0:00:49 > 0:00:53This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting
0:00:55 > 0:00:57'Training was over.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00'The extra troops of 480 Platoon were on their way to Northern Ireland.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03'After so long, hung up on Parachuting,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05'hyped up on heroism, Red Devilry
0:01:05 > 0:01:08'and the prospect of a glorious patriotic war,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11'it was time to come down to Earth.'
0:01:29 > 0:01:30BIRDSONG
0:01:33 > 0:01:36'Their first posting was an attachment to 1 Para,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40'who throughout the war in the South Atlantic had been in South Fermanagh,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44'occupying British territory in quite a different way.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48'Since 1969, when the smouldering Irish bonfire reignited,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51'the nearest thing to action for the Paras had been patrolling a land
0:01:51 > 0:01:55'where the enemy were often their own countrymen.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57'So the skills now required of 480 Platoon
0:01:57 > 0:02:00'were the reverse of everything they had been taught.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03'Instead of up and at 'em, an agony of restraint.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09'Mustering for their first eagle patrol,
0:02:09 > 0:02:11'little Sean Day and big Andy Cunningham
0:02:11 > 0:02:13'soon learned that whatever the difference
0:02:13 > 0:02:16'between training in Aldershot and real life in Ireland,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20'one thing's the same. You listen to the experienced corporal.'
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Basically, what we'll be doing is flying around in a chopper,
0:02:23 > 0:02:24covering various roads.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28The area we're working is Bravo 3, you all know where that is.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31And we'll fly around in the chopper until we see a car or cars,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34zap down on them, stop at a point in front of them,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37as close to the road as possible, jump out and sort the car out.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Can I have a look in your boot, please?
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Where are you taking all this lot?
0:02:48 > 0:02:51- Up to that shed up the road. - Is it yours, is it?
0:02:51 > 0:02:55- As far as I know it is. - As far as you know? How's that?
0:02:57 > 0:02:58How is it only as far as you know?
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Who's this in the car with you?
0:03:12 > 0:03:13INAUDIBLE
0:03:13 > 0:03:14Have you got any form of ID?
0:03:14 > 0:03:19We're just here to give support to the RUC and the UDR as well.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21A policeman's job, more or less.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26'But in Northern Ireland, policemen get three times the pay of Paras,
0:03:26 > 0:03:31'and Paras three times the complaints of other regiments.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32'There is mutual resentment.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36'On this, as on everything else, the public is divided.'
0:03:36 > 0:03:3750/50, really.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42A lot of them, they give you biscuits and sweets and stuff, like.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Other people just, they go at you.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47- Some people try and get you going? - Yeah.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50They try to get you to hit them and stuff like that
0:03:50 > 0:03:54so they can put in reports against you, some of them.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57For obvious reasons, they're two Irish people
0:03:57 > 0:04:00and a lot of them support the IRA
0:04:00 > 0:04:03so there's not much you can do with them.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05You've just got to be polite to them.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Go on, then, love, on your way.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10You should smile a bit more, you would be more prettier then.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12INAUDIBLE
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Got to keep the troops happy.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18'Apart from eagle patrols, there are permanent vehicle checkpoints.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23'Phil Tateham was working from a concrete bunker, or Sanger,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27'and living behind it six days at a time in a fortified Portakabin.'
0:04:27 > 0:04:30I thought it'd be different to this, you know,
0:04:30 > 0:04:31but nothing's happened up to now.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34You might as well be out on Salisbury Plain, really.
0:04:35 > 0:04:36I know you're there for a purpose,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38deter them from trying anything and that.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41I suppose you're doing a good job in that sense.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43But, you know, I don't know how I would react
0:04:43 > 0:04:47if something did happen, but you just want it to happen so I'll find out.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52- What things would you like to do? - I don't know.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54I would like to work in the cities more, I think,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56where there's the possibility of riots and that,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00and you're working with people around you and things do happen,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02sort of thing, different incidents,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06but out here, mainly, you know, where trouble's going to come from,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09it's either a bomb in the road or something like that, or a shooting,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13that's about it, really, when you're out on patrol.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20'The field patrols last sometimes 48 hours, sometimes a week.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22'They live rough, constantly on the move.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25'Traditional rights and boundaries are curiously disregarded
0:05:25 > 0:05:28'as the troops protect some and question others.'
