0:00:01 > 0:00:04One of those iconic images of the Troubles
0:00:04 > 0:00:07is that flaming double-decker bus in the middle of a riot.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11Buses made the perfect barricade and there was always one coming along.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14We were all equal then, we all felt the same fear.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18We provided buses without favour to all sections of the community
0:00:18 > 0:00:21- but we got attacked by all sections! - HE LAUGHS
0:00:21 > 0:00:24In Northern Ireland, you can't run public transport
0:00:24 > 0:00:26from a desk in the office.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Who would have been a bus driver in Belfast?
0:00:28 > 0:00:30I was hijacked a total of eight times.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I was just on the point of walking up to it to have a look
0:00:33 > 0:00:36when the bus blew up and was no more.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38They are the real heroes of the past.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40There was always a degree of fear.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43We'll continue to operate, no question about it.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Northern Ireland's transport system played a crucial part
0:00:55 > 0:00:58in its growth throughout the 20th century.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01In Belfast, the early 1900s saw trams
0:01:01 > 0:01:04and buses dominating the streets.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Even back then, political rumblings
0:01:06 > 0:01:09put public service vehicles in the firing line.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11Transport has always been used
0:01:11 > 0:01:15in revolutions, civil disturbances, rioting,
0:01:15 > 0:01:17erm, in Ireland, really north and south.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23In November 1921, you have two very serious attacks on shipyard trams
0:01:23 > 0:01:26passing through central Belfast.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29In one attack they threw a Mills bomb in,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and if you can imagine the impact of that kind of bomb in a confined space
0:01:32 > 0:01:36of the ground floor of a tram...
0:01:36 > 0:01:39There were shocking and horrific injuries
0:01:39 > 0:01:41and about five people killed.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49But despite the occasional skirmish,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52public transport mainly escaped unscathed
0:01:52 > 0:01:55during the first half of the 20th century.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Through the '50s and most of the '60s, Belfast was
0:01:57 > 0:02:02just like any other city, and buses were just like any other buses.
0:02:02 > 0:02:03It was a regular city, yes.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07I wasn't aware of any reason why I shouldn't go anywhere.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10People worked from 9 to 5 and they went to the pictures
0:02:10 > 0:02:13and the new theatre. I mean, this was normality.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16This was the O'Neill era of good feeling in Belfast.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20Double-decker buses for me were fantastic,
0:02:20 > 0:02:25because I travelled into Belfast from Glengormley past the zoo,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28and if you were on the top floor of the bus, you saw,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31and I did every day, you saw the elephant and the lion.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35You only saw that from the top floor of a red Belfast bus.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40There was always a conductor, and the fascination you had as a child
0:02:40 > 0:02:42was the little machine that they had to churn out the tickets,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and there were so many different tickets throughout the ages.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I remember getting tickets that were stamped
0:02:48 > 0:02:50and were easily forged throughout the years,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53where people at school would put wax on their tickets so that
0:02:53 > 0:02:56when it was stamped you could scrape off the date on it.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Not that I ever did that, but I saw it being done.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06In the early days, it was just an ordinary job, you know,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08and it was a reasonably good job,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11wages were reasonably good.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15There was manual steering in them and sometimes on country roads,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18on bends, you would nearly have to stand up in the seat
0:03:18 > 0:03:20to get the bus round the bend.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23They were called heavy steerings, they were called.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Now little girls can drive now, and wind them round their fingers,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29which is much different, I can tell you now.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36One of the most distinctive public transport vehicles of the '50s
0:03:36 > 0:03:38and '60s was the trolleybus.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I remember the trolleybuses from a very young age
0:03:41 > 0:03:46and they always struck me of being absolutely enormous vehicles.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49They were amazing things, really, they were so quiet for a start.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52So quiet that sometimes people would have stepped out in front of them.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56I remember as a little kid just the spark that sometimes
0:03:56 > 0:04:00came off the bit where the pole met the wire.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03On a wet day, as you were getting off, you had to be very careful,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06because if the electric kind of terminals touched the wires
0:04:06 > 0:04:09or water got in, you would get a shock actually, getting off,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12and you'd be quite electrified going to your school day.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15They were very economical.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17They were clean, they were good for the environment,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21and the powers that be, in their wisdom, decided to...
0:04:21 > 0:04:22do away with them.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36In 1964, Belfast had a taste of things to come
0:04:36 > 0:04:38with the Divis Street riots.
