The Book.

This is the book, It's called..........

With My Little Eye.

I hope you read it.


Chapter 1.
21 January 1972.
BBC news…..Unemployment has reached over one million for the first time since the nineteen thirties. The Prime Minister Mr Edward Heath spoke in Parliament and said…………… We started training.
„„Come on move, get fell in.‟‟ we rumbled out of the quarters, a big four story building. It had been built by the Germans in the build up to the Second World War and now the British Army occupied the barracks. It was January 1972, there was a biting wind sweeping across the parade ground. We lined up in three ranks and the N.C.O.s made sure we were standing up straight.
Major Ellis (DSO) came down the steps, he normally did not come out for daily parades, so something was up. He was followed by his side kick Captain John Cook, he always walked a quarter of a step behind Ellis like a well trained dog.
Sergeant Major Bill Stone brought us to attention turned and saluted Ellis, then with a stamp of his feet marched to his place on the parade. Ellis with his weedy voice gave us the command to stand at ease.
„„We‟ve just received the orders from Brigade Head Quarters,‟‟ he paused and just had a quick look at his notes to make sure of the dates „„we are going to Northern Ireland on the 24th March , it‟s for a tour of 4 months and we will be serving as an infantry unit.‟‟ There was a hubbub run through the ranks, each man with his own excitement or dread, each man with his own agenda.
„„Quiet.‟‟ Stone brought some order back to the parade.
Ellis continued „„We will be based in Belfast and will start training from immediate effect,‟‟ he looked over to Stone „„ let the men fall out Sergeant Major.‟‟ and saluted Stone with Cook following suit, the then both of them disappeared into the warm.
Stone returned the salute and turned to the parade.
„„PARADE, PARADE, SHUN‟‟ we all moved to his time „„PARADE, DISSSSS...MISS‟‟ a sharp turn to the left, a stamping of feet and we broke off.
We all gathered round in groups, I was drawn to my section. Our troup consisted of four sections of ten men with a Corporal and a Lance Corporal, but as normal most of the sections were undermanned, we also had a Troop officer and a Sergeant.
Jock was the first to speak „„will we lose our overseas allowance?‟‟
I burst out laughing „„Trust you to think of that.‟‟ Jock was a typical Glaswegian. Eddie Wright ,our section leader who was a married man with a wife and two kids, must have been dreading this call up „„shut up and listen, you sweaty little Scot we need wake our ideas up, especially you‟‟ he scowled at Jock.
„„I‟m not going if it means a pay cut‟‟ the Scot kept his line.
„„You won‟t lose your overseas, because you‟re still based in Germany, and you don‟t have a choice‟‟ Eddie wanted time to think. „„Look everyone go to the NAAFI get a cup of tea and be down the MT park for‟‟ he looked at his watch „„ten thirty.‟‟
I looked around the square, men were milling around and generally talking excitedly, but there seem to be two camps, married men, who were worried and the single men who would get some excitement after years of training. We ambled over to the canteen, glad to get out of the cold.
Gaff Gaffy a short stocky man, a pragmatic Yorkshire-man always good tempered, always seeing the funny side to life poked me in the ribs „„get them seats over there, I‟ll get the teas in.‟‟ He held out his hand for the money, he wasn‟t that generous, I gave him a few coins.
„„Get me a jam doughnut as well‟‟ I made my way over to one of the few empty tables, there was an amazing amount of excitement running through the hall. As I sat down I saw Tom Edwards just leaving the front of the queue, he saw me and made his way through the crowd. He sat down placing his two cups of tea laced with sugar and a plate of buns, he had a massive appetite, but he had not a pinch of fat on him. He played for the regimental football and rugby teams, and in his spare time would swim up and down the baths.
„„Well I joined up to shoot someone, so now I‟ll get me chance.‟‟
I knew he made statements like this all the time, so wasn‟t surprised. I had stopped taking the bait a long time ago. He also was heading for the world record for marrying he, he was only twenty and had been married twice, divorced twice, he said he didn‟t think one night stands were fair on the girls, I replied „„Why not just get engaged for the night?‟‟
„„Are you looking forward to the tour?‟‟ I probed.
„„Hell yes, the tarts are very pretty there, and they fuck for buttons‟‟ he kept his mouth full all the time „„and‟‟ he filled his mouth up again, „„and we‟ll get a medal.‟‟
„„Your not going for more wedding cake are you?‟‟ I loved the subject of his marriages.
Gaff arrived with his hands full of cups and plates.
„„Shift your arse.‟‟ Tom as usual was taking up most of the table, he pulled back a bit and finished off his sandwich, and washed it down with the last of his tea, he leaned back in his seat and lit a cigarette, and keeping in character blew smoke in my face while I quietly munched on my doughnut.
„„Eddie seems pissed off about Belfast.‟‟ Gaff said.
„„Well you‟d miss nookie every night and your own bed‟‟ Tom‟s misconception of marriage showing itself again.
I finished off my doughnut and open my cigarette packet „„Well, I think I think I‟m going to enjoy this tour‟‟ I watched them for their reaction.
„„Yep, better than sitting around here waiting for the Russkies to come.‟‟
Gaff was in the same camp as me. We had been building bridges, ferries and blowing bridges up for two years together and were ready for a change. We wanted to be back to where the women spoke English. A change was as good as a rest.
Simon Rutter came over to our table and sat down at the table, nobody ever called him Simon, in true army fashion we called him Wally for something that happened to him in training camp. He was a slight man with a happy go lucky and an easy laugh.
„„We start training on Monday.‟‟ he started to eat his bun.
„„Well it‟ll be better than building bridges at midnight.‟‟ Gaff replied.
I went into one of those mini daydreams, nobody knew I had been brought up in Belfast, it never occurred to me to tell anyone, my accent was Liverpudlian. I started to think of the streets I had been brought up, seeing people who knew me, would they recognize me?, would I be on my old patch?. At that moment there was a screeching of chairs on concrete floors as men started to make their way back to their units. Gaff slapped me on the back of my head with the back of his hand.
„„Come on hero.‟‟ I came too, and followed the rest. There was a biting wind as we made our way back to the motor transport sheds, and we grabbed a last fag as we entered. Normally we would be cleaning the APC, or checking our kit and making sure that everything that should be sharp was sharp, or making sure that everything that should be clean was clean. And we did the basic maintenance on the APC ourselves, changing oil, greasing up the tracks and making sure the air filters were working, but most of all painting the damned thing. But today was different, we piled into the back and closed the back door, the top was open. Eddie had composed himself, he had a fag hanging out of his lip.
„„Get a brew going.‟‟ he nodded at Jock, but we all helped get the tools and ingredients that‟s the way it was in such a small space. Pump stove was produced and lit, someone found a kettle and we all had our mugs, teabags and dried milk down next to the drivers seat, our only spoon hidden in the top shelf next to the first aid kit and the gas - masks.
„„Where‟s the fucking sugar?‟‟ we all looked blank, we all knew that we had run out, we all took sugar, we all took loads of sugar. Everyone looked at me. When anything was needed it was my job to steal it, I don‟t know how it started but I once had to find a camouflage net and the engine to an assault boat one hour before handover, after that even the officers would write a list and expect me to replace all sorts of misplaced things. Everyone turned to me.
„„Boil the water and give me a minute.‟‟ I disappeared out of the back door of the wagon. The cookhouse was a three minute walk away, but I didn‟t want to miss the sentiment in the wagon so I ran. I went in through the back door of the cookhouse, the dish washing staff were standing around, I went straight past
them and into the main kitchen and bumped into Sergeant Todd in his full whites and a very tall cooks hat, this told me he was top dog.
„„Excuse me sergeant I‟ve been sent by Sergeant Major Stone‟‟ I put my humble face on „„he asks if he could have some sugar his office has run out‟‟ He looked around the cookhouse, everyone was busy preparing the lunch for the regiment. He led me through to the dry storeroom and filled a brown paper bag with sugar and as an afterthought gave me a massive tin of coffee. I looked at him, we both knew this was wrong, but I was in too deep now so took the tin.
„„Tell him I‟ll see him at the mess tonight‟‟ shit no, now I‟ve torn it they are buddies „„he needs to play bridge better than last week.‟‟
„„I‟ll tell him.‟‟ I said weakly and made my way back to the wagon. The back of the wagon was nice and warm and there were yelps of joy when they saw the tin of coffee, I kept my mouth shut about how I had come by it.
„„All engineering training is out of the window‟‟ Eddie was filling us in, we all carried on making coffee and generally making a mess „„I‟ve had a quick look at the training schedule and it looks good.‟‟ we sniggered, we had heard it all before.
Eddie went on „„We start on Monday, fitness, yellow card, riot control, intelligence, weapon training and ....‟‟ he droned on listing all the training we would be doing over the next few months, we carried on making coffee and smoking and only half listening to him.
Mean while Major Ellis was being handed a memo by the duty clerk,
Memo; Ref order 113211.
To Major E. Ellis,
7 Squadron,
1174 Engineer Regiment,
Dear Sir,
Due to the shortage of Intelligence personnel at this point in time, and the on-going problems in Northern Ireland, we need 4 personnel to
assist during this tour. These personnel will be required for the full tour. They must have 2 years experience. We look forward to your help in this matter.
Yours respectfully,
Lt-Col G. Allen. Ellis looked at the memo and just wondered why when a unit was preparing for their first action in years they would take away much needed personnel. He walked to the door „„Thomas‟‟ he shouted down the corridor, the clerk came on the double.
„„Sir.‟‟ Thomas stood at the door.
Ellis looked up from the memo „„Get me the sergeant major.‟‟ and went back to reading the memo. Bill Stone wandered down the corridor to Ellis‟s office „„Close the door please Sergeant Major.‟‟ he handed the memo to Stone, and after reading it looked at Ellis.
„„Can we stop this?‟‟
„„I don‟t think so sir.‟‟
Stone knew it was tight for manpower, his mind went into overdrive, mentally selecting the worst, wackiest and least able.
„„I want you to select the men who we send, and I‟ll also make sure that we have an influx of men from the next intake coming out of basic training.‟‟ Stone stood up he was already making a list in his head.
„„Just leave it with me sir.‟‟ he made his way back to his office, his mind was on the bridge game tonight, there was plenty of time to choose who to get rid of.
We were in the wagon, smoke thick in the air, we were starting to warm to the idea and were speculating.
„„Bet I‟m first to shoot one of the bastards.‟‟ Jock always likes to reduce it down to violence.
Gaff lifted his leg and let out a noisy fart „„Piss off you couldn‟t hit a barn door with a banjo.‟‟ and then took a deep breath to take in the aroma.
„„Open the back door for fuck sake.‟‟ Smoke and foul air leaked out of the back of the A.P.C. but we stayed inside. We were used to this sort of thing. We carried on musing about what we were going to do on the tour.
That evening Stone stood at the sergeant‟s mess bar drinking with Sergeant Todd and after the initial chat about the posting to Northern Ireland.
„„Did you get the coffee?‟‟ Todd looked at Stone for some sort of recognition for the favour. Stone paid the barman and turned to Todd with a questioning look on his face.
„„What coffee?‟‟ They walked to the tables and took a seat.
„„The coffee and sugar, I sent them over with your runner, the ugly little twat he came in this morning for sugar‟‟ Stone thought about this.
„„I don‟t send for sugar, the clerk runs that sort of thing‟‟ he took a long pull on his pint.
„„Well that little twat Deery, the cocky sod came in this morning and asked for sugar for your office, I also gave him a big tin of coffee‟‟ Stone could feel his face flush, he did not like Deery, just something about him.
„„Leave it with me.‟‟ it was at this point Deery went to the top of the list, yes he needed to get rid of shirkers like this. Their minds turned to the night‟s bridge tactics.
The next morning Stone went into Ellis‟s office.
„„Good morning Sir.‟‟ He laid down the list of men that he wanted out before they had live rounds up the spout, before those little mistakes could cost lives, before the action started. Ellis glanced at the list, all the usual suspects were on the list.
„„Thank you Sergeant Major.‟‟ Ellis put the list to one side and leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.
„„How did the bridge go?‟‟ he played for the officer‟s mess, and liked to keep abreast of what was happening in the enemy camp.
Chapter 2.
Friday 10 March 1972 Memo ;Ref order 113211
To Lt-Col. G. Allen
MI 3rd Battalion. Johnson’s Barracks.
26 Jan 1972
Dear Sir,
After due consideration of your position, and with the man power at our command, we have selected 4 men who we consider to be best suited to the task. These personnel will be sent to your Depot on Monday 13 March.
The men will be expected back to the Regiment immediately after tour, we hope this meets your satisfaction.
Maj. T. E. Ellis. DSM.
We carried on training, out on the firing ranges, we got to use some of the more unusual weapons, each man given the chance to fire a Carl Gustav 84mm and throwing hand grenades, mostly because we were an engineering unit and had not been trained in anything but the rifle and pistols. In the class room we did memory training, history of Northern Ireland, riot training, politics, yellow card and intelligence. But the main thing was team building and fitness, they ran us ragged pushing us to the very end of our tether.
We piled out of the wagon wet through, our weapons covered in dirt and needing to be cleaned before handing in to the armoury, normally at the end of each day everyone would have a quick glance at orders, posted on the notice board, but not this evening.
„„What have you been up too?‟‟ Wally Rutter stuck his head in my room to give me the bad news.
„„What‟s up?‟‟ I could tell by his voice that it was not good news for me, and he was enjoying it.
He smiled „„you have to report to Cooks office at six tonight, you and that fat lad in 3 troop and a couple more‟‟ he closed the door and was gone. My rifle was stripped down on the floor I looked at my watch, 16.52, shit. Tea was at 17.15 and I was starving, I carried on pulling the four by two through the barrel, it had to be shinning before they would except it back into the armoury. Gaff came through the door and threw his rifle on his bed.
„„Have you read orders?‟‟ he started to take off his wet boots.
„„No but Wally‟s just told me I have to report to Cooks office at six.‟‟ I carried on oiling the weapon.
„„Yep, and the other three, bit of a motley crew if you ask me, what you done wrong?‟‟ we both knew it was not a promotion.
I stood in the queue to hand my weapon in. Each weapon was inspected very carefully.
„„Fuck off and get it cleaned properly cunt, this Gat is manky.‟‟ there was two NCOs and the armourer inspecting, and they were not taking anything that did not shine. The soldier wandered off dejected.