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Is your husband about, is he? Is your husband is, is he?
0:05:32 > 0:05:35- He's not, no. - Is he not? Where would he be?
0:05:35 > 0:05:40- We can contact him all right. - Well, where is he? Is he local?
0:05:40 > 0:05:41He's at the garage.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47'But how useful to the experienced patrol commanders
0:05:47 > 0:05:49'was the arrival of 480 Platoon
0:05:49 > 0:05:52'with its inexperienced squaddies like Spider Craddock?'
0:05:52 > 0:05:54In this situation when you're in Northern Ireland,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56you don't want them, basically.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59But when you do get them, obviously you've got to sort them out
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and the best thing to do is get them out on the ground ASAP,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04as soon as possible, and get them working.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12What you generally do is delegate one of your senior privates and say,
0:06:12 > 0:06:13"Look after him."
0:06:14 > 0:06:18- I'll check the barns out the back. - All right.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21The first thing they do as soon as they get out on the ground,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24they start flapping and getting things wrong,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26standing out like a sore thumb.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28If they stand out while you're on patrol,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31we can see it and so the terrorists can see it straightaway.
0:06:31 > 0:06:32And if they do make mistakes,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35do you go for them in an aggressive manner like they do at depot?
0:06:35 > 0:06:39No. It's a different world once they come out of depot, they get up here.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40We do keep a grip of them.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42What we try to do is, instead of breaking them down,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45pushing their morale down, you boost it up slightly.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48OK, you made a mistake there, mate, don't worry about it.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50You know, get it right next time.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57'For most of 480 Platoon, like Tony Butler, patrols were the exception.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00'As a rule they were manning border crossings,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02'some of which with only half a dozen cars a day
0:07:02 > 0:07:05'are frankly maintained not for military reasons,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08'but public relations, reassuring local Protestants.'
0:07:12 > 0:07:15'With no facilities and nothing to do,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17'they're no place for a judo champion.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'On a hill above the road, the section was living in a dugout
0:07:24 > 0:07:27'reminiscent of the Somme, but as always,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31'Stephen Burrell contrived to be as happy as a sandbag.'
0:07:31 > 0:07:34You have fun anyway, even though you're working, with the lads.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Even though I'm only watching out and things like that,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40you know you're doing something worthwhile...
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Protecting the area, giving the people confidence,
0:07:44 > 0:07:48assisting the RUC in their work and checking vehicles and that,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51making sure there's nothing going from A to B or B to A.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54The normal score. The guard have just been down to the house.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56- The derelict on the border there. - Yeah.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58He's just been searching it.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Nothing else has much been happening except the farmer out on the field
0:08:01 > 0:08:04to the right there by the command centre
0:08:04 > 0:08:06and that's about it. - Where's that?
0:08:06 > 0:08:10He's still up on the top of the hill getting his cattle in.
0:08:10 > 0:08:11That's about it.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13- Do you want a cup and bread? - I'll have one.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14Bob?
0:08:14 > 0:08:15Yeah.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21- Can you really say you enjoy it? - I do, yeah. That's one thing I do.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Would you like to go on doing it, living in these conditions?
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Well, I'm going to do it for six years.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31And hope you get posted to a little hole like this?
0:08:31 > 0:08:35- Yes. A nice fire and that will do me.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38I've got a fire there, scoff, bed.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Do your mates believe you?
