Colonel backs 'professional' Bloody Sunday Paras

The officer in command of paratroopers in Derry on Bloody Sunday today insisted his men acted professionally when 13 civil rights marchers were shot dead by soldiers.

Colonel Derek Wilford told the Saville Inquiry his men intended to arrest as many rioters as possible on January 30, 1972 and only opened fire when they were shot at.

A 14th civilian died five months after being wounded.

Colonel Wilford, 69, was in charge of the first battalion of the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday which went into the nationalist Bogside area.

As he gave evidence at the hearing in Methodist Central Hall in London today his son, who is now an officer in the same regiment, was expected to face action in the Gulf.

Colonel Wilford told the tribunal he saw or heard nothing which led him to believe that paratroopers were out of control at any stage on Bloody Sunday.

“Nor did I see any shameful and disgraceful acts,” he added.

Colonel Wilford said his troops came under fire and he also heard two “crump” sounds which he believed were nail or blast bombs thrown by rioters.

When questioned by Christopher Clarke, QC, counsel for the inquiry, Colonel Wilford said he did not believe the Parachute Regiment had a reputation for going in “fast and hard” to quell riot situations.

“We had a reputation for being professional,” he added.

Brigadier Pat MacLellan, the Army’s most senior soldier in Derry on Bloody Sunday, said in his evidence to the inquiry last year it appeared that paratroops disobeyed his orders by driving right into the Bogside in armoured cars.

However, Colonel Wilford today rejected this and insisted there was nothing to stop him going into the Bogside.

“There was nothing in the orders to say that we could not go into Rossville Street at all,” he said.

“I had no intention of conducting a running battle chasing the rioters wherever they went, and this did not happen.”

Colonel Wilford said he envisaged soldiers going up to 250 yards beyond crowd control barriers to arrest hooligans but at no stage did they engage in running battles with rioters.

He said his men did not receive orders as to how far they could go because they were already experienced in arrest operations from their posting in Belfast.

“They did not need instruction as to how far they could go,” he told Mr Clarke.

“This was an arrest operation and they could operate in the normal method of operating that we had.”

When asked by Lord Saville if that meant no instructions were given to soldiers as to how far they should go, Colonel Wilford said: “No, no instruction was necessary.

“We conducted arrest operations in, if you like, almost standard operational procedure, we had a procedure for it and that is how it worked and it worked every time.”

The retired officer will only give evidence in the mornings and is expected to be in the witness box for up to two weeks.

The senior officer was the 692nd witness to appear before the tribunal.

Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness attended today’s hearing at Methodist Central Hall in London.

Mr McGuinness said: “We were in London for meetings with government officials to discuss the need for acts of completion and we thought it was appropriate to show our solidarity with the families of those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday on the day Colonel Wilford was testifying.

“The move of the tribunal hearings to London has caused a lot of hardship for the families and we hope Colonel Wilford will tell the truth about the events of Bloody Sunday today.”

The Saville inquiry, which usually sits at the Guildhall in Derry, is currently hearing evidence from military witnesses and others in London because of concerns for their safety.

Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the Bloody Sunday inquiry began their work nearly four years ago and are not expected to report back until late 2004.

The inquiry was established in 1998 by Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.

They felt that the Widgery Inquiry, held shortly after the shootings, did not find out the truth about what happened on Bloody Sunday.