0:00:02 > 0:00:09This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13In the white heat of the conflict in the early 1970s,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Northern Ireland was a laboratory
0:00:16 > 0:00:20for bomb-making and bomb disposal technology.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30The counter-measures developed then
0:00:30 > 0:00:33help save lives in Afghanistan today,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35as NATO forces fight the Taliban's deadly use
0:00:35 > 0:00:41of improvised explosive devices, better known as IEDs.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47The hard yards earned by those guys in Northern Ireland in the early '70s
0:00:47 > 0:00:50have formed all the philosophy and principles that we have
0:00:50 > 0:00:52for improvised explosive device disposal.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57Remote means, the wearing of a bomb suit, electronic counter-measures,
0:00:57 > 0:00:59all that experience has been learnt from Northern Ireland,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02especially 321 Squadron, which was operating at that time.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08David Greenaway, Paul Wharton and Dave Young
0:01:08 > 0:01:11served as bomb disposal officers in 321 Squadron
0:01:11 > 0:01:14at the height of the Northern Ireland conflict.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19We lost 17 operators.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24None of these guys, not one of them received a medal,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27and I think that's wrong.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32With limited training, ammunition technical officers,
0:01:32 > 0:01:37better known as ATOs, were about to step into a conflict like no other.
0:01:39 > 0:01:45The fact is that in the early '70s, they were ordinary men,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47doing an extraordinary job.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52And it was a job that many of them never expected to do,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55but found themselves doing it in the teeth of the storm,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59the like of which probably the world had never seen.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23A bomb has an effect on the human body like no other weapon.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27The shockwave alone detaches the limbs from the trunk.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31It enters the mouth and blows off the top of the head.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33It turns human tissue into vapour.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38In some instances, all that remains is the spine.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45The IRA planted their first bomb of the Troubles in 1969,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48marking the start of a 30-year-long campaign.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56An ATO's lonely approach to a suspect device
0:02:56 > 0:02:58soon gained the fitting moniker,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00the long walk.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06I would put on a bomb suit, my number two would dress me,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10and I'd be going through in my mind my plan of action.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13People say
0:03:13 > 0:03:16the only reason we wore the suits was to keep our bodies together.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19If you're on top of a bomb, the chances are,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22if it goes off, you're not going to live.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25The last thing that goes on,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28and it cuts you off from the rest of the world, is the helmet.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31The visor comes down, away you go.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37There's something inside of you saying,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40walk slowly, and it'll take you longer,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43or walk quickly, you're there quicker and get away quicker.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49You're using all your senses. You were smelling, you were listening.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Your mind was working in overdrive, thinking about plan A.
0:03:53 > 0:03:59You can feel your pulse quickening, you can feel your palms sweating.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02As you walk, you know that there's nothing going to save you
0:04:02 > 0:04:04if that device functions.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08TICKING
0:04:50 > 0:04:51When I was posted to Londonderry,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54I always marched in front of the colonel,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and he laid the law down to me
0:04:56 > 0:04:59that I was there to do the job as I was trained to do,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I wasn't there to be a hero,
0:05:01 > 0:05:06and no-one during his tour of duty would be collecting medals.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Which was how it turned out.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12I must say, the colonel did pick up an OBE when he left the province.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18You know, I expected to see peace and normality,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21but it's even more normal than I expected.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24All the people just going about their everyday business.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26No overt security measures anywhere.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31The number of people actually on the streets has impressed me,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33which I didn't expect to see.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37It just shows how resilient people are, if you give them a chance.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42It shows how our mindset is still back 30 or 40 years ago.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44There's a danger of that, yeah.
0:05:48 > 0:05:53'I always wanted to be a soldier.'
0:05:53 > 0:05:58So as soon as I was old enough, which was 15, I went down and signed up.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02Because I was a grammar school boy and done well in the aptitude tests,
0:06:02 > 0:06:07they said I should become an ammunition technician.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08Of course at that time,
0:06:08 > 0:06:13nobody mentioned that part of the job involved bomb disposal.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18The job is mainly around the inspection, repair,
0:06:18 > 0:06:23storage and transport of the British Army's vast ammunition stocks.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25You need to know the ins and outs
0:06:25 > 0:06:27of all the different ammunition types,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29natures and systems and so on.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33We were basically ammunition examiners,
0:06:33 > 0:06:39and then of course Northern Ireland kicked off, and then very quickly,
0:06:39 > 0:06:40I realised what I'd got into,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43as did others on the course.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45But it was too late then.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56'I was a young soldier,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00'I hadn't seen really very much of life at all.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04'We arrived on the ferry and I was amazed, really,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06'the soldiers themselves, it looked like
0:07:06 > 0:07:09'they haven't slept for three or four nights
0:07:09 > 0:07:11'and their uniforms were tatty.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15'Their weapons were wrapped in black masking tape,'
0:07:15 > 0:07:19their vehicles were spattered in paint and battered and smashed.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23That was my first impression of Northern Ireland.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Wherever you looked, it was sandbag bunkers,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31machine guns, vehicles rolling up and down, blue lights flashing.
