War General to give evidence at inquiry

General Sir Mike Jackson, Britain's Chief of the General Staff, is to interrupt his duties in commanding British forces in the Iraq war to give evidence at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, it was confirmed today.

Gen Jackson, 59, is scheduled to give evidence on Monday morning, an inquiry spokesman said.

He was adjutant to the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in January 1972, when paratroopers killed 13 Catholic men on an illegal civil rights march in Derry.

Gen Jackson, who was then a captain, was on the ground with 1 Para’s commanding officer Colonel Derek Wilford as the paratroopers burst into the Bogside to arrest rioters.

Gen Jackson is expected to tell the British government-appointed public inquiry, sitting in central London, that he believed he was being shot at.

As 1 Para’s adjutant in 1972, he was in charge of routine administration but joined Col Wilford and Major Ted Loden, a company commander, on the ground once the arrest operation began.

The inquiry was set up after a long campaign by bereaved relatives, the wounded and Derry Catholics who argue that the paratroopers opened fire without justification.

The original 1972 public inquiry, which largely exonerated the soldiers, was a whitewash, they claim.

The paratroopers maintain they only fired in self-defence after being attacked by gunmen and nail bombers.

Gen Jackson was in charge of routine administration as 1 Para’s adjutant but joined Col Wilford and Maj Loden, a company commander, on the ground once the arrest operation began.

Gen Jackson served several tours of duty in Northern Ireland and has headed the Nato peace-keeping force in Kosovo.