I crossed my fingers as I handed my gun over, it was quickly stripped down and a critical eye expertly inspected.
„„Fine‟‟ he started to make the rifle up „„do you know you‟re in the office tonight?‟‟
„„Yes, any idea what‟s it‟s about?‟‟ I knew he wouldn‟t say, but it was worth a try.
„„I think he wants you to baby-sit his daughter, she‟s only seventeen.‟‟ he winked at me, the other men around laughed, I slopped off to get my tea.
I rushed back from a hurried meal, I was still in my combat gear, still covered in muck, but time was running out and went straight to Cooks door, three other men were already there, and I did not like what I saw. If you could hand pick three of the most useless turkeys from the Squadron this would be the three, and I was the fourth. I fell in at the end of the line standing at ease, ready. I was running all the things through my head, making readymade excuses, suddenly the door opened and the clerk came out of Cooks office.
„„Listen in to my word of command.‟‟ we were being marched in, I would have expected just to be told to walk in but no.
His voice was weak but loud in the hall. „„Attention‟‟ we snapped to attention „„left turn, quick march.‟‟ we filed into the office, marking time until the clerk gave the order to halt, on the wrong foot so we lost our time, and we looked like a bunch of new recruits.
Cook look up from the memo „„Well men, we have had a request from Military Intelligence for four men to work for them for the tour of Northern Ireland, and although were very short handed at the moment we have to follow orders‟‟ he looked at our faces to see the result of this news „„and we have picked you four, because we feel you meet the requirements.‟‟ he looked again at the document „„You must report to 3rd battalion on Monday morning zero eight hundred, you need to take all your army kit, and all the civvies you think you‟ll need for the full four months, your mail address will still be the same.‟‟ he thought for a while „„I want you back safe, and ready for work at the end of the tour so be careful.‟‟ he looked at the clerk „„Dismiss the men please.‟‟ The clerk marched us out. „„The transport will pick you up at seven thirty Monday, dismiss.‟‟ we turned to our right and broke off.
None of us said anything until we were outside, it was cold, the wind was cutting but we stood and chatted for a while, I lit a cigarette.
„„Whoa, wait till I tell my Mum.‟‟ the chubby lad was beaming, the others seemed pleased as well.
„„What do you think we‟ll be doing?‟‟ the tall gangly lance corporal asked looking for the definitive answer.
„„Well someone has to clean the bogs out.‟‟ I said this brought them down with a bump.
„„I‟m a radio op.‟‟ the fat boy chipped in.
„„I‟m a bridge builder and mine warfare man myself.‟‟ the radio op course was only six weeks and we all did a bit of that „„no we‟ll be doing dogsbody stuff.‟‟ I was not hopeful it would be James Bond stuff.
„„See on Monday.‟‟ I left them there speculating, and went up to my room.
Gaff was sat on my bed I went over and sat on my bedside locker, he passed me a cigarette. „„Well?‟‟
„„I‟m being sent to Intelligence.‟‟ I waited till he thought about this for awhile and slowly a smile came across his face.
„„You can‟t even do the Sun crossword, God they must be desperate.‟‟
„„Well I don‟t think they want Einstein, we‟ll just be filling in, I‟ll find out next week I have to be there on Monday and there‟s not much time, we go out on the same day you.‟‟
„„Fancy a pint?‟‟ I nodded „„get a quick shower we can go to the club.‟‟
We played table football all night and bowled back to our rooms, I fell asleep quickly.
Chapter 3.
Monday 13 March 1972.
The transport rolled up spot on time, a three tonner pulled up. I had only just arrived, getting back from breakfast and making sure everything was locked up in my room. We clambered aboard and Gaff and Jock were on their way to breakfast they gave me a wave, I had that feeling of impending doom, and I lit a cigarette.
We piled out at 3
rd battalion headquarters, we were met by a sergeant who broke the news, because they were shipping in over fifty temps we had to bunk in the gym. We struggled over to the gym, which had rows of camping beds, each one had a bedside locker, a floor mat, pillow with no pillow case and two woolly blankets. In the draw was an ashtray. „„The bogs and showers are over there.‟‟ the sergeant pointed over to the end of the gym „„you have‟‟ he looked at his watch „„forty minutes to get over to class two‟‟ he pointed at the building we had just come from and he marched off.
„„It‟s a regular home from home.‟‟ the chubby lad said sitting down on his new bed, it tipped over. I waited until he righted himself.
I stuck my hand out „„Billy Deery, I‟ve seen you around.‟‟ he shook my hand.
„„Brian Fodden‟‟ he nodded over to the lanky corporal „„he‟s Paul, Paul Walker.‟‟ I nodded.
„„Do you think the cookhouse is still doing breakfast?‟‟ Brian has missed breakfast this morning.
Paul was busy making himself at home, putting things into his bedside locker and placing his case and kitbag neatly behind the top of his bed, like some sort of head board „„Do you know where the canteen is?‟‟
„„I just follow my nose when it comes to that sort of thing.‟‟ Brian took pride in hunting out food.
„„Yep, I‟ll come with you.‟‟ I stood up and looked at Paul, he had finished so followed us as we tried to find the cookhouse. We had time to kill. Most of the
ex-German barracks were to a standard lay out, so we quickly homed in on the cookhouse and just caught the last few sausages, and a cup of tea.
We were the last in to the classroom and had to stand at the back.
We were sitting in a class room in our new barracks, still not knowing what our duties would be, what was our roll, surely it took years to train intelligence personnel, surely they had to be of the highest intelligence, code breakers, swotts, doing the Times crossword over a cup of tea, the James Bond type, killing with one blow and disappearing in the night, what the hell could they want with us.
Captain Roberts came in, he looked like a desk clerk in a captain‟s uniform, nothing to distinguish him, no high forehead, no bulging muscles.
„„Look men, we are very short on the ground‟‟ He looked around, there was about thirty of us, from all different units. „„ and we have been for years, now we‟re expected to put observations all over Northern Ireland. Your jobs will be to fill in on these observations, file reports, and move round the city, eyes and ears‟‟.
You could hear a collective sigh for the men sat around. „„You will be doing static observations on the more mundane side of things‟‟ he went on. „„Your training will start tomorrow, you need to able to observe and report, keep a close check on the mug shots and all the in coming intelligence.‟‟ He then gave us some news which made every single one of cheer.
„„From to day, long hair and long sideburns, beards and anything else is in.‟‟ Roberts smiled as a room full of squadies cheered and whooped, he had to raise his voice to bring the room back to order.
„„So we have a lot to do before we go, I want you all to look at the board over there,‟‟ he pointed to the blackboard with lists of men‟s names pinned on „„and find out who your teamed up with, remember you train as a team, you work as a team.‟‟
There was a scraping of chairs as we all rose, I lit a cigarette and stood back but most men pushed and shoved to find out who they would be working with. Eventually someone ripped his list off the board and started to shout names out.
I had gone into a little daydream remembering when I was younger, before we left Belfast, would I meet my Gran? my Aunts and Uncles?
„„Deery.‟‟ I came to, to hear my name being called out.
„„Deery.‟‟ a small compact corporal with the uniform of the Royal Signals was calling.
"Here" I looked at him "I‟m Deery."
"I‟m Corporal Kelly, there are five men out near the front door, ones fat and there‟s another one black, so you should find them" he then started to shout another name and forgot about me, I wandered out. They were easy to identify and one of them was Brian, the coloured lad was about six foot four with an easy smile. I walked over and Brian was talking to the coloured boy.
"How the fuck are you going to fit in, in Ireland? I mean how many" he looked for the right word and could not find one "how many big black fuckers are there in Belfast?"
There was one of those moments when everyone wants to be swallowed up, or be somewhere else.
"Hi, I‟m Billy Deery from 17
th Engineers" I stuck my hand out, Brian was grateful for the diversion, the coloured lad took my hand. "Smudge Smith transport Bielefeld" Brian who was blushing because he had not introduced himself just said "Brian Fodden" Smudge just gave him a wink and this helped to take the awkwardness away. At that moment Kelly came out of the building he had another man following behind.
He took charge "Okay everyone in my section" he used his hands a lot so he pointed with both index fingers "make your way to room fourteen, it‟s on the second floor" the fingers were pointing towards the door we had just come out of, so we ambled back in and up the stairs. I continued to talk to Smudge.
"What do you drive?" I liked Smudge, he was self assured, he reeked of confidence and I wanted to be part of that.
"Oh, we have all sorts, mostly small stuff, but we got some big stuff as well, we got tank transporters an‟ all sorts, but my favourite is the Stalwart, I just love that ride."
We piled into room fourteen and found seats, Kelly had some notes.
"Settle down, we will be working together for the next five or six months and I want you to all stand up and tell us who you are, then I‟ll be telling you what‟s expected of you, I know this is all new and we don‟t have much time, so you start" he pointed at Smudge, Smudge stood up.
"I‟m Gerry Smith but people call me Smudge, I‟ve been in the Royal corps of transport for just over two years, and come from Dover, we‟re based in Bielefeld and I‟m in the basket ball team." he sat down.
Kelly pointed at me.
I stood up "Billy Deery, Royal Engineers, bridging, building and blowing, mine warfare laying and breeching." I started to sit down and remembered "Oh and I‟m in the regimental orienteering team" I hardly listened to the rest, but there was eight of us including Kelly of which two were full corporals.
"How many have driving licences?" We stuck our hands up, Kelly ticked off his list " And how many are radio trained?" We stuck our hands up again, more ticks "Good, and has anyone lived or has family in Northern Ireland?" I was the only one to hold my hand up, tick.
"Tomorrow morning were on the ranges, we get picked up at zero seven thirty outside the gym, full battle gear, piss pots and ground sheets the lot," he looked up "weapons will be issued at the ranges, and don‟t forget your mess tins and eating irons." He thought for a minute "I‟m bunking down on the top floor of this building," he pointed to the ceiling, just in case we did not know where the top of the building was "room 211, and the other ranks bar is above the cookhouse." he gathered his thoughts again "so go and sort your kit out, and I‟ll see you all in the morning." There was a scraping of chairs and people started to talk excitedly.
"Deery." Kelly was talking to me, but my mind was on that camp bed "Deery." a bit louder.
"Yes corporal" I made my way over to him.
"What family do you have over there?" It took me by surprise, I had thought it was just one of those questions, but no, it was one of those questions.
"Well my Grandmother lives there, and maybe my Dad, but almost certainly a few of my aunties and uncles live there, I was born in Belfast." I let this sink in, he stroked his nose.
"You don‟t sound like you come from Belfast."
"That‟s because I was brought up in Liverpool." he pulled his nose again, I moved from one leg to another. At this point I thought I would give him a demonstration so I said "Come on Corporal Kelly, it‟s not the sort of thing you tell people." I had dropped into my home accent, I had not spoken in my home accent for years, I had in fact tried my hardest not to use it. I had adopted the local idiom as soon as I could possibly manage after moving to Liverpool.
"We moved to Liverpool when I was six or seven, my mother did a runner and that‟s where my accent comes from." all the time I‟m speaking in my old accent.
He jotted some notes down.
"You do realise you could get an exemption from the tour?" he would dearly love an exemption, I had something he wanted. I pursed my lips. I think I was teasing him.
"But I want to go" what was the alternative, sitting back on rear party, hell on earth, an empty camp, a few losers left behind, no not for me, no I‟m here for the ride, the sharp end, the deep end. I looked at him, almost insolently.
"Yes I want to go." I had gone back to my normal accent.
"Okay, I‟ll file this, go and sort yourself out" he nodded at the door, I was dismissed.
I made my way back to the gym, at one end of the gym someone had a portable tape player blasting Johnny Cash, Smudge and Brian had changed into civvies and was relaxing on their beds.
"You‟re a Paddy." Brian was laughing at his own joke "You should be in the Pioneers not the Engineers, but there‟s not much difference." he looked around for support.
"Hey don‟t turn your back to me when we‟re there." I had dropped into my Irish accent. I made a gun action with my hand pointed at Brian‟s head and blew imaginary smoke away. I started to get my things ready for the next day.
"Fancy a pint tonight?" I looked over to the other two.
Smudge was the first to answer "Yes suits me."
"Deery." There was someone was calling out my name, I looked around "Sapper Deery" I saw who was calling and stood up.
"Over here." I held my hand up and a young private from the intelligence Corp was approaching me.
"You're wanted by Captain Roberts now, follow me." I shrugged my shoulders at the other two.
"I‟ll see you soon." I followed the private.
"What do you think it is?" I tried to get an idea.
He took his time answering "not a fucking clue mate" we carried on over to the block.
"Just wait there." I seem to be waiting outside offices quite a lot lately, he disappeared into the office and came out quite quickly and walked off.
"Thanks mate" I put in as much sarcasm as I could as he walked away.
The door opened and Roberts head popped out.
"Come in Deery." I followed "Sit down." Well I‟m not in the shit, you don‟t sit down when the shit's flying.
"Are you a Catholic?" That took me by surprise.
"No, well yes, but..." the army never pushed religion so I could not see where he was going and I was starting to sweat.
He tried another tack "Do you have family in Ireland?" that was better, now I felt I knew where he was coming from.
"Yes Sir, my Gran still lives there, and I lived there until I was seven, and I also have other people there like my Aunt." I was trying to please him, but he did not show any emotion.
"So why is your accent scouse?" he corrected himself "From Merseyside?"
"Well we did a flit to Liverpool, just me and my mother," I started to relax " and I had to fit in so just started to talk like them, Sir." the wheels were turning in his head, he was trying to evaluate me.
"One last question, is there anyone in Belfast who knows you‟re in the army? Think very carefully" I sat there for over a minute, I knew the answer but my mind had started to think of the pint tonight, and I also thought it gave the question gravity.
"No Sir." I also thought that if this did not swing my way I could just remember someone who knew me.
"Look we need eyes and ears in the community, and we have to find people who can live and work on the streets," he‟s watching my reaction, "we need people on the streets, we need people who can fit in. I‟ll admit that most personnel who come from Ireland just don‟t want to get mixed up in this, to close to home I‟m afraid." He sat back and let this lot sink in, there was a long pause. I‟m a bit shocked, it‟s one thing to ride around in a team, but to pose as a local and rub shoulders with known IRA and UVF activist this was a different world. He could see the cogs turning.
"Of course you would be promoted to corporal."