0:04:41 > 0:04:42The first that I knew
0:04:42 > 0:04:46that there was anything untoward in Northern Ireland,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49that wasn't just like anywhere else that I'd read about,
0:04:49 > 0:04:53was when the buses were stopped, because of the Divis Street riots.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57It was during a British election campaign for Westminster.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Sinn Fein were running a candidate.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03The Sinn Fein candidate had displayed a tricolour
0:05:03 > 0:05:05in election headquarters in Divis Street.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10The Reverend Ian Paisley, beginning his long political career,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12demanded that the police remove the flag,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16or he would lead a march up the Falls Road to remove it himself.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18The RUC smashed a window, took a flag.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21The flag was replaced, and soon there was rioting on the street.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24MUSIC: "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen
0:05:33 > 0:05:34Buses and vehicles were attacked.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37A trolleybus was hijacked and set on fire.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42A trolleybus hijacked - people throwing stones,
0:05:42 > 0:05:43the police with batons.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46It was my first experience of rioting -
0:05:46 > 0:05:49the smell of cordite, of burning rubber tyres, you know,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52of this beautiful trolleybus, was, I suppose, petrol bombed -
0:05:52 > 0:05:54but we hadn't invented the word yet.
0:06:02 > 0:06:061969 saw the beginning of the Troubles.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Belfast became a violent and divided city.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13From this moment on and through the following three decades,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16buses and their drivers became targets.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21They just sprinkled petrol over the vehicle and set it on fire...
0:06:21 > 0:06:23..a bus was hijacked in West Belfast...
0:06:23 > 0:06:25..fiery overnight reminder of the violence...
0:06:25 > 0:06:27The driver and passengers had just been ordered off the bus by...
0:06:27 > 0:06:30..youths began to show their anger in its tradition form,
0:06:30 > 0:06:31burning buses.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33A bus was hijacked by youngsters and used as a barrier...
0:06:33 > 0:06:35The bus was hijacked by masked men...
0:06:35 > 0:06:37EXPLOSION
0:06:41 > 0:06:42Belfast became a war zone.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47The burning of buses became routine from 1969 on, in Belfast.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50You know, buses were hijacked, buses were burned,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53passengers in buses were shot up, or worse.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55We were the easier targets, I think, was the main thing.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56The easier targets.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59And would have caused the most disruption - like, a burning bus,
0:06:59 > 0:07:00you'd have seen it for miles,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02- throughout the city.- Mm.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06And on those roads, well, it was a nightmare to get home.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10When the buses came off the road, it created panic.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12And people couldn't get home from work.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15People had to leave work.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17So you were creating mayhem.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Not only in the bus industry, but throughout.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It made people nervous.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26This was a transport system that people had used
0:07:26 > 0:07:29and been fairly confident in, it was pretty good, I think, for its time.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31All of a sudden, you were wondering,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34"Do I really want to get onto this bus?"
0:07:34 > 0:07:36The buses seemed to be a symbol of authority.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40And then when the bus was set on fire, it was quite spectacular.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41And it made news.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44When you hear one burning, it's a very vicious noise.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47A lot of cracking, a lot of banging, a terrible pungent smell.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Glass cracking, petrol tanks exploding.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52There's a lot of bus to burn.
0:07:54 > 0:07:55Can you imagine the fear?
0:07:55 > 0:07:57And when the bus driver went up the road,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59the only thing he had was the bus.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02You know, if the army went up the road they went out in dozens,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04with jeeps and guns.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06The police went up in armoured vehicles.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08But he had no-one but himself.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13In them days, not like now. No such thing as a mobile phone.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15At times you were in places
0:08:15 > 0:08:18that you weren't too happy you were in.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Things were going on - maybe bombs going off around you,
0:08:21 > 0:08:22you know what I mean?
0:08:22 > 0:08:25You were diverted because of a roadblock or for whatever reason,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29and you were going down roads that you didn't know.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32It must have been very, very frightening being a bus driver.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36Waiting for the brick, waiting for the petrol bomb,
0:08:36 > 0:08:40waiting for some lad to stand out in the front of the road
0:08:40 > 0:08:42and block wherever you were going.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46I would say a lot of our wives would have been finding it very
0:08:46 > 0:08:48difficult to settle for the night,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50knowing that your husband was on the late bus.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53And hearing on the news the hijacking of bus drivers.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55In Londonderry a bus was hijacked by masked men...
0:08:55 > 0:08:57The bus was hijacked in West Belfast...
0:08:57 > 0:09:00..at the time of the shooting there was an Ulsterbus coming over the...
0:09:00 > 0:09:03A number of vehicles including buses were hijacked and set on fire.
