No army plan for ‘Bogside control’

THERE was no secret army plan to seize control of the nationalist Bogside area on Bloody Sunday, the officer in command of paratroopers on that day said yesterday.

Colonel Derek Wilford denied he led his men in a frontal assault on the Bogside, and that there had been a breakdown in communication between officers in charge of the operation.

Col Wilford said he never thought there was a secret plan to gain control of the Bogside in response to a question from Christopher Clarke QC, senior counsel for the inquiry.