Utrinque Paratus

Which roughly translates as 'Ready for Anything' and is the motto of the Parachute Regiment whose critics, from Lord Saville downwards, suppose that 'Ready for Murder' would be a better translation!  Let me make clear from the outset that I accept that a handful of Paras in Londonderry in 1972 almost certainly committed a crime and that they should face the consequences. I add that rider "almost certainly" because, begging Lord Saville's pardon, it will take a judge and jury in a court of law to make the final decision and I suspect that out of that handful of potential culprits only one or two will actually ever face trial and actually there is a high probability that in the end none of them will.  Even if some do, I will be amazed if, given the political circumstances, they spend even a day in jail.  Having made that clear I would like to add some comments all of which pertain to the matter but none of which alter the main conclusion that it is highly likely that some Paras were guilty of a crime.

It is important to understand the ethos of the Parachute Regiment.  Many young men volunteer for the Paras but very few pass the selection course which is designed to find out who amongst the intake possesses two characteristics.  First, stamina, by which I mean mind over matter, so that when every muscle in your body is screaming stop! - you carry on.  Failure to do so results in instant dismissal with a chorus of jeers and taunts to send the failure on his miserable way.   The second characteristic they are searching for is aggression.  Part of the selection course is 'milling' in which you are paired off with someone roughly (and I do mean 'roughly') your own weight and size and given some very worn and thin boxing gloves and then you go on the gym mats for one minute where you are expected to stand toe to toe and slug it out.  It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, all that counts is that you do not duck and dive and evade, and if you are knocked down that you instantly get up and carry on.  This is not to say that all Paras go round perpetually looking for a fight - although some do - only that if trouble looms they are likely to re-act with instinctive and therefore instantaneous aggression - because that is exactly and precisely why they were chosen.  These two characteristics explain why in the Falklands when virtually every vehicle had been sunk on a transport ship the Paras (and the Marine Commandos) were able to put enormous weights of equipment on their backs and manpack the lot over some of the roughest ground you could ever wish to avoid.  It is also why they were able to press home assaults on Goose Green and Mt. Longdon.

However, in circumstances like Londonderry in 1972, those very characteristics made them the worst choice of troops to be sent in to a delicate and dangerous situation in which the IRA were seeking every means to win a propaganda victory even if, or particularly if, it would be achieved over the dead bodies of their own people.  The city was a war zone and I use that phrase advisedly.  The IRA had established no-go areas and just three days before two policemen had been murdered.  I question the intelligence, and in some cases the motives, of those who took part in the so-called 'civil rights peace demo' that day.  Anyone with more than three brain cells would have known that it was likely to be extremely dangerous.  In the end, the IRA achieved their aims and hopes.

On my last visit to France we called into the museum and the empty remains of the village of Oradour where, in 1944, 642 inhabitants were slaughtered in cold blood by an SS regiment.  Today, the 'stupids' and their malignant string-pullers, like Bernadette Devlin McAliskey in The Guardian, claim that the whole thing was engineered by the British state in pursuit of a policy of ruthless oppression of the Irish people. Eh?  Only 14 dead?  And only a handful of soldiers implicated?  Alas, when it comes to mass murder the British army obviously has lessons to learn from our German counterparts.

ADDITIONAL:  I have just read Max Hastings' article on the subject.  He was in Londonderry on the day and apart from being a trained reporter he is also a very distinguished historian.  He encapsulates teh whole wretched business better than anyone.  Well worth a read.

ADDITIONAL: Sorry, I have just read another article, this time by Gen. Sir Michael Rose who, unlike Hastings, actually was present during the fighting.  He lay in a gutter with a Para who was firing up at a balcony in a block of flats opposite and Rose saw a man running along carrying a rifle.  In addition, he saw bullets striking the wall behind him in retaliation.  Again, worth a read.

Comments

[ortega]

I've seen Hastings this morning on the BBC and I think he is totally right.
We have a similar problem here in Spain, with what is called 'memoria histórica' (historic memory?), wich lies upon the idea that not all victims are equal.
We sometimes forget what a bless is to be able to forget.

[dearieme]

I saw a Beeb programme years ago in which a minister of religion described how he saw a gunman with a pistol firing at the troops. Mind you, that's no reason for the troops to ignore their instructions and fire on the "useful idiots" who constituted most of the crowd.

[David Duff]

"to be able to forget"

Indeed, Prtega, that is sometimes difficult - but with the Irish it is impossible.

You are right, 'DM', and perhaps I should have made clear that amongst the Paras there are a fairly high percentage of what Orwell called "rough men, which in the case of some of them is a mighty understatement!

[dearieme]

Irish Alzheimers - they forget everything but the grudges.

Anyway, the historical analogy for you, David, is the Act of Oblivion passed at the Restoration.

[hank]

1968 was a banner year for the British Army. It was the first year (and only) since Monck’s Regiment (Coldstream Guard) laid down it’s arms as soldiers of the Parliament and picket them of as soldiers of the King in which a British olidier was not killed in action. 1969 the IRA started a war. Many valid complaints on both sides but let us not forget who starred the “troubles“.

Hastinegs
As David Cameron rightly said, there can be no possible excuse for what the Paras did.

But no soldiers would have been on the streets that day with loaded rifles had not the IRA been killing their comrades for months - two RUC men were shot in Derry only three days before Bloody Sunday. The Provisionals ran the Bogside, and resisted every incursion by troops or police.

Found this a while back which speaks fo the 99.99 % who did a tough job, did it well, with no thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9C4fj5CfvA&feature=related

[David Duff]

It was a banner year in more ways than one, Hank, it was the year I left the army - to its great relief!