0:07:31 > 0:07:37It looked like some sort of insurrection was under way.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02The earliest IRA devices were basic and unstable,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05with timing mechanisms that differed little
0:08:05 > 0:08:07from those used by Republicans in the 1880s.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14The IRA was just learning its trade, but so too were the bomb squad.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18A personal battle between IRA bomb designers
0:08:18 > 0:08:22and the members of 321 EOD had begun.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29The basic IED comprises very few components.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31A power source, a battery,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35some form of circuitry that links the battery to an initiator.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38A switch of some description to arm the IED,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42then you've got the main charge which is either military explosive,
0:08:42 > 0:08:43a commercial explosive
0:08:43 > 0:08:45or a home-made explosive of some description.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52The training of today's ATOs is overseen by Colonel Gareth Collett,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56who has the final say over who deploys on operations
0:08:56 > 0:08:57in Iraq and Afghanistan.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Gareth served two tours in Northern Ireland.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04One as an ATO in 1993.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Going right back to the start of it,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11the types of IED that people may encounter would be victim-operated.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14You have to stand on it or pull something for it to function.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Command, that could be command wire types of improvised explosive devices, or time.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22During the early days of the campaign
0:09:22 > 0:09:24in Northern Ireland, those three types of device developed
0:09:24 > 0:09:30to the best advantage that the Provisional IRA could gain from them.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35When Northern Ireland first started,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39the tools of the trade were tin snips. Scissors.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44We had no remote equipment, so a lot of the early devices
0:09:44 > 0:09:46were cut into with a Stanley knife,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50and wires cut with wire snips.
0:09:50 > 0:09:57We never, ever cut wires unless we knew exactly what was there.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59This business about walking up to a bomb
0:09:59 > 0:10:02and cutting the red wire is pure Hollywood.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06The only time I cut wires is if I'd split a device open
0:10:06 > 0:10:10and it was all laid out and I knew exactly what I was dealing with.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13You're looking to separate out the electrical circuit
0:10:13 > 0:10:15and you're looking to separate out the explosive circuit.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17If you can separate either of those two,
0:10:17 > 0:10:21the device is well on its way to being rendered safe.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27By 1972, the IRA seemed to be able to cause
0:10:27 > 0:10:30civilian and military deaths at will
0:10:30 > 0:10:33in cities and towns across Northern Ireland.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39People just staggering around in all different directions.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Dust and muck in their eyes. Terrible.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49I saw two people dead and there were at least three women with no legs.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Screaming...
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Some in the British Army felt that,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59in the difficult urban environment, they were losing the war.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03In the urban environment, line of sight is difficult.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06There's always the option for a shoot to be put up against you
0:11:06 > 0:11:11and it's quite easy for the perpetrator of the IED to escape.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14You have to go where the roads are, you have to negotiate yourself
0:11:14 > 0:11:18through all the clutter that you find in that sort of environment.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20You've got to get there as quickly as you possibly can
0:11:20 > 0:11:24to try and mitigate the threat and bring the situation back to normal.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36So this is Royal Avenue. And somewhere down here...
0:11:37 > 0:11:40..was the Grand Central Hotel.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Behind which was the GPO sorting office.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Now, at the moment, I can't recognise anything at all,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49so I guess we walk down here
0:11:49 > 0:11:54and see if I can pick up a couple of the side streets.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57My team and I were sent down into Belfast
0:11:57 > 0:12:02to be located in the Grand Central Hotel,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06which was being used as a barracks for the city centre regiment.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09This is all that's left of Garfield Street, I think,
0:12:09 > 0:12:14because I suspect there used to be a road here.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17So the central door of the hotel was...
0:12:17 > 0:12:21which we all poured out of... was somewhere around here.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25But actually, all that has completely gone.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29It's a very nice-looking Debenhams.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34'Late morning, suddenly the bomb alarm went off in the building.'
0:12:34 > 0:12:41And I said, "I'm an ATO, what do you want? What's going on?"
0:12:41 > 0:12:43And he said, "There's a bomb in the sorting office,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46"you need to evacuate now."
0:12:48 > 0:12:52All arrived round the front of the Grand Central Hotel,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55and I was trying to collect my thoughts.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57It was full of people.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00It was just teeming with noise and soldiers mixed up with civilians.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Suddenly there was a small explosion in the sorting office.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14At which point a chap then came out of the sorting office,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17which was about 50 yards away down this narrow alley,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and I said, "Is there anybody else in there?"
0:13:20 > 0:13:24He said he was the boiler man and he didn't know, no-one had told him.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27So I said, "Right, I'm just going to have a quick look inside,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30"make sure there's nobody there."
0:13:30 > 0:13:32So I ran into the building.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37I went up to the mezzanine floor, and I looked through this door,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41into this room full of smoke billowing out.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44In the back of my mind was,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48this is an unusual modus operandi for the IRA.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Small devices in this way
0:13:50 > 0:13:53are not the way they attack the Grand Central Hotel.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56And, er...
0:13:56 > 0:14:00So I felt, well, I'd better leave here. I've done enough.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I left the room, got to the top of the stairs
0:14:03 > 0:14:07and a second device detonated, I found out later,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10above the doorway that I'd just walked out.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15And the blast blew me down the stairs,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19bits of plaster and rubble falling about me.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23I had the distinct feeling that the hair on the back of my head
0:14:23 > 0:14:25was just stood up rigid.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31And then, five minutes, 10 minutes later, this massive explosion
0:14:31 > 0:14:36from the GPA sorting office, just this whacking great ba-boom.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46You can't help but reflect on it,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50you have to think how close to death you've come.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Um...
0:14:53 > 0:14:56All operators have these near-death experiences.
0:14:56 > 0:14:57There's no doubt about it.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02You don't do this job without near-death experiences.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Most people are lucky, one way and the other.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09If you were to ask me, what would I rather be?
0:15:09 > 0:15:13Er... A highly proficient operator or lucky?