"Do you mean full corporal?"
"Yes, and you will be trained, and your cover will be water tight."
I do want promotion, but I‟m still not sure, now I was really sweating.
"Deery, this is a big step, but you will have twenty four hour back up, and if you feel compromised at any time we will pull you out." I was getting scared again, my mind was racing.
"What job have you got lined up?" I want to know more.
"I need someone on the buses, there is a good cross section, Catholics and Protestants a mix from both sides, but the O‟Neil family work from that depot, and we want to keep an eye on them." He‟s watching me again, but giving me time to let all the information sink in, he knows that if I go away and think about it I will reject it, stripes or no stripes.
"We need to push on." He knows I‟m under the cosh, but I‟m stalling.
"How long is it for?" I wanted the stripes.
"No longer than the full tour," he was reeling me in like a trout. "after that, just back to normal duties, with two stripes."
It sounded easy, in a childish way I had always wanted to shout "Hold tight please and ring the bell twice." and run up and down asking for fares.
"Just go to work, keep you eyes peeled, and report back." He was pulling me in further. "Do you want in?"
"Yes Sir."
Chapter 4.
14 march 1972
The next morning everyone was ready for the ranges, I did not think they had plans for me so I just got ready with them and lined up to get on the transport. The rain was coming in sideways with a cutting wind. We piled into the back of the lorry and the tailgate was up.
"Is Deery on that wagon?" I heard Captain Roberts ask.
The corporal on the tailgate looked around.
"Is Deery on here?"
"Here." I stood up.
"Could you send him into my office please." Roberts disappeared, I jumped down and followed.
"Come straight in Deery." Roberts was sitting at the table with documents all over the desk.
"You're booked on a military flight out of Gutersloh at fourteen hundred to Blighty. You will be met by Sergeant Mackie, it‟s his job to make sure you are informed and ready for the task you have been given."
I sat there taking this in. " Then when your ready you‟ll be shipped off to Ulster, do you have any questions?"
"No Sir." I had not had time to think of any.
"Right, you need to be at the guard room with all your baggage at eleven forty five, I have arranged for transport to pick you up it‟s just over one and a half hours to the airport." He stood up and did something I was not expecting, he leaned over the table and shook my hand.
"Well done Corporal Deery, I‟ll see you in Belfast."
I left the offices and made my way back to the gym, it was still only just before eight, I felt scruffy because I had not had a shave, but orders were orders I needed to make myself look like a civilian as soon as possible. Most of my kit
was still packed so I was ready to go after fifteen minutes so I got hold of a trolley and loaded my suitcase and kit bag and in the driving rain made my way over the guard room.
"We're not the left luggage department." the duty RMP looked at me, they were trained in being unhelpful, it must take years. I went to pick up my baggage.
"Put it over there." he pointed to the corner, I stacked the bag in the corner and opened the suitcase, down the left hand side was my cheque book.
"Thank you." Once out, I left the barracks and made my way to the bank, our wages had been paid into German banks for over a year now.
"Gut morning." The cashier could speak English, which was good for me.
"How much is in this account please?" I handed over my cheque book, " Could I have forty Deutsche marks and forty English pounds please?" She left the desk and came back with the money.
"Could I see your ID card please?" I handed over my card, she filled out the cheque and I signed it.
I made my way back to camp and over to the NAFFI canteen and over a few cups of coffee and having read Readers Digest from cover to cover it was time to go. The driver had not done the run to Gutersloh so I read the route card out to him but we made it in time, he just dumped me at the main entrance. It was a long low building, so I made my way over to the desk, not many people around and handed my ID card to a bored corporal from the Military Police, he looked at his board with a list of names.
"Are you carrying and fire arms? You get checked at the other end."
"No."
"Do you have more than your allowance for cigarettes or sprits?"
"No," Shit, I had forgotten to get cigarettes "can I get any cigarettes here?"
"Normally you can, but today the duty free is closed, no civvy flights today." He pointed over to the far end of the hall, "Go and sit near the door, they‟ll call you."
I started to pick up my bag.
"Hey" the MP called me back, "I can let you have them," he nodded in the direction of his desk, it was a full sleeve of Embassy - ten marks - it was above the shop price but I had been caught short.
"Okay." I paid for the cigarettes and went over and sat down. Military flights are supremely unsophisticated, with ten minutes to go an R.A.F. sergeant came into the glass door leading onto the tarmac with a millboard under his arm.
"Two o‟clock flight to Brize Norton," he announced, "load your bags onto the trolleys just out here." He pointed to two hand pull trolleys just out side the door. There were only seven passengers, and only one of them was wearing uniform -me.
I loaded my case and kit bag onto the first trolley and then helped others load up, and then the R.A.F. sergeant and I pulled the baggage to the back of Hercules, which had the tail gate down. The passengers just walked up the ramp and found seats, while we loaded the cases onto the back of the plane, there were also about twenty five bags of mail which were not heavy but I was still sweating by the time we had them loaded and strapped down.A seat would be a lose description of what we were using to sit on.. they were just canvas strips which were strung between two supports which could be pulled down like a cinema seat.
The flight was hell, we had to keep our seat-belts on for the whole journey, the toilet was what could only be called a hole in the side of the 'plane and because we did not fly as high as commercial flight we hit every bit of turbulence.
I was glad to be back on terra-firma. We had to carry our own bags to the buildings, I was glad of this, because it saved me doing all the donkey work. The mail was taken off by Royal Ordinance who must deliver the mail to the post office. I was not impressed by the airfield but we did not have far to walk to the two story building, I was at the back of the people filing through. I lifted my bags onto the long bench and lit a cigarette while I waited for a customs man to get to me.
"Do you have any firearms, ammunition or ordinance?" he was bored, I was cold.
"No, Sir." I was not quite sure what to call him.
"Do you have more than two hundred cigarettes, one bottle of spirits or more than two bottles of wine?"
"No Sir."
"Open the case please." he ruffled around, and I blushed when he found my dirty socks.
"ID card please?" He did not look in the kitbag, and I was through. It‟s always great to be back in England, everyone speaks English, you know how it is with the customs, you can read signs and understand the money, and the air seems different.
"Corporal Deery?" I looked around to view the man who had spoken, he was short, stocky with a face which could have been carved out of an old oak tree . He was dressed in the old battle dress style which was still in use at training Regiments, no rank, no regimental insignia. I had been told I was being met by a sergeant.
"Yes I‟m Deery." I still had not got used to calling myself by my new status as corporal.
"I‟m Sergeant Gerry Mackie, everyone calls me Mack." He stuck his hand out, he had very strong hands, but he did not grip me hard but I could feel the power. He picked up my kitbag and started to walk out.
"So do I call you Mack?" I followed like a child.
He turned round and put the bag down.
"From now on you only talk to me with your hometown accent," I nodded, "and yes 'Mack' will do fine, but you may be calling me worse things before long." We set off again to his car.
"We will be bunking at Chepstow and I‟ll be in charge of your training and preparation." we hit the motorway, "We have a lot to do and only ten days to do it in." I sat back and wondered what I had got myself into, and comforted myself with the thought of my get -out clause.
As we went over a massive suspension bridge he pointed down to what looked like an island just off the river bank, we were on the wrong side of the bridge and the mist did not help, but it was isolated.
"That‟s where we will be staying." We pulled off the motorway and made our way through Chepstow and back around to the camp. He made my kitbag look empty as he swaggered ahead of me, we made our way into a two story building on the inside was a doorman reading a book.
"Give me the key for room seventeen George." The doorman handed over a key, " This is Corporal Deery," he nodded to me, "ten days." the doorman nodded.
"Hello" it was a shock to me and George as the back of Mack‟s hand hit my nose.
"Irish, Irish, Irish." I was stunned, Mack‟s face was hard up against mine, "you will not get a second chance where you‟re going." He strode off, I followed,I was furious.
It was a ground floor single room with a sink. The bed was already made up.
"There‟s a TV room at the bottom of the corridor, evening meal is from five, breakfast starts at six thirty, and I‟ll meet you at the main door at seven forty five." Mack looked me in the face , "You must think, dream, and even fart in Irish from now on, everyone you talk to, even yourself, do you get that?" I took a deep breath and nodded, "And wear civvies in the morning, jeans or something." He closed the door on the way out, I sat on the bed and wondered, did I really want to be here, and after two cigarettes I knew the answer, yes.
I unpacked a few things, putting my jeans and my best Ben Sherman shirt . I dug out my eating irons and my chipped tin mug, I then made my way down to the front door.
"Where is the cookhouse please?" George the doorman gave me instructions and handed me a plastic holder with a pin.
"Put your ID card in that and pin it to your chest." He came out of his cubby-hole and pinned it on for me. When I got back from tea George had been replaced by another man. I introduced myself.
"Do you want a knock in the morning?" the man lifted his list and jotted down six thirty, room seventeen he looked up and gave me a wink.
I watched TV in the lounge, my first introduction to Monty Python, lights out was at ten, strictly observed so had to clean my teeth in the dark.
Chapter 5.
Wednesday 15 March 1972.
There was a light tap on the door, I could hear him going down the corridor, tap tap, tap tap. I got up, it was always easy to get up in a strange room , and there was not much room as the suitcase was open and my kit-bag leaning against the sink. It was frosty on the way to breakfast, but the food was good and they sold news papers from one of the tables. I read in Irish, as I did not want to be slapped again.
Mack turned up five minutes early and looked at my clothes. To be honest, because I wore uniform most of the time and there is not much room in an army lockers, I was like most young soldiers not very well endowed with civvies, you need a suit for church and a few pair of jeans and maybe two pairs of shoes, not much more and this was the case with me.
"Go and bring all your kit to room four." He pointed down to the left. I scurried off to collect my bags. The room was a small classroom with a blackboard and six tables and chairs, there was a table in the corner with a brew kit, and it had dried milk. I put my bags down, Mack open up the army suitcase and started to throw all the army belonging to one side and the civilian things to the other side.
"Is that all you have?" looking at the civvy items, I looked at my kit bag and mentally went through what was in it, just a pair of sandshoes in there.
"Yep." I blushed, not much to show.
"Okay, pack that crap away, you don‟t need that." He started to make an address label. "What‟s your B.F.P.O. number?" I tied the label on.
Return to unit.
Cpl. W. Deery,
17 Sqd, R.E.
B.F.P.O. 36.
I never saw those bags again. Mack made two cups of tea, I sat down at the table, and Mack sat on the other side.
"What colour tie is Tim wearing?" I was a bit puzzled, "The doorman." I thought a bit,
"Blue." I took a guess.
"How many cooks were working in the canteen last night?" I could now see where this was going, I did a replay.
"Seven." Mack did not make any facial movements, I was watching.
"What is the registration of my car?" I could not even remember looking at it, I shook my head.
"What junction number did we come off at the motorway yesterday evening?" I thought about it and realised I had not been watching, I shook my head again.
Mack took a swig of tea, I lit a cigarette.
"You have a long way to go sonny." He finished his tea. Mine was still too hot to drink.
"Come on." I jumped up and followed him, as we passed the doorman I noticed he was not wearing a tie. We climbed into his Ford Anglia and made our way out of the camp, I was trying to take in as much detail as possible. He might test me again.
Mack drove to Cardiff. I was nearly passing in the attempt at taking in so much detail. We wound thought the city and ended up in a back street but not far from the centre. We went into the nearest shop, second hand clothes, with books and brick-a-brack. Mack was in a hurry, he went through the clothes racks and piles of clothes on the bench picking out anything that fitted me, an old pair of boots, a brown corduroy jacket, frayed shirts, scarf, pullovers, and an old tweed coat. He then pulled an old suitcase off the top shelf which rusty hinges, he then went down another isle, two towels, a couple of tea cups, shaving mirror, some knives and spoons.
"Oh come on there are better cases than that," I argued. He ignored me. The shop owner followed helping to carry some of the stuff. When he had finished he turned to the lady.
"How much?" She nodded her head as she pretended to added up, but was really working out how much she could get off Mack.
"Thirty bob." She looked at Mack to see the reaction.
"It‟s for a school play, I‟ll give you seventeen shillings or I‟m off." He turned away slightly.
"A quid and you‟re robbing me, the case is nine bob and those cups are collector‟s items." Mack got his wallet out.
"Give me a shilling change and you have a deal." We packed the clothes away, and she wrapped the cups in brown paper.
Next we went to a menswear shop, two shirts, black tie, six socks, underpants and a pair of slacks. Two doors down, we bought black shoes, Mack carefully put away the receipt. The whole thing took less than an hour.
"Cup of tea?" we walked into a cafe, the heat hit you, damp, steamy and too many tables.
"Name all the items we bought in the second hand shop?" I listed them.
"What unusual thing did you notice about the woman?" Mack was testing again.
I pictured her in my head "Only one earring." I ventured.
"Go on."
"Gold teeth, rings on every finger, and odd Wellingtons." I had not consciously picked that up, but must have noticed.
"Yes," Mack smiled "Odd Wellingtons." We left the cafe and made our way back to camp, on the way Mack kept up the narrative.
"One of the reasons men don‟t look around at other men is because it‟s threatening, that‟s why women are better at identifying people they have just met, because they observe more thoroughly." We turned off the motorway.
"Need you to start looking, and at first it seems strange, confrontational, but that‟s how you can scan large numbers of people and remember. Don‟t stand in the middle. Stand on the sidelines."
The camp was an army apprentice collage so apart from the training staff most of the occupants of the camp were boy soldiers, but two buildings at the lower end of the barracks was exclusively Military Intelligence. We parked outside one of the buildings and went inside. We went up the stairs and at the end of the corridor entered the last on the left. Inside was a counter keeping us out and them in. We stood for awhile, I read the notices.
"This is Corporal Deery, he‟s going to Northern Ireland as himself, and he needs all the documents."
He turned to me, "Do you drive?" I nodded and got my driving licence out. The Private behind the desk went to a drawer and took out a sheet of paper.
"So, driving licence, national insurance card, medical docs, and school certificates." He looked up, "Bank account?"
Mack nodded. He ticked.
"Come behind here." He lifted up the bench end and opened the door.
"Sit there." He pointed at a chair with a white screen behind. He then went over to a cupboard at brought back a box of wigs, I was taken aback by this.
"Find one you like." He went over to talk to Mack while I self consciously tried on a few wigs.
