Falls Curfew facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Falls Curfew |
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| Part of the Troubles/Operation Banner | |||||||
.JPG) A mural showing the march that broke through the curfew |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 British Government |
 Official IRA Provisional IRA |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Sir Ian Freeland |
Jim Sullivan Billy McMillen Charles Hughes Brendan Hughes |
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| Units involved | |||||||
 British Army |
Belfast Brigade D Company, Belfast Brigade |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 3,000 soldiers | 80–90 volunteers 11 volunteers |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 18 wounded | Unknown Several wounded |
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| 4 civilians killed 60 civilians wounded |
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The Falls Curfew, also known as the Battle of the Falls, was a large operation by the British Army in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It happened from 3 to 5 July 1970 in the Falls area. The operation started as a search for weapons in this area, which was known for its Irish nationalist views.
As the search ended, young people in the area began throwing stones and petrol bombs at the British soldiers. The soldiers fired CS gas in response. This quickly led to gunfights between the soldiers and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). After four hours of fighting, the British commander blocked off the area, which included 3,000 homes. He then ordered a curfew that lasted for 36 hours.
Thousands of British troops entered the curfew zone. They searched houses for weapons. During this time, they faced attacks from the IRA and people rioting. The searches caused a lot of damage, and a large amount of CS gas was used. Many residents said they were treated badly by the soldiers. On 5 July, the curfew ended when thousands of women and children from Andersonstown marched into the area. They brought food and supplies for the people living there.
During the operation, four civilians were killed by the British Army. At least 78 people were wounded, and 337 were arrested. Eighteen soldiers were also wounded. Many weapons and ammunition were taken by the army. The British Army later admitted that some of its soldiers had taken things from homes. The Falls Curfew was a very important event in the Troubles. It made many Catholics and Irish nationalists turn against the British Army. It also increased support for the IRA.
Contents
Background of the Conflict
The riots in Northern Ireland in August 1969 marked the start of a period called the Troubles. In Belfast, Catholic Irish nationalists fought with Protestant Ulster loyalists. They also clashed with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), which was Northern Ireland’s police force. Most RUC officers were Protestant.
Hundreds of Catholic homes and businesses were burned. More than 1,000 families, mostly Catholics, had to leave their homes. The fighting ended when British troops were sent in, an operation called Operation Banner. In December 1969, the IRA split into two groups: the 'Official' IRA and the 'Provisional' IRA. The 'Provisionals' promised to protect Catholic areas.
A week before the Falls Curfew, on Saturday 27 June 1970, there was serious rioting in Belfast. This happened after marches by the Protestant/unionist Orange Order. In the Short Strand, a Catholic area surrounded by Protestant parts of the city, the Provisional IRA fought a five-hour gun battle with loyalists. This event is known as the Battle of St Matthew's. Three people were killed, and the loyalists pulled back. The Provisional IRA said they had successfully defended a Catholic area from armed loyalist groups.
Around the same time, the Official IRA arranged for many weapons to be brought into the Lower Falls area. This area was mostly nationalist and Catholic, and it was a strong base for the Official IRA.
The Operation Begins
Initial Weapons Search
Around 4:30 PM on Friday, 3 July, the RUC and British soldiers from the Royal Scots regiment entered the Lower Falls area. They were there to search for weapons. An informer had told them they would find a hidden store of Official IRA weapons in a house on Balkan Street. A group of five or six armored vehicles arrived at the house and blocked off the street.
The search lasted about 45 minutes. They found 15 pistols, a rifle, a sub-machine gun, and many rounds of ammunition. As the search finished and the troops started to leave, a crowd of young people on Raglan Street tried to block their way. They threw stones at the soldiers. The soldiers responded by firing CS gas at the crowd. The young people kept throwing stones, and the soldiers fired more CS gas. A local republican said people were angry because the army was taking away their only way to defend themselves, especially after the recent events at Short Strand.
Gun Battles and Rioting
The stone-throwing quickly turned into a riot. The soldiers found themselves surrounded and called for more help. Over the next few hours, more troops arrived from different regiments. These included the Black Watch, the Life Guards, the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, the Gloucestershire Regiment, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment.
As more troops arrived at the edge of the area, local people quickly built barricades on several streets. They wanted to keep the soldiers out. Buses were taken and set on fire to create burning roadblocks.