0:15:13 > 0:15:14I think I would rather be lucky.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41The IRA had developed a sophisticated new device
0:15:41 > 0:15:44containing two motion sensitive switches,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46which functioned as an anti-handling device.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Suddenly, the ATO had become the target.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56The first operator to be killed was Captain Stewardson.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Captain Stewardson was called
0:15:59 > 0:16:05to the Castlerobin Orange Lodge near Belfast,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09and he was faced with a wooden container,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13and he was attempting to remove the lid off this device
0:16:13 > 0:16:15when it functioned.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20We had scientists in UK working round the clock
0:16:20 > 0:16:24to produce things that could assist us,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and they came up with disruptors.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Disruptors were normally fired by explosive,
0:16:33 > 0:16:38and sending something into the device so fast
0:16:38 > 0:16:41that it would cut wires
0:16:41 > 0:16:45quicker than the battery could send the power round to the detonator.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Once you've disrupted a device,
0:16:48 > 0:16:54you would then put a hook and line on what was hopefully now
0:16:54 > 0:16:58a scattered device to pull it to pieces.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02You could then cut out the detonator and the battery,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06provided it wasn't a complicated device.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09But each of those is cat and mouse.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13A type of device would be developed and used against us to good effect.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16They would look at the equipment solutions that we'd brought in
0:17:16 > 0:17:18to try and deal with that,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20and they changed the way in which they employed the device
0:17:20 > 0:17:21to their advantage.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50I think in the early days in Northern Ireland,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53we had a few fatalities,
0:17:53 > 0:17:58and each one was investigated and gone into in great detail.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01It was discovered that there might be the possibility
0:18:01 > 0:18:03that some of the operators were ignoring
0:18:03 > 0:18:06some of the newfangled devices that were coming in.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11It was thought at the highest level that some people were perhaps
0:18:11 > 0:18:15getting high on the adrenaline and taking unnecessary risks.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18And they introduced psychometric testing
0:18:18 > 0:18:22to try and weed out the traits in someone's personality,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26where he might disregard safety procedures and take additional risks.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31The first thing we had to do, was sit for about four hours
0:18:31 > 0:18:34and go through four exam papers.
0:18:34 > 0:18:40The questions were so loaded towards suicidal tendencies
0:18:40 > 0:18:45that we knew what the aim of that questionnaire was.
0:18:45 > 0:18:51But then we had others that would ask questions like,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55would you like to wear pink furry slippers?
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Do you like looking down railway lines that disappear into tunnels?
0:18:58 > 0:19:00This sort of thing.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03We couldn't understand why they were asking all these stupid questions.
0:19:03 > 0:19:10None of us had any idea what the right answer was to these,
0:19:10 > 0:19:12so it was quite random.
0:19:12 > 0:19:19And then you would have an hour's interview with the Army psychiatrist.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22He, in the end, would say whether you were fit to go
0:19:22 > 0:19:23to Northern Ireland or not.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32The IRA bombing campaign was in full swing in Derry,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36where Dave Greenaway and Dave Young had been posted,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40involving regular trips over the often treacherous Glenshane Pass.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Whenever we had to go down to Lisbon,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48normally to change a bit of equipment that had broken down
0:19:48 > 0:19:50or to collect a bit of equipment that had been developed,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52we used to come over the Glenshane,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and we knew the baddies used this as a training area.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59We often travelled in a covert car, a Q car.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03We were always concerned that we might get stopped
0:20:03 > 0:20:05by an illegal checkpoint.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09There were two of you, you had pistols,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12but you didn't have an escort or anything like that.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17If you were jumped on, it was up to you to get yourself out of it.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Luckily, that never happened.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24We were OK doing the things we were trained to do,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27but the actual soldiering part of it,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30we were slightly out of our comfort zone.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32A bit foreign to us!
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Although they always say,
0:20:34 > 0:20:38you're a soldier first and a tradesman second. But, er...yeah.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49In Londonderry, there were so many bombs being placed,
0:20:49 > 0:20:50especially on the weekend.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Saturday, it was not unusual
0:20:54 > 0:21:00to have 15 to 20 bombs in the city at one time.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06The Diamond, Austin's chemist and Ferry Quay Street.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11One of these must be... Is that Ferry Quay Street?
0:21:11 > 0:21:16I always remember we went to the Little Diamond
0:21:16 > 0:21:20and I was doing a job there and I shot a shotgun at the device
0:21:20 > 0:21:23because it was behind barbed wire
0:21:23 > 0:21:25and I wanted a bit of breathing space.
0:21:25 > 0:21:32When I shot the shotgun, the crowd started singing, "Nice one, Cyril."
0:21:32 > 0:21:37# Nice one, Cyril Nice one, son
0:21:37 > 0:21:40# Nice one, Cyril Let's have another one. #
0:21:40 > 0:21:43And then they'd go, "Whoo, whoo!"
0:21:43 > 0:21:44It was just...
0:21:46 > 0:21:51It was a bit surreal because you had this real party atmosphere
0:21:51 > 0:21:55and there's a massive great device there in the corner.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58It was good.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06One night I was called to Austins in the very centre of Londonderry,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09a multiple story department store.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11The alarm had gone off
0:22:11 > 0:22:15and terrorists had been seen going into the building.
0:22:15 > 0:22:16The policeman said,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18"We were here within minutes of the alarm going off
0:22:18 > 0:22:20"and a terrorist might still be in the building."
0:22:20 > 0:22:22He said, "if I were you,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24"I'd keep your eyes peeled and take a weapon."
0:22:24 > 0:22:27I cocked my nine millimetre pistol as well.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32I went into the building and I found two devices on the landing,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34blast devices, high explosives in them,
0:22:34 > 0:22:39and I shotgunned one of them and destroyed the disruptor,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43neutralised it and used the disruptor on the other timing powered mechanism
0:22:43 > 0:22:45and neutralised that one.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49I started to walk round the store to see if there were any more
0:22:49 > 0:22:51and I bumped into a counter.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54On the other end of the counter, a tailor's dummy fell over
0:22:54 > 0:22:58and I spun around and I saw this body flash past my line of sight
0:22:58 > 0:23:01and I put three rounds in it before it hit the ground.