"Look just to the left." He pointed just in case I did not which way he meant.
I was hustled back out to the other side of the counter.
"They will be ready on Monday."
"Well, make sure they are he goes on Friday." We left the office and went downstairs and into another office. This had four tables with women working at each of them.
"Jenny." He greeted one of the women. The woman beamed back.
"This is William Deery he will be going over to Northern Ireland." She started to make notes.
"He needs accommodation in East Belfast, in the Catholic area paid up until July."
"Bed and breakfast?"
"No self contained." She pulled a face and took a long hard look at me.
"When does he go?"
"Next Friday." She scowled. Turning round she looked at the calendar on the wall.
"That‟s going to be tough" She made notes.
"He also needs," Mack looked at her sympathetically. "a union card for the Transport Union, a doctors and a CUI card."
"Is that all?" She was being sarcastic, but it took me a few seconds to catch on.
"I‟ll leave it with you." Mack bent down and gave her a peck on the cheek.
We left the office and made our way out.
"A lovely girl."
"Do I need those things?" My mind was on all the attention to detail, surly I was going as an observer? Surly I would just be in the background?
"Do you want to go without them?" Mack had stopped to ask the question.
The next few days were taken up with observation, history of Ireland, land marks and maps, IRA membership and weapon training. We covered all weapons theirs and ours. I also went to lectures covering all the political parties, local laws including the yellow card, Mack did not sit in on these information gatherings, but would be waiting for me when I came out and question me about all the people in the classroom, never giving me a moment‟s peace. Every time we came out of a building the questions would start, but by now I had started to look.
I was given the Sunday off, which gave me time to think. Did I have the nerve for this? I could just back out, but I would be letting everybody down, I would be letting myself down, and what harm could come of it I was just an observer, working on the buses, just keeping an eye out and reporting back.
Monday 20 March 1972.
On the following Monday Mack was waiting in class four, the kettle was boiling as I arrived. I looked at a folder on the table.
"Keep your hands off that."nn He stirred the tea and brought the cups over.
I supped my tea as he went into the folder.
"I want you to know this backwards by tomorrow, but we‟ll go through it now."
He handed me a Northern Ireland driving licence, it had been well worn and was dog eared. I looked through, the photograph showed me wearing a wig . One endorsement had been awarded, to make it more viable I suppose.
The next set of papers were my release papers from prison, Walton prison Liverpool. Four months for burglary.
"We have put this in so you can explain your short hair." He handed me my union card.
"You will notice it is dated from your eighteenth birthday, and is stamped in both Merseyside and Castlederg" Mack gave me a hand typed booklet explaining all the details of the two depots I had supposed to have worked at including a list of busmen‟s terminology and practise. Next was the CIU membership, I had never even been in a working man‟s club, but here was my membership.
"Your medical documents will be sent to Dr Thompson, the address is in here somewhere." He rummaged through the documents, "Ah here." He put two pages stapled together on the desk more details national insurance number, bank account and school certificates. Someone had been working very hard.
Mack got up and put the kettle on again.
"I‟ll give you till lunch to read this lot, and then I‟m going to pick you up on everything." He placed my tea down. I looked down at the documents, there was a lot there.
"You don‟t need to remember numbers, just the bare bones, but you do need to know dates, people and place names just as if you had been there." He looked at his watch.
"Two hours." He closed the door behind himself as he left. I lit a cigarette and read, and I read between the lines, where there was details missing I made them up. I read during lunch, hunched over my paperwork like a child hiding his answers in an exam. I was beginning to look very un - military with my face not
shaven and my hair beginning to be a bit long for most Sergeant Majors levels of acceptance. Two junior apprentices sat at my table, I carried on reading.
"Hey, are you a gardener?" I looked up from my paperwork, I was annoyed but pleased, pleased that I was being mistaken for a civvy. I tapped the side of my nose. Before they could ask anymore questions packed my documents up and left.
I was sitting in the classroom before Mack came back, the kettle went straight on and I lit a cigarette to help me concentrate.
"So how long have you been driving?" Mack knew every little detail of my new life.
"Oh I got my bike licence when I was sixteen, but did not pass my car test until last year." I had picked up on that one, he smiled.
"Did you know the cash clerk at Castlederg depot?"
"Of course, old Seamus the bastard booked me in every shift for eight weeks." He was pleased again. I had noticed that I had only been at Castlederg for just under two months. We carried on like this for the next thirty minutes, I was sweating, and Mack was pleased.
"Good." He stood up, "I want you to concentrate on maps of Belfast and public buildings, things you should know, and I‟ll see you in here tomorrow at eight fifteen, then we do mugshots." I carried on reading, just going over a few things which were difficult to remember, Mack nearly found me out.
The next few days were more of the same, but as the training went on I was becoming this new person, myself but in another guise. Myself as if I had not been in the army.
Chapter 6.
Thursday 23 March 1972.
We worked through the day polishing up on all the details, and after a gruelling final hour of close questioning Mack stood up.
"Well, if you‟re not ready now, you never will be." I was feeling much better, I knew myself, I knew the town, I knew the people. I just had to go and do it.
"Do you drink?" Mack was looking at me.
"Does the Pope pray?" I smiled at him, he was inviting me out for a drink.
"Right I‟ll pick you up at seven thirty outside, you don‟t fly until two, so we don‟t have to leave here until eleven."
He rolled up on the dot of seven thirty..and I jumped into his car. He had until now always been in his uniform with no insignia, which in a way made him look like a civilian in khaki if it wasn‟t for his manner.
"I want you to stay in character tonight." I missed the signals.
"Sure, no bother." My accent was natural now, in the early days I had to think before I spoke but now it just was normal. He drove down into town and we parked up in a side street and went into the pub.
"What you having?" Mack leaned against the bar waving a five pound note. I had become fond of Mack over the weeks. I looked along the bar, I only drank German beer and then only the small frothy beers typically sold in the bars near camp.
"I‟ll have a Lager please.
The bar man came over to Mack. "A pint of best,and a pint of Lager and two whisky chasers please." Mack paid for the drinks and we went and sat down at a small table in the corner. Mack was relaxed and chatty. He picked up the whisky and downed it in one, I followed his lead. We sat and chatted, he told me stories of Aden and Borneo. Before I had got half way down my pint he jumped up, draining his glass.
"Two more pints with chasers, please." They were put on the table, I finished my pint in a hurry.
"So what was your training like?" It was like tickling trout, and Mack was winding me in. I told him about the fat controller, a little moustachioed man who would make our lives a misery. Bouncing us around the square in double quick time. Mack jumped up and got them in again, I tried to get them, but Mack tapped the side of his nose.
"They‟re paying - just enjoy yourself."
We downed the whiskies and supped the pints, each telling the other stories, his were far better than mine. I was falling behind on the drinking front, Mack taking out nearly half a pint every time he picked up his glass. I staggered to the toilets, tripping on the step up. I also banged my head on the low beam on the way back.
"Come on, sup up, I‟ll show you a nice pub" Mack stood up. I struggled to finish my pint.
"Good night?." We were outside and walking up the street. I wondered if I should ask him if I could just drink halves, my head was starting to spin. We went into the pub.
"Best, Lager and a couple of whiskies please." I went straight to the toilets, it was running through me now. When I came back Mack was sitting at the table. Mack carried on with the chat, I was in crisis, and I sat there smoking not really listening to Mack.
He handed me a pound note. "Go on get them in." He nodded to the bar, I staggered up.
"A pint of Best and a whisky." The barmaid started to pour.
"Are you out with your dad?‟ She had the small glass up to the optic, but was turning to face me.
"Oh no he‟s not my father, we‟re in the army together." I had not noticed I was just doing my best to stand up straight. Mack was standing behind me, I had not noticed, I was past noticing anything. Mack got a hold of my collar and dragged me onto the street. I was confused, I was up against the wall and I was getting wet. It was raining quite hard.
"What do you think would happen to you if that had happened over there?" I was still none the wiser.
"What?" Mack‟s face was up close.
His were hands at my throat, tight against my neck.
"I don‟t know what you mean." I had done something, but could not work it out.
"You dropped the accent." He stood looking into my face, rain pouring down. People were passing us as they went into the pub, in a hurry to get past.
We stood there while it sank in, both of us face to face. I replayed what had been said, slowly my body relaxed as I realised what had happened.
"I‟m sorry." His hands slowly released my neck, we both became aware of how wet we were. Mack pulled up his collar on his corduroy jacket.
"Come on I‟ll take you home." We made our way back to his car and he drove me back to camp in silence.
The whole point of the night had been made, and no amount of lectures and warnings would sink in like tonight. He dropped me off outside my quarters.
"Be packed and ready to go at ten, and just go through your things and make sure there are no items to do with the army in your luggage." He drove away. I went to my room and slept badly.
The next morning I packed my things into my beat up suitcase carefully checking each item. I found Mack in classroom four, he had two cups of tea on the desk and he was reading the newspaper. He folded the paper and placed it on the table.
He pushed his thick hair back. "I don‟t want you to worry, you‟ve had to learn a lot in a short space of time, but I want you never to let your guard down. " He sipped his tea, "You will have good back up, they will have safety procedures in place and if you get into trouble get out fast, get to the nearest police station, get in a taxi or jump in the nearest army vehicle." He slugged his tea.
We sat in silence for a while, smoke drifting up from my cigarette, Mack finished his tea.
"I don‟t want you to drink while you're there." He looked at me, I nodded.
"If you get drinking and you will, because that‟s the way they are. I want you to spill, pour it into the glass of someone who won't notice - or just swap the glass if you need to... do you understand?" I nodded.
There was one of those silences while we both went through things in our heads. Eventually Mack took a piece of paper out of his pocket.
"You‟ll be met by Simon Adder, he will show you the ropes, and it‟s his job to watch over you." He went into his briefcase and brought out a receipt book.
"Sign here," He produced twenty pounds in Irish notes, "your rent is paid and the gas and electricity are registered in your name." It made me worried when I saw how much detail had gone into this operation, just how much would I be scrutinised? But like Mack had asked, did I want to go without it?. We sat and went through some last details, about being transferred from Castlederg bus depot to the Short Strand depot, because the depot was fully staffed and had not taken anyone new for over a year.
I sat and re-read the reports and details as we drove to the airport, more to take my mind off where I was going, but also I need to get an absolutely massive amount of information into my head. All too quickly we were at RAF Brize Norton. We parked up and went into the main building, soldiers in battle dress with weapons were sitting all over the place, doing what soldiers the world over are good at, passing time.
I had been growing my hair and sideboards since that first day, and with my clothes and battered suitcase looked for all the world like a civvy, I could feel all of their suspicious eyes on me. They had been trained to watch out for my kind. I on the other hand felt like shouting, "Hey, I‟m on your side." This was a feeling I would have many times over the coming months. I followed Mack through the hall. Eventually we found a Flight Sergeant who was expecting me.
"Ah, Mr W. Deery for the Belfast flight, you‟re on the two o‟clock." He looked at his watch. "Well we're busy today, we have five flights to Belfast, so keep your eyes open."
Then he looked at Mack. "I‟ll keep him right." He walked away. I lit a cigarette, I was nervous and Mack could see it. He walked up to the canteen and got two teas.
"You‟ll be fine, just remember your field craft, don‟t talk about yourself and watch everyone."
Mack looked at his watch, he had things to do. He stuck his hand out and it took me by surprise, I still had a cigarette in my hand so I dropped it. His hand was strong and dry, my hand was damp and but he held it while we said goodbye and he turn on his heels and walked off. I went over to the canteen and bought a newspaper, the woman inspected the Irish pound note very closely.
The flight was hell. The only seat available to me when I got on last was in between two very large squaddies who obviously did not like the look of the filthy civvy with the Irish accent. We landed at RAF Aldergrove and each man carried his own luggage to the waiting customs men, I only had three packets of duty-free and had no weapon, but he still searched me thoroughly.
I walked through the long hut to the exit feeling a bit lost. It was raining hard as I stood at the entrance trying not to get in the way of the soldiers who were loading up into three toners.
I saw Simon as soon as he came into the car park. He was as I imagined he would be. Tall,an athletic public school type, he zipped through the parked lorries and pulled up at the front door, no thought of taking one of the parking bays.
"Are you Deery?" I had picked up my case and was already walking to the back of his car, he opened the boot to allow me to place my case inside. He looked at me.
"Do you want a wig?" My hair had grown some but still had that look, quite out of fashion. We jumped in the car and belatedly Simon stuck his hand out.
"Sorry I‟m Lt. Simon Adder, but you must call me Simon, it‟s my job to make sure you have all the things you need."
He pulled away and made his way to Palace Barracks. As we drove he talked.
"It‟s chaos at the moment, I‟ve only been here three weeks and my job is to control four men in the field." He turned to have a quick glance at me, "We don‟t really have enough men out there" He pulled onto the duel carriage way and quickly gained a lot of speed.
"You will be staying at the camp for the first few days, last minute things, and I want to get around as much as possible, show you the sights, and I do want you to think about wearing a wig."
He had another quick glance to see how this was going. "You can take it off after a few weeks."
We had not been driving long when we pulled into the entrance to the barracks. Simon showed his ID card and we were let through. He pulled up at one of the blocks and we unloaded my case. I follow him into the building.
"This is your room." He opened the door. There were four beds, one of which had no blankets.
"I‟ll get that sorted for you, but I want you to come with me for now and I‟ll show you the Ops room and bring you up to date."
We closed the door and I followed him.
"That building over there is the cookhouse." We walked over to a two story building covered in aerial masts. We went straight up the stairs, and into a large office.
On the walls were maps of Belfast with such detail that they showed even the shape of the back yards and individual lamp posts. There were a mixture of officers and other ranks either listening or talking to radios. I recognised Captain Roberts, he was on the phone and had not seen me, and I carried on looking at the information boards. It was all stuff I had seen before but with a bit more detail, some of the mug shots had red pen through them with the word DEAD.
"How are you doing Deery?" Captain Roberts had noticed me.
"Fine Sir." I tried to smile, but he saw through that.
"You will be a bit nervous." He pointed to a seat next to him, I sat down.
"Yes just a bit."
"Remember, you‟re only doing observation, most of the time you will just be another conductor on the buses." Captain Roberts‟s phone rang. Simon gave me a cup of tea while I waited.
"As I was saying," he went straight back in where he left off, "Its low key just keep an eye out and report in every night."
