The officer who commanded the British soldiers who opened fired on Bloody Sunday killing 13 civilians and wounding 13 others said yesterday no one would have been killed if the IRA had not opened fire on his soldiers.
The now retired Parachute Regiment officer also said he found it very regrettable that anyone had been killed, adding that his recollection of the incident was that paratroopers under his command only returned fire during what he called a firefight.
Maj Edward Loden told the inquiry into the January 30th, 1972, killings in Derry that when he dismounted from his armoured personnel carrier after his troops had been deployed into the Bogside during an illegal civil rights march, he heard incoming automatic fire and he was immediately confronted by a group if civilians, one of whom he struck so hard with his baton that the baton broke.
After the men were arrested, he heard another burst of automatic fire from a low-velocity weapon. As soon as his men came under fire, the nature of the operation, intended as an arrest operation, immediately changed.
"The next 10 minutes involved a heavy exchange of fire. There were a lot of rounds coming in and my soldiers were firing back. I do not think I heard any more automatic fire though. I cannot now remember hearing any nail-bombs though I might have done at the time."
Maj Loden said he saw that members of his mortar platoon were under fire in the car-park of the Rossville Flats.
"I saw the soldiers fire their weapons in the Rossville Flats car-park but I cannot now remember exactly where they were or who they were. I vaguely recollect that they were firing some shots up into the Rossville Flats and also at ground level. While watching the mortar platoon, I had a very strong sense of incoming fire.
"Usually it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where incoming fire is coming from, particularly when you are not directly involved in the engagement. I had absolutely no doubt, however, as to what was going on; it was a firefight."
He said he looked to his right and saw soldiers behind a low wall firing in the direction of a rubble barricade outside the flats.
"I also noticed civilians lying behind that rubble barricade. Their arms and heads were pointing north towards me, with their legs pointing out behind them. It looked to me at the time that they were lying in the firing position."
When he debriefed his soldiers, he did not doubt the accuracy of what they told him. "Nevertheless, as a human being, I found the loss of life upsetting and thought it very regrettable that anyone had been killed.
"I want to stress, however, that 1 Para went to Londonderry to arrest rioters. If the IRA had not opened fire on my soldiers with murderous intent, no one would have been killed. It is very important that this point is clear."
The inquiry continues today.