0:23:01 > 0:23:02I felt rather stupid
0:23:02 > 0:23:05when I saw this tailor's dummy with its head all smashed open.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Then I walked around the store and I found four more devices,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12so there were six bombs in the store.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I didn't think they'd put any more there to do the job they wanted to do.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18I was quite proud of the fact
0:23:18 > 0:23:22that I saved the lovely old building, and it's still here today.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27I found Londonderry quite a surprising place
0:23:27 > 0:23:30because I'd never experienced the sectarianism
0:23:30 > 0:23:33and the divided communities.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38When I was taken around, and someone said, "This is the Catholic estate, this is the Protestant estate."
0:23:38 > 0:23:41It's something I'd never experienced before.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44I was up-to-date with current affairs and I did realise
0:23:44 > 0:23:47that certain sectors of the community were disadvantaged,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51but I didn't see the reason for the violence and the bombs.
0:23:51 > 0:23:57In my eyes, there were things that were wrong socially
0:23:57 > 0:23:59and they should've been put right
0:23:59 > 0:24:02without resorting to violence and lawbreaking.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06I remember there was a festival of Derry
0:24:06 > 0:24:08and they had a display of model aircraft.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11We got our kit out and we were practising with it.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16We set our electronic countermeasure equipment to active from passive,
0:24:16 > 0:24:18so it swamped the frequencies.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21A lot of the model aircraft plunged into The Foyle.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24The boss came down screaming, "Shut it off, shut it off!"
0:24:24 > 0:24:30I think the radio control model club had quite a few baddies as members.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35They used that as a way of acquiring the radio control electronics
0:24:35 > 0:24:39that they used in some of the devices we had to deal with.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46The technology battle between the IRA and the ATO intensified
0:24:46 > 0:24:50as the IRA's bomb-making capability advanced.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53They began to develop electro magnetic technology.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Radio controlled bombs.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01I was called to the Killea border post,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03which was a caravan.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Two or three men had arrived,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08placed a cardboard box
0:25:08 > 0:25:11inside the caravan,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15and then stuck a wire onto the door.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22That information led me to presume
0:25:22 > 0:25:25that it must have been
0:25:25 > 0:25:27a radio controlled device,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30because if it was a booby trap, the slamming
0:25:30 > 0:25:33of the door would've activated whatever it was supposed to do.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38Therefore, the only reason for the wire to be stuck to the door
0:25:38 > 0:25:40was that it was an aerial.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44I reckon the caravan was just about here.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Yeah.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54I remember that field. I don't know if the shrubbery was there then.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58I don't think it was. We went into the open field.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59But it's, er...
0:26:02 > 0:26:06Except for the housing, it's just certainly very familiar. Yeah.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11Because it was a custom's post, of course it was on the border.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14The terrorist, we found out later on,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17was actually situated the other side of the border
0:26:17 > 0:26:21in a house not too far distant, waiting for me
0:26:21 > 0:26:24to walk up to the caravan.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28In those days,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32we had very new ECM equipment.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Electronic Counter Measures.
0:26:34 > 0:26:35As it was very new,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38no-one really knew what it actually did.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43So I said to the operator
0:26:43 > 0:26:46that I'll dummy an approach
0:26:46 > 0:26:48and see what happens.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51I'd only gone ten or 15 yards
0:26:51 > 0:26:53when he got a signal,
0:26:53 > 0:26:58which confirmed that there was a radio controlled device in the area.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06The terrorists, wherever we went,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09there was always someone there watching us.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12We knew that and what they were doing was watching
0:27:12 > 0:27:15what we were doing.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Luckily, we had another piece of equipment which allowed me
0:27:19 > 0:27:22to set off the device remotely
0:27:22 > 0:27:26and therefore we lost a caravan, but we didn't lose a life.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33You have to respect the capabilities of your opponent.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35If you don't respect him, he'll kill you.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37You need to know what his capabilities are,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41and by understanding that, you can work out the limitations.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44If you look at Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48the IEDs range from simple devices
0:27:48 > 0:27:50to very complex devices.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53You could generally work out from your threat assessment that
0:27:53 > 0:27:56if there was no obvious target, it was probably you.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25The introduction of the car bomb was a major development by the IRA.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28It meant the bomber could conceal the device from the ATO.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31He would have to open both car doors and the boot
0:28:31 > 0:28:34to locate the bomb so that it could be worked on,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37each action providing the opportunity for a booby trap.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42Terrorists started making homemade explosives,
0:28:42 > 0:28:44and these were less powerful than commercial explosives,
0:28:44 > 0:28:48and so they often had to increase the weight of the explosives.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52A very convenient way of delivering a bomb to an urban area
0:28:52 > 0:28:54would be to put it in a vehicle.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00The terrorists also worked out
0:29:00 > 0:29:02that if we were given too long to deal with them,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06we would be successful in dealing with a car bomb.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08And so they used the technique of making shorter
0:29:08 > 0:29:11and shorter time delays before the car bomb went off.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16Mounting casualties within the bomb squad led commanding officer
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Lieutenant Colonel George Styles to ask,
0:29:18 > 0:29:21"With men having landed on the moon,
0:29:21 > 0:29:25"how come bomb disposal officers have to walk up to a device
0:29:25 > 0:29:27"and attach a string to it?"
