Editing Bloody Sunday (1972) (section)

===Report===
The report of the inquiry<ref>{{cite web |url=http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/ |title=Report of The Bloody Sunday Inquiry |access-date=15 June 2010 |date=15 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225161158/http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/ |archive-date=25 February 2011}}</ref> was published on 15 June 2010. It concluded, "The firing by soldiers of 1 PARA on Bloody Sunday caused the deaths of 13 people and injury to a similar number, none of whom was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume01/chapter005/ |title=The overall assessment |access-date=15 June 2010 |work=Report of The Bloody Sunday Inquiry |date=15 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101103103930/http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume01/chapter005/ |archive-date=3 November 2010}}</ref> It stated that British paratroopers "lost control", shooting fleeing civilians and those who tried to help the wounded.<ref name="Bloody Sunday Inquiry: victims were all unarmed and killed without justification, says Saville report" /> The civilians had not been warned by soldiers that they intended to shoot.<ref name="Bloody Sunday report states those killed were innocent">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/northern_ireland/10320609.stm |title=Bloody Sunday report states those killed were innocent |date=15 June 2010 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |access-date=15 June 2010 |archive-date=15 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615184801/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/northern_ireland/10320609.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> Contrary to the soldiers' claims, the report concluded that the victims were unarmed, and no nail bombs or petrol bombs were thrown.<ref name="Bloody Sunday Inquiry: victims were all unarmed and killed without justification, says Saville report">{{cite news |author=John Bingham, Rosa Prince and Thomas Harding |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/7829208/Bloody-Sunday-Inquiry-victims-were-all-unarmed-and-killed-without-justification-says-Saville-report.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505053114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/7829208/Bloody-Sunday-Inquiry-victims-were-all-unarmed-and-killed-without-justification-says-Saville-report.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 May 2013 |title=Bloody Sunday Inquiry: victims were all unarmed and killed without justification, says Bloody Sunday report |date=15 June 2010 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=15 June 2010}}</ref> "None of them fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombers."<ref name="gov.uk"/> It stated that while some soldiers probably fired out of fear and recklessness, others did not, and fired at civilians they knew were unarmed.<ref>[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279167/0030.pdf Principal Conclusions and Overall Assessment of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308093358/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279167/0030.pdf |date=8 March 2021 }}. [[The Stationery Office]], 15 June 2010. pp. 40–45</ref> The report stated that soldiers lied to hide their acts.<ref name="Bloody Sunday Inquiry: victims were all unarmed and killed without justification, says Saville report" /> Soldier H, who fired the most bullets, claimed to have fired 19 separate shots at a gunman behind a frosted glass window, but missed each time, and suggested all the bullets had gone through the same hole.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 October 2003 |title=Soldier admits 19 shots story is incredible |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/oct/07/northernireland.richardnortontaylor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202031929/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/oct/07/northernireland.richardnortontaylor |archive-date=2 February 2023 |access-date=31 January 2022 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

The inquiry concluded that an Official IRA sniper, positioned in a block of flats, fired one round at British soldiers, who were at the Presbyterian church on the other side of William Street. The bullet missed the soldiers and hit a drainpipe. The inquiry concluded that it was fired shortly ''after'' the British soldiers had shot Damien Donaghy and John Johnston in this area. It rejected the sniper's account that he fired in reprisal, concluding that he and another Official IRA member had already been in position and probably fired simply because the opportunity presented itself.<ref name="SavilleSnipers312">{{cite web |url=http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume01/chapter003/#the-report |title=Report of The Bloody Sunday Inquiry – Volume&nbsp;I – Chapter 3 |publisher=Bloody Sunday Inquiry |date=15 June 2010 |access-date=15 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824013430/http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume01/chapter003 |archive-date=24 August 2010}}</ref> The inquiry also concluded an Official IRA member fired a handgun at a British APC from behind a gable wall near Rossville Flats, but there is no evidence the soldiers noticed this. The IRA member said he fired three rounds in anger after seeing civilians shot. He was seen by Father [[Edward Daly (bishop)|Edward Daly]] and others, who shouted at him to stop.<ref>[https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20101017060951/http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume04/chapter058/ Report of The Bloody Sunday Inquiry - Volume IV - Chapter 58] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130063615/https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20101017060951/http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume04/chapter058/ |date=30 January 2022 }}. [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]].</ref>

