IRA man's gun jammed as he tried to fire at troops

A former member of the Royal Navy who joined the IRA described today how his gun jammed as he tried to open fire on a soldier on Bloody Sunday.

Nottingham-born Reg Tester, who was the Official IRA’s quartermaster on January 30, 1972, when 13 civilians were shot dead in the Bogside area of Derry, said he lost his cool after hearing about the shootings and attempted to fire an M1 Carbine.

On the 414th day of the Inquiry, which is expected to cost £155m (€224m), he said he had left a car full of IRA weapons and made his way to the balcony of a block of flats where he tried to shoot at the Army.

“I had taken a new weapon that I was unfamiliar with rather than an old one because the M1 had a higher rate of fire.

“However, the gun jammed and because I was unfamiliar with such a new weapon, I was unable to unjam it, so I returned to the car.”

As the IRA’s quartermaster, he was responsible for handing out the organisation’s scarce supply of weapons and explosives to volunteers.

He said a decision was taken not to engage with the Army on the day of the civil rights march.

“Prior to Bloody Sunday I had received an order from the officer in command of Derry to ensure all weapons belonging to the Official IRA were collected from the Bogside and taken to the Creggan.”

On the morning of the march, there were two guns missing: a revolver kept by the IRA’s officer commanding and a sporting .303 rifle which was later used to fire at the Army.

“After retrieving all the weapons, they were kept in the boot of my car and another car. I would not have travelled alone and there were at least two people in my car and possibly two or three people in the other car,” he added.

The 67-year-old Englishman told the Inquiry that the public release of his name had caused severe disruption to his personal life.

He said he had expected his former lawyers to apply for anonymity when he gave evidence but they had failed to do so.

“My own personal safety is a matter of concern and I have lost friends because of the disclosure that I used to be in the Official IRA.

“Members of my family, such as my brother, found out my past history which I had never intended should happen.”