British soldiers sent to the Bogside area of Derry on Bloody Sunday were told to expect violence but to use minimum force to make arrests, the Saville inquiry heard today.
But one former officer, referred to only as INQ 10, told the inquiry that they were given no orders other than to end any rioting and make the maximum number of arrests.
Thirteen Catholic men were killed on January 30th, 1972, during a civil rights march after British paratroopers opened fire. Another died of his injuries later.
In a statement to the inquiry, sitting in central London, INQ 10, who at the time was commander of 'A' Company of 1 Para, said he was given orders to break up any violence and make arrests should the march turn hostile.
If it was peaceful, however, the company would not move in to make arrests. "There was no intention to do other than execute those orders," he said.
"The aim was to deal with any problems arising during a perfectly legal march. There was no intention to get involved with the marchers unless there was trouble," he said.
INQ 10, who retired after 31 years' service with the Parachute Regiment, said 'A' company was told to control the crowd, not to move in without cover and to detain people using "snatch squads", but only with "minimum force".
He added: "I recall that there was an expectation that rioting would be quite heavy and it would have been naive not to expect nail bombers, petrol bombers and snipers."
PA