Operation Motorman: Wikis

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General Sir Harry Tuzo ordered Operation Motorman to take back control of Irish Republican controlled areas of Northern Ireland?

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Operation Motorman
Part of The Troubles
A mural painted by the Bogside Artists depicting some events that occurred during Operation Motorman.
Location	Derry and Belfast
Objective	Retake republican-controlled areas
Date	31 July 1972 4:00 (GMT)
Executed by	British Army (22,000) Ulster Defence Regiment (5,300)
Outcome	Operation succeeds
Casualties	Civilians: 1 killed, 2 wounded Republicans: 1 killed

Operation Motorman was an operation carried out by the British Army in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The operation started at 4:00am 31 July 1972 to retake the no-go areas (i.e., areas controlled by the Provisional Irish Republican Army) established in Derry and Belfast in the aftermath of internment the previous year. The operation used almost 22,000 soldiers, 27 infantry and two armoured battalions aided by 5,300 UDR men.^[1] Several Centurion AVRE demolition vehicles, derived from the Centurion tank, were used, the only heavy tanks to be deployed operationally by the Army in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The tanks had been transported to Northern Ireland on board the amphibious landing ship HMS Fearless, and were operated with their demolition guns pointed to the rear, covered with tarpaulins.^[2]

The Provisional and Official IRAs were not equipped for a battle with an army and did not attempt to hold their ground. The Army employed an overwhelming force of troops (roughly 4% of its entire strength). By the end of the day, there were no more no-go urban areas in Northern Ireland, but the Army remained cautious when operating in areas such as west Belfast (which they nicknamed the Wild West), the Bogside in Derry and the New Lodge in Belfast.

During Operation Motorman 15-year-old Daniel Hegarty was shot dead by the Army in Creggan, and two cousins were shot and wounded. In June 2007, 35 years later, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) released a document that described Daniel Hegarty as a terrorist and claimed that he was armed. In August the MoD withdrew and apologised for the document, accepting that "Daniel was innocent and that the reference to him as a terrorist was inaccurate."^[3]

Known IRA member Seamus Bradley, 19, was also shot shortly after this incident on the same estate.^[4] He was shot in the leg and bled to death whilst in the custody of British soldiers.^[5]

A few hours after the success of Operation Motorman, the Claudy bombings occurred: a massive co-ordinated car bomb attack on the centre of the village of Claudy, County Londonderry, which killed nine people. Five of the victims were Catholic, and four were Protestant.^[6]

References

^ An Analysis of Military Operations in Northern Ireland, prepared under the direction of the Chief of the General Staff. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
^ Osprey Publishing: Centurion Universal Tank 1943–2003 ISBN 1-84176-387-X
^ MoD apology to shot teen's family BBC News Online, 31 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
^ Operation Motorman — Seamus Bradley The Pat Finucane Centre. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
^ History – Operation Motorman, Museum of Free Derry. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/sep/21/northernireland.ireland

External links

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

The Northern Ireland 'Troubles'

History of Ireland · History of Northern Ireland · History of the United Kingdom · Irish nationalism · Irish republicanism · Ulster loyalism · Unionism

Participants in the Troubles

Chronology

Political Parties

Republican
Paramilitaries

Security forces of the

United Kingdom

Northern Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Loyalist
Paramilitaries

• Provisional IRA
• Official IRA
• Irish National Liberation Army
• Continuity IRA
• Real IRA
• Irish People's Liberation Organisation

• British Army
• Royal Air Force
• Royal Navy
• Ulster Defence Regiment
• Royal Irish Regiment
• Police Service of Northern Ireland
• Royal Ulster Constabulary
• Ulster Special Constabulary
• Garda Síochána
• Irish Army

• Ulster Defence Association
• Ulster Volunteer Force
• Loyalist Volunteer Force
• Red Hand Commandos
• Ulster Freedom Fighters
• Young Citizen Volunteers
• Ulster Young Militants
• Ulster Resistance

Linked to
• Some RUC and British Army members

• Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association formed (1967)
• Battle of the Bogside (1969)
• Riots across Northern Ireland (1969)
• Beginning of Operation Banner (1969)
• Social Democratic and Labour Party formed (1970)
• Internment without trial begins with Operation Demetrius (1971)
• Bloody Sunday by British Army (1972)
• Northern Ireland government dissolved. Direct rule from London begins (1972)
• Bloody Friday by Provisional IRA (1972)
• Power sharing Northern Ireland Assembly set up with SDLP and Ulster Unionist Party in power (1973)
• Ulster Workers Council strike ends power sharing Northern Ireland Assembly (1974)
• Dublin and Monaghan bombings by UVF with alleged British Army assistance (1974)
• Kingsmill massacre by South Armagh Republican Action Force (1976)
• Warrenpoint Ambush by Provisional IRA (1979)
• 1981 Irish hunger strike by Provisional IRA and INLA members (1981)
• Hunger striker Bobby Sands elected MP. Marks turning point as Sinn Féin begins to move towards electoral politics (1981)
• Maze Prison escape. 38 Provisional IRA prisoners escape from H-Block 7 of HM Prison Maze (1983)
• Anglo-Irish Agreement between British and Irish governments (1985)
• Remembrance Day bombing by Provisional IRA (1987)
• Peace Process begins (1988)
• Operation Flavius–Milltown Massacre–Corporals killings sequence of violence (1988)
• First Provisional IRA ceasefire (1994)
• Loyalist ceasefire (1994)
• Second Provisional IRA ceasefire (1997)
• Belfast Agreement (1998) signals the end of the Troubles
• Assembly elections held, with SDLP and UUP winning most seats (1998)
• Omagh bombing by dissident Real IRA (1998)