He fished around on his desk and found what he was looking for and re-read the information.
"I see they have placed you directly opposite the police station," he read some more, "and that you have an interview on Monday at the bus depot."
He put the piece of paper down "Well I suppose Simon wants to show you quite a few things so I‟ll let you get on." I was dismissed as he picked up the phone.
Simon beckoned me over to the other side of the room. He leaned against the bench.
"Let's get your temporary ID card sorted and your bedding- and then we‟ll go for a ride, just to get the feel of the town."
As we walked to the Quartermasters store Simon told me about a shooting the night before.
Once the bed had been sorted out we picked up a temporary ID card for me, it had no photograph on it so had to be used in conjunction with my driving licence. For the next four hours we drove around Belfast, which was surprisingly small. He showed me all the buildings I would be expected to know. We drove past where I would be living. I took heart in the fact it was directly opposite a police station, which had three major lookout posts. That night I sat and read the latest reports, dossiers on IRA units and where all the army units had made camp. There was even a Squadron of Sappers in the bus depot I would be working at.
Chapter 7.
Saturday 25 March 1972.
My first full day in Northern Ireland.
The next morning Simon found me in the canteen eating a full army breakfast.
"Good morning." he sat down, he only had a cup of tea " I‟ll get you settled in at number 37 today."
"I think I need to go to Castlederg bus depot, I just feel someone may just ask me about my last depot." I looked at Simon for agreement.
"Yes, busmen will be interested where you have come from." I carried on eating, pleased with myself.
" I think you should go and see some of your relations," Simon let this sink in, " they give you credence." I chewed my toast.
The thought of my Grandmothers house, with that smell of poverty, that smell of lentils and those worn out carpets. I knew he was right, so I nodded.
The rest of the day was spent travelling. Castlederg was small, but they had a bus depot. We had a pint in one of the pubs, my first chance to talk to a local. Then we made our way to Derry a quick spin round the town, I was reading the maps which had various areas coloured to represent the various religions in the area.. Protestant, Catholic and mixed. Then we went back down the A6 back to Belfast.
We went into number 37 Mount Pottinger Road, which had the door on Madrid Street for some strange reason, but was above the post office on Mount Pottinger Road, so that was the address. Directly opposite was the police station, at each end there were massive steel clad Sangers and you could just make one out on the roof. The flat was clean to a point, and it had all the things you would need. I was glad to see a TV in the corner. I put the kettle on and realised that I had not done any shopping for myself.
"Why not go down and introduce yourself to the landlord, he owns the shop downstairs." Simon went into his pocket.
"No, I have money."
The doorbell was loud, it made a loud Ping noise as I entered. It was the old fashioned type of shop where you asked for everything you wanted whilst you stood on the other side of the counter. It had a small quarter which was glassed off, for the post office business to be private. A large Closed sign hung there.
"Hi, I‟m moving in upstairs." He was a big Asian man and I got a shock when he opened his mouth, his accent was as thick as mine.
"Sure, no problem," he smiled at me "it‟s been empty since February since some Pikies did a runner, I had to decorate from top to bottom."
I ordered all the things I needed and paid him with the money Mack had made me sign for.
I went upstairs with my little load of shopping. I realised that this was my first home, just for me.
"Do I need to keep receipts?" I looked at Simon as I passed into the kitchenette, he did not answer straight away, so I told him about the money Mack had given me.
"I‟m not sure." We forgot about it.
He showed me the hidden phone in the bedroom, he peeled back the carpet and lifted two newly sawn floorboards and there was a phone, there was no dial for ringing numbers just a single bell press. He pressed the button. It was answered straight away.
"I‟m just testing this line." Simon communicated with the listener. I could hear the other person.
"Clear as a bell Sir." Having made contact and ensuring it was fully functioning he replaced the boards and carpet.
I carried on looking round the flat. The bathroom was small and the toilet was down some steep wooden stairs, but at least it was an inside toilet, so many of them were out in the cold back yards in Belfast.
That night I stayed in Palace Barracks.
On the Sunday we started late, we walked around Belfast and had Sunday lunch in the Europa Hotel, Simon paid. Then we went down memory lane for me, we just sat at places which I only vaguely remembered.
Outside my old house we were gathering too much attention so we did a quick exit. My school, it looked so small now, a burnt out car had just been left there.. half on the pavement.
The corner shop which in my childhood was an Aladdin‟s cave just was just a dirty old shop on the corner, the outer windows boarded up with signs on saying "Open for business."
"Do you want to see your Grandmother?" I shook my head. I was not quite ready for that. We made our way back to camp.
Simon had other people to look after, so after packing up my suitcase and he drove me back to Number 37. We parked the car out of sight and quickly got into the flat.
Simon sat for a while and we went over last minute things.
"Where are you going to hide the mugs shot book? " We looked around the flat and eventually decided on the cupboard which housed the gas meter, if anybody searched the house very thoroughly I was in trouble anyway. Eventually Simon left saying he would talk to me in the morning on the landline. I just sat there with the gas fire hissing and gathered my thoughts. I had never spent the night on my own, even when my mother knew she was going on a bender she would farm my out to Mrs. Oxon who was only three doors down. I checked to see if the television was working.It was a small portable with twist tuning, but all three channels were clear and crisp. I finished my coffee and started to unpack. I sat and watched the television for the rest of the night, jumping up to look out of the window every time there was a noise. Before I went to bed I practiced getting to the phone quickly. I did not sleep well, and woke early. The question of the wig was beginning to worry me.
Monday 27
th March 1972. The Army had moved into the bus depot quite early on in the Troubles, and the gate was manned by a couple of soldiers, I showed them my letter asking me to come in for an interview, they patted me down. I walked round the main building. There were busmen and soldiers all over the depot and I was shown to a rickety old stairwell leading to the top floor.
I introduced myself to a female clerk and she gave me a form to fill in while I waited. I looked around the office; four women were pushing pieces of paper around, waybills, time-sheets and engineer reports.
Eventually Mr. Jackson the depot superintendent came out of his office and invited me in. He asked all the questions we had anticipated, and I answer them. He knew he had to give me the job, but he wanted to find out as much as possible about me.
"Well I can only offer you three days training." He peered over his glasses to see my reaction.
"Oh that will be plenty, I been doing the same job at Castlederg." I was feeling positive.
"And how is Billy O‟Brian?" He asked the question I had been dreading. I sat there racking my brain to remember O‟Brian.
"Oh he‟s always on about retirement, but I‟m sure he‟ll be taken out of there in a box" I could feel the sweat running down my back. Jackson just laughed.
"Right then, you start on Wednesday." He jumped up to open the door. "Doris, fix Mr. Deery up with a temporary bus pass, he starts Wednesday, transferred from Castlederg Depot." He shook my hand and closed his door.
The office staff looked me up and down. They had not started anyone for over a year, jobs were hard to come by, they were curious.
Doris did all the paper work, temporary employee‟s bus pass, public service badge, uniform chit, pay records, and timetables. I was feeling relieved as she gave me instructions as to what to expect.
She sent me off to the clothing store. I was issued with two pairs of trousers, two shirts, one dust jacket, one tie, an overcoat and a hat which was optional to wear. I went round to the cashing -in office. Men were clocking on and off as the shifts changed, so the cash clerk was not to happy about issuing me with a
locker and a ticket machine, but eventually this was done. Like any other work place where men know each other well, the banter went on.
"Hey Billy." One of the conductors, who was cashing in at the end of his shift shouted across the office, "You know that clippie from the Newtownards depot?"
"Aye the one that shaves twice a day." Billy knew exactly which woman he was talking about.
"Aye, well she‟s left her husband and ran off with a barmaid from The Kings Arms."
"The dirty fucking cow." The two men carried on their banter with other men making occasional remarks about the woman. I noticed one of my target men come in, I had only seen photographs of him, but there was no mistaking him, Tommy O‟Neil had just walked in, he was the union convener for the depot, but most of all he was the commander of „C‟ coy IRA East Belfast. I could feel the power and hatred, and so did the men in the office, you always knew when you were in the presence of a sociopath. Everybody continued to cash up or clock on, nobody made eye contact with O‟Neil, I busied myself with my ticket machine but I was watching without appearing to be looking. The man walked over to the cash clerk, suddenly the whole atmosphere changed.
"Clock me off Sam." O‟Neil handed his money over.
The cash clerk deferred. He counted the money quickly. This gave me a chance to watch the man, so this was the man who ordered killings, bombings, and still has over forty men under his command. The exact strength of the IRA was always hard to judge, active, passive, people who just make the numbers up. There‟s a huge sense of relief when O‟Neil walks out of the office. I was excited, I had made a direct hit and I had not even started. I wanted to get back and report, but I knew that if I did that I would be stuck in the flat until the next day, so I walked over the Albert Bridge and into town. I spent the next few hours riding around on buses, I need to learn bus routes and know the city as much as possible.
It‟s a great idea, on the buses you can keep an eye out on everyone without raising any suspicion, observe, watch and report, nice low level intelligence. I was feeling much better. The day had gone right to plan.
I got home late in the afternoon, stared to get the flat clean, this was my army training kicking in. Simon came bang on time, but I still jumped a mile when the doorbell rang.
"How did it go?" Simon was smiling.
"You are not going to believe this," I could not wait to tell him my news, "I saw O‟Neil he came in the office while I was there." I wanted Simon to congratulate me but he remained calm. He was pleased, pleased that I was enthusiastic, pleased that I had been listening and pleased that I had some sort of early success already.
"When do you start?" Simon was watching me, assessing me.
"Wednesday very early, but I‟ve already been out on the buses to have a look around, and I‟ve got a free bus pass." I Showed him my uniform, my PSV badge, my temporary bus pass. I was like a child showing someone his Christmas presents.
"We may as well go back to the barracks." I packed my washing gear and some clean clothes in the brown paper bag from my shopping trip down stairs and we switched off the fire and left.
Tuesday 28
th March 1972. I got back to number 37 at eleven thirty on Tuesday. I had to be up early, so went to bed but did not really sleep well.
I arrived at the depot at five thirty in the morning, wearing my smart new uniform. It was drizzling. What was strange that on route- were the amount of vigilantes still on the streets, the army watching them, and they were watching everything. There were men on doorsteps, standing on corners, hands in pockets, scrutinizing everything that moved. The busmen were largely ignored as they made their way into the depot.
Buses were moving onto the streets going to their various routes to start the day.
I clocked on, the duty clerk handing me the running board, my timetable for the day. "You‟ve been placed with George Megahey, I‟ll let you know when he comes in."
I made myself busy checking my ticket machine and filling out my waybill, but all the time quietly looking around. George arrived with four minutes to go before we were due on the road.
"Hello Denis, clock me on."
Denis pointed to me and told George that he has got a trainee. His response was, "I like it, I like it, some other bugger can run up and down the stairs." He came over to me and shook my hand, he was about mid fifties, greying hair, short, with nicotine stains on his right hand, but there was a relaxed air about him.
"I‟ve been transferred from Castlederg." I said as an opening line. He was more interested in how little he had to show me.
"So you‟ve been on the buses before?" He checked my paper work over, and pointed out that I had left off the duty number. We strolled over to the garage and found the driver, Danny Orr doing his early morning checks.
"Hey Danny, I‟ve got a trainee." George was beaming.
Danny shook my hand and jumped into the cab, and the next thing we are out of the depot and making our way over the Albert Bridge, passing the markets and down to the bus station.
The rest of the day flew by in a rush. I was being shown fare stages, routes and all manner of information to do with the job, it‟s an interesting life, busily moving people from one place to another, and there‟s a feeling of achievement at the end of the sh
"Are you coming for a pint?" George asks me while were cashing in. It was only one thirty, and I was never a big drinker, I just couldn't handle the stuff, but would I just go home and stay there till my next shift I asked myself, or should I start to integrate with my work mates?
"Yes." I found myself saying.
The shifts were changing, men were clocking on and off, the cash office was bubbling, I noticed that one of my key target men, a young catholic called Johnny O‟Neil the son of Tommy O‟Neil was clocking on. I told myself to just log it into memory, it can go into tonight‟s report.
I drank shandy much to the derision of George and Danny, who after years of drinking could drink for all Ireland.
"Hell, he‟s a prod I‟m a catholic but we don‟t let things like that get in the way" Danny was filling me in "we‟ve known each other for years, but I don‟t need to know where he prays." He lifted his beer and took a long draught. "But there are plenty around here who do."
Last orders were called at three, George and Danny were getting a couple of pints in, and sinking them fast. Even though I had only been drinking shandy I went home with my head spinning.
"Aye, I‟ll see you tomorrow." They wandered off in the opposite direction. I went home to sleep.
Simon was in the flat when I got to number 37, and while I was having a coffee I gave him all my information gathered that day.
"Johnny O‟Neil came in to clock on, God he‟s an evil looking bastard." Simon already knew this.
"Yes" He had the local mugshot book. "Look through this lot." we went though them and I had not seen anybody else out of the book, but it helped to refresh my memory.
The next morning I was up early, and got to the depot thirty minutes early. This gave me time to stand around and watch the crew members as they clocked on. As usual, George and Danny bowled in with just minutes on the clock to get on the road. George checked my paperwork, we went off. As it happens, we had a long tea break, this was quite common. Good rest periods were made available on most duties, thanks to the Union rules. The canteen was at the back of the depot it was built to be higher than the rest of the building which save ground space. I had to buy the teas. It was a rule that the conductor would always pay for the tea. Generally that was because he was the one who could make a few bob, by short changing or not giving a ticket out for a short journey. Meanwhile the driver would keep a watchful eye out for inspectors. At this point I had no idea as to how to fiddle, but they assumed I did.
George and Danny started a card school. I was sitting watching looking around at the canteen which was a scruffy place. There was a lot of litter on the floor, the table was cleaned with what looked like a floor cloth, everything had a fine
layer of grease on top. The pool table caught my eye, I loved pool. I would spend all my leisure time back in Germany playing, and I took the game very seriously.
There were two men playing, and they did not have a clue. I placed my name on the board, I would play the winner. Eventually one of them won, and I was setting up the balls, and we had just introduced ourselves when Johnny O‟Neil came in. I did not even look at him as he swaggered over to the counter. The local rules were spelled out to me. The game started. Now I‟m the sort of player who wants to win- big style, I want to crush my opponent, which was not hard, and all the time I played Johnny was watching me. First I beat the winner, then eight balled the next man, it was a nice table it ran smooth and the balls were accurate, the cue‟s were kept in good order and I was enjoying myself. All the time Johnny's eyes were on me as I demolish the two no-hopers.