0:09:05 > 0:09:06They didn't know from night to night
0:09:06 > 0:09:09whether they were going to come back home again.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13My own wife quite often would have phoned the depot
0:09:13 > 0:09:15just to see if everything was all right,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18if she had heard some news on TV or radio.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21And then when I come home I had to sit maybe for half an hour, an hour,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23just to unwind.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30We had a situation where we wouldn't allow Protestants
0:09:30 > 0:09:31to drive Protestant routes,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33or Catholics to drive Catholic routes.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37We kept them mixed, and in that way, I think,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40we minimised the effect that the Troubles would have on them.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Because if they were going to attack,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44they didn't know if it was one of their own,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47if it was a Catholic or a Protestant they were attacking.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49We were just bus drivers -
0:09:49 > 0:09:52it didn't really matter what part of the road you came from.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55We are and have been, always, a big bus family.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01Irrespective of your religious, your cultural or political beliefs.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Well, we were a family, and we all shared one another's hurts.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07We were all equal, then.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11We were all comrades. Everybody was out to do the same job.
0:10:13 > 0:10:14We all felt the same fear.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27We provided buses without favour to all sections of the community.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30But we got attacked by all sections!
0:10:30 > 0:10:33If a passenger was causing problems on the bus,
0:10:33 > 0:10:37or the bus was late, or something had been against them,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40you were automatically the opposite persuasion to they were.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43And they took it for granted that you were either one or the other
0:10:43 > 0:10:46because you weren't being good to them.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47And we used to joke about this.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Hijackings became routine,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54and the bus drivers never knew what was around the next corner.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58I was hijacked a total of eight times.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01When you were being hijacked, you just didn't have time to think.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04It all happened so very quickly.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06We were told, if a guy gets on that wants the bus,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08no hassle.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10Give it to him. Don't argue with him.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Your life is worth more.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13I've been hijacked six times.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17I was on the Falls Road, and just outside the Whitefort,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19they just came from behind the wall.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Donegall Road, just at the chip shop.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23They just came racing out of there.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25And the last - Glen Road, believe it or not.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27They always told you to take everything with you.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Your coat and your money bag, and if you had a lunch pack or anything,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33you just cleared everything, and then you got off the bus.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37I've been on a number of times on the buses when somebody steps on
0:11:37 > 0:11:40and asks you to, politely - or sometimes not so politely -
0:11:40 > 0:11:42vacate the bus.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44And the irony about this is,-
0:11:44 > 0:11:47I would have been 14 or 15 on the bus,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49and it was probably some 12-year-old
0:11:49 > 0:11:52with a scarf wrapped round their face, "Right, everybody off the bus.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54"Everybody off bus now!"
0:11:54 > 0:11:57And then the petrol bomb would come in and whatever,
0:11:57 > 0:11:58and it was just pathetic.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Sometimes when people came on to hijack the buses,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03you wanted just to hit them and say, "Oh, clear off."
0:12:03 > 0:12:05And sometimes people did!
0:12:05 > 0:12:09Two young fellas got on and said, "We're hijacking your bus."
0:12:09 > 0:12:12A chap sitting on one of the front seats, he overheard it,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14and he jumped up and he hit one of these young fellas
0:12:14 > 0:12:16and threw him out on the street.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18And then the rest of the passengers joined in -
0:12:18 > 0:12:21and it was almost like a lynch mob.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23They threw the both of them off the bus,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25and said, "We've been out working all day,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28"and the last thing we want is eejits like that getting on
0:12:28 > 0:12:31"to hijack a bus when we're trying to get home."
0:12:31 > 0:12:34These guys were really very vulnerable
0:12:34 > 0:12:36in the situations that they were in,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38and some of them were enormously brave,
0:12:38 > 0:12:43and really did look after their passengers tremendously well.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Another particular instance was, I seen a crowd of youths at the side
0:12:47 > 0:12:50of the road, and I sensed that there was maybe something going to happen.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53And as I got closer to them, one or two of them
0:12:53 > 0:12:55walked onto the pedestrian crossing, and I had to stop.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57And of course, when I stopped the bus,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00that was the signal for the rest to try and hijack me,
0:13:00 > 0:13:01and one of them got onto the step of the bus,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04and he says, "Drive the bus up there, we're hijacking you.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06"Drive the bus up there beside that van."
0:13:06 > 0:13:08And I said, "Just beside the van, there?"
0:13:08 > 0:13:10And he said, "Yes, yes, quick, hurry up.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12"Put the bus beside the van."
