Report of the The Bloody Sunday Inquiry volume 2

Section: The Division into Sectors
The five sectors
The Division into Sectors

Chapter 10: The five sectors

10.1 In order to make the fast-moving and complex events of Bloody Sunday more comprehensible, for the purposes of this Inquiry we divided into five sectors the parts of Londonderry with which we were principally concerned. The civil rights march on 30th January 1972 started in the Creggan and made its way to the Bogside. The deaths and injuries with which this Inquiry is principally concerned all took place in, or on the borders of, the Bogside. The sectors were defined both in terms of time and in terms of geography, though as will be seen, there is an overlap in both time and geography between Sectors 2, 3, 4 and 5. For example, significant events took place in Sector 3 after the principal events of Sector 5. Four of the sectors (Sectors 2–5) lie within the Bogside. The sectors are shown on the marked map below.



10.2 At the beginning of our consideration of the events of each sector, we set out a description of the relevant features of that sector.

Report of the The Bloody Sunday Inquiry
- Volume II - Chapter 11

11.2 Sector 1 encompasses what was happening on 30th January 1972 before two companies of 1 PARA entered the Bogside. In terms of geography, Sector 1 lay immediately to the north of the Bogside. Most of the events relevant to Sector 1 occurred in the southern part of the sector, in and around William Street on the border of the Bogside. We make a brief reference to the northern and eastern areas of the sector, some parts of which featured in the evidence that we received. It is also necessary to explain the location of some of the barriers erected on 30th January 1972 by the security forces. These barriers were within the area covered by Sector 1.

The northern part of Sector 1

11.3 On the map below, the blue dotted line shows the position of William Street. Great James Street ran parallel to, and to the north of, William Street. On the upper half of the map is marked the Municipal Technical College, also known as Foyle College. The Foyle College car park was the first location to which 1 PARA moved on its arrival in the city. As described in more detail later, two companies of 1 PARA then moved to different Forming Up Positions (FUPs): A Company to Springham Street and Support Company to Clarence Avenue. As we describe below, later in the day A and C Company moved to Princes Street and Support Company to Queen’s Street.

11.4 Part of the area depicted on the map above is shown on the following photograph.1 At the top of the photograph is Brooke Park, used by 1st Battalion, The Coldstream Guards (1 CG) as their tactical headquarters on Bloody Sunday.

1 Supplied to the Inquiry by Brigadier MacLellan.

11.5 Waterloo Place lay at the eastern end of William Street. It can be seen near the centre of the map below. Shipquay Place, the marchers’ original intended destination, could be reached from Waterloo Place. Shipquay Place was also known as Guildhall Square. The Guildhall itself was on the north-east side of the square. On the other side of the square, and opposite the Guildhall, was the north-eastern side of the old City Walls. Part of the City Walls is shown on the map, marked by a dotted line.

11.6 The photograph below1 shows the Guildhall and part of the City Walls. The photographer was looking south-west across the walled city. Some of the Bogside is seen on the right-hand side of the photograph, to the right of the City Walls. The position of the City Walls has been marked with a dotted line.

1 Supplied by Captain Conder.

William Street

11.7 At its western end, William Street met Creggan Street, Little Diamond and Francis Street. Approximately 130 yards south-east from this junction, William Street formed a T-junction with Abbey Street, which ran in a south-westerly direction into the Bogside. Abbey Street was within the no-go area. About 150 yards further east, William Street formed a crossroads with Rossville Street (which ran towards the south-west and was within the no-go area) and Little James Street (which ran north-east and was outside the no-go area). In January 1972 some people, particularly members of the security forces, called this junction Aggro Corner. About 95 yards south-east of this junction was the junction of William Street and Chamberlain Street (which ran southwards from William Street and was within the no-go area). William Street then ran for about another 85 yards, still in a south-easterly direction, and came to an end at Waterloo Place.

11.8 The photograph below1 shows the whole of William Street. The words “Rossville Rd” have been written in ink on the photograph. The correct name of the labelled street is Rossville Street.

1 Supplied by Brigadier MacLellan.

11.9 The photograph below1 shows the junction of William Street, Little Diamond, Creggan Street and Francis Street.

1 Supplied by the Imperial War Museum.

11.10 The photograph below,1 which was taken on Bloody Sunday, shows the marchers at the western end of William Street, heading downhill towards the junction with Rossville Street and Little James Street. On the right-hand side of the photograph, the fascia of Harrison’s Garage has been marked. Soldiers were positioned in this derelict garage during the march.