"I‟ll give you a game, these fucking wankers couldn‟t hit a cows arse with a banjo." Johnny was putting his name down on the board. I wondered how close would intelligence want me to get? I was smiling inside, but I didn't show it.
He was good, but erratic which was how I liked it. I was making out that it was beginners luck, just having a good day. It helped to wind him up.
"You‟re a lucky bastard, so you are." I put on my soft face, as Johnny put in another tanner, even though it was not his turn, nobody complained. I won again, he was getting angrier, and I was really enjoying the situation. We had four games and he won the last one. He played well and had started to give me some respect.
"Come on young‟un." George was letting me know it was time to get back to work.
"Go on, fuck off now I‟ve started to win." Johnny wanted more but I had to go. What a good story to tell Simon. The rest of the shift flew over.
When I got back to number 37 I pulled up the boards and lifted the phone out and pressed the button.
„Its Deery here‟ I did not recognize the voice that answered.
"I‟ll put you through to Captain Ellis." There was a moment, then a click.
"Captain Ellis." I recognized the plummy vowels of Ellis.
"Sir it‟s Deery, I‟m just using my phone for the first time." I explained.
"Oh well Lt. Adders not here at the moment, do you have anything to report." I went on to tell him about the pool games with Johnny O‟Neil and that everything else was going fine.
"Well done Deery, I‟ll fill Simon in when he gets back."
"Ok sir." I hung up and place the boards back.
Ellis made a note in the large log, with meticulous handwriting.
Wednesday 26 April 1972. Deery has made a good start, contact with John O’Neil C Coy E. Belfast, settled in well. Very promising.
We had a setback, Edwards has been sacked from Garson’s Bakery, and so he will be posted to Londonderry where we believe we can get him a job with the council. We have some influence in that area.
McDonnell has settled in well at the Coach House in Strabane, and has volunteered for extra shifts at weekends, but maybe having a fling with one of the barmaids (one to keep an eye on). BBC News, 31st April 1972 ..A British soldier died this morning, after being shot in the Donegal Road area of Belfast four days ago...
The three days of training were over on Friday, and George and Danny took me for a pint.
"I see you‟ve been put with old Mason, well he won‟t throw you around." They both laugh. George continued , "He‟s never been out of third gear for five years." We drank the afternoon away.
Saturday 1st April 1972. The next morning it was cold and raining but I had gone in early, I wanted to make sure that I had got all fare stages and other things in my head, I wanted to be ready for my first day with no guidance. I was reading the notice board when I got a little poke in the back.
"You‟ll not be so lucky next time." I turned round to find Johnny O‟Neil, scowling at me, it was still bothering him, as he had not been turned over for a long time on the pool table.
"What time's your relief?" He was trying to see which duty I was on. I looked at the running board.
"We are off from ten thirty till eleven forty seven." Johnny smiled.
"Well, I‟ll be ready for you. I‟m the spare conductor today and will be warming up all morning." He had a funny smile, the type you instinctively are wary of when you‟re a child. This is not supposed to happen. I‟m supposed to just watch from the sidelines.
Denis the cash clerk was calling my name.
"Jerry this is the new boy, he‟s been transferred from Castlederg." Jerry looked around, he tookes me in with one glance.
"Just keep the kids quiet on the school runs, and get the teas in on relief, and you‟ll do for me." He walked out into the yard to find his bus.
They were right, Jerry never went over twenty five miles an hour, not that it made much difference to me. We did a workman‟s special to Harland & Wolf, got a cup of tea at the canteen of Johnson‟s metal works, and then a scholars run,the little bastards knew I didn‟t have much of a clue, but still I knew I was not going to make a career out of this.
We were back at the depot at ten thirty, and Johnny was sitting with his dad. I was not sure I want to be this close to these two evil men, but I smiled as I saw them.
"Two teas and a sausage sarnie please." The lady served me, I was not in a hurry to sit down, and I wanted time to think. "Three and nine." she was quick, and I was still not ready, so I sat with Jerry.
"Hey." Johnny was waving me over. I didn‟t want to be this close and the pressure was on, but I took my sandwich and tea and sat with them.
"So you‟ve come from Castlederg?" I nodded at Tommy O‟Neil. "Well, I‟ll have to send off for your union records,do you still pay your dues at that branch?" I nearly choked on my sausage, my mouth went dry. At no point had anybody thought of my union records, the buses was a closed shop, you had to be a member of the union to be on the buses. Tommy was looking right into my soul, I was lifting tea to my mouth just to give myself a few second to think.
"Yes fully paid up member." I smiled, but my hands were shaking so I hid them under the table.
"I‟ll bring in my card tomorrow." What else could I say? He gave me a form to fill in, and Johnny was setting up the balls on the pool table, I was glad that I could get away from Tommy. We started playing, Johnny was not giving anything away so the game was slow and tactical. I ground out three wins. All the time Johnny was getting upset.
"You are the luckiest bugger alive." He was not used to losing, and my mind was on the union records. I needed to get a message to Simon soon.
"No more for me." I put the cue away, Johnny was furious he wanted to win, to prove that nobody would make a fool out of him. I want to get to the phone under the floorboards.
"No that‟s enough for me." I smiled and made my way to the door. Johnny came running after me and caught up with me at the top of the metal stairs.
"What are you doing tonight?" He had his hands on my shoulder, I took his hand off.
"Not a lot really, why?"
"We can go to the club there‟s a better table there, come on, it's Saturday night." I was a bit shocked, but didn‟t have an excuse so I said, " fine."
"I‟ll knock for you at seven." I was off, I had fourteen minutes to get to the phone, tell Simon and get back to the depot. I ran all the way and stumbled up the stairs of 37 and into the bedroom. The phone was answered just as quickly as the first time had been.
"Get me Simon." It seemed like ages but probably only took twenty seconds.
"Ellis here." I started to babble "Sir, they are going to get my union records from Castlederg." He was silent for a few seconds, "Hmm…." more time passed as he thought about this. Every second was a minute. "Sir I‟ve only got a few minutes to get back to the depot, I must go now." I slammed the phone down, put the boards back and ran like the wind. Jerry stood at the depot gates, but I got there on time.
We got re-routed due to a suspect bomb, time flew.
As soon as I got back to 37 I was up the stairs and on the phone. Simon answered as soon as the phone was picked up.
"Yes we forgot about that." He was calm, "The union convener at Castlederg is ex-army protestant, and he assures us that you will have two years records of full union dues when the request comes through, we will get the union card to you by tonight." I was feeling better, just how many other things had we forgotten to cover?
Still a few hours till seven so I got some kip.
Johnny knocked very loudly on the door. I heard it clearly and I was ready.
We walked to the club, we did not go the quickest way, Johnny didn't want to go though protestant streets, the vigilantes were out early tonight, and most of them acknowledge Johnny.
The club was already quite full, and there were men playing pool. We took a seat and waited our turn. I studied everyone but not openly staring, just using the technique that Mack had taught me. How had I got myself into this position, I‟m supposed to be lying low and here I find myself in the lions den, surrounded by all sorts of God knows who. I don‟t know if I‟ve done well or stepped over the mark, will they pull me out or what? I know I‟m out of my depth, but should just keep mouth shut.
Johnny went on to the table first. It gave me time to look around the club. I started making mental notes and could see two familiar faces who were on the wanted list and two from the report list.
The winner stays on the table, so Johnny had to win so that we could play. Johnny lost and I could see his pride was hurt. I had watched the other man play so I could see his weakness, and he did not know my game.
"Robert, he‟s a lucky bugger, and he‟ll clear up if you give him a chance." Johnny filled the other guy in, I was thinking it maybe was a good time to lose, maybe he‟d lose interest in me if I played a duffers game, but the fighting spirit got inside me as soon as we played. We shook hands at the end of the game, as the night went on people lost interest in the pool table, there was bingo- and a singer came on at nine, rebel songs were going down the best, she knew her audience. But Johnny and I played on. When he won you could see the jubilation in his face, I didn‟t let that happen too often. I knew he held me in high esteem - for no other reasons than I could beat him at pool, he didn't even know me. At the end of the night, I deliberately missed the black, I did this because I knew him to be a sociopath and I had to walk home with him, it worked, he was happy and on the way and started to sing. We were stopped by an army patrol, and pushed against the wall. I gave them a bit of mouth.
"Fuck off sunshine." the squaddie makes me lean over even more, he knows this starts to hurt pretty quickly, we had to wait whilst our names and addresses were checked out, mine toques forever because I‟d not been there long.
"Spell that again." The radio operator has mispronounced my name. "Delta, Echo, Echo, Romeo, Yankee." My arms were killing me, so I tried to stand up a bit more upright.
"Don‟t fucking move son." The soldier holding me had a baton pushed into my back, and they were very edgy, but this did not help my arms which were starting to give way. I moved again, this time the soldier brought me down with a head lock, my face caught the ground and I started to struggle. I was wondering how it had come to this, but my mouth said "You son of whore, fuck off to where you came from."
This was a bad mistake, a Land Rover was called up and I was whisked off to Mount Pottinger police station, I didn‟t know what happened to Johnny. They let me go at four in the morning, the 'reasonable force' showing as blue marks all over my back and legs. I got straight on the phone, blood still on my lips.
"Get me Simon Adder."
"Hello?" The sound of Simons voice calmed me down, he said he would be there soon, and he was. I suddenly realised that this is what it would it was all going to be like.
"I‟ve been lifted by the army," I still felt sorry for myself "and I have to be at work in two hours," Simon listened while I moaned on, "and I‟m black and blue." but then I remembered the four sightings, "but the good news's is this, I‟ve seen two wanted men and two reports." Simon took the details down. I now felt very tired.
"I‟ll catch an hour‟s sleep and phone you after my shift tomorrow," I looked at the alarm clock "no, later today."
Chapter 8.
I was not due to clock on until five past six, so I did get some sleep, but in the morning the bruises on my back and legs were spectacular, and I limped to work. The day passed over with no real happenings, but I did see Tommy O‟Neil to hand in my union card. At the end of my shift I made my way to number 37, but first called into the post office downstairs for some aspirin, I found myself looking at the police station over the road and looking on them as the enemy, looking out of their Sangers, dominating the scene, strange. Then I went straight to bed. I‟d planned to sort out the reports later.
I was woken by someone banging on the front door. I rushed to pull on my pants , then walked down the stairs.
"Who‟s that?" I had a frog in my throat.
"It‟s me." Johnny was talking in one of those loud whispers.
"Will you look at that?" Johnny had come to find out what had happened, and he was very impressed with the bruises.
I was thinking, "Please Simon don‟t come at this moment in time, please don‟t phone."
I put the kettle on as I told Johnny what had happened.
"Four in the morning, and will you look at that." I‟m pointing to my legs, it did look good if you wanted sympathy, Johnny was not the sympathetic type but liked other people to hate the army as much as he did.
"Well, we‟ll get them one of these days." Johnny made a pistol with his finger and pointed it at me and fired. There was a quiet knock on the door I leapt out of the chair, I needed to get to the door quickly and sprinted down the stairs. I did not ask who it was, but just opened the door. Simon tried to walk in but I put my hand forcibly against his chest as he walked up the steps. At first he was surprised.
"No they don‟t live here anymore." I said this more for the benefit of the person who was upstairs than to Simon, and closed the door noisily. I ran up the stairs and straight into the kitchenette and finished off the tea.
"Do you want a biscuit?"
"Yes."
"How many sugars do you take?"
"Two."
"Who was that?"
"It was just someone asking for someone who doesn‟t live here anymore." I wanted to change the subject.
"What happen to you?" Not that I gave a toss but I manage to feign interest in what happened after I was shuffled away.
"They‟d had their fun so I was soon on my way." He took a drink of tea and looked at me, "I went straight home, and told my dad."
"You still live with your parents?" I forgot, not everyone has to get out as soon as they can walk.
Looking hurt Johnny replies "Of course I do." Very defensively.
I wanted to get rid of Johnny.
"Do you want to go out tonight?" Johnny asked.
I‟m knackered, and bruised, and I wanted to get to the barracks, this meant more than just a phone call.
"No way, I‟m black and blue do you want to beat a man who‟s wounded, anyway I‟m on an early start tomorrow."
Johnny finished his tea and left with a promise that I would give him a chance for revenge soon.
I was on the phone before Johnny had got to the end of the street.
"Tell Simon I‟m coming in." that‟s all I said to the voice as I put the phone down, replacing the floorboards.
I got the eighty six to Holywood, I did not use my staff pass and the bus conductor did not know me, but I still got off two stops after the barracks,
preferring to walk back rather than get off next to the barracks. I had no ID so had to wait at the guardhouse until Simon came to identify me.
As we strolled back to the offices I gave him all the details as to what had occurred, Simon was just listening and calculating these changes of events.
Captain Ellis, Simon and I went over it again in room seven.
"So you‟ve bonded with a known IRA sympathizer and you have not even been in position for a week!" He looked pleased. I had mixed feelings, I was only meant to observe and report and here I was stepping into the lions den.
"Obviously we don‟t want you to rush things," Ellis could afford to be relaxed he didn‟t have to be out there, "but to be close to some one the likes of O‟Neil it‟s a big plus."
He looked from Simon to me, Simon was trying to look encouraging.
"It could take years to get to this position again, you‟ve done really well lad." But they could see it was lying heavily on me.
"I‟ll do my best." I smiled weakly, and was given no real instruction other than keep doing what I was doing.
I made my way to the canteen I thought I might as well get a proper meal while I was here, I had the main meal. The cook sergeant wanted to know who I was, my hair was getting long, and with side boards climbing down my face. I explained I was MI, it was a problem not to have ID on me, but also it would be foolish to carry military Identity.
I walk back up a few stops to get the bus home and was in bed by nine thirty.
Wednesday 19th April 1972 BBC News. A British soldier was shot today in the Lower Falls area of Belfast, while on foot patrol, his next of kin has been informed...
In the operation room at Holywood barracks.
"One shot Willy did it again." This remark came from the radio operator, but everyone else was thinking it anyway.