0:13:12 > 0:13:15And as soon as they got back off the bus again, I just continued on,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17and drove away on up the road.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21And didn't obey their instructions at all,
0:13:21 > 0:13:22and managed to escape.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29If they took your bus and burnt it, it was good -
0:13:29 > 0:13:32- good in the sense that you got away safe.- Yeah.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34But the other way when you were hijacked
0:13:34 > 0:13:38and asked to take a bomb into town was a different thing entirely.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44We were not experts to decide which was the real thing.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48- Mm.- And that's the dilemma that we were being put into.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52A few of us had to carry that out, because a lot of the times
0:13:52 > 0:13:55they were asked for their ID, while you're being hijacked.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00Therefore the terrorist had their ID, of the guy that was taking this.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03That put an awful lot of pressure on the guy to take that bus
0:14:03 > 0:14:05to where they wanted to take it to.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11I know those who did take buses into town with bombs,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13and laid bombs, at that.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17And, believe you me, they were never the same.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20There are always fellas, buses hijacked, bomb put in -
0:14:20 > 0:14:23not in a bus, now, onto the seat -
0:14:23 > 0:14:25and asked to drive the bus
0:14:25 > 0:14:28to Ulster Police Barracks.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I think there was two drivers
0:14:30 > 0:14:32was asked to do that.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35One driver was actually coming down the Oldpark,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37into the Crumlin Road area.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Two kids came down the stairs when they were getting off,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42and told him, "Mr, there's a bag up the stairs."
0:14:42 > 0:14:44And one of them handed the driver a package...
0:14:44 > 0:14:48..and he put it behind the seat, thinking it was lost property.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50They get off, and as soon as he went to move off,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53it was an incendiary device that he didn't know.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54It went off.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56And he was badly burnt in that.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58It took over a year, a year and a half,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01for him even to recover the physical wounds.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03The mental wounds, never.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06And he had to retire through ill health.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11During the course of the Troubles,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13the bus drivers lost 12 of their colleagues,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15and numerous others were injured.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21There were some very, very horrific incidents, and one of them, actually,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24was to change the law, and the nature of courts.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27This was the case of Sydney Agnew,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30a bus driver who was ordered off his bus by three men
0:15:30 > 0:15:34from the nationalist Short Strand area in 1972.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37His bus was subsequently burned, and he was due to give evidence
0:15:37 > 0:15:41in a major court case in Belfast as a key prosecution witness.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44The poor man was shot dead.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47And this was to lead to a change in the law - the Diplock Report,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49which led to non-jury trials, you know,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52to prevent jurors and witnesses being intimidated.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Which came in, really, at the end of 1972.
0:15:57 > 0:15:58It wasn't just the Belfast buses
0:15:58 > 0:16:01that became involved in the conflict.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05One cross-border bus service based in Londonderry, the Lough Swilly,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08believes that their involvement in a major political event
0:16:08 > 0:16:11meant that perhaps they weren't hijacked as often
0:16:11 > 0:16:13as other bus services.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15# In the days of my youth
0:16:15 > 0:16:19# I was told what it means to be a man... #
0:16:23 > 0:16:28In 1969, the Battle of the Bogside took place in Derry.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30The RUC attempted to disperse nationalists
0:16:30 > 0:16:34protesting against an Apprentice Boys march.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Rioting continued for three days,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and the army was deployed to restore order.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42It must have been horrendous for those people, because the Battle
0:16:42 > 0:16:46didn't just last for two or three hours, it went on night and day,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48and there was loads of youths
0:16:48 > 0:16:51up on the top of the Rossville Street flats.
0:16:53 > 0:16:54They were so determined back then
0:16:54 > 0:16:56that the police couldn't enter the Bogside,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59they weren't strong enough to get in.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03A deputation from the Bogside came to Lough Swilly and asked,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07would they consider coming into the Bogside and taking the mothers
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and small children and the elderly grannies
0:17:10 > 0:17:14and grandads over across the border to Donegal for a few days' respite.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19So we decided that providing we were going to get safe passage
0:17:19 > 0:17:22in and out of there, because it was like a warzone at that stage
0:17:22 > 0:17:26on the Bogside, we decide that we would take the chance.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33We were all a bit worried for the first few hours,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35when the buses went into the Bogside - is that the end of them?
0:17:35 > 0:17:39But, no. They were fine. They were true to their word.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44The job that I got was taking them from the Bogside
0:17:44 > 0:17:46to an army camp outside Letterkenny.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49I done about three or four runs.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51And it was people who wanted - who HAD to get out.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54that was a full day's job.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57I think that we started that morning about nine o'clock,
0:17:57 > 0:18:02and we were working until ten at night.
0:18:02 > 0:18:03I remember that was a long day,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06because there were so many people who wanted to get out.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12I believe that went a long, long way in the eyes of those people,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15that the Swilly buses weren't as often hijacked
0:18:15 > 0:18:17as maybe they could have been.
0:18:25 > 0:18:31Amongst the worst days of the Troubles was July 21st 1972.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33I think at the beginning of the Troubles,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37people couldn't quite believe that this was happening.
0:18:38 > 0:18:45By 1972, people knew that they were in a very, very bad place.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Bloody Friday was the flash that lit reality.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52You could feel, over the city, that was really bad,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55and something evil was happening.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00The attempts to bring about a peace settlement involving the IRA
0:19:00 > 0:19:02and the political parties had failed.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11On this day, the IRA planted more than 20 bombs across the city.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15All three of Belfast's Ulsterbus depots were targeted,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18with the worst casualties at Oxford Street Bus Station.