0:29:27 > 0:29:29He and a colleague dreamed up a remote vehicle that could
0:29:29 > 0:29:31tow a bomb into a workable space.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Later, it could be used to carry other vital devices
0:29:34 > 0:29:36such as disrupters and cameras.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39The Wheelbarrow, as it quickly became known,
0:29:39 > 0:29:42was a game changer in favour of the ATO.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44It often meant the difference
0:29:44 > 0:29:47between life and death.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49The early, early attempts
0:29:49 > 0:29:53at remote controlled vehicles were very crude.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56When I was using it, it still had limitations
0:29:56 > 0:29:59of not being able to go through doorways and upstairs
0:29:59 > 0:30:01and that sort of thing, or cross country.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05But the development of the techniques
0:30:05 > 0:30:09and the equipment was very, very rapid at that time.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12We found that if we were able to put a small charge into the car
0:30:12 > 0:30:16to blow the doors and the windows open, quite often this disrupted
0:30:16 > 0:30:19the link between the timing mechanism and the main charge.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25We often were pushing this equipment to its limits,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27and while we were working on the ground, we were also feeding
0:30:27 > 0:30:31back information to help develop new bits of equipment.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34We were improvising as we went along.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38Some of the disruptive equipment that we would use on our devices
0:30:38 > 0:30:40were quite violent.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46I had an anti-tank gun which we carried in the bag.
0:30:46 > 0:30:51An 84mm Carl Gustav anti-tank gun, which we would fire from a stand.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54Again, the intention is to disrupt
0:30:54 > 0:30:58whatever the target is, so that's quite violent.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Part of the equipment that was developed in the early '70s
0:31:06 > 0:31:09was the protective clothing that we wore, called the bomb suit.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12This was very, very heavy.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15We joked about the bomb suit and said, "What use is this?
0:31:15 > 0:31:19"If we're blown up, we're going to be blown to pieces and that's it."
0:31:19 > 0:31:23But it was pointed out that while we were making our approach
0:31:23 > 0:31:27to a device, should it function, the bomb suit may well save our lives.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Oh, this is very familiar. Yeah.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45The middle of one night, I was called out to a suspect car bomb
0:31:45 > 0:31:49in Custom House Street, just around the corner from the Guild Hall.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54I understand the Guild Hall had been caught in what's known as the binman bomb.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57The stained glass windows had been destroyed.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01A lot of work was going on to restore the Guild Hall
0:32:01 > 0:32:03back to its former glory.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I understand the stained glass windows had just been replaced.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08We were at Fort George
0:32:08 > 0:32:11and we came down round the back of the Guild Hall.
0:32:11 > 0:32:17We parked our vehicle and I set my remote vehicle,
0:32:17 > 0:32:19came up this road and down here,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22and carried out a controlled explosion.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31This is where we set up our incident control point.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35I decided after I'd carried out the first controlled explosion,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39I had to suit up at this point and walk down the road here,
0:32:39 > 0:32:43carrying a weapon just in case I needed it.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45You know, a disrupter.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47I was thinking about what I planned to do next.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50I was hoping the controlled explosion had done the job.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55And I got to this point here and I could see the car.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58It was just down there by that red letter box.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03I realised once I'd turned the corner,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06I was in danger from the car if it went up.
0:33:11 > 0:33:12I stood at this point here.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17I looked into the boot of the car
0:33:17 > 0:33:21and I could see two milk churns in the boot.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26I could see that all the detonating cords and the power unit
0:33:26 > 0:33:29had been disrupted by the controlled explosion, so I thought
0:33:29 > 0:33:30the only job that was left to do
0:33:30 > 0:33:33was to get the milk churns out of the boot.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35CLOCK TICKS
0:33:37 > 0:33:40The Wheelbarrow wasn't capable of getting the milk churns out,
0:33:40 > 0:33:45but we had a sort of heavy duty, what we called an Eager Beaver,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49which is a cross country capability remote control vehicle.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52As soon as it touched the vehicle, there was an almighty explosion.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02As soon as we heard the blast, we dived underneath the vehicles
0:34:02 > 0:34:04and some bits started landing around us.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07The two milk churns that had been disconnected from the timing
0:34:07 > 0:34:10and power unit, they were expelled and rolled down the road here
0:34:10 > 0:34:13and they didn't explode.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20We surmised that a third milk churn on the backseat had exploded,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23and after putting the front seats together,
0:34:23 > 0:34:26we reckoned that it had been booby trapped,
0:34:26 > 0:34:28maybe even aimed at someone like myself.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32I don't think my bosses were too pleased
0:34:32 > 0:34:35because one of the remote control vehicles
0:34:35 > 0:34:38had been destroyed in the explosion.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40I don't think the people in Londonderry were very pleased
0:34:40 > 0:34:44because the stained glass windows were blown in again.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47But having said that, if I hadn't removed those two milk churns
0:34:47 > 0:34:50from the boot, I think the Guild Hall might've been destroyed.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54I did suspect that it might've been booby trapped,
0:34:54 > 0:34:55but it was sobering
0:34:55 > 0:34:58to think that I'd been stood alongside this car
0:34:58 > 0:35:02and a couple of minutes later, there was a big hole in the ground
0:35:02 > 0:35:06and the largest part of the car that I could find
0:35:06 > 0:35:08was no bigger than a grapefruit.
0:35:10 > 0:35:11This is were I could've died.