I had done a week of early and a week of late shifts, and I was well into my second week of early‟s, life was settling down and a pattern was evolving. Johnny and I played pool every Wednesday and Saturday nights, plus we got a few games at work when our paths crossed which was quite often because were on the same shift. One really good thing which I had not even considered was that I received two wage packets I was allowed to keep my bus wage, the army paid my wages into the bank in Germany and they paid my rent, I felt rich. Simon said "Well you need money to live don‟t you?" I don‟t think he knows how much I could earn with a little bit of overtime, so I was keeping schtum.
It was amazing how much I saw on the buses, I kept writing the reports and spotting things which army patrols never saw, both sides kept a close eye on the army - if they wanted to do anything. The only thing about this was how slowly my information got to those who need to know, but it was better than nothing.
We were diverted regularly on the bus route because of a suspect bomb here, a demo there, sometimes even gun fights occurred. A lot of this was not even newsworthy. I supposed that the news couldn't just be a chronicle of Belfast life.
Jerry the driver just plodded on, nothing fazed him, he had been a merchant sailor in the war, and lost a lot of friends one way or another, so this little tiff didn‟t worry him. Most of his stories started "I remember the time" and he was a great raconteur- remembering dates, names and places in great detail. I asked him once when we were standing at the terminus waiting for the return journey, "Did you ever expect to die?"
"Oh yes every time we left port, I used to write my last letter to my mother, she could never face opening them until I was back, I never understood that." He looked into the distance, miles away, remembering some distant past.
On Saturday Johnny knocked, I was wearing a new shirt and feeling very flash.
"Electric blue, you look like a Belisha beacon."
Johnny was not impressed with my new shirt. I‟d also bought myself a two piece pool cue in with a carrying case, which I hoped would improve my pool.
"Just wait until this little beauty starts to talk." I was winding Johnny up, he was looking over the cue as we walked to the club, and as he put it back in the case, a foot patrol soldier came around the corner. We carried on walking but the section leader decided that we perhaps might be carrying some sort of weapon. I
could see it coming, and they may have checked us out even if we didn‟t have the cue box, but that helped to tip the balance. Why they had to lean us against the wall and kick our feet around I don‟t know, but with the best will in the world it goof us going.
"You just leave my bollocks alone you puff." Johnny was getting indignant at the process, and I didn‟t blame him, I felt my own temper rising.
"Have you no home to go to?" Johnny kept up the pressure. I having had the beating, kept answering the questions.
Eventually we were allowed to go on our way, Johnny was furious. "Well that makes my mind up," I looked at Johnny quizzically, he said, "I‟m going to join my dad‟s unit."
"What do you mean?" We were getting close to the club and as we entered he confirmed what I already knew.
"I‟m going to join the IRA." I nearly said that I thought he was already a member, but managed to hold that in.
We sat waiting for our turn on the table whilst sitting at the bottom of the club house, we were watching the other players.
"My dad has always expected me to take more of a part, but until now I never felt the need." This information went directly against all the intelligence reports I had studied.
"I go on the demos, and to the funerals but not any real action, but now..." he tapered off and had a grim look on his face.
I played badly all night the new cue not doing anything for my game, there was a subdued flavour to the night. The next day news got to the O‟Neil‟s that Paddy McVeigh a family friend had been shot by an under cover British intelligence from a passing car in the Andersonstown part of Belfast. Johnny was away from work for six days, preferring to mourn the death of a friend.
I went into Holywood for a night of R&R on the Wednesday night, fat Brian and Smudge were on their night off, and they were showing the film Soldier Blue in the canteen, we had more than two cans that night, I slept in my bunk which had not been re-allocated.
I read the reports before I went back to number 37, a sniper had shot a soldier two days before and was in intensive care, there were some of my reports on the list which made me feel proud.
Johnny came back on the Friday, you could see some change in him, and he was a bit scary, full of hate. We just saw each other whilst passing in the yard, and yes he was going out on the Saturday night.
I had only just finished reporting and had put the phone away, when Johnny knocked.
"Fancy a night in town?" He was imploring me to go into Belfast for a pub crawl.
"No problem mate." I put on the electric blue shirt, and polished my shoes while Johnny watched the TV and we walked through the back streets to Albert Bridge.
"Which bar do you want to go to?" He was back to normal, and we were chatting away about how many girls we had been with, both exaggerating about our exploits, as we got to the first bar.
I‟m not a big drinker, so I had to make sure that I didn‟t drink too much. Bar after bar we visited, and even though ever time Johnny turned his back, or went to the toilet I poured some of my drink into his or any other glass near to me I was still getting drunk. I suggest we have half pints at each bar and Johnny ridiculed me.
"Are you a queer?" I was shamed into drinking more than I could take. My guard was going down, and as we fell all over the road on the way back Johnny picked me up.
"I‟m going on training exercise next week." I try to comprehend this piece of information.
"Where to?" My head is spinning but I know that I have to listen.
"Three days out in the sticks." Johnny was holding me steady and watching my response. I needed to look dumb here which was easy because of the beer.
"My dad has arranged for weapon training, I want you to come." I could not believe what was happening, I fell to the floor, and I needed time to think.
"Come on, you hate the bastards as much as me." Had I been acting that well?
"I‟m just a bus conductor." I wailed.
"We have to make a stand." He was really putting the pressure on. "They need us." I was sobering up very fast here, "I can‟t be taking time off work I‟ve only just started." My mind was racing, what would Simon tell me to do?
"You get three days off next week I‟ve already had a look at your duties." The adrenaline was kicking in, he was serious, and at that moment I knew that the army would like to have me there.
"OK but don‟t expect me to be any good."
He hugged me, here I was, having just agreed to join the IRA, standing on the streets of Belfast, hugging a man who for all the world wants me to shoot and maim my own side, you could not make this up.
I didn‟t report in that night, it would not have been worth it, I would have been incoherent.
The next morning, and with my tongue rasping on the top of my mouth I spoke into the phone.. "Get me Simon." Simon was there.
"What?"
"I‟ve just joined the IRA." There was a long silence, and after a while I explained how the night had gone, what else could I have done?
"You need to come in. I‟ll have things ready when you get here."
"I start work at two thirty." I remind him about that, "I have other things to do besides running up to Holywood every five minutes."
"No, we still need a full report on this." I looked at my watch I supposed it could be done.
"I‟ll be on the ten thirty." I could get my breakfast in camp.
"No we‟ll pick you up in twenty minutes be at the junction of Mount Pottinger and Madrid street." There was a firmness in his voice, which told me how important this was.
Brian was detailed to pick me up, he was a bit frosty to me, he didn‟t like having to taxi me around and I did not want to be explaining things to him, so there was a bit of an atmosphere in the car.
"Oh, its just a general report." I lied, I didn‟t know why, well could I say I was just about to go on an IRA training course, " I‟ll fill you in when I get back." I explained
"They seemed a bit anxious that‟s all." I shrugged my shoulders and changed the subject.
"How are things going with you?" I enquired.
"Every minute feels like an hour." He was not having a good time.
I told him that the buses were a lot more interesting than you would think, and we arrived at the camp, and went straight in, no messing this time, Brian dropped me at the door.
"See you later." I tried to be friendly, but he knew it was insincere.
Bloody hell, they had brought in every Tom, Dick and Harry to listen to my report, we were in the room at the end of the corridor which was normally use for the larger meetings. I was being overly sensitive here, there were seven, but one of them was a half Colonel and there was an air of excitement, I still had a hangover and still thought I had done something gravely wrong.
Ellis asked the questions, everybody else just listened, and I was sweating.
"Do you think it was the beer talking?"
"No Sir, he‟s looked at my duties, so it was premeditated."
"You know things are going very fast here, but you have to go with the flow." I nodded my head, I was ambitious and I wanted to do my best, but I also knew that it would be very dangerous to carry on. Everybody in that room knew that.
At this point the colonel opened his mouth.
"We feel because of the responsibility you are taking on that you should be rewarded, so as of today you are now acting Corporal." Not very long ago I was a Sapper now I had suddenly become a Corporal, I was receiving two wages, and my head was spinning.
After every one had gone Ellis and a tough looking man in civvies who had not said a word during the meeting stayed behind. He introduced himself as Captain Lunn of the SAS and actually shook my hand, his hand shake was firm, and my hand was wet though with sweat, although he did not appear to notice.
"We need to go though certain things, you need to make it look like you are unfamiliar with weapons, and we need to know where the training takes place." I nodded my head and listened as closely as I could. Out in the corridor, the Colonel was giving instructions.
"Put Mr Adder on this one full time, I don‟t want him distracted by anything else."
"Yes Sir."
"And get the techs to bug Deery‟s flat, we need to know what‟s going on in there."
"Yes Sir." The wheels started to turn.
Back in the big room Lunn gave me pointers, which were obvious, but it helped focus the mind. I was being fed coffee to help with the concentration. The mugshot book was out and Lunn pointed out his main targets. At last they were finished with me.
"Do you want a bed?"
"No sir, I wouldn‟t mind grabbing a meal then getting back to my flat." I had been a long day. I could feel my batteries running low.
"Ok, go to the mess get a bite to eat and we‟ll organise a lift." Ellis was patting me on the back as I made my way to the door.
"Well done, Deery." Lunn said. I felt very proud at that moment.
I wandered down to mess, and felt the cold of the night. A heavy dew had fallen and there were no clouds to keep the temperature up.
Ellis lifted the coffee to his mouth as he filled out his report which then was sent directly to William Whitelaw.
Outside the vigilantes stood on doorsteps, men moved weapons and bombs from one safe house to another, doors were kicked in and heavy boots stamped up stairs. One more night in the province.
Brian came to my table with a large cup of tea and the morning paper and sat down.
"A couple of our lads were in a gun fight last night."
"Do I know them?" I was happy to talk about anything but what was happening to me.
"Yes, do you know that fat bastard from Two Troop, Johnston?" I nodded.
"Well it was his section, they were just on patrol and all hell broke loose down on McAuley Street, someone had a rifle and a few hand guns, shooting from an old warehouse," He started to chuckle, "they ran out of ammo, and didn‟t hit a thing."
He finished off his tea and we made our way to his car, he drove back to my place dropping me off in a back lane.
"Be careful." He drove off and I went to my cold bed.
Chapter 9.
Friday 28th April 1972. My shift went over that night without much to tell, but I was sure Jerry‟s driving was getting slower , or was I just getting impatient. When I got home to number
37 something was different, I sat and looked at the room, I could not put my finger on it, was that glass there before? Was the door just like that? Was there a smell? I decided to start to take precautions. There were two ways into this flat, and I wanted to know if anybody had been in whilst I was out. I put a tin can behind the back door, if this moved I would know that someone had been in.
I was on a late shift tonight and as I went through the gates into the yard I bumped into Tommy O‟Neil.
"Here‟s your union card." He handed over the card and looking at me closely and said, "There‟s a funeral for one of our boys on Monday, I‟d like you there." I was taken aback, but managed to say, "I‟ll be there, is Johnny going?"
"Yes he can pick you up at ten thirty."
On the Monday morning Johnny was at the door bang on time, and we walked to the bus stop where the forty one would take both of up Falls Road to Milltown cemetery.
As we went along he told me of the training which was to take place this weekend and he knew that it was my long weekend so I would not need to take time off work.
We arrived at the cemetery and walked past the police station, which was heavily fortified, with barbed wire and sand bags. You could clearly see RUC and army officers photographing everyone one who entered.
At the cemetery a big crowd had gathered and we just fell in with the rest. The cortège meandered down the path, the family at the front weeping and crying as we gathered around the grave. We were at the back. A tricolour had been placed over the coffin and as the body was lowered into the grave I saw six men with black balaclavas and green army styled jackets line up next to the grave, suddenly they pulled out pistols and with one of them shouting out the time, fired six shots into the air. Immediately the RUC tried to move in, grey Land Rovers moving down the path to where we were milling around. The gunmen ran down in the opposite direction, only stopping to climb over the fence. Meanwhile the men in the crowd blocked the road, and were banging on the windows of the vehicles and generally making things difficult for the RUC.
Tempers were rising and some of the men started throwing stones and branches which were lying under the trees, the RUC started to pull back, and then the army came down the path with riot shields and batons. As they pulled back we got braver, pushing up hard. It ended up as a stand off, with the RUC and the army outside the gates and us just on the inside, Photographers had been running around most of the time largely ignored by the crowd snapping away. We didn‟t know whether they were press, army or IRA sympathizers and I didn‟t care. I was close to Johnny all the time, mostly because if anyone had asked who I was he would vouch for me. There was great excitement amongst the men, we stood around and recalled the whole event, everybody wanted to get to the pub for the wake, so the first of the brave souls left and we saw them allowed to leave without any retribution from the RUC, we poured out and down the Falls Road to the pub.
"Did you see them run?" Johnny was full of himself. We arrived at the pub which was full to the brim with people ordering drinks and recalling their part in the day‟s action.
"What you drinking?" Tommy O‟Neil was getting the order in, I was trying to remember as many faces as possible without looking to obvious.
A man who Johnny referred to as Joe was recounting. "Then did you see me hit that bastard with that rock." He was beaming and exited, we listened to him telling the story. As you would expect, exaggerating the massive victory over the forces.
The pub was now full, and suddenly a big cheer went up, I could not see at first, but six men were pushing through towards the bar. They were the six men who had fired the salute at the graveside. They were being patted on the back, drinks were set on the bar, the noise and excitement increased, songs were being sung, stories of the deceased were being told and people got drunk. I was watching, listening and making mental notes. I also had a shift on the buses that night.
Tuesday 2
nd May 1972. The next morning Johnny knocked on the door while I was reporting to Simon on the land line. So had to quickly put the carpet down and hide the phone to get to the door.
"Have you seen this?" he was holding up a copy of Belfast Today, he pushed past me and went up stairs I followed.
The headline says "Mob Protect gun men." but there on the front page was a picture of Johnny and me, he was throwing something and I had a snarl on my face. I don‟t remember snarling. The photographers were journalists . Johnny was delighted, I was wondering what Simon and Ellis will think of this.
In an office back at barracks the radio operator listened and made notes. The wire had been installed. Someone had been in the flat.
"Look at your face, you look as though you‟re going to bite them." Johnny was pointing at the picture of me.
"Aye, but you‟ll get lifted for that photo, not me." I quipped.
Johnny sat and read parts of the report, reading out loud anything that vaguely had anything to do with us.