0:19:20 > 0:19:21It was the first time, actually,
0:19:21 > 0:19:25that ordinary people watching their black and white TVs
0:19:25 > 0:19:27saw something as ghastly
0:19:27 > 0:19:29as human flesh and bone
0:19:29 > 0:19:33being shovelled up on the streets of their own city.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38It really brought home to you the reality of violence.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41We swept up the body parts that day.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45My God, it was shocking. It really was shocking.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47130 people were injured,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49nine killed.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Amongst them, four Ulsterbus employees.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57It was a real test of everybody's humanity.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01There were so many people injured, and so many killed,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03and they were all innocent bystanders
0:20:03 > 0:20:07and people going about their daily business.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09That day was... It was horrific.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10Even though that happened in Belfast,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I don't think there's a part of the country that didn't affect.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18That day was a direct attempt at Oxford Street Bus Station,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21to kill large numbers of people.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Belfast bus depots weren't the only ones to suffer.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36In Derry, Ulsterbus property also came under attack.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40I remember very clearly going to Londonderry,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44where a number of buses had been burned at the Pennyburn depot.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47What sort of price would you put on the damage that has been caused?
0:20:47 > 0:20:49The extent of the damage, the replacement value,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52will be something to the order of about £400,000.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55There was just bus skeletons all over the place,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58some of them still sort of on fire,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00there was smoke coming from them.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05Horrible smell of burnt plastic and engine oil and metalwork
0:21:05 > 0:21:08and so on, and it was a scene of real devastation.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12And one of the biggest depot fires that happened during that period.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17MUSIC: "Let's Stick Together" by Bryan Ferry
0:21:18 > 0:21:21During the '70s, two notorious political strikes
0:21:21 > 0:21:24were to place buses directly in the firing line.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37One was The Ulster Workers Council strike of 1974,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39which had a massive impact.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42It led to widespread power and fuel shortages
0:21:42 > 0:21:45and brought Northern Ireland to a virtual standstill.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49No surrender!
0:21:49 > 0:21:52However the 1977 strike, led by Ian Paisley,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55was to pose a greater threat to bus drivers.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59Do you think that we have no honesty or decency or honour left in us,
0:21:59 > 0:22:00as Ulstermen?
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Although this strike did not have the same impact as the earlier one,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07for the bus drivers, it led to a tragic event.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10They were finding it very, very difficult
0:22:10 > 0:22:13to get people to go on strike.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16So what they were doing was intimidating people
0:22:16 > 0:22:18into going on strike.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23And you had a situation where if you could get the buses up the road,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26well, then, people couldn't get to work.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29So obviously the bus man then became...
0:22:29 > 0:22:33He was the front line of the assault.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35In this case, the Ulster loyalist paramilitary
0:22:35 > 0:22:39began to flex their muscles - principally the UDA.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43They stopped a bus on the 10th of May on the Crumlin Road in North Belfast,
0:22:43 > 0:22:48driven by a family man with five children called Harry Bradshaw,
0:22:48 > 0:22:50in his 40s, and he was shot dead on the bus.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53A few days earlier, he'd been threatened by a woman
0:22:53 > 0:22:56passenger who said he should be on strike supporting Ulster.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02We had buses off the road for two days.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08The day Harry Bradshaw was buried, I had...
0:23:08 > 0:23:11I was at the funeral, it was in Carnmoney Cemetery.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14We then had a meeting at Transport House at two o'clock,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17and we were back on the road the next morning.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23This might have intimidated thousands of workers
0:23:23 > 0:23:26from going to earn their daily bread - in fact, actually,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28people deliberately made their way to work
0:23:28 > 0:23:31in protest at his assassination.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36Very shortly after that, Paisley called off his strike,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39because he hadn't been able to intimidate us.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43Even murder didn't put us off the road. That was it.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46This determination to keep the buses on the road
0:23:46 > 0:23:49was a major objective of Ulsterbus at the time.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53At the helm during these dark days, was an extraordinary man
0:23:53 > 0:23:56who was known for his unorthodox management style
0:23:56 > 0:24:01and his perseverance in keeping things running at all costs.
0:24:01 > 0:24:02Enter Werner Heubeck.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Mr Heubeck, Werner Heubeck - our boss, as everybody called him.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11He was a rare character.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15It's quite a pleasure to drive a bus on the motorway at 70mph.
0:24:15 > 0:24:16I know the general public knew him
0:24:16 > 0:24:20all through the years as the man who took the bombs off the buses.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Werner Heubeck was one of those exotic creatures
0:24:23 > 0:24:27in Northern Ireland in the 1970s - he was a foreigner.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29What do they make here of your accent?