0:08:42 > 0:08:43I think so.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45- You believe me, don't you? - I believe you.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49- Steve does, don't you? - Yeah.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54'The local agricultural community prefers county regiments
0:08:54 > 0:08:59'like the Devon and Dorsets who shut gates and don't distress the natives.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06'And the RUC who have to live there are inclined not to notice
0:09:06 > 0:09:08'expired licences and missing side lights,
0:09:08 > 0:09:13'but the Paras are puritans, baddies are baddies.'
0:09:14 > 0:09:16If... there's some blokes that we know...
0:09:18 > 0:09:19..you know, we know are...
0:09:21 > 0:09:24..sympathisers with certain people and they come up,
0:09:24 > 0:09:28you know, we always ask to have a look in their boot, always.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34So they might say, "What for? Why? You've no right to do it."
0:09:35 > 0:09:36And they get a bit snotty.
0:09:36 > 0:09:42But when they get snotty, we just take... You know, take our time.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45I wouldn't say mess them about, but we do a good search of their car
0:09:45 > 0:09:48and everything and keep them waiting for a little bit longer.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Hold him for a minute, till they come back. Keep him there.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Pax is going from Lisnaskea to Teemore,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00over 21, has no other pax in vehicle, vehicle has been searched,
0:10:00 > 0:10:01has been cleared, over.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Has anyone been really unpleasant to you at all?
0:10:11 > 0:10:14- Yeah, one or two people. - In what sort of way?
0:10:15 > 0:10:18One of them called the Parachute Regiment...
0:10:18 > 0:10:21He said, "second-class soldiers".
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Very nice.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28It's not exactly the sort of thing that goes down well with the Paras?
0:10:28 > 0:10:29What happened?
0:10:29 > 0:10:32It wouldn't go down well with any regiment, I don't think.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34- What happened? - Yeah.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37He was outside there for about two-and-a-half hours, three hours.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57'In a land where forces are airborne only because
0:10:57 > 0:11:00'it's too dangerous to travel on the ground
0:11:00 > 0:11:03'and aggression is expressed by keeping people waiting,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05'480 Platoon, who weren't bred for boredom,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09'had time to question why they'd ever bothered to spend six months
0:11:09 > 0:11:13'training to hurl themselves out of the sky and into action.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22'They knew that occasionally there would be a NATO exercise
0:11:22 > 0:11:26'like this one in Norfolk, involving the whole of the second battalion.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30'Indeed to retain Parachute pay, £1.52 a day,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32'they would have to jump four times a year.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34'But however much it does for esprit de corps,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37'Parachuting, as the regiment puts it,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39'is only one form of transport.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42'And in this country, successive governments have declined
0:11:42 > 0:11:45'to foot the bill for airborne training on a large scale.'
0:11:55 > 0:11:58'The truth is that in the scenario for which everyone has planned,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02'a NATO war in Europe, there is no central role for airborne forces,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05'though the Paras might just be used on the fringes,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07'especially over difficult terrain.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10'That at least is the view of their Colonel Commandant,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13'retiring NATO Commander General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16'known to the crap hats as Farah the Para.'
0:12:16 > 0:12:20But surely with the kind of modern missiles and technology of weapons,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23the airborne forces would simply get shot of the sky even before
0:12:23 > 0:12:25they got out of the aircraft?
0:12:25 > 0:12:30If you mean going into a dense air defence environment,
0:12:30 > 0:12:31the answer is yes.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35You have put your finger on one problem, of course.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39If the air defence environment is high, you hit a Hercules
0:12:39 > 0:12:45or whatever the carrier is, you could lose 65 men at one go.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49In other operations,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54rescue operations or the emergency types of operation that we've had
0:12:54 > 0:12:57since the end of World War II,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59there is still a role for Parachute troops.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02There comes a time when the only way you can get people somewhere
0:13:02 > 0:13:05is by air, dropping them by Parachute
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and when you want them, you want them in a hurry.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11Get on there. There they are. In the house there. Look.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Go.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15GUNFIRE
0:13:15 > 0:13:17SHOUTING
0:13:17 > 0:13:19'The rescue operation,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21'480 Platoon had trained for that too.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25'Ever since Brunaval, the Paras have been ready for the lightening drop,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28'the quick shootout, up and away.'
