New Lodge Six shooting facts for kids

Quick facts for kids New Lodge Six shooting
Part of the Troubles
A mural to the six men killed which reads "The New Lodge Six – Time for the Truth"
Location	New Lodge, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date	3-4 February 1973
Attack type	Shooting, mass murder
Weapons	Rifles
Deaths	6 (4 civilians and 2 Provisional IRA Volunteers)
Non-fatal injuries	9
Perpetrators	British Army, UDA, suspicion collusion

The "New Lodge Six" refers to six Catholic men who were shot and killed in the New Lodge area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. This tragic event happened during the late hours of 3 February and early hours of 4 February 1973.

Four of the men were shot by British Army snipers at the junction of Edlingham Street. These included one member of the IRA and three civilians. The other two men were shot by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). One of them was an IRA member, and the other was an Italian citizen who owned a local café.

Over the years, there have been claims that the British security forces and paramilitary groups worked together, which is known as "collusion." In 2018, Northern Ireland's Attorney General asked for an investigation into these deaths. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to ask the PSNI to investigate. Because of this, the families of the victims started a legal case in 2020 to seek answers.

Understanding The Troubles in Northern Ireland

The conflict known as The Troubles began in August 1969. There was serious rioting in Belfast, and the British Army was called in to help keep order. Soon after, a new group called the Provisional IRA started a campaign of shootings and bombings against the British.

In response, loyalist paramilitary groups like the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) began killing people from the nationalist community in Northern Ireland. They also bombed places in the Republic of Ireland.

This was a very difficult and violent time. All sides were involved in terrible events where many civilians were killed. Some examples include:

• The McGurk's Bar bombing, where the UVF killed 15 civilians.
• Bloody Sunday, where the British Army shot and killed 14 Catholic civilians.
• Bloody Friday, where the IRA caused explosions that killed 9 people, including British soldiers, a UDA member, and civilians.

New Lodge: A Challenging Area

The New Lodge area, located near the city centre, had a strong history of Irish republicanism. It was also surrounded by areas where loyalists lived. This made it a place where a lot of violence happened during The Troubles.

In the early 1970s, most of the Protestant people living there left due to threats. They were replaced by Catholic families who had been forced to leave loyalist areas of Belfast. The New Lodge was a stronghold for the Third Battalion of the IRA's Belfast Brigade. Because of this, gun battles and riots between the IRA, the British Army, and loyalist groups happened almost every day in the early 1970s. Violence also occurred during other tense times, like the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike. The area was often attacked by loyalist paramilitaries, especially through drive-by shootings.

The Shootings in New Lodge

The first few days of February 1973 were very violent in Belfast. Fourteen people died, and many more were hurt in gun attacks across the city. On Friday, February 2, the body of a 28-year-old Catholic man, Patrick Bradley, was found in a car. An 18-year-old petrol pump worker was also shot and killed in his café. Earlier that day, ten people were injured when gunmen fired from a moving car. It was thought that undercover British Army soldiers might have been involved in this shooting.

Tension was very high in Belfast on Saturday, February 3. The UDA had marched from many parts of the city to a police station. They were demanding that two of their members, who had recently been put in prison without trial, be released. This was the first time loyalists faced this kind of imprisonment, which led to many protests and riots.

Events of February 3-4, 1973

The first shooting in the New Lodge area happened around 11:00 PM. Members of the UDA shot and killed James Sloan (19) and James McCann (18). Both were IRA members. They were standing outside Lynch's Bar when a car drove by and fired shots. The car then drove down the Antrim Road and fired at a Chinese restaurant, injuring other people.

After this first attack, local residents came out onto the streets to see what had happened. They soon came under heavy gunfire from several different places. British Army soldiers fired many shots at the crowd from Duncairn Gardens, down Edlingham Street, and from the top of Templar and Alamein Flats. For the first time in Northern Ireland, the army was using new 'Nitesights' equipment. Four more people were shot and killed by British snipers: Tony Campbell (19), Ambrose Hardy (26), Brendan Maguire (33), and John Loughran (35).

New Lodge Six mural

Aftermath and Questions

After the shootings, the British Army released a statement. They claimed that between 11:45 PM and 3:00 AM, there was a serious gun battle in the New Lodge area. They said that nearly 200 shots were fired at security forces in about 30 separate incidents, and they fired back most of the time. The army stated that seven of the people shot were gunmen, and six of them died.

However, people who witnessed the events disagreed with the army's statement. They claimed that none of the people who were shot were armed when they were killed. For example, the sister of Ambrose Hardy said he was waving a white petticoat when he was killed.

Six years later, Ambrose Hardy's brother, John Hardy (43), was killed by UVF gunmen while he was eating dinner with his six children.