The British Army in Northern Ireland

In 1969, British Soldiers were ordered on to the streets of riot-torn Belfast, their task to form a disciplined human buffer between two warring communities inspired by a centuries-old fear and hatred.Sixteen years later Michael Dewar sought to describe the work the British Army had done in the intervening years; the first edition of this book provided the important records. Now, a further decade on, the political and military situation in the province teeters on the threshold of significant change, following a year of ceasefire and high-level debate promising a permanent peace and a continuing withdrawal of Army personnel, only to see a return to violence in the early months of 1996. As all aspects of the Northern Ireland scene are now under close scrutiny, so this is a pertinent moment for this notable volume to be brought up to date.This compelling study of military intervention in civil affairs is told with the authority of first-hand experience by a former soldier - one who was there. As succeeding chapters make clear, the battle has been as much to win the hearts and minds of the people as it was to defeat the terrorists of the IRA.Throughout the story, the author describes the tactics, methods and equipment evolved by the army to meet the ever-changing challenge of the IRA, their sympathizers, and their opponents - from howling mobs and decoy children to car bombs and mobile mortars. Accounts of specific incidents as experienced by some of the regiments that have served 'tours' in the province, including the Paras, the Green Jackets, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Marines, convey vividly the feel of being out on patrol in Belfast and Londonderry - where at every street corner there could be a high-velocity rifle pointing directly at your back.