0:13:28 > 0:13:29Come on.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36India 2-1. Roger, I read, inbound with me
0:13:36 > 0:13:38in one zero minutes. Over.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46You have my blue smoke, over.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58'In the absence of large scale conventional war
0:13:58 > 0:14:01'or occasional crises like Suez or the Falklands,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05'the regiment has longed for its own Entebbe or Kolwezi.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08'So far, it hasn't happened.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13'The sad fact is that it's more than a quarter of a century
0:14:13 > 0:14:17'since the Paras jumped into action of any sort.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20'Normality is not a romantic escape from a grass strip
0:14:20 > 0:14:21'in a giant Hercules,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26'but taxi rides into the ugly cages of concrete, wire and wriggly tin
0:14:26 > 0:14:30'which house both police and troops in Northern Ireland.'
0:14:42 > 0:14:46'Life inside is claustrophobic, unglamorous, tedious.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49'But patrolling outside isn't a total doddle either,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51'even to the older hands.'
0:14:51 > 0:14:54You're biting your tongue all the time and you're off again,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57and you're up and you're down. You're sliding all over the place.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00You've just got to keep going cos you can't use the roads in case
0:15:00 > 0:15:03-somebody leaves a present for you. - So you're always in the field?
0:15:04 > 0:15:08You're always wet anyway cos you're sweating, the kit you've got...
0:15:08 > 0:15:12It's really hard work, it is.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15And if you've got a cold or something, do you just carry on?
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Carry on. You've just got to hack it.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Will he get used to it, young Spider?
0:15:19 > 0:15:21- Oh, yeah. - You get used to it in the end.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23He's coping now. He's doing a good job.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27You get used to it. Takes some getting used to though.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Are you going to go on doing it for a living?
0:15:30 > 0:15:33What? Patrolling?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35When I get told to it, that's the only time I'll do it.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38I won't do it of my own choice.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41It's boring there, you know,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44cos, well, half the time you do ten hours on, ten hours off.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48And in the ten hours that you're off, you sleep most of the time anyway.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53And all you got time for is to get some scoff down your neck
0:15:53 > 0:15:55and then get your head down
0:15:55 > 0:15:58and it's just boring over there anyway for six days.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04'Since 1969 the Paras' three battalions have spent between them
0:16:04 > 0:16:08'a total of nine years and 11 months in Northern Ireland,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11'increasingly besieged in undignified quarters like these.'
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Is it what you expected?
0:16:26 > 0:16:28No, not really.
0:16:28 > 0:16:29What did you expect?
0:16:37 > 0:16:40It's hard to say, I just didn't think it would be like that.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45So in the end of the day, is this the life you really wanted?
0:16:47 > 0:16:50I don't know. It's difficult to say, isn't it?
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I've only seen what the Army is in Northern Ireland.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56I haven't seen what battalions are like, what else they do and that.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00It might be totally different. We've got a tour of Cyprus coming up.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03It might be good fun. I don't know, we'll have to wait and see.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06I signed on for three years, I don't know if I'll sign on again...
0:17:06 > 0:17:09we'll have to wait and see, won't we?
0:17:09 > 0:17:14The Parachute Regiment is a regiment for all seasons or it's nothing.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17It must take on whatever task it's given and do its best at it
0:17:17 > 0:17:20and our soldiers respond to that.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24It tries the patience. It is long and tiring hours.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Well, they must get on with it.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31And if there is violence there,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34they will and can respond to that as necessary.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41'In Northern Ireland, extra mural activities, physical or otherwise
0:17:41 > 0:17:45'are out of the question and watching Alistair Melvin and friends
0:17:45 > 0:17:47'pounding the track inside the wire,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51'like so many prisoners of war, only reinforced the thought,
0:17:51 > 0:17:57'of all troops, aren't Paras the most dangerous of men to keep confined?
