(Berkshire and Wiltshire)

'B' Company had a short but violent 3 week tour of Belfast in 1970. The Company were on weekend leave when they received 36 hours to move to Belfast, to support the 1st Bn Royal Scots. Shortly after they arrived the platoons were soon initiated when faced with a typical angry mob. At this time platoons were ill equipped by modern standards but managed to keep the mob at bay for an hour. Eight members of 5 Platoon  received injuries, three having been dragged away from the front rank. These injuries proved to be minor, but very painful with the exception of Pte FERN and Sgt POTTER. This was followed by a night of Gunfire overhead.

A Close up taken from the picture above, clearly showing the type of equipment worn at that time.

A personal view of a riot in Belfast 3^rd/4^th July 1970

By Major R.H. GODWIN-AUSTEN

Like most things in Belfast, when it happened, it happened swiftly, violently and without warning. On the morning of the 3^rd July we had conducted Lord Balniel, the defence minister, round our Company area in an atmosphere of relaxed euphoria and Bonhomie. Friendly Irish neighbours gave our patrols tea and sandwiches. By nightfall we were locked in a gun battle with snipers in which at least five civilians were killed and nearly 800 rounds of 7.62 ammunition were fired by British troops. But to start at the beginning.

At about 4 o’ clock that afternoon information came, that here was a large cache of arms in a house in Balkan Street in the Falls road Area. By 4.30 pm a cordon and search operation had been hastily organised by Special Company, 1^st Bn ROYAL SCOTS, ‘B’ Company, 1 DERR consisting Coy HQ, 5 Platoon and the troop of 5 (Gibraltar) Battery R.A. (The Drums platoon had to remain on duty in HMS Maidstone) was to act in a support role close at hand in case there was trouble. The Company remained parked in lorries in a street nearby and waited. Over the radio came the news that a large quantity of arms and ammunition had been found. All was quiet until a RUC car and its military escort with the captured arms and explosives drove away. A Crowd of young and middle aged male onlookers then started to stone the cordon troops, who were forced to retaliate by firing CS Gas.

The intimation we had that everything was wrong was when a Royal Scots Land-Rover came tearing round the corner towards us followed by a cloud of gas. We realized we were now trapped. We couldn’t go forward because of the crowd and we couldn’t go back because the street was to narrow to turn the four trucks round. In case it was to late, I shouted to the platoons to dismount and then we all put on respirators, as the gas had already reached us. There was a moments confusion as the men tried to don respirators and climb off the vehicles at the same time. Commanders couldn’t make themselves heard through and everybody was tangled up with their equipment. (SOUND FAMILIAR)

I left the vehicle to see just where the crowd was. As I rounded the corner I saw a gaggle of youths only about 25 yards away and running towards me. The sight of a man in a tin hat and respirator is not particularly attractive even to a rioter.  And the crowd stopped and started to draw back. I drew a CS Grenade just in case they changed their mind, but didn’t have to throw it. This pause gave the leading platoon (5 Platoon) a chance to position themselves across the street just in time to receive the first hail of missiles. And a hail it was, lumps of paving stone, bottles, broken glass, broken manhole covers iron bars, marbles and ball bearings fired by catapult hurtled through the air at us. The front rank took the brunt of the attack, dodging as many missiles as they could. But the shields they had did not protect the legs, and the ball bearing went right through the metal. Also, as we have all found at one time or another – you can’t dodge them all.

CS Grenades were thrown but as the wind was blowing towards us it had little effect on the rioters. Several Baton charges were tried but the rioters hopped away and then returned once the encumbered baton squad withdrew. We started having casualties, The Platoon Sgt had a finger fractured and badly cut from ball bearings, the platoon commander and several other men were hit on the legs by lumps of paving stone, three men were hit and were unable to stand and had to be carried off.

B Company 1st Bn D.E.R.R. with 1st Bn Royal Scots, Falls Road, Belfast

Our gunner troop at this stage were positioned behind 5 Platoon, I had intended to use them to out flank the rioters down a parallel road but with the casualties 5 platoon were having I thought it better to leave the troop where they were and called for re-inforcements.

