them, special. He was only twenty-one, but was already a man. In his later years Don would become a nurse in a hospital in mainland UK. It would not be in his hometown, as an older man he was ashamed of what he had done in Ballymurphy, and he never went back home again. All his later life he regretted killing the men that he had to. For the moment though he was in his glory. When Mick and Andy appeared in the billets that they had been allocated, a big cheer went up. It was 3/3 Charlie's way of welcoming back Andy. The men already knew the facts of the matter about Andy and were pleased to see him. " Hello Andy" ventured Bob Douglas. "We thought you were dead. We were so full of sorrow we could not enjoy our cups of tea."
"Now you are back will you read us a night time story?" " You can fuck off, I am not here to read you night time stories. I am here to make your life miserable," said Andy. Just then the tannoy system that was installed in the location burst into life. "Attention! Attention! Would anybody who has not got their bedding from the stores please see the colour sergeant now. And would anybody who has fired rounds in the last contact report to the company sergeant major who will replenish the rounds that you have fired." The tannoy system would annoy them for the next four months, but it was necessary. It would keep you in contact with what was happening in the company and the battalion as a whole. Mick took up from where Andy left off. "We have had our first contact with the enemy. It won't be our last. More off the same is required off you. I am pleased with what you have done. One thing did annoy me though, when you got within smelling distance of the front gate you started to switch off. I have told you and told you repeatedly that it is not over till we are back in the location. Fuckin switch on!"
"The IRA doesn't switch off. They know the score. When we approach the company location keep alert. It doesn't take a genius to work out what goes out must come in. They will be waiting for you. You can take comfort in the fact we behaved the right way during the contact that we had. I made the mistake off telling Andy to come to me. You did what you were trained to do. I was pleased with the amount of fire that you put down. It kept the enemy from getting the momentum. Don. That was a good shot. Keep your eyes opened like he did. We are going out in two hours time. This time Andy will not be with us. The medical officer has said he must have two days rest. Think about it. It's no different to what we practice in the UK. In war time you should be used to being a man down." He looked at Harry Downs. He did not see much there to give him comfort. Harry was the senior private and therefore the natural choice to take over from Andy. "Harry, you must take Andy's place. Use your experience to good effect. Everybody will support you. Do what Andy did and you won't go wrong." Harry gave a non-committal grunt and slunk into the background. Mick knew he would not get much from Harry. "Right then. Go to the sergeant major and get the rounds back that you fired on the contact. In the meanwhile try and get some rest."
It was like trying to sell coal to Newcastle. The men now knew the score. Fuck them hard and fuck them first. That was their motto. Whatever Mick said now would not make much difference. The men off 3/3 Charlie prepared to go out on patrol. However Mick was not daft. He knew the men were ready and eager to go. It could be used to his and the company's advantage. The men's eagerness to get stuck in made his mind up. "Lets take the upper hand," thought Mick. The men off the local IRA would be in for a surprise
As the men off 3/3 Charlie prepared for the next patrol and heard the familiar words. " Hello 3 this is 3/3 Charlie radio check, over" and the reply " 3 ok, over." Little did they know what lay in store for them. Before their first day in Belfast would be over another three IRA gunmen would be dead but most tragic of all, a sergeant off the King's Own Rifles would be dead.
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