0:35:13 > 0:35:14But I survived.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20It's a funny feeling, it's quite emotional.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Yeah, quite emotional.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52The provisional IRA had moved beyond simple devices.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55They'd moved beyond
0:35:55 > 0:36:01electrical engineering-type components and devices.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05By then, they'd sort of settled into stuff that worked.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14They'd moved very, very rapidly to a point
0:36:14 > 0:36:16that really did stretch us, I would say.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25In a very small number of years,
0:36:25 > 0:36:29they developed very sophisticated tactics.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35We very much had to respond to what they were doing,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38so they would be ahead of the game.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44They put in anti-handling devices, anti-lift switches,
0:36:44 > 0:36:49radio controlled devices, trembler devices.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52The trouble with those devices, of course,
0:36:52 > 0:36:54is they're more difficult to make,
0:36:54 > 0:37:00and we had intelligence that some bomb makers were killing themselves
0:37:00 > 0:37:02trying to make these devices,
0:37:02 > 0:37:06and quite often they would chose a young lad to go
0:37:06 > 0:37:11and lay the device and occasionally they would get killed
0:37:11 > 0:37:15because when they pulled the pin out like they were told to,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19the device was not safe and went up in their faces.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51Now the IRA, often acting in their own backyard of South Armagh,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53could afford to be cunning,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56luring army vehicles into the killing zone.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Unlike in the city, the bomber could have a vantage point
0:37:59 > 0:38:02where they were unlikely to be disturbed, and could detonate
0:38:02 > 0:38:06the device by command wire, ensuring maximum effect.
0:38:09 > 0:38:10In the real environment,
0:38:10 > 0:38:14you've got to be able to what we call rehearse planned operations.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19If there's an IED in a rural area, why is it there?
0:38:19 > 0:38:22What's the purpose of that device being laid?
0:38:22 > 0:38:24What's the likely target?
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Generally they are large, buried,
0:38:29 > 0:38:33probably command initiated to some degree.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37You can bet your bottom dollar that they are trying to force you
0:38:37 > 0:38:39to use roads or something along those lines
0:38:39 > 0:38:42to try and bring you into a killing area.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01Got a telephone call to report to the operations room at Bessbrook.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05There was a civilian being talked to by the police in the operations staff
0:39:05 > 0:39:08and he was water board work
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and he'd been checking various coverts in the Chancellors Road.
0:39:11 > 0:39:18And he was saying there was a couple of milk churns in this covert well.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21You know, a couple of milk churns tells us one thing.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23It's an ambush device.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30None of that was here.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34That house wasn't here, this house wasn't here.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38But what is unmistakeable is this wall.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43This is it.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48This is our covert.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53I mean, your nerves are absolutely stretched
0:39:53 > 0:39:57and every sense that you have is on guard.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00So you're trying to look everywhere at once,
0:40:00 > 0:40:05you're looking, especially, where you're putting your feet.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07You're looking where you put your hands,
0:40:07 > 0:40:10you're looking for anything out of the ordinary
0:40:10 > 0:40:13that you might not expect to see down there.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21And, to my surprise, there wasn't two milk churns,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23there was seven milk churns,
0:40:23 > 0:40:27although I couldn't see that at this point.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30There were so many, you couldn't count them.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33We're talking about a quarter of a tonne of high explosives.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38A device of that nature is going to create a crater
0:40:38 > 0:40:44which is probably 10 feet deep, about 20 or 30 feet diameter.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46It's a bloody great hole in the ground.
0:40:48 > 0:40:54So any vehicle passing over it at the time, you know,
0:40:54 > 0:40:57could be blown bits of it - up to a quarter of a mile away.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08You've got this sense of foreboding as you approach the blooming thing.
0:41:08 > 0:41:13As you can appreciate, you know, you're...
0:41:13 > 0:41:15Well, you're scared.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22These devices then to be detonated one of two ways -
0:41:22 > 0:41:27either by remote control, radio control, or it would be by command wire.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30This particular device was a command wire device,
0:41:30 > 0:41:33so it had a 500 metre wire running up the side of a hill.
0:41:35 > 0:41:40Now, the Royal Engineers had tracked for us the command wire,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44which was laid running along the hedge, all the way up to the firing point.
0:41:46 > 0:41:52And one of the engineers had spotted a blue battery pack.
0:41:52 > 0:41:59And I approached the battery pack with the intention of, um...
0:41:59 > 0:42:02moving it, hook and lining it,
0:42:02 > 0:42:06cos you never know, these things are booby-trapped.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08The ground had been trampled with cows -
0:42:08 > 0:42:13I was really pleased about that, because it wasn't going to be a pressure mat or anything -
0:42:13 > 0:42:16but as I was about to put the line around the battery pack,
0:42:16 > 0:42:18I noticed this very fine fishing wire.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Following the fishing wire into the long grass,
0:42:22 > 0:42:24there was another device there.
0:42:26 > 0:42:31The idea is the terrorist would have detonated the device
0:42:31 > 0:42:34under a police or military vehicle on this road.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36They would have hoped that the Army, in hot pursuit,
0:42:36 > 0:42:42would have pulled the battery pack and set off that secondary device,
0:42:42 > 0:42:48which was about eight pounds of home-made explosives.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57It's a case now, then, of dragging these milk churns
0:42:57 > 0:42:59out into the open where you can get to them,
0:42:59 > 0:43:03and once it's all dismantled, it's a case of then withdrawing
0:43:03 > 0:43:07out of the place and the country will be put back to normal.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14We neutralised that device
0:43:14 > 0:43:18and later in the year, at the end of my tour, actually,
0:43:18 > 0:43:22I decided we would have a photograph of all the people I had worked with.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24And, as we were putting the chairs away,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27suddenly this "bu-boom" echoed all the way round the hills.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30It was quite clear what had happened,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33a large device had gone off somewhere not too far away.
0:43:34 > 0:43:42One of their patrols had been ambushed on the Chancellor's Road,
0:43:42 > 0:43:47two vehicles, two Saracens, and the second vehicle had been taken out.