1 Taken by Jeffrey Morris of the Daily Mail.

11.11 The photograph below,1 taken after Bloody Sunday, shows the section of William Street to the west of the junction with Rossville Street. Little Diamond can just be seen on the right of the picture. The fascia of Harrison’s Garage, shown this time from the back, can be seen on the north side of William Street. In the foreground, and running parallel to William Street, is Great James Street. On the south side of Great James Street is the Presbyterian church. On the left (east) side of the church a large flat roof can be seen. This formed part of the General Post Office (GPO) sorting office.

1 Supplied by Brigadier MacLellan.

11.12 The following photograph1 was taken looking westwards along William Street and shows the area east of Abbey Street in more detail. On the south side of William Street, two waste grounds can be seen. The first is immediately to the east of Abbey Street and was known for the purposes of the Inquiry as the Abbey Street waste ground. The building on the corner of Abbey Street and William Street is the Grandstand Bar.

1 Provided to the Widgery Inquiry by the Army.

11.13 The second waste ground is further to the east and is seen in the middle of the photograph. It was known as the laundry waste ground, because a laundry used to stand on that ground. The building had disappeared by the time of Bloody Sunday. The laundry is, though, still shown on some of the maps used by the Inquiry. It can be seen, for example, on the map shown at the beginning of this chapter. The building on the north-west corner of the laundry waste ground is the Nook Bar. On the far left of the photograph can be seen the northernmost part of Columbcille Court, a modern residential development.

11.14 The roof of the GPO sorting office can be seen in the bottom-right-hand side of the photograph. Above and to the left of that roof is a derelict building with nine windows on its eastern side. This derelict building was known to the Inquiry as Abbey Taxis, after the name of a business that was at one time run from there.

11.15 The photograph below,1 which is an enlargement of part of the photograph reproduced above, also shows the location of Abbey Taxis, the laundry waste ground, Columbcille Court and the Presbyterian church. On the north side of William Street, to the east of Abbey Taxis, can be seen a further waste ground. This was sometimes described during the course of the Inquiry as the factory waste ground; at one time Richardson’s factory (also known as Richies) stood on that land.

1 Supplied by Brigadier MacLellan.

Columbcille Court

11.16 The Columbcille Court buildings were bordered to the north by an access road, also known as Columbcille Court, to the east by a block of maisonettes known as Kells Walk, to the south by Glenfada Park North (a modern set of low rise flats surrounding a courtyard) and to the west by Abbey Street. A further enlarged segment of the above photograph, reproduced below, shows Columbcille Court highlighted in blue. It consisted of a number of linked, three-storey buildings, with a car park on the eastern side and a courtyard behind the central part of the northern block. Horizontal slats can be seen on the eastern corner of the northernmost building. There was a staircase, with a landing on the first and second floors, behind these slats.

11.17 An external staircase ran up the northern gable end of Kells Walk. The staircase can just be seen in the above photograph. To the north of that staircase was an alley that provided pedestrian access between Rossville Street and Columbcille Court.

11.18 The photograph below,1 which was taken on Bloody Sunday, shows the northern end of the car park of Columbcille Court. The photographer was looking north. The garden fence of the northernmost maisonette of Kells Walk can be seen on the right. In the middle distance on the left of the photograph is the laundry waste ground. To the right of the waste ground are the backs of buildings on William Street. The people shown in the photograph were moving towards the alley that gave access to Rossville Street.

1 Taken by William Rukeyser.

11.19 The following photograph1 shows Columbcille Court from the south-east and the car park on the eastern side. Visible on the far side of Columbcille Court are the laundry waste ground and the Abbey Street waste ground.

1 Supplied by Captain 021. This photograph was not taken on Bloody Sunday.

The view westwards from the junction of William Street, Rossville Street and Little James Street

11.20 The next photograph1 was taken on Bloody Sunday and shows the marchers in William Street. The foremost people are at the junction between William Street, Rossville Street and Little James Street. Harrison’s Garage is visible in the background. The word “Taxis” can be seen, painted on the Abbey Taxis building. A poster bearing the word “Alice” is visible on a wall on the left-hand side of the picture. This wall was situated at the junction between William Street and Rossville Street. The photograph, though, gives a misleading impression of distance; as the aerial photographs above show, between Abbey Taxis and the next building to the east was an area of waste ground, not seen in this photograph. Abbey Taxis was approximately 75 yards from the corner with Rossville Street. In the photograph, it appears much closer. We give further details of the junction below.

