Republican News · Thursday 31 January 2002

Commander 'assumed' killings were in self defence

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry

BY FERN LANE

The former commander of British troops in Derry at the time of Bloody Sunday, Major General Patrick MacLellan, then a Brigadier, told the Saville Inquiry on Tuesday that his commanding officer, Robert Ford, had issued the order to use the Parachute Regiment on 30 January, several days beforehand.

He claimed, however, that the intention was simply to separate out rioters from marchers and carry out arrests using the minimum force in order to avoid "alienating" the local population. He said that on the day it was he, rather than Ford, who had issued the order to the Paras to enter the Bogside to "scoop up" hooligans.

MacLellan, now aged 77, told the inquiry that he was at Ebrington barracks throughout and that when he heard of civilians being killed he assumed that the British Army had acted in "self-defence".

"I was not going to give the order until I was sure there was separation [between rioters and marchers]" he said. "My orders were that if the barriers came under attack I was to launch 1 Para to scoop up as many hooligans as possible. If soldiers had not been attacked I would not have given the order". In his statement, MacLellan said: "I don't think anything went wrong until they were shot at. Then the whole situation changed. Once that happened it was for the commanders on the ground to react to the situation. I assumed that those killed had been killed by soldiers in self-defence."

He denied that he had been party to General Ford's proposal to shoot "selected ring-leaders" of the "Derry Young Hooligans" but he acknowledged that at the time "I was disturbed by - I mean it is a hypothetical position - but I believe that I was disturbed by the fact that to shoot perhaps a 15-year-old boy throwing stones would not have a helpful effect in our ultimate political or military aim of trying to encourage the moderates to alienate the extremists."

d, in a statement indicative of the deep fault lines in the chain of command on the British side, MacLellan said that, contrary to General Ford's stated belief, he was not in agreement with Superintendent Frank Lagan's policy of not antagonising the Catholic community in Derry. Lagan had recommended that the civil rights march be allowed to go ahead and that charges against the organisers and leaders be brought subsequently. The inquiry was shown a letter which MacLellan wrote to General Ford during the Widgery inquiry:

"In his evidence Lagan stated that I shared his view... This is untrue," he stated. "As you well know, Lagan's sympathies (and those of his deputy McCullagh, who was also present at our meeting) lie entirely with the Catholic community. His proposal that the march should be allowed to proceed was patently a gesture or umbrella, to maintain his position with his own people."

Major General MacLellan is due to continue his evidence until early next week.