[Jack Hammer]

Yeah, what the heck is that all about???

[af_vet_1981]

Bloody Sunday – sometimes called the Bogside Massacre[1] – was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland. British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a protest march against internment. Fourteen people died: thirteen were killed outright, while the death of another man four-and-a-half months later was attributed to his injuries. Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers and some were shot while trying to help the wounded. Two protesters were also injured when they were run down by army vehicles.[2][3] The march had been organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and the Northern Resistance Movement.[4] The soldiers involved were mostly members of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, also known as "1 Para".[5]

Two investigations have been held by the British government. The Widgery Tribunal, held in the immediate aftermath of the incident, largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame—John Widgery described the soldiers' shooting as "bordering on the reckless"—but was widely criticised as a "whitewash".[6][7][8] The Saville Inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, was established in 1998 to reinvestigate the incident. Following a 12-year inquiry, Saville's report was made public on 15 June 2010, and contained findings of fault that could re-open the controversy, and potentially lead to criminal investigations for some soldiers involved in the killings.[9] The report found that all of those shot were unarmed, and that the killings were both "unjustified and unjustifiable." On the publication of the Saville report the British prime minister, David Cameron, made a formal apology on behalf of the United Kingdom.[10]

The Provisional Irish Republican Army's (IRA) campaign had begun two years prior to Bloody Sunday, but the events of the day boosted the status of, and recruitment into, the organisation enormously, especially locally.[11] Bloody Sunday remains among the most significant events in "the Troubles" because of the high number of casualties and fatalities caused by British soldiers in full view of the public and the press.[1]