0:18:01 > 0:18:04'Especially when they're reminded, as they often are,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07'that even inside these friendly local neighbourhood
0:18:07 > 0:18:10'police stations in the United Kingdom in 1983,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12'they can still be got at.'
0:18:12 > 0:18:16What happened...an articulated lorry
0:18:16 > 0:18:18drew up from over the border,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21moved up to within about 200 meters of the police station
0:18:21 > 0:18:25and on the back it had ten remotely controlled mortar tubes.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27The driver flicked a switch
0:18:27 > 0:18:30and the mortars started arriving in the police station.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33In fact, I've got here the fin of one of the mortars,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36you can see it's actually quite a big thing.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38There is a little plaque on it, I notice.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42That's right. It says presented to Rosslea Police by Monaghan IRA.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47'This was the damage to the living quarters,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50'but with the luck of the Irish, the attack came when almost all
0:18:50 > 0:18:53'the inmates were in one room watching the Cup final.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56'Two were injured, none killed.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00'The Paras have not always been so fortunate.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04'39 members of the regiment have been killed in Northern Ireland.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07'In August 1979, 16 were blown to smithereens
0:19:07 > 0:19:09'at Warrenpoint in South Down.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15'In two fell swoops, first a group travelling by truck
0:19:15 > 0:19:19'and then some of their rescue party were slaughtered by remote control
0:19:19 > 0:19:22'from a few hundred yards across the river and the border.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31'And every new recruit patrolling the streets
0:19:31 > 0:19:35'in that special border atmosphere of silent suspicion
0:19:35 > 0:19:38'has had the legend of Warrenpoint planted in his mind,
0:19:38 > 0:19:42'nurturing regimental pride, breeding resentment.'
0:19:42 > 0:19:45There are those both in and out of the Army
0:19:45 > 0:19:49who say that it's really a mistake to send men of such a get up
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and aggressive character to do a job like that
0:19:52 > 0:19:53because they become provocative.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Of course, there are those who would say that anything
0:19:56 > 0:19:59that is done by the British Army in Northern Ireland is provocative.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Light a cigarette, it's provocative. Or don't light one and it is.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06This was the sort of thing that maddened me
0:20:06 > 0:20:10about the great term Bloody Sunday. Whose blood were we talking about?
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Time and again it is the British soldiers' blood
0:20:13 > 0:20:15that the public are able to see thanks to television
0:20:15 > 0:20:18and the newspaper pictures running in the gutters.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22If fire is opened on men who are trained to be soldiers,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25they will at some stage return fire.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28We train them specially to return fire in a particular way
0:20:28 > 0:20:33in Northern Ireland, or to open fire initially in a certain way.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38'The Paras deny that they opened fire initially
0:20:38 > 0:20:41'on that Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43'Without doubt, as they broke up the illegal march
0:20:43 > 0:20:45'they too were fired on.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48'But the fact is, it was civilian blood that was shed.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52'Lord Widgery's report concluded that some of the deaths certainly
0:20:52 > 0:20:54'resulted from firing that bordered on the reckless
0:20:54 > 0:20:57'and at least one officer had to restrain his men from shooting
0:20:57 > 0:20:59'at non-suitable targets.'
0:20:59 > 0:21:02GUNFIRE
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Do not fire back for the moment,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07unless you identify a positive target.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13SCREAMING
0:21:13 > 0:21:16You mad bastard, you.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Appearing to be dead are the three in that Saracen car,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23there are two men lying at the end of this block of flats,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26there's another man at least very close to being dead.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28There are two others up there.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33I'm told there are some more in these flats here that I haven't seen yet.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38'The Paras shot 13 civilians dead in 20 minutes, a number in the back.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43'None were proved to have been IRA members or carrying firearms.'