[[Martin McGuinness]], a senior member of [[Sinn Féin]] and later the [[deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland]], stated in his testimony that he was second-in-command of the [[Provisional IRA Derry Brigade]] and was at the march.<ref name="bbchist"/> Paddy Ward told the inquiry he was the local leader of [[Fianna Éireann]], the IRA youth wing, in January 1972. He claimed that McGuinness and another unnamed IRA member gave him bomb detonators on the morning of Bloody Sunday, with the intent to attack premises in Derry city centre that day. McGuinness rejected the claims as "fantasy", while Gerry O'Hara, a Sinn Féin councillor in Derry, stated that he, not Ward, was the Fianna leader at the time.<ref name="INNES" /> The inquiry was unsure of McGuinness's movements on the day. It stated that while he had probably been armed with a [[Thompson submachine gun]], there was insufficient evidence to state whether he fired it, but concluded "we are sure that he did not engage in any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire".<ref name="SavilleMcGuinness3119">{{cite web |url=http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume01/chapter003/#the-report |title=Report of The Bloody Sunday Inquiry – Volume&nbsp;I – Chapter 3 |publisher=Bloody Sunday Inquiry |date=15 June 2010 |access-date=15 June 2010 |quote=3.119 in the course of investigating the activities of the Provisional and Official IRA on the day, we considered at some length allegations that Martin McGuinness, at that time the Adjutant of the Derry Brigade or Command of the Provisional IRA, had engaged in paramilitary activity during the day. In the end we were left in some doubt as to his movements on the day. Before the soldiers of Support Company went into the Bogside he was probably armed with a Thompson sub-machine gun, and though it is possible that he fired this weapon, there is insufficient evidence to make any finding on this, save that we are sure that he did not engage in any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824013430/http://report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/volume01/chapter003 |archive-date=24 August 2010}}</ref>

Regarding the soldiers in charge on Bloody Sunday, the inquiry arrived at the following findings:

*Lieutenant Colonel [[Derek Wilford]]: Commander of 1 Para and directly responsible for the arrest operation. Found to have 'deliberately disobeyed' his superior, Brigadier Patrick MacLellan, by sending Support Company into the Bogside (and without informing MacLellan).<ref name="bbc.co.uk" />
*Major [[Ted Loden]]: Commander in charge of Support Company, following orders from Lieutenant Colonel Wilford. Cleared of misconduct; the report stated that Loden "neither realised nor should have realised that his soldiers were or might be firing at people who were not posing [...] a threat".<ref name="bbc.co.uk" /> The inquiry found that Loden could not be held responsible for claims (whether malicious or not) by some of the soldiers that they had received fire from snipers.
*Captain [[Mike Jackson (British Army officer)|Mike Jackson]]: [[Adjutant]] of 1 Para on Bloody Sunday.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=General Sir Mike |title=Soldier |year=2007 |publisher=Bantam Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-593-05907-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/soldierautobiogr00jack |page=57}}</ref> Cleared of sinister actions for compiling the "Loden List of Engagements". This was a brief account of what soldiers told Major Loden about why they had fired. This list played a role in the Army's initial explanations. The list did not include soldiers' names. Jackson told the inquiry it was simply a record of shots fired, not an investigative document. While the inquiry found the compiling of the list was 'far from ideal', it accepted Jackson's explanations.<ref name="bbc.co.uk" />
*Major General [[Robert Ford (British Army officer)|Robert Ford]]: Commander of land forces in Northern Ireland and set the British strategy to oversee the march in Derry. Cleared of any fault, but his choice of 1 Para, and in particular his selection of Wilford to be in control of arresting rioters, was found to be disconcerting, as "1 PARA was a force with a reputation for using excessive physical violence, which thus ran the risk of exacerbating the tensions between the Army and nationalists".<ref name="bbc.co.uk" />
*Brigadier Pat MacLellan: Overall operational commander of the day. Cleared of any wrongdoing as he believed Wilford would follow orders by arresting rioters and then returning to base, and could not be blamed for Wilford's actions.<ref name="bbc.co.uk" />
*Major Michael Steele: With MacLellan in the operations room and in charge of passing on the orders of the day. The inquiry accepted that Steele did not know there was no longer a separation between rioters and peaceful marchers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/2521517.stm |title=BBC NEWS – UK – N Ireland – Major gives Bloody Sunday evidence |website=Bbc.co.uk |date=27 November 2002 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203082544/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/2521517.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>
*a Lance Corporal referred to as "Soldier F" was found responsible for five of the killings on Bloody Sunday.<ref name="bbc.co.uk" />
*Intelligence officers Colonel Maurice Tugwell, and [[Colin Wallace]] (an Army press officer): Cleared of wrongdoing. The inquiry concluded the information Tugwell and Wallace released through the media was not a deliberate attempt to deceive the public, but rather due to the inaccurate information received.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/8577087.stm |title=BBC News – Britain's propaganda war during the Troubles |website=Bbc.co.uk |date=22 March 2010 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203075757/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/8577087.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>