0:24:29 > 0:24:31I think people are resigned to it.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33- They've got used to it now.- Yes.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37He was very German, and being very German in the '60s here
0:24:37 > 0:24:40wasn't necessarily a good thing.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42Werner had a colourful history
0:24:42 > 0:24:45that shaped his management style throughout the Troubles.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50He served with the German Army during World War II,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54but was later captured and sent to America as a prisoner of war.
0:24:54 > 0:25:01He was elected by his colleagues to be their interpreter.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06Even though his English wasn't great -
0:25:06 > 0:25:07but he had to learn it!
0:25:08 > 0:25:12When the prisoners of war were repatriated
0:25:12 > 0:25:14he joined his family in Nuremberg and
0:25:14 > 0:25:20he got a job as a translator with the war crimes trials in Nuremberg,
0:25:20 > 0:25:21which was his home city.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28During his time in Nuremberg, Werner met his wife and moved to the UK.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32At the end of 1965 we were living in Aberdeen.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36My dad was working at one of the paper mills on the River Don.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40We came back from holiday and my wife said, "Could you run a bus company?"
0:25:40 > 0:25:42So I said, "Yes, why?"
0:25:42 > 0:25:45And she showed me the advert and I applied and I'm here
0:25:45 > 0:25:48and that was nearly 20 years ago.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53I've no idea why he decided that was going to be a new challenge,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56but that was it, so we moved in January '66.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59There were some at the beginning of the company who were very critical
0:25:59 > 0:26:04about this man who had come in with no background
0:26:04 > 0:26:08in their industry, as it were. And what did he know about it?
0:26:08 > 0:26:10He very soon put them right.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14WERNER HEUBECK: I was meant to be here in these times.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16He had a way with him.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18- A real gentleman. - He was a worker's person, you know?
0:26:18 > 0:26:21I had an awful lot of respect for Werner Heubeck.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25In Northern Ireland, you can't run public transport
0:26:25 > 0:26:28- from a desk in the office.- You have to get out and do it?- Yes.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33He operated far beyond his pay scale by personally going to
0:26:33 > 0:26:35the hijacked bus and going on board
0:26:35 > 0:26:39and very often lifting these bombs off, and surviving.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42The Army would have turned up with all their protective gear,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44all of their protective clothing on
0:26:44 > 0:26:47and normally Mr Heubeck had arrived before them.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51He was just in his civilian clothes and he just went into the bus
0:26:51 > 0:26:53and he knew right away it was just a hoax
0:26:53 > 0:26:56and he lifted the object or the box
0:26:56 > 0:27:01and took it off the bus and the Army then just went away again.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05So Heubeck became a kind of a symbol of heroism.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09- He was like a James Bond type of guy.- He carried the bombs off buses!
0:27:09 > 0:27:13To me he was either fearless or stupid,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15I don't know which!
0:27:15 > 0:27:19I'm sure that opinion ranges from being completely irresponsible
0:27:19 > 0:27:23to being very heroic, it's nothing of the kind.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25It wasn't a gung ho operation.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30He didn't go in and retrieve it until he was fairly confident
0:27:30 > 0:27:33that he had understood why it had been put there.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Sometimes it was a hoax, sometimes it wasn't.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42He very near come a cropper one day, it was up at Finaghy.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46We got a report that a double-decker was sitting on that bridge
0:27:46 > 0:27:50and when I arrived the Army were already here and so were the police.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53I happened to be there that day and I said, "I think it's the real thing,"
0:27:53 > 0:27:57and he stood for a moment and he says, "I shall go and take it off."
0:27:57 > 0:28:01I was just on the point of walking up to it to have a look when...
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Up it went!
0:28:06 > 0:28:08If he had have been... Only for the length he talked,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10he would have been blown up.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13I think we all turned white and nobody said a word.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Werner Heubeck just wouldn't roll over
0:28:15 > 0:28:18and say, "I'm going to accept what's going on here."
0:28:18 > 0:28:20He was saying, "Look, I've been through the Second World War,
0:28:20 > 0:28:22"you think this is tough?"
0:28:22 > 0:28:25I grew up when Hitler was in power
0:28:25 > 0:28:30so I do know what it's like to believe in something which is...
0:28:31 > 0:28:35..which finally turns out to be completely criminal.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37"The odd package, the odd petrol bomb,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39"the odd brick through a bus window ain't going to stop me and ain't
0:28:39 > 0:28:44"going to stop the service that I am going to provide for this city."
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Surely there must come an end when you say,
0:28:46 > 0:28:47"How long can I continue to operate?"
