Senior British army officers warned their superiors of their serious doubts about the paratroopers being sent in to the Bogside on Bloody Sunday, the Saville Inquiry was told yesterday.
The 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment had a reputation as a fierce, no-nonsense troop in Belfast. They did not know the Bogside and had never operated in the area before.
Sir Robert Ford, the Commander of the Land Forces in Northern Ireland, decided to bring them to Derry and that they should lead a mass arrest operation on a civil rights march on January 30th, 1972. Paratroopers killed 13 unarmed civilians that day.
Col Roy Jackson, Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglians, one of Derry's resident battalions, was "surprised" that 1 Para were being sent in to the Bogside and Creggan "no-go" areas. He was so disturbed by the decision, which was discussed at a co-ordination meeting, that he considered contacting HQ Northern Ireland to protest, the inquiry, sitting in London, was told.
He approached Brig Patrick MacLellan, Commander of 8th Brigade who was in charge of all the Derry paras. He was told the decision had been made "at the highest level" and he (MacLellan) was not in a position to change anything.
Lieut Col Peter Welsh, Commander of the 2nd Battalion of the GreenJackets, another local unit, also believed that sending in the paras was the wrong move. He raised his concerns in a telephone conversation with Gen Sir David Ramsbotham, then the military assistant to Gen Carver (later Lord Carver), the Chief of the General Staff.
Sir David said he later "mentioned it" to Gen Carver whose response was that "any deployment of troops is entirely up to the people in Northern Ireland".
Under questioning, Gen Sir Robert Ford, Britain's most senior frontline officer on Bloody Sunday, denied the paras were deployed to "scare the living daylights out of the hooligans".
The paras were the right men for a "quick in-and-out arrest operation" to stop an illegal march where violence was expected, he said.
Local battalions were better placed at the barriers to check who was entering the area while the paras, with their extensive Northern Ireland experience, should be sent in on foot for the arrest operation, he added.
Sir Robert claimed 1st Para was ideal because the soldiers "had plenty of experience of rounding up hooligans" and they had done it "very well indeed".
They expected to face IRA snipers and the Bogside's stone-throwing youths who were terrorising the commercial district, Sir Robert said.
Mr Clarke asked about how carefully the risk to innocent civilians had been considered, suggesting that a Bogside invasion by 100 paratroopers would probably trigger gunfire from the IRA and their sympathisers.
Sir Robert said the arrest operation would only be launched after the outbreak of "rioting on a reasonable scale" and civilians had separated from the hooligans so they would not be caught in the cross-fire.
The hearing was adjourned until today. - (PA)