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Operation Banner Part of The Troubles A British Army Land Rover patrolling South Belfast (1981) Date 14 August 1969 – 31 July 2007 Location Northern Ireland Result Stalemate and paramilitary ceasefires[1][2] Belfast Agreement Belligerents British Armed Forces Irish republican paramilitaries Ulster loyalist paramilitaries Casualties and losses 763 dead 6,100 injured 1,854 civilians dead 127 dead 13 dead Paramilitary casualties includes only those that were killed by the British Armed Forces.

Northern Ireland Troubles Timeline – Directory Ireland Battle of the Bogside – August 1969 riots – Falls Curfew – Operation Demetrius – Ballymurphy massacre – McGurk's Bar bombing – Bloody Sunday – Bloody Friday – Claudy bombing – Operation Motorman – Ulster Workers' Council strike – Dublin and Monaghan bombings – Shankill Butchers – Showband killings – Drummuckavall ambush – Reavey/O'Dowd killings – Kingsmill massacre – La Mon restaurant bombing – Warrenpoint ambush – Dunmurry explosion – Hunger Strike – Glasdrumman ambush – Lough Foyle attacks – Droppin Well bombing – Maze Prison escape – Newry mortar attack – Ballygawley barracks – Enniskillen bombing – Milltown Cemetery attack – Corporals killings – Ballygawley bus bomb – Derryard checkpoint – Operation Conservation – Glenanne barracks – Cloghogue checkpoint – South Armagh Snipers – Castlerock killings – Shankill bombing – Greysteel massacre – Drumcree conflict – Omagh bombing England Aldershot bombing – Coach bombing – Guildford bombings – Birmingham bombings – Marylebone siege – Hyde and Regents Park bombings – Harrods bombing – Brighton bombing – Deal bombing – Downing street attack – Warrington bombings – Bishopsgate bombing – Docklands bombing – Manchester bombing

Operation Banner was the operational name for the British armed forces' operation in Northern Ireland between August 1969 and July 2007, initially at the request of the Unionist government of Northern Ireland in support to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) (1972–2001), and later to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) (2001–2007). Its role was to engage in counter-terrorism and public order operations in response to the Troubles, and to assist the Government in its objective of restoring normality in Northern Ireland.

An internal British Army document released in 2007 stated an expert opinion that the Army had failed to defeat the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) but had made it impossible for them to win through the use of violence.^[2][3]

Role of the armed forces

The support to the police forces was primarily from the Army, with the Royal Air Force providing helicopter support as required. A maritime component was supplied under the auspices of the Granada Patrol, by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines under the Operational Control of Senior Naval Officer Northern Ireland (SNONI) in direct support of the Army commitment. This was tasked with interdicting the supply of weapons and munitions to both sides of the sectarian divide, acting as a visible deterrence by maintaining a conspicous maritime presence on and around the coast of Northern Ireland.

The role of the armed forces in their support role to the police was defined by the Army in the following terms:

A British Army Ammunition Technical Officer approaches a suspect device in Northern Ireland.

• Routine support — Includes such tasks as providing protection to the police in carrying out normal policing duties in areas of terrorist threat; patrolling around military and police bases to deter terrorist attack and supporting police-directed counter terrorist operations.

• Additional support — Assistance where the police have insufficient assets of their own; this includes the provision of observation posts along the border and increased support during times of civil disorder. The military can provide soldiers to protect and, if necessary, supplement police lines and cordons. The military can provide heavy plant to remove barricades and construct barriers, and additional armoured vehicles and helicopters to help in the movement of police and soldiers.

• Specialist support — Includes bomb disposal, search and tracker dogs, and divers from the Royal Engineers.

Number of troops deployed

At the peak of the operation, the Army deployed some 21,000 soldiers. By 1980, the figure had dropped to 11,000, with a lower presence of 9,000 men in 1985. The total climbed to 10,500 after the intensification of the IRA use of mortars by the end of the 1980s. In 1992, there were 17,750 members of all military forces taking part of the operation. The army build-up comprised three brigades under the command of a lieutenant-general. There were six resident battalions deployed for a period of two-and-a-half years and four roulement battalions serving on six-months tours.^[4]

Reception by the Catholic community

The Army presence in Northern Ireland was initially welcomed as a neutral force by the Catholic population, who had been under attack by loyalists and the RUC but this primarily changed following a three-day military clamp down (the Falls Curfew) on the Falls area of west Belfast in July 1970.^[5][6][7][8] The journalist Fintan O'Toole argues that "both militarily and ideologically, the army was a player, not a referee".^[9]

Casualties

During the thirty-eight year operation, 763 members of the British Armed Forces were killed and 6,100 wounded.^[10] It was announced in July 2009 that their next of kin will be eligible to receive the Elizabeth Cross.^[11]

According to the "Sutton Index of Deaths"^[12] on CAIN, the British Army killed at least 305 people during Operation Banner.

• 156 (~51%) were civilians
• 127 (~41%) were members of republican paramilitaries, including:
  • 110 members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
  • 11 members of the Official Irish Republican Army
  • 5 members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
  • 1 member of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO)
• 13 (~4%) were members of loyalist paramilitaries, including:
  • 7 members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
  • 6 members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
• 2 were Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers

End

Crossmaglen RUC Barracks, a joint RUC/British Army base built during the operation and demolished in 2007.

In August 2005, it was announced that due to the security situation improving and in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement provisions, Operation Banner would end by 1 August 2007.^[13] This involved troop numbers being reduced to 5,000 and the Northern Ireland based battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment—which grew out of the Ulster Defence Regiment—were stood down on 1 September 2006. The operation officially ended at midnight on 31 July 2007, making it the longest continuous deployment in the British Army's history, lasting over thirty-eight years.^[3]

Adam Ingram, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, has stated that assuming the maintenance of an enabling environment, British Army support to the PSNI after 31 July 2007 was reduced to a residual level, providing specialised ordnance disposal and support for public order as described in Patten recommendations 59 and 66, should this be needed,^[14] thus ending the British Army's emergency operation in Northern Ireland.

Lessons learned

In July 2007, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the Ministry of Defence published Operation Banner: An analysis of military operations in Northern Ireland, which reflected on the Army's role in the conflict and the strategic and operational lessons drawn from their involvement.^[2][3] One of the major conclusions of the report states:

The US military have sought to incorporate lessons from Operation Banner in their field manual.^[15]

References

External links

• BBC News story about the ending of Operation Banner
• BBC News, Operation Banner pictures
• Operation Banner: An analysis of military operations in Northern Ireland. Prepared under the direction of the Chief of the General Staff, Ministry of Defence July 2006
• www.OperationBanner.com Site with Roll of Honour, news and forums on Operation Banner