Airborne terrorists
One woman's terrifying experience
Patricia Turley from The Fews area in South Armagh, describes
what happened when a British Army helicopter swooped down on her
and three small children as they drove home.
On Saturday 22 November at approximately 4pm, myself and two of
my children collected one of their friends from his house on
Upper Sturgan Road. While we were driving home along Kesh Road we
were aware of two helicopters flying around, but passed no
remarks until we approached the crossroads. There, one of the two
helicopters (a big carrier) was right in front of us in the
corner of Peter McKeown's field with his sheep scattering in all
directions.
The helicopter did not touch the ground as no one got in or out.
We could see the pilot and all the soldiers with the one who
opens the door standing in the doorway. At this stage they were
aware I was a woman with three young children.
We drove on down the Carrowbane Road wondering would the blades
of the helicopter catch the car, but we kept on going slowly with
the helicopter level with us until we got to Drumilly School when
the helicopter went on up to Mervin McCullough's and landed
behind his house. Meanwhile his sheep had gone everywhere.
We thought the helicopter was gone then excitedly the children
started shouting, ``Mammy, it's coming again''. By this time we
were on the Lisseraw Road and the helicopter was level with us
once again, only this time it went on in front of us but still
very low.
When I came around the corner I saw that the helicopter was going
to land again. By this time the children's excitement had turned
to fear. The helicopter once again came down right in the corner
of John McKeown's field, only this time soldiers did disembark
with leaves and debris flying everywhere. I passed them by
because there was no checkpoint. In my mirror I saw the the
soldiers had run out into the middle of the road as if they were
trying to stop me.
I then drove over to my husband's farm to tell him about the
behaviour of the soldiers but he wasn't there. My brother was,
though, and as the boys and myself explained, he had seen all the
activity of the helicopter unaware that it was us they were
terrorising.
Just at that the helicopter came again circling round and round,
so we in the yard agreed to go over to the house when the larger
of the two helicopters came right down in front of us while we
were standing in the yard.
When we saw it coming down I decided to move the car as the
stones and debris would fly up and damage it. By this time the
three wee boys were petrified in the car shouting and screaming
as the youngest (three and a half years old) thought they were
going to take us all away.
My brother stood in the yard and I got back out of the car and
told the children to stay there while I went to standing with my
brother, by this time the helicopter had landed and about eight
or ten army personnel had taken up positions around the yard. We
were confronted by one soldier, but we could not hear him because
of the helicopter lifter up out of the field only to hover on top
of the wire to block the lane thinking I was going to go back
down it.
Eventually the helicopter took off leaving us in the yard with
gunmen with no caps and their uniforms not properly buttoned up
and guns swinging, to be questioned by nothing short of an
ill-mannered Brit in a uniform who would think nothing of
terrorising a woman and three innocent children who by this stage
were frantic in the car.
The soldiers who got no satisfaction from the stunt they had just
pulled signalled to the helicopter who had been circling round
and round to land again and taken them away which they did,
leaving me with three very distraught children for the whole
weekend.
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