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Can you tell me what happened when the Paratroopers came in, father?
0:21:46 > 0:21:50They just came in firing. There was no provocation whatsoever.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53- Firing what? Rubber bullets? - No, it was lead bullets they fired.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55They seemed to fire in all directions.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59There were some rubber bullets too. They didn't even seem to fire gas.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02It was completely outrageous, disgraceful. I don't know...
0:22:02 > 0:22:06They call themselves an army, it's utterly disgraceful.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16I rest on the reputation of the regiment there,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19and I am not ashamed of that reputation.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24Of course, there will always be the odd mistakes.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28As the first commander to land forces there in Northern Ireland,
0:22:28 > 0:22:30I am well aware that the army has made mistakes,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33and no doubt occasionally, they'll continue to.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36That is because they are not impeccable.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40But would you accept that the Paras are the sort of soldiers,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43by their training, who can and do overreact?
0:22:43 > 0:22:46No, I certainly do not accept that they overreact,
0:22:46 > 0:22:50because they are a disciplined force.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54But they will react toughly when the occasion requires.
0:22:54 > 0:23:00One of the biggest problems that we had during the terrible crowd days
0:23:00 > 0:23:05in '70, '69 in Northern Ireland,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09was this question of a British soldier not liking,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12even though people are hurling rocks at him,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15to lay hands on their fellow citizens.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Well, the Parachute Regiment were a bit better at that than some,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22and they were ready to do it if ordered to do it,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25but not in an uncontrolled way and certainly not in a provocative way.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30'Yet surely, through every yard of their training,
0:23:30 > 0:23:32'the Paras are persuasively invited
0:23:32 > 0:23:35'to demonstrate more and more aggression.'
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Don't stop there, then. Keep going.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43When you get around the corner, you switch off. Now bloody well drive!
0:23:43 > 0:23:44Come on, work!
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Move yourself, for Christ's sake!
0:23:47 > 0:23:50We've got to turn them into aggressive soldiers.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54It's no good jumping out of the sky, landing, doing a 20 mile tab
0:23:54 > 0:23:57and then getting out the other end and turning round and being weak.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00They've got to get stuck in and win whatever they've got to do.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02You're airborne, come on!
0:24:04 > 0:24:07They've got to be able to fight and enjoy it.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09It's no good them fighting and not enjoying it
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and backing out at the last minute, so you've got to teach them
0:24:13 > 0:24:15and you've got to put it into them to be aggressive.
0:24:18 > 0:24:19Like the milling.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22If you asked them, did they want to mill, you know,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26you'd probably get people saying "No, I don't fancy that sort of thing",
0:24:26 > 0:24:29but when you stick them in there against a guy and say "box",
0:24:29 > 0:24:33he's got to fight, or he'll get punched all over the place.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35I mean, that brings out his aggressiveness
0:24:35 > 0:24:36and if he's a poof, he's out.
0:24:37 > 0:24:38It's awkward, really. You teach a guy
0:24:39 > 0:24:41to be able to look after himself, basically, you know.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45But then when he goes down town, has a few pints, starts scrapping
0:24:45 > 0:24:47and gets roped in with the police, that's a bad way.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50If they get like that and they get roped in with the police
0:24:50 > 0:24:53when they're off duty, they've got no discipline.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56But there is a certain reputation, is there not, amongst the Paras
0:24:56 > 0:24:58that they are the sort of people
0:24:58 > 0:25:00you don't want to meet on a dark, drunken night.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05They're normally fighting amongst themselves, and beating up crap hats.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08We are not looking for thugs.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13If we have thugs who insist on being thugs, we throw them out.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Keep coming. Come on. Come on. Let's go. Let's go.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22I dare say some people,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25seeing your following of the platoon through here,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28will say this is a sort of brutalisation. No, it isn't.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30He doesn't have to go on being a Parachute soldier.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33You've got a good long hill before you catch them up.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35And quite a number leave here anyway
0:25:35 > 0:25:37because we don't think they're up to it.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41One, two, three!