1 Taken by Larry Doherty on Bloody Sunday.

11.21 The photograph below1 was taken from the east, looking west up William Street. It shows in more detail the western side of the junction between William Street and Rossville Street. The row of buildings on the left includes the office of another taxi business, City Cabs, to which we refer later in this report.2

1 Supplied by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This photograph was not taken on Bloody Sunday.

Little James Street, Prince Arthur Street and Sackville Street

11.22 The photograph below,1 which was not taken on Bloody Sunday, gives a view from the east and looks westwards up William Street. The junction in the foreground is the point at which William Street, Rossville Street and Little James Street meet. The electricity sub-station can be seen near the centre of the photograph.

1 Supplied by the Imperial War Museum.

11.23 A road running parallel to William Street can be seen on the bottom-right-hand side of the photograph. This road was Prince Arthur Street. By the end of January 1972, this road had fallen into disuse and formed part of the waste ground that can be seen in the foreground of the photograph, being used as a car park.

11.24 The photograph below1 was taken on Bloody Sunday, from that waste ground. It shows Little James Street, running northwards from its junction with William Street. The perimeter fence of the GPO sorting office can be seen behind the group of men on the left of the picture. Behind the fence is the sorting office itself, with the Presbyterian church to the right of the sorting office. The large white building in the middle of the photograph is the Sterritt and Henry pet shop. An Army barrier erected on Bloody Sunday and known as Barrier 12, can be seen immediately to the right of the pet shop blocking the northern exit of the junction between Little James Street and Sackville Street. Sackville Street can be seen leading away from the pet shop, on the right-hand side of the picture.

1 Taken by Gilles Peress.

11.25 Sackville Street can be seen in the aerial photograph below,1 which was taken from the west side of the William Street and Little James Street junction. The photograph was taken before Bloody Sunday. It shows that the route of the disused Prince Arthur Street was blocked with fencing.

1 Supplied by Captain 021 and taken before Bloody Sunday.

The eastern part of William Street

11.26 The following photograph,1 which was not taken on Bloody Sunday, shows the William Street buildings on the eastern side of the junction of that street with Rossville Street and Little James Street. The building on the corner, marked “C. Bradley and Son”, was generally known during the Inquiry as “Con Bradley’s pub”.

1 Supplied by the MoD

11.27 Shops lined both sides of William Street from its junction with Rossville Street and Little James Street to its junction with Waterloo Place. The photograph below,1 which was taken on Bloody Sunday, shows some of these shops. The photograph was taken from behind an Army barrier erected on Bloody Sunday in William Street, known as Barrier 14, and the photographer was looking westwards towards the junction with Rossville Street. In the background can be seen the shop of James Porter, a radio enthusiast who recorded some of the Army’s radio transmissions on the day. On the left is Quinn’s shop. An alleyway can be seen between Quinn’s shop and the café next door. This alleyway was known as Macari’s Lane; and sometimes as Quinn’s Lane. It led southwards from William Street to a waste ground that was known to the Inquiry as the Eden Place waste ground.

1 Taken by AB Brown.

11.28 The location of these shops and of Macari’s Lane can be seen in the map below.

11.29 The map shows a lane running in a north-easterly direction from William Street, opposite Macari’s Lane. As the map indicates, the lane continued until it met, at right angles, the route once taken by Prince Arthur Street. This lane is shown in more detail in the photograph below.1 Macari’s Lane can be seen in the background of the photograph, on the far side of William Street.

1 Supplied by Colonel Tugwell.

Chamberlain Street

11.30 Macari’s Lane can also be seen in the aerial photograph below.1 In addition, the photograph shows Chamberlain Street, which ran parallel to Macari’s Lane southwards from William Street towards the Rossville Flats. Chamberlain Street, unlike Macari’s Lane, was wide enough for vehicles to travel along it.

1 Supplied by the Imperial War Museum.

11.31 The photograph below,1 taken from behind Barrier 14 on Bloody Sunday and looking west, shows the junction between Chamberlain Street and William Street. Also shown in this photograph is a shop with the words “licensed betting” painted on the shop front. This betting shop was referred to throughout this Inquiry as “Duffy’s bookmakers”, although this was not its name in January 1972. The photograph also shows the gap between the Central Café and Quinn’s shop, through which Macari’s Lane ran.

1 Taken by William Rukeyser.