0:28:47 > 0:28:50Oh, we'll continue to operate. No question about it.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Werner was very keen to get the service
0:28:53 > 0:28:55back on the road as quickly as possible.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59We knew the public required public transport to live their ordinary
0:28:59 > 0:29:03life and everything was geared to trying to maintain normal life.
0:29:03 > 0:29:08One afternoon a double-decker came into Oxford Street bus station
0:29:08 > 0:29:12and the bottom deck was jam packed
0:29:12 > 0:29:15and there was nobody on the top deck, said the inspector was curious
0:29:15 > 0:29:19and said to the driver, "Why aren't they going upstairs?"
0:29:19 > 0:29:21"Oh, he said, they won't, there's a bomb upstairs."
0:29:23 > 0:29:28I can't believe that paramilitaries didn't think at one point or another
0:29:28 > 0:29:32that this man is a pain in our side
0:29:32 > 0:29:34and we need to do something about him.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37We would settle down for a game of canasta one evening and then,
0:29:37 > 0:29:40of course, the phone would go and that was that.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44He carried a weapon, I mean a lot of people in those positions did,
0:29:44 > 0:29:47and you never knew when he was going to come back,
0:29:47 > 0:29:49or whether he was going to come back.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52I think it was a kind of fury that drove him.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54He just wasn't having it,
0:29:54 > 0:29:59he wasn't having this happen to his buses on his watch.
0:29:59 > 0:30:00He couldn't have done it on his own.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03There was all the bus drivers, there was all the depot managers,
0:30:03 > 0:30:08there was everybody else that had equal determination
0:30:08 > 0:30:09just to keep the service going.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14While the drivers kept the buses on the road
0:30:14 > 0:30:17the impact of the Troubles began to take its toll.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19I have been bad with my nerves ever since
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and I'm on a course of treatment from my doctor with tablets
0:30:23 > 0:30:27and sleeping tablets and I've had to leave work on my doctor's advice.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29Would you ever go back to being a bus driver?
0:30:29 > 0:30:32There is no chance whatsoever I would never drive another bus again.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35There was drivers who never went back to work
0:30:35 > 0:30:39and there was drivers who went back to work and had nervous breakdowns
0:30:39 > 0:30:41and had to pack it in.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44You tried not to let it play on your mind, but it was very hard not to.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47It affected the way you done your job.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50There is a great talk now about post-traumatic stress,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53an awful lot of bus drivers suffered from it.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55An awful lot of guys gave up driving buses over that.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02I know quite few colleagues who left the buses and never worked again.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Stress wasn't a recognised illness back then.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10The philosophy that the drivers and also management,
0:31:10 > 0:31:14the only advice that they could give is once it's over,
0:31:14 > 0:31:16get back on your bus,
0:31:16 > 0:31:20because the longer you stay off your bus the harder it's going to be
0:31:20 > 0:31:22to get back, and we had to get back
0:31:22 > 0:31:26because that was our living that we provided for our families.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34I ended up with being an easy-going sort of person,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36I carried it with me for quite a few years
0:31:36 > 0:31:39and it was only after the Troubles had subsided
0:31:39 > 0:31:43that a lot of things came back on me from that time
0:31:43 > 0:31:47and I had to receive help just with my thoughts.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50It was like flashbacks from those times.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56About five years ago was actually the worst time for me.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01You can weather the storm a bit better when you're young,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04it's when you get older you become a wee bit more vulnerable
0:32:04 > 0:32:08and think you are a bit more vulnerable and these thoughts
0:32:08 > 0:32:12and recollections of those times come back to you.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19When something's happening, you don't realise it's happening.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22As I got older, I started thinking about things, you know.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26I didn't realise that I had a problem.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28Whether it was the Troubles,
0:32:28 > 0:32:30I can't put it down to one thing or the other.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33But I ended up with stress and anxiety.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37I was coming from Claudy on the school run,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40pulled the bus into the lay-by,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43I pulled the hand-brake on and got out of the bus,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45and never got into a bus.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50It was happening to me, and I didn't realise it was happening to me.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53It's like the end of the world when something like that happens to you.
0:32:58 > 0:33:03MUSIC: "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats
0:33:03 > 0:33:05# We can dance if we want to
0:33:05 > 0:33:06# We can leave your friends behind. #
0:33:06 > 0:33:10In 1988, the streets of Belfast were still dangerous,
0:33:10 > 0:33:16but the buses would now have to operate without the leadership of Werner Heubeck.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20I think he had the wisdom to realise that he needed to, you know, change -
0:33:20 > 0:33:23to think about something else.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Eventually, he reached woodwork,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29and that was the craft that really got him.