0:25:41 > 0:25:43'What the regiment wants, the regiment gets -
0:25:43 > 0:25:46'men ready for anything.'
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Right, listen in. With these gas masks on
0:25:50 > 0:25:54during the flight phase and approaching the landing phase,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57you have got distorted vision.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02The ground will look nearer than it really is.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05'Back at Aldershot, they'd already
0:26:05 > 0:26:09'begun training in NBC gear - nuclear, biological, chemical,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11'accepting the unacceptable.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19'On exercise, or for real, when ordered, they jump.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22'Over nine months as part of the maroon machine,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26'they'd acquired a pride in themselves, a creed, a family,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30'an identity. In exchange, they'd accepted that their lives
0:26:30 > 0:26:34'might be short, their lifestyle nasty and brutish.'
0:26:34 > 0:26:37If at any stage, you feel sick,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40lift that bloody mask up. I do not want to see
0:26:40 > 0:26:45carrots and tomato skins coming up over the eyepieces.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48It's up to you, if I see that, you keep it until you hit the deck.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04'Whatever the nature of the next conflict,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06'they were ready to kill for their country.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09'If they couldn't parachute to war, they'd walk,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11'as their comrades had in the Falklands
0:27:11 > 0:27:15'and where beyond question, they proved that the training works.
0:27:18 > 0:27:19'We pay our money,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23'he Government pays the army, and the Paras pay the price -
0:27:23 > 0:27:25'Perhaps in the way they die,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27'but perhaps in the way they live.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31'But this, it seems,
0:27:31 > 0:27:36'is what is required to produce 16 young men sufficiently programmed
0:27:36 > 0:27:38'to submerge their individual personalities
0:27:38 > 0:27:41'and, whatever the odds, do whatever they're told.'
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Hooper. Cunningham.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57'On his return from Ireland, Philip Tatum was found
0:27:57 > 0:28:02'to be suffering from asthma, and will be discharged from the army.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09'Mark Hunt, Gobby Taffy, after a pub brawl
0:28:09 > 0:28:13'and before the resultant court case, skipped the country
0:28:13 > 0:28:16'and is now serving with the French Foreign Legion.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23'The 14 surviving graduates of 480 Platoon continue to serve
0:28:23 > 0:28:28'with the regiment of their choice.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31Well, that was in 1982. So, where are they now?
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Two years later, have the graduates of 480 Platoon
0:28:35 > 0:28:38justified the confidence and time and money spent on them
0:28:38 > 0:28:40by the Parachute Regiment?
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Well, one who's very firmly back in Civvy Street is Philip Tatum.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47We can put it together for £24.90 for you.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50'Today, far from being in some heroic imperial battleground
0:28:50 > 0:28:54'serving his Prime Minister, Philip Tatum is serving her constituents
0:28:54 > 0:28:58'in the Finchley branch of Radio Rentals.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01'Yet in 480 Platoon, he'd always been a front-runner,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03'doing and saying the right things.'
0:29:03 > 0:29:06When you go into battle, you're outnumbered,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08you're low on ammunition and that,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10your life expectancy is about six hours.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12But it's a great regiment.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Do you recognise yourself, Phil?
0:29:14 > 0:29:16Mm-hmm, just about.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Do you still feel the same way about it?
0:29:19 > 0:29:20Yeah, exactly.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23In fact, you don't realise what a great regiment it is
0:29:23 > 0:29:28until you have to leave and then you realise what you're missing then.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31Not only in the field, but when you're actually out in town as well.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33You can always rely on your mates
0:29:33 > 0:29:36being there to watch your back no matter what the situation is
0:29:36 > 0:29:39and they're always there standing by you.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41If they need anything, you'd do the same for them.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45A lot of times, I wished I was back on Civvy Street where it was easy.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47But if I could, I'd go back tomorrow
0:29:47 > 0:29:50and do it again if they'd give me the chance, which they wouldn't.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54'One recruit who did get a second chance was Private Balland.