"It says „the crowd at this point turned ugly' That means they are talking about you." He was like a child with a new toy. I put the kettle on and made two cups of tea, he was shouting things through to the kitchen.
"Hey, it says the wake went on until the early hours, you‟re not joking, and I never got home until three in the morning." He tossed the paper down and leaned back.
"Come on, let‟s go for a game of pool." I was on the middle shift, so I had a few hours.
"I‟ll only thrash you." I tried to wind him up.
"Fuck you, I‟ll play you for a pint, and I‟ll be pissed in an hour." He stood up.
"You always did get pissed easily." It's part of the game, make it important to the other player, so he tries too hard. I picked up the cue and put my coat on, there was a fine drizzle as we walked to the club.
While we were there, Johnny mentioned that we would be getting picked up on Friday at six thirty, for training.
At Holywood barracks, in the large training room. Major Ellis was taking to all ranks. There were detailed maps on the wall behind him.
"As you know, sadly we lost another man to One Shot Willy, and we have to make finding this man a top priority, and it could be more than one man but it‟s doubtful that they have more than one with these skills." He glanced down at his notes.
"He‟s currently taking out a man every ten days, with a single shot to the head, his average distance from target is two hundred and seventy five yards." He looked up.
"This is very high calibre shooting, even with the specialist rifle he needs for this job and taking all things into account, this man is a specialist." There was a murmur from the men assembled, Ellis went on.
"We don‟t have much, but I will tell you this, we think that he‟s been brought in from abroad, probably East Germany or Poland and he works for money, of course we have to keep an open mind, and it may turn out that they just have more than one operator and they may be local." Ellis stopped to think for a moment.
"We do have our ears to the ground and all intelligence on this subject is being collated by Captain Lunn Special Forces," He pointed over to Lunn, "and if you think any information, no matter how tenuously you think it may be linked to this problem, you must pass it through his department." He turned the page on his notes.
"Now I want to cover the riot involving the Para‟s on Crumlin Road, I want to say that they acted well within the yellow card...." they went on to other business.
Monday, 29
th May1972. The rest of the week passed by, my driver, Jerry was off with ill health and I was given a young driver called Kerry Howell. We left late and arrived early on every trip, he was throwing the bus around but he made up for that with his wit.
"I like my girls to have a pulse and still be warm." he‟s girl mad, he slowed the bus down and opened his window to wolf whistle, even when we had a bus inspector on board.
"Hey love, fancy a good time?" I started to blush, this easy going attitude with girls was part of his life.
It was my last shift before we went to the training with Johnny and the IRA. Kerry and I were on the number twenty four route, this went from Dunmurry to the city and we were sitting at the terminus waiting for the return journey. Two of the loveliest young girls got on the bus. Kerry had come from the cab and sat in the back with me for just this reason. He was chatting away.
"Where are you two lovelies going then. On the town?‟ they were enjoying the attention.
"None of your business." The older one replied, but she still kept eye contact with Kerry, obviously wanting the conversation to carry on. Kerry was not even put out of his stride one bit.
"Well I‟m off tomorrow if you would like a good time?" He gave an easy smile, not taking his eyes off the girl. She was about seventeen, purple mini skirt and her coat was cut even shorter.
"Do you think we go out with any old man who asks?" she was smiling, her friend and I were just watching this go on.
"Well do you want a drink then?" Kerry kept going, the girl looked at her friend who had a sly look over to me, I had got what I assumed was my best face on.
"Well you‟ll not get me drunk." she was defiant and started to lay down conditions, Kerry knew he‟d scored.
"Would I do that?" Kerry looked more rougish when he was trying to look innocent, but everyone understood, yes he would try, and she probably would get drunk. He now wanted to draw me and the other girl in. I at this moment remembered that I had a date with the IRA.
"I‟m sorry I can‟t come." I didn‟t want to look like a party pooper, so added that I was going home to my mothers for a long weekend.
"Sure your mum will let you out for once." Kerry felt as thought he was loosing it.
"Sorry, my mum lives in Liverpool, I‟m getting the ferry across and won‟t be back until Monday." what could I say, if looks could have killed, I would have been dead meat.
Kerry tried to salvage something "Me and you could go out?" he looked at the first girl.
"What me? Go out with the likes of you, I‟ve got a reputation to keep." at this moment an old man got on the bus and looked at his watch .
"I thought I‟d missed this bus."
"God look at the time." Kerry jumped up, "we‟ll meet you at O‟Donnell‟s at eight on Wednesday."
The journey back into town must have broken a speed record, even though we picked up a passenger at almost every stop, I never really had time to speak to the girls, but the young one smiled every time I passed.
Later Kerry quizzed me about the trip back.
"Did they talk to you?"
"No, I was busy."
"So they did not say they would not be there?"
"No." I was getting impatient with him.
"Where did they get off?"
"Bedford Street and they walked towards City Hall."
At the end of the shift I went to number 37 and reported to Simon on the phone.
"Will you be monitoring me? I wanted to know if I would be followed.
"No I‟m afraid you will be on your own, you have to be very careful, if you want to get out of this at any point, get yourself to a phone and we‟ll pull you." Simon knew this was a golden opportunity, but it was me taking the risks.
"Report in as soon as you get back," He was stating the obvious, "and don‟t take risks."
I slept quite well, and the next morning I just hung around the house, trying to relax.
Friday 2nd June 1972. BBC News Another British soldier was shot today by a sniper in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast, whilst on foot patrol……
Friday 2nd June 1972. "Have you got a sleeping bag?" Johnny enquired as he came through the door.
"No, what do you think I am?"
"You‟ll have to take a few blankets rolled up." He went past me into the bed room and stripped off the only bedding I had and made a neat roll, tying them with a belt. He looked down at the two pillows on the floor where I had been resting my head while reporting to Simon.
"Have you been sleeping on the floor?" I blushed.
"No I was going to wash the sheets while we are away." I picked the pillows up and placed them on the bed, I was not a good liar.
"You also need some warm clothes." Johnny was sitting on the bed and I was thinking I didn't like him being to close to the phone and wanted him out of the bedroom.
"Hey you‟re like my mother, get the fuck out and make a cup of tea." I pointed towards the kitchen. He went though and put the kettle on.
I filled my duffle bag with some clean socks and a warm pullover I then went to the bathroom, collected a few things from there and I was ready.
"We‟ve got twenty minutes." Johnny looked at his watch.
I told Johnny about the two girls, and he listened, and at the mention of Kerry‟s name you could see he did not get on with him.
"Kerry‟s a lad, so he is." But he didn‟t mean that, he meant he was a fucking proddy bastard, who got all the girls. I made a mental note not to mention Kerry again.
It was raining as we went to the pick up point. I was feeling self conscious about my blanket roll, and felt like some carpet bagger.
We were picked up by two men in a Ford Capri, we threw our stuff in the boot and we were on our way.
The driver was about thirty years old, but the man who sat next to him was only about eighteen. Johnny ran the conversation, "Hiya, this is Billy Deery." he pointed at me, I leaned across and shook both of their hands
"Hiya."
"What‟s your name?" Johnny was looking at the young man.
"Rory." He did not use his last name.
Johnny knew the driver "So Hugh how are things?"
"Not so bad, Johnny boy and yourself?" We were heading out of town, and the windscreen wiper on the passenger side was all but useless. As we left Belfast I started to think, and it could have turned into a full blown panic attack. If these men were my execution squad, imagine if they had known all along who I was? Were they going to take me to some dark corner of Ireland and leave me dead?
The radio was on, I remained silent. I was watching where we we‟re going for one, and two I was starting to think too much. After an hour and a half I sat up.
"Hugh, can we stop for a piss?" I was not sure I wanted to go to the toilet, but I sure needed some fresh air, he went on further for about five minutes and pulled in.
It was not a lay -by but there was cover, we got out of the car stretching our legs and lighting up cigarettes, I walked into the trees. Now there were all sorts of things running through my head, and one of those was remembering Simon saying not to take any risks. I felt as though something was wrong, I didn't have any evidence, I didn‟t have a reason, but was I going to end up in a ditch?
If I run and they find me? What will happen? If I stay the course, and they are who they say they are, then I have some very valuable intelligence. There were all sorts of emotions running through my head.
"Hey Billy, what the fuck are you doing?" I was brought back to the real world by Johnny.
"Move your self, you‟re not on your fathers yacht now." he had a lovely way of saying things. I trudged back to the car, not having the guts to run. Needless to say they gave a little cheer as we crossed the border, we arrived about fifteen minutes later, driving along a very tight lane and going over the hill then down to a farm.
I was surprised at how many people there were at the training camp. We were met by an old man, who checked us off the list.
"Just park over there." He pointed to where the other cars were parked,there were four other cars. We picked up our bags and things and followed him to the barn, by now it was completely dark, there were no city lights at all, only the old man had a torch. In the barn there was a single bulb lighting the whole barn, about twelve or thirteen men had already taken the best sleeping places, half of the barn was stacked with bails of hay, the other half had old tractors and bits of very old farm machinery lying around.
"When you get yourselves sorted there‟s a meeting at eight in here." He disappeared into the dark.
Rory was still outside trying to wipe cow shit off his boots.
I went and got a bail of hay, dragging it over to where I planned to sleep. I cut the rope and spread it into some sort of a bed shape, then getting my blankets out made my home for the weekend.
"You‟ve done this before." Johnny was copying me.
"Aye a regular boy scout that‟s me." I really should not be looking so useful, but the army training kept kicking in.
"There‟s a pub not far from here, and after the meeting I‟m off for a pint." Johnny smiled
I knew what sleeping rough was like, and a few pints inside help. "Count me in, does it have a pool table?"
"No but the music‟s good, and the landlord does not have a watch."
One more car arrived after us, but it only had one person inside. He came in and without saying anything he set out his bed, he had a gas light and some home comforts, a camp bed, a fold - up chair and the biggest chunky sleeping bag I‟ve ever seen.
Not long after some men came into the barn. The obvious leader called us all together.
"Get yourselves over here." We all gathered at the other end, and they did a roll call, very military.
"Right you‟re here for basic training, reveille is six thirty, you can get washed in the farm, and breakfast is in two stages." At this point he read out the names of who was in the first and who was in the second shift for breakfast. Johnny was on the first breakfast, and I was on the second, I was not displeased about this, I could then look around and make mental notes, remember names and faces.
"We will be covering," the young man carried on, „basic discipline, small arms, organizing riots and how to deal with the forces." He then introduced us to the other men who would be training us that weekend.
As soon as the talk was over Johnny said, "Come on, off to the pub." We made sure everything was packed away
Johnny tripped over something in the dark, on our way to the local, and there was not much light. We arrived at the village, it was not really a village,no more than a few houses but they had a pub, we stumbled in, you have to give it to the Irish they are well blessed with homely welcoming ale-houses
There were quite a lot of people inside, dogs lying in the middle of the floor, and a heavy pall of smoke hung around, and on one of the tables there was a fiddle and a few penny whistles. Some of the men from the farm had already beaten us down there. We got our pints and sat down with them.
"We‟re from Derry, Bogside." The oldest man introduced us, he was about twenty eight, with long dank hair and that pinched mouth look that only poverty can bring.
"I‟m Johnny and that‟s Billy‟ Johnny introduced both of us.
"John, Pat and I‟m Seamus." He pointed out the other two and they nodded.
Hugh and Rory came into the bar and ordered pints, and we made room for them.
"You two must have sprinted down here." Hugh observed looking at Johnny and me.
"Hey, we're not wasting drinking time." Johnny opened a pack of cards, "Anyone in for Crash?." He started to shuffle the cards. Soon the musicians started playing a tune over in the far corner, and a guitarist and a small harp player came in later during the night. We were swapping seats as some one was knocked out of the game and another card player took their place. We rolled back to the farm, stumbling and laughing, and fell into our beds, I slept well.
Saturday 3
rd June 1972. The next morning you could hear the rain falling, I did not want to get out of bed. The lone man who was dressed like a hunter who had arrived after us, was up and had been to the bathroom and packed his things neatly away.
A voice in the gloom said, "Come on get yourselves up." I struggled out of bed and walked across the yard, there was only one sink with cold water only and the door was missing. I waited until it was my turn, did not shave, just rinsed my face and had a quick brush of the teeth and I was out. While Johnny was at breakfast I had a chance to study the man on the other side of the barn, to my knowledge he had not spoken to anyone. He was sitting on his camp bed reading a paper backed book, he wore black boots which tied a long way up the leg, a camouflage jacket which had a hood, dark trousers. His watch was one of those big heavy duty things which could probably go down to a hundred yards under water and tell you the time in every country of the world, he was not very tall, but had an air of strength, confidence and looked very sure footed. I was trying to work out why this man would be on basic training when Johnny came back from breakfast.
"Fucking lovely," he was smiling, "as much as you can eat, eggs, bacon, sausage and every damn thing you could want, go on get yourself in." Johnny
jumped back onto his bed. I went off to get breakfast, but I did notice that the quiet man did not come in.
It was like the monkeys tea party, people grabbing tea and toast, and generally making a pig of themselves.
"Yes I‟ll have another slice of toast if you don‟t mind." announced one of the men who had eaten the most. I was glad to get out of there, but not until I had taken a very good look at every face at the table, I still had a job to do.
The rain was easing off as we paraded, although 'parade' would be too strong a word, we stood in two lines with three men out in the front. The Hunter stood of to the left, smoking a cigarette, his hood up, he was becoming interested.
"Ok, we are going to break you up into three groups of six, and in that way you will circulate from one area to another over here in the big barn , we will be doing tactics and out here, " he pointed to the yard, " we will marching and practising parade stuff."
Parade stuff? I nearly burst out laughing.
" Over that hill," he pointed to his left, "about half a mile, we will be using the guns and things." Johnny and I were put in the barn for the first part of our training, and the young man who had done most of the organizing led us there.
"Hi, I‟m Noel Dougal, I‟m the adjutant of „D‟ company, and I want to take you through the tactics of resistance. We have to be organized, we have to disciplined and above all we have to smarter than the Loyalists and the army."
Dougal delivered a great two hour lecture, he was young but he was passionate, intelligent and dedicated, and he definitely motivated the men in our group.
"Remember, be smart - use the situation to your advantage, and don‟t take stupid risks." He looked at us, and stood up. "Has anybody got any questions?"
I wanted a cup of tea and did not want a long answer and question things to make