0:33:29 > 0:33:36His retirement gift from the staff was a huge bundle of mahogany.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39It was hung from a crane,
0:33:39 > 0:33:43and I remember the press photographs had Werner standing like this
0:33:43 > 0:33:45and the load of wood behind,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48as though he was supporting the whole load.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51'Today was Mr Heubeck's last in charge of the bus company,
0:33:51 > 0:33:54'and he drove the Dungannon to Belfast express
0:33:54 > 0:33:55'to mark the occasion.'
0:33:55 > 0:33:57# We can dance, we can dance. #
0:33:57 > 0:34:00I remember on the last day, he was finishing up,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03I was doing the next bus from Belfast to Enniskillen.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07"Ah, Mr Hughes, you're going to Enniskillen!"
0:34:07 > 0:34:11"Oh, I'm only going to Dungannon but the bus is going to Enniskillen."
0:34:11 > 0:34:16"Ah, right," he says, "I'll take her off the road." I says, "No bother."
0:34:16 > 0:34:19I got down to the back of the bus and sat down.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21He got on and he introduced himself.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26He says, "I will be driving the bus up to Dungannon,
0:34:26 > 0:34:31"and I can assure you and Mr Hughes can assure you, I have a licence!"
0:34:31 > 0:34:33I think it's the end of my working life,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36but it's not the end of life itself.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40I have Werner's famous hat - the hat that he wore through the Troubles.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44And even the union, who often crossed swords with Mr Heubeck,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46finally got him to give them something for nothing.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50The hat will be raffled and the money given to a busman's charity.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52I ended up winning it!
0:34:52 > 0:34:55I can't think of anyone else I know of in the transport business
0:34:55 > 0:34:59in Northern Ireland who could have held the whole operation together.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01If you knew him in his latter years
0:35:01 > 0:35:06living here in Shetland, he lived a very quiet, unassuming life.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11He would spend his days making cushions for the charity shops in Lerwick,
0:35:11 > 0:35:15or Christmas, he would bake cakes for the staff in the local shop,
0:35:15 > 0:35:17and the local doctors' surgery.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Nah, he wasn't a hero.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23He was just a man who did his job and enjoyed doing it well.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Although the '70s is considered the worst period for attacks on buses,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32in 1998, an horrific atrocity took place
0:35:32 > 0:35:35in Omagh on Saturday 15th August.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41The buses were to play a vital role in what was to become known
0:35:41 > 0:35:44as one of the worst incidents of the Troubles.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48I was in the Mountjoy Road when there was a massive explosion.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53I ran on cos I could see the smoke, and I ran into it,
0:35:53 > 0:35:58and I met people coming screaming and children screaming and blood,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01people with blood on their face and blood on their hands,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05and it was just like a war zone, you might say.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11At that stage, we hadn't any ambulances.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13They hadn't been called at that stage.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15It was just happening.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19At that very point, a bus coming from the depot
0:36:19 > 0:36:23heading obviously to our garage, he could not get through
0:36:23 > 0:36:26because the road was then closed,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29and they were shouting at me, "What do we do? What do we do?" And I said,
0:36:29 > 0:36:32"There's no ambulance - they haven't arrived yet,"
0:36:32 > 0:36:34I said, "Put them on the bus."
0:36:34 > 0:36:38One must really thank the people who carried them onto the buses.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41These were only...these were people who ran out of shops
0:36:41 > 0:36:43and who were in the town shopping.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47These were the people who carried them onto buses.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49We filled that bus to get it to the hospital,
0:36:49 > 0:36:51but there were far more than that,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55so there was a driver come along from the depot, and I said to him,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57"Go back and find another bus."
0:36:59 > 0:37:04I think somehow or other, we must have transported 80 or 90 people
0:37:04 > 0:37:10to the hospital by bus. The drivers who were able to do that, you know,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13they were marvellous men who were able to cope with that, you know?
0:37:17 > 0:37:18Since the peace process,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21the bus driver's life has become somewhat easier.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23Attacks on buses still occur,
0:37:23 > 0:37:25but they aren't anything like as frequent.
0:37:25 > 0:37:30But to the bus drivers of Northern Ireland, who risked their lives and lost their lives,
0:37:30 > 0:37:32to keep the transport system on the road,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35we have a lot to be grateful for.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39Transport is one of those industries for many of us,
0:37:39 > 0:37:43it's more than just a job, it's...it's life.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47I don't think that it'll ever be appreciated,
0:37:47 > 0:37:52the contribution busmen made to normality in Northern Ireland.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57The bus drivers of those days are very much among the unsung heroes.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59They were very brave.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01They kept us safe, as far as they could,
0:38:01 > 0:38:03and they kept the wheels turning.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05I mean, I think they were immensely brave people.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10I've asked myself many, many, many times how we came through it.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14I often wonder how we all got through those years,
0:38:14 > 0:38:19but I would do the same thing all over again. No regrets. No regrets.