0:29:54 > 0:29:55'He'd begun badly'.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57Balland, you make me despair!
0:29:57 > 0:30:00'Later in Wales, other talents emerged.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02'He won the confidence of the staff and a prize.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04'But in the rigorous P Company test,
0:30:04 > 0:30:09'Johnny Balland, like many another, fell by the wayside.
0:30:09 > 0:30:10'Yet even in defeat,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14'he showed a fighting spirit and after a spell in hospital,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18'joined a later platoon and is now a successful member of 3 Para.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21'Taffy Hunt, meanwhile, has deserted
0:30:21 > 0:30:25'the Foreign Legion after a brawl in defence of his old regiment.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28'At present, at a cost of four months in jail,
0:30:28 > 0:30:29'he's back with the Paras.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33'But what of Private Cunningham,
0:30:33 > 0:30:35'who staggered from one misfortune to another,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37'but finally staggered through,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40'despite the misgivings of his instructors?'
0:30:40 > 0:30:41I think Cunningham
0:30:41 > 0:30:44would probably have to work about 20 years at his fitness.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48'Two years later, he is, according to his CO, a much improved soldier,
0:30:48 > 0:30:52'serving like most of the other 480 graduates
0:30:52 > 0:30:57'with 3 Para in Belize and, says the regimental colonel,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00'all the other graduates have also justified their selection.
0:31:00 > 0:31:05'Including the tiny Sean Day, who on the trainasium catwalk
0:31:05 > 0:31:07'had refused to jump a few feet'.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09There's 32 men behind you in that aircraft.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12You've got no second chances. Stand by!
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Go!
0:31:15 > 0:31:16Come on! Climb down.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20'Later, after a month's retraining, he'd succeeded,
0:31:20 > 0:31:21'but in parachuting,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24'one man's hesitation could mean another man's death.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27'Many said he should never have been passed.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29'Yet within a year, Sean Day
0:31:29 > 0:31:32'had joined perhaps the world's most famous free-fall parachute team,
0:31:33 > 0:31:35'led by Captain Mickey Munn.'
0:31:35 > 0:31:38I think he's proved with the Red Devils
0:31:38 > 0:31:41that that decision made to pass him was a really good one.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44In my seven years as the team commander,
0:31:44 > 0:31:46I don't think I've had a chap who's joined us
0:31:46 > 0:31:48who's been such a good soldier
0:31:48 > 0:31:50as young Day, and he's a very quick learner.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52He's a super fella.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57'Also in the team, another 480 graduate, Graham Robertson,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59'the only boy to join straight from school.'
0:31:59 > 0:32:03I'm surprised at the speed I've managed to get into the team.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08I spend a lot of weekends parachuting and I think in a way, I'm very lucky
0:32:08 > 0:32:10to have got on to the team so quickly.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14'But as Sean Day prepares to jump, does he think how on that catwalk,
0:32:15 > 0:32:17'he came within a whisker
0:32:17 > 0:32:20'of never being a red beret, let alone a Red Devil?'
0:32:20 > 0:32:22I must admit it does enter my mind now and again.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26I still wouldn't go and do the trainasium. But I'm happy jumping.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31I suppose that you didn't think you'd be doing anything like this
0:32:31 > 0:32:32anyway at that time?
0:32:32 > 0:32:33No, not really.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36And freefalling up to 8,000 feet?
0:32:36 > 0:32:38Love it. I can't get enough of it.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01'Two years on, then,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04'whether they're sweating it out on the ground in Belize
0:33:04 > 0:33:08'or, like Sean Day, coolly airborne in biplane formation,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11'the Paras believe that given a cold climate outside,
0:33:11 > 0:33:13'the graduates of 480 Platoon
0:33:13 > 0:33:17'have, in more senses than one, fallen on their feet.'