Jim Sullivan, the local Official IRA commander, worried that the troops would launch an even bigger raid. He told his men to move weapons out of the area. Around 6 PM, Provisional IRA volunteers attacked the troops with homemade hand grenades. Some soldiers suffered leg injuries. As more troops arrived, the Officials realized they had to fight. Sullivan ordered his men to confront the troops. An Official IRA source later said they didn't want the fight, but they couldn't just give up their weapons. One source said 60–70 Official IRA volunteers were involved, while another said 80–90. Each volunteer had a rifle and at least one revolver. They exchanged fire with the troops and attacked them with grenades. Hundreds of local young people also threw stones and petrol bombs at the troops.
The British Army kept firing CS gas, using 1,600 canisters in total. Local politicians and priests who were on the streets complained that every time they managed to calm things down, more gas was fired. Slingshots were used to launch heavy CS gas canisters into the area. Some even went through the roofs of houses. According to a local defense group, even streets where there was no trouble received many gas canisters. The amount of CS gas used was considered too much for such a small area. Some residents put buckets of water and vinegar outside their doors. People involved in the clashes could wet rags in these buckets to protect themselves from the stinging gas. A soldier later remembered seeing children, even toddlers, coughing because of the gas. There were claims that some soldiers fired CS gas canisters through house windows while people were still inside. Hundreds of women, children, and elderly or sick people began to leave the area.
The British Army later admitted that its soldiers were involved in 58 incidents of taking things from homes.
The Curfew Begins
At 10 PM on Friday, 3 July, four hours after the fighting started, General Freeland ordered an indefinite curfew for the area. Anyone on the streets was to be arrested. British soldiers announced the curfew using loudspeakers on the ground and from helicopters flying low overhead. The official curfew zone was bordered by Falls Road to the west and north, Albert Street and Cullingtree Road to the east, and Grosvenor Road to the south. However, during the curfew, the zone was extended southwest to Dunmore Street. About 3,000 homes were inside the curfew zone. After the curfew was announced, up to 3,000 soldiers began moving into the area. They were supported by armored vehicles and helicopters. They also started sealing off the curfew zone with barbed wire.
Shooting and rioting continued for several hours after the curfew began. Minutes after the curfew was announced, three soldiers were shot and wounded by Official IRA volunteers in Omar Street. Troops also reported facing "heavy and very accurate sniper fire" in Plevna Street. Billy McKee, commander of the Provisional IRA's Belfast Brigade, called Jim Sullivan and offered help. However, Sullivan refused the offer. The small Provisional IRA unit in the area decided to fight the troops anyway. This unit had up to 11 volunteers led by Charles 'Charlie' Hughes. They fought a gun battle with troops in Cyprus Street before leaving. According to Brendan Hughes, the unit ran out of ammunition. Martin Dillon wrote that by leaving, they "avoided losing what few weapons they had in a fight that could only end badly." Outside the curfew zone, the Springfield Road Army/RUC base was attacked by crowds throwing objects. Soldiers pushed them back with CS gas and baton charges. However, IRA snipers moved in and kept firing at the base on and off. The last shots were fired at dawn on Saturday, 4 July.
Inside the curfew zone, the British Army began searching houses for weapons. They also tore down barricades and made arrests. At least 1,000 houses were searched. Any journalists who stayed inside the curfew zone were arrested by the British Army. It is claimed that because the media could not watch their actions, the soldiers acted "without care." British Army records show that troops were ordered to "be aggressive." Hundreds of houses were searched by force. There were many complaints of soldiers hitting, threatening, insulting, and humiliating residents. Pubs and businesses were also searched, and it is claimed that several were looted by the soldiers.
At a Northern Ireland government meeting on 7 July, it was said that "little structural damage had been reported, apart from the pulling up of floorboards." The ministers decided that a "smear campaign" was being run against the British Army. The British Minister of State for defence, Lord Balniel, defended the soldiers' actions. He said he was impressed by how fairly they were doing a very difficult job.
At 5 PM on Saturday, the Army announced by loudspeaker that people could leave their homes for two hours to get important supplies. However, no one was allowed to leave or enter the curfew zone. During this time, the local Member of Parliament, Paddy Devlin, was arrested by the British Army while talking to people in his area. He claimed that the soldiers threatened to shoot him.