It is difficult to describe the ferocity of the mob. They appeared to have gone completely berserk. They screamed every sort of epithet at us and that familiar mob howl went on interminably. Behind us a little knot of civilians, including several priests, had gathered. They wore mouth and nose masks, but their eyes were streaming. They said they would stop the riot if we stopped throwing CS , I thought it worth a try, but the self styled peacemakers got no more than 10 yards in front of us before they to were stoned, and had to withdraw behind us under cover of more CS. Women and children, some in prams, also appeared running from their houses, driven out by the gas. A terrible and pathetic sight, but this didn’t stop the rioters either.

At that point re-inforcements arrived. First a Company of 1^st Bn GLOSTERS, who took up a position to the side and behind us. Then five minutes later a company of 3^rd Bn QUEENS REGT arrived in scaracan armoured cars. The scaracans were driven straight through the rioters who scattered down side streets and then reformed behind them. They then drove back again and the same thing happened. Finally they drove through once more, dismounted, chased the rioters down some side streets and departed. The rioters reformed and continued their riot with renewed energy. We had been engaged now for about 50 minutes, and orders came for us to withdraw. This was easier said than done because each time we we moved back, the rioters followed us up and it was obviously wrong to withdraw in these circumstances.

Suddenly at the far end of the street a double Decker bus appeared. The rioters commandeered it, drove it towards us and finally placed it across the road about 30 yards in front of us. There was then a pause which we prepared to move forward to the area of the bus. Suddenly, without warning, there was a series of shattering bangs in and around us. Soldiers were blown backwards, and I immediately thought that we were being grenaded – and we were !

B Company, 1st D.E.R.R., falls Road, Belfast

The grenades must have been lumps of explosive with impact fuses as blast was the primary effect. There was no sign of the thrower or anyone else for that matter, the bomber and his friends were successfully hidden behind the bus. All together he threw seven bombs at us, one of which blew several soldiers off their feet and caused one of our men and three GLOSTERS to be carried off with injuries to the legs and face.

With this new development the platoons scattered to tactical deployment against the walls of buildings. The riot began to run out of steam, we were obviously to strong for them and the mob dared not show their faces around the bus. Taking advantage of the lull we withdrew through the GLOSTERS Company and marched to an R.V. where our transport joined us. So ended the riot.

THIS WAS BELFAST JULY 1970

AWARD OF THE QUEENS COMMENDATION FOR GALLANTRY TO SGT POTTER E, 

1st Battalion The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment

The commanding Officer congratulates Sgt POTTER on his well-deserved award of a Queens Commendation for Bravery. 

On 30^th June 1970 ‘B’ Company 1^st Battalion Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) was sent to Northern Ireland to help maintain law and order in Belfast over the 12^th/13^th July Marches. On arrival, the company was placed under command the 1^st Battalion The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)

During the late afternoon of 3^rd July 1970, the Company was deployed to Albert Street, Belfast, where serious rioting was taking place. Sgt POTTER was the platoon of No 5 Platoon, which had been deployed at the junction of Albert street and Raglan Road.

On arrival of the platoon, a crowd of about 400 youths pelted them with bottles, stones, ball bearings and marbles fired from catapults, and later gelignite grenades. Sgt POTTER was wounded in the hand early on in the action and suffered a fractured finger which was also badly cut. In spite of this painful injury, he continually organised and controlled repeated baton charges by his two leading sections. By his presence and calm bearing, he was able to steady the front rank under a continuous hail of missiles and bring the mission to a successful conclusion.

Later on in the even after he had received attention to his wounds, he returned to the platoon and remained with them in the cordon of the falls area for the rest of the night and the following day

Sgt POTTER displayed courage and devotion to duty and contributed greatly to the success of the operations his platoon carried out during the night.

We are extremely short of images of 'B' Company at this time. If any Soldier of 'Bravo' Company who served at this time can assist we would be most grateful for copies. In the passage of time a full account of this tour will be added to this page. If any Soldier has a personal recollection please contact Mac.