BLOODY SUNDAY INQUIRY: It was "inconceivable" that paratroopers who killed 13 unarmed men on Bloody Sunday began firing "without provocation", a British Army captain has claimed.
The officer, identified only as INQ 406, said yesterday that 1 Para would have been "highly keyed up" ahead of carrying out their orders to arrest rioters at a Derry civil rights march, but this would not have interfered with their military discipline.
Of the killings on January 30th, 1972, he told the Bloody Sunday Inquiry: "It is conceivable that 1 Para, being highly keyed up for an operation that could have gone dreadfully wrong from their aspect, and in which they could have suffered casualties, could have been over-quick to react, but it is inconceivable that they simply started firing off their own initiative without provocation."
For a soldier, shooting is normally the "ultimate escalation" of events. It is considered only after increased violence and when facing gunfire, he said.
Captain INQ 406 was an operations officer in the 22 Light Air Defence Regiment based at the RUC station in Victoria Barracks on Bloody Sunday. He did not witness any of the shooting. His regiment's role was to contain the crowds, ensure they did not breach the barriers and to post some observation troops along the city walls.
He recalls that the two Royal Green Jackets, one of the resident battalions, had been surprised by 1 Para's "roughness" at a march the week before Bloody Sunday. Captain INQ 406 believes 1 Para were moved from Belfast to show 8 Brigade, who were covering Derry, "how it was done in Belfast".
He had also heard reports that Major General Robert Ford, Commander of Land Forces, believed that "too soft a line" was being taken in dealing with Derry's "hooligans" and the no-go areas.
Mr Arthur Harvey QC, representing many of the bereaved families, suggested that the message to lift the barrier had come directly from the Parachute Regiment's tactical headquarters.