Reporting on the findings of the Saville Inquiry in the House of Commons, British Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] said:{{blockquote|Mr Speaker, I am deeply patriotic. I never want to believe anything bad about our country. I never want to call into question the behaviour of our soldiers and our army, who I believe to be the finest in the world. And I have seen for myself the very difficult and dangerous circumstances in which we ask our soldiers to serve. But the conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10322295 |title=BBC News – Bloody Sunday: PM David Cameron's full statement |work=BBC News |date=15 June 2010 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=17 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717032630/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10322295 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}
Cameron added: "You do not defend the British Army by defending the indefensible."<ref>{{cite news |author=RTÉ News |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0615/bloodysunday.html |title=Bloody Sunday killings 'unjustifiable' |date=15 June 2010 |access-date=15 June 2010 |archive-date=16 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616210952/http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0615/bloodysunday.html |url-status=live}}</ref> He acknowledged that all those who died were unarmed when they were killed and that a British soldier had fired the first shots at civilians. He also said that this was not premeditated, though "there was no point in trying to soften or equivocate" as "what happened should never, ever have happened". Cameron apologised on behalf of the British Government, saying he was "deeply sorry".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jun/15/david-cameron-bloody-sunday-apology |title=David Cameron condemns Bloody Sunday killings and makes apology |work=The Guardian |location=London |last=Stratton |first=Allegra |date=15 June 2010 |access-date=29 January 2017 |archive-date=3 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103100426/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jun/15/david-cameron-bloody-sunday-apology |url-status=live}}</ref> A survey by [[Angus Reid Public Opinion]] in June 2010 found that 61 per cent of Britons and 70 per cent of Northern Irish agreed with Cameron's apology.<ref>{{cite web |author=Angus Reid Public Opinion |url=http://www.visioncritical.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010.06.28_Sunday_BRI.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203194217/http://www.visioncritical.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010.06.28_Sunday_BRI.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 December 2011 |title=Britons and Northern Irish Welcome PM's Apology for Bloody Sunday |publisher=Angus Reid Public Opinion |date=28 June 2010 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> Stephen Pollard, a solicitor representing several of the soldiers, said the report had cherry-picked the evidence and did not have justification for its findings.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/northern_ireland/10320609.stm |title=Bloody Sunday killings 'unjustified and unjustifiable' |work=BBC News |date=15 June 2010 |access-date=17 June 2010 |archive-date=15 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615184801/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/northern_ireland/10320609.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>