End of the Curfew
Even though the area remained blocked off, by midday on Sunday, 5 July, local people felt that the operation had been given up. According to Hanley and Millar, "the British knew that most of the 'more attractive' weapons had been secretly moved away 'before the cordon was fully effective'." The curfew was broken on Sunday. About 3,000 women and children from the nationalist Andersonstown area marched to the British lines. They brought food and other groceries for the people inside. The soldiers were not ready for this crowd. They tried to hold them back at first, but eventually allowed them to pass through.
By the time the search was over, the troops had found about 100 firearms, 100 homemade grenades, 250 pounds of explosives, and 21,000 rounds of ammunition. The firearms included 52 pistols, 35 rifles, 6 machine guns, and 14 shotguns. Almost all of these items belonged to the Official IRA.
It was later reported that while the Lower Falls was under curfew and the streets were empty, the British Army had driven two Ulster Unionist Party government ministers, John Brooke and William Long, through the area in armored vehicles. This made nationalists very angry. They saw it as a sign of unionist victory over an area controlled by British military force.
People Affected
The British Army killed four civilians during the operation:
- Charles O'Neill, a 36-year-old Catholic civilian, died on 3 July. He was hit by a British Saracen APC on the Falls Road during the initial rioting. Witnesses said he walked onto the road and tried to stop the APCs. However, the lead vehicle sped up and "on purpose" ran him over. One witness said soldiers poked O'Neill in the ribs. One soldier reportedly said: "Move on you Irish bastard – there are not enough of you dead." O'Neill was a former soldier who was unable to work due to injury.
- William Burns, a 54-year-old Catholic civilian, was shot dead at the front door of his home on the Falls Road on 3 July. He had just finished talking to a neighbor when he was shot in the chest. The shooting happened around 8:20 PM, almost two hours before the curfew was announced. A doctor who examined him said the bullet was likely a ricochet (a bullet that bounces off a surface).
- Patrick Elliman, a 62-year-old Catholic civilian, was shot in the head on Marchioness Street on the night of 3 July. He died from his injuries on 10 July. He had walked to the end of the street in his night clothes "for a breath of fresh air." Elliman was taken away in an ambulance. However, the ambulance was searched and sent on a different route by the British Army. This meant it took thirty minutes to reach the Royal Victoria Hospital, which was only a few hundred yards away. That night, British soldiers broke into Elliman's home and stayed there for the night.
- Zbigniew Uglik, a 23-year-old man of Polish background who lived in England, was shot dead at the back of a house on 4 July. He was an amateur photographer and had been taking pictures of the riots. Uglik was in a house on Albert Street, at the edge of the curfew zone. He decided to get another camera from his hotel. A British Army sniper shot him as he climbed over the back wall of the house, shortly after midnight.
Another 60 civilians were wounded by gunshots. Eighteen soldiers were also wounded; twelve by gunshots and six by grenades. A total of 337 people were arrested, including Official IRA leader Billy McMillen.
Aftermath and Impact
The Falls Curfew was a major turning point in how the British Army and the Irish nationalist/Catholic community viewed each other. Historian Richard English wrote that it "arguably made the relationship between the British Army and the Catholic working class much worse." Before this event, many Catholics saw the British Army as a neutral force that would protect them from the police. However, the events of the Falls Curfew made the Irish republican idea seem more true: that the British Army was a hostile army of occupation. According to Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams, "Thousands of people who had never been republicans now actively supported the IRA; others, who had never believed in using force, now saw it as a necessary action."
According to the Provisional IRA's official manual The Green Book, before September 1969, British soldiers were not to be shot. But after the Falls Curfew, all British soldiers became acceptable targets for the people.
Another result of the Falls Curfew was a deeper hatred between the two parts of the Irish Republican Army, the 'Official' IRA and the 'Provisional' IRA. They had separated in December 1969. The Officials accused the Provisionals of tricking them into a fight they could not win and then leaving them to fight alone. This led to the Officials losing many of their weapons. Over the next year, the two groups often shot and beat each other's members. They eventually agreed to a truce to stop more bloodshed. This happened after the Officials killed a young Provisional named Charlie Hughes. Hughes was the commander of the Provisional unit in the Lower Falls and had taken part in some of the fighting during the Curfew.
See also
