THE BLOODY SUNDAY INQUIRY/Day 317: The commander of the British soldiers who shot dead 13 unarmed civilians in the Bogside, Derry, 31 years ago, said yesterday that he did not consider the military operation on the day to have been a success.
Former Lt Col Derek Wilford also denied that before the killings, he had briefed soldiers under his command in the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment to act "speedily, aggressively and ruthlessly" when he ordered their deployment into the Bogside.
Lt Col Wilford told the inquiry into the killings on January 30th, 1972, he rejected the assertion that the regiment under his command had carried out a frontal assault into the Bogside during an illegal civil rights demonstration and he also denied that he had been encouraged by his senior officers to reclaim the then no-go area.
Lord Gifford QC, who represents the family of victim Jim Wray, one of four men shot dead in the Glenfada Park area of the Bogside, asked the witness if he believed the shootings in Glenfada Park had been a successful part of a successful operation.
"I would not wish to say that people who have been killed or wounded was a success. I would never regard it in that sense at all and I am sure my soldiers would not," he said.
Lt Col Wilford rejected Lord Gifford's allegations that part of the British army's plan for Bloody Sunday was to occupy and dominate a part of the Bogside; that there was a deliberate planned frontal assault by his paratroopers on the day, and that his soldiers "dominated by firing first and firing aggressively and shooting anybody who moved".
Asked by Lord Gifford if he felt that both he and the paratroopers under his command had been left to "carry the can for doing something which you were instructed and urged to do by people who no longer wish to take responsibility", the former Parachute Regiment officer replied: "I think after all this time perhaps, I do not feel that we were left to carry the can. I was asked several times by various people if I was a scapegoat, no, I do not think I was a scapegoat."
He also said "too much time" had gone by for him to feel resentment towards those who had authorised the operation.
"Perhaps I have been resentful here and there, but it is not something that has plagued my mind I tell you," he told the inquiry's three judges.
The chairman of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry said yesterday that Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights could impede the inquiry into finding out the truth about the Bloody Sunday killings.
Lord Saville of Newdigate told the 317th day of the inquiry yesterday that the inquiry would "have to live with" what he called "one of the unfortunate spin-offs" of Article 2 and he agreed with barrister Mr Barry MacDonald QC, that the human rights legislation impeded the search for truth.
"I would be the first to accept that," Lord Saville said.
"The difficulty is that Article 2 may indeed have that effect because it is over-riding and it is a statutory duty on us to defend people's Article 2 rights, but I am not disagreeing with you and it may well be at the end of the day, because of Article 2, this inquiry is not going to be as complete in its search for the truth as might otherwise be the case. I am afraid we simply have to live with that possibility," he said.
"I repeat, there is undoubtedly a difficulty in trying to get to the whole truth created by Article 2," he added.
The inquiry was adjourned until next Monday.