0:43:47 > 0:43:52So I went, got in a helicopter, had a look round the site,
0:43:52 > 0:43:56and there was just this massive hole.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59The vehicle had effectively disintegrated.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02The soldiers had been killed instantaneously,
0:44:02 > 0:44:04but not blown to pieces -
0:44:04 > 0:44:09their bodies had been kept together by the webbing and all the rest of it,
0:44:09 > 0:44:11but the skeletons would be shattered.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14And that was a very sad day.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16That was the other end of the Chancellor's Road,
0:44:16 > 0:44:20whereas, earlier in the year, we'd had exactly the same sized device.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23Hm.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35The bomb maker, as far as I was concerned,
0:44:35 > 0:44:39I didn't see them, really, as a personal enemy.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42In the most part they weren't out to get me,
0:44:42 > 0:44:43occasionally they were.
0:44:45 > 0:44:50We didn't think too much about the terrorists we were up against.
0:44:50 > 0:44:56We were more involved in the intricacies of the devices they were planting,
0:44:56 > 0:45:01and I considered that it was a privilege to do that job.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04It was a job where you were the man on the ground,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07the only one that could really sort out the problem.
0:45:07 > 0:45:12But, you did have to have respect for the fact that they
0:45:12 > 0:45:15were obviously very, very intelligent people.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19The electrical engineering on a lot of their devices
0:45:19 > 0:45:21was absolutely outstanding.
0:45:25 > 0:45:30We weren't interested in the politics of the bombers.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34In fact, you had bombers from both sides -
0:45:34 > 0:45:38the Catholic, or nationalists, and the Protestants.
0:45:38 > 0:45:44There was no enquiry as to who'd actually laid it
0:45:44 > 0:45:48or why it was laid, we were there just to get rid of the thing.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54The enemy in these circumstances is completely anonymous.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59You don't see the enemy, you don't know who they are.
0:45:59 > 0:46:04What I do know is that they were highly professional in what they did.
0:46:04 > 0:46:09They rewrote the Anarchist's Cookbook, frankly.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12Most terrorist organisations today will have learned
0:46:12 > 0:46:16from the tactics they used against us.
0:46:17 > 0:46:22But, you know, they are absolutely ruthless,
0:46:22 > 0:46:24and without pity.
0:46:24 > 0:46:30And their campaign was against innocent women and children.
0:46:30 > 0:46:36And I've seen the results, so, in a sense, they're anonymous,
0:46:36 > 0:46:43and I don't have any feelings for them one way or the other, um...
0:46:49 > 0:46:54321 EOD were a very tight-knit squadron, and by the end of 1974
0:46:54 > 0:46:58the death toll amongst their ranks had reached 14.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01The pressure on ATOs starting a new tour became greater,
0:47:01 > 0:47:05as did the anxiety felt by their families back home in England.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11I didn't go for my first tour until 1973,
0:47:11 > 0:47:14but the year before that
0:47:14 > 0:47:19I lost two or three, or maybe four, very good friends,
0:47:19 > 0:47:23and I suddenly realised that, you know, this was quite serious.
0:47:24 > 0:47:31I always remember coming back to Northern Ireland
0:47:31 > 0:47:35with Ron Beckett on the ferry, and within three or four days
0:47:35 > 0:47:39of us being on the ferry together, he was dead.
0:47:39 > 0:47:46A very unfortunate situation where he went in to the shop
0:47:46 > 0:47:50after laying a disruptor, and as he walked in
0:47:50 > 0:47:56a tile fell off the roof and hit the bomb and set it off and killed him.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58Just plain bad luck.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07When we went to Northern Ireland to do this job,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09we were very much involved in what we were doing,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12and you didn't really have time to think about
0:48:12 > 0:48:15what was going on at home with your wife,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17and I had a wife and a young baby, a two-year-old.
0:48:17 > 0:48:23But if there was an explosion and an operator was injured or anything like that,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26we were to ring home to say, "It's not us,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29"I'm safe, don't worry," that sort of thing.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33But they didn't worry, and in many ways it was worse for them,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36because they didn't really know what we were dealing with.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41I mean, I used to phone my wife and she'd say, "Have you been busy?"
0:48:41 > 0:48:46"No, no, no." So you would play down what you were doing.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49When I went back at the end of the tour
0:48:49 > 0:48:53and she found out some of the stuff I'd been doing, she said,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56"But you told me you were doing nothing."
0:48:56 > 0:48:59I said, "Well, that was just to keep you unworried."
0:48:59 > 0:49:06But I think the wives of ATOs and ATs are a special kind, anyway,
0:49:06 > 0:49:12because to be married to a bloke who's always at risk,
0:49:12 > 0:49:17even in his normal job, of possibly getting injured or killed,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19takes some special woman.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30At the end of my tour of duty, I was replaced by another warrant officer,
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Warrant Officer Michael O'Neil.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37I'd known Mick for some time, we'd served together before,
0:49:37 > 0:49:41and he took over my team and I left the province.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48I left on the Monday, and it was the following Sunday.
0:49:48 > 0:49:54My father-in-law said to me, "There's a soldier been killed in Ireland in Newry."
0:49:54 > 0:50:00And I said to my wife, "I've got a bad feeling about this."
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Anyway, the news came on the radio,
0:50:03 > 0:50:08and suddenly, "The soldier killed in Ireland this morning
0:50:08 > 0:50:11"has been named as Warrant Officer Michael O'Neil."
0:50:11 > 0:50:17And, you know, I felt like I'd been hit in the stomach.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19I just sat down, and my wife burst into tears.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30You know, it was...
0:50:30 > 0:50:36All I could think of was the boy's family, really.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43Mick was called to a car that had been used
0:50:43 > 0:50:48in the shooting of a police officer at Whitecross,
0:50:48 > 0:50:52and the car was parked just here on the crossroads there.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59Now, clearly, the car had been used in a murder,
0:50:59 > 0:51:06and Mick would have wanted as much forensic evidence to be collected as possible,
0:51:06 > 0:51:10so he took it easy working on the car.
0:51:10 > 0:51:15Our modus operandi on a car was often to burn them out and blow them up,
0:51:15 > 0:51:21but Mick decided not to do that and, over the next hour or so,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24two hours perhaps, he worked to clear that car.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27We don't know what happened after that,
0:51:27 > 0:51:32because unfortunately his number two had been asked
0:51:32 > 0:51:37to get some equipment from the rear of the vehicle and didn't even know
0:51:37 > 0:51:41that Mick had gone back down to the car,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45and suddenly there was the quack of an explosion,
0:51:45 > 0:51:48and everybody realised that Mick wasn't around.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52There are two types of operators -
0:51:52 > 0:51:56those that are lucky and those that are unlucky.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Mick O'Neill was very unlucky.
0:52:01 > 0:52:06You know, you could put yourself in my position to know that
0:52:06 > 0:52:09you could have done it similarly to Mick,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11and if I had, you know, it would have been me.
0:52:13 > 0:52:18And that's the way it works in this job.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20You know...
0:52:20 > 0:52:22Just a lonely crossroads.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28And people drive past here every day and no-one knows what happened here.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37And I guess that's the way it is.
0:52:45 > 0:52:50You still hear them talking. You can still see their faces.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56They're always going to be with you for the rest of your life.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01And, yeah, maybe you forget about it for so long,
0:53:01 > 0:53:06and then something happens and it brings it back.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08It's the same with all soldiers,
0:53:08 > 0:53:12you don't forget your friends and colleagues who didn't make it.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16You're there, you've made it, there but for the grace of God...
0:53:26 > 0:53:32People have asked me on a few occasions, "What makes a good EOD Operator?
0:53:34 > 0:53:36It's very difficult to determine,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39because we're all completely different people.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41Courage is particularly important.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45Courage not least to walk up to something that has a good chance
0:53:45 > 0:53:47of killing you if you get something wrong.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52Selfless commitment, I think, is the second important attribute,
0:53:52 > 0:53:58because you're working as part of a team and you're prepared to put your life down for that team,
0:53:58 > 0:54:01regardless of what life you have back anywhere else.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05Clarity of thought if you don't get your threat assessment right
0:54:05 > 0:54:09and you don't respect your opponent, well, you're in trouble.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12So, if you've got all those attributes together,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15you're probably going to survive the long walk.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45If you look back on the Northern Ireland conflict,
0:54:45 > 0:54:51which is pretty much over now, we lost 17 operators.
0:54:51 > 0:54:57Three quarters of those who died were killed by the end of 1974.
0:54:57 > 0:55:02That was a time when everything was most volatile.
0:55:09 > 0:55:14The IRA were rolling out new tactics all the time.
0:55:14 > 0:55:20Our equipment and our render-safe procedures were relatively immature.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24When you consider that these men were, for the most part,
0:55:24 > 0:55:29ammunition examiners, that when the campaign broke out
0:55:29 > 0:55:34there was no pool of hired specialists to do this job...
0:55:38 > 0:55:43These were ordinary men being asked to do
0:55:43 > 0:55:47what many would consider is an extraordinary job.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53It's not simply about recognition to me,
0:55:53 > 0:55:56it's about appreciation, you know.
0:55:57 > 0:56:03Have these men, what they did, under these circumstances,
0:56:03 > 0:56:05have they really been appreciated?
0:56:05 > 0:56:08Because I don't think they have.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14Those guys from the early '70s, in particular between 1971
0:56:14 > 0:56:17and '75, paid with their lives, ultimately,
0:56:17 > 0:56:21and, if we hadn't taken those casualties at that time in Northern Ireland
0:56:21 > 0:56:24in those early days, we probably wouldn't have the robust system
0:56:24 > 0:56:27which has developed over 40 years that we have now.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35The thing I remember most about Northern Ireland
0:56:35 > 0:56:40is the success that we had, the excitement that we felt
0:56:40 > 0:56:46when we prevented people being injured or we saved someone's property or his business.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48That gave me a great deal of satisfaction.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54Look at this, like at this now. This is fantastic.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57'People say, "You're a hero for what you did,"
0:56:57 > 0:57:01'and I don't consider we're heroes at all.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03'We did what we were trained to do.'
0:57:03 > 0:57:07We did the job we were trained to do.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11Quite often I'll be walking along and suddenly, you know,
0:57:11 > 0:57:13Northern Ireland will pop into my head,
0:57:13 > 0:57:18and quite often I think of, "Nice one, Cyril."
0:57:18 > 0:57:22Especially, it was played on the radio the other day whilst I was out walking,
0:57:22 > 0:57:25and I just chuckled to myself and it took me back
0:57:25 > 0:57:29to little Lymon and all these people singing, "Nice one, Cyril."
0:57:31 > 0:57:34People say, "Were are all these people's deaths worth it?"
0:57:35 > 0:57:38I don't think it was worth it.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41All life that was lost has been wasted.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45But I think the current situation in Northern Ireland,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48where they were to where they are today,
0:57:48 > 0:57:51it's been a long and torturous thing,
0:57:51 > 0:57:55but it's a fantastic thing that peace reigns now.
0:57:55 > 0:58:01We've just got to hope it does not stumble back into the anarchy of yesterday.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03And I don't think it will.
0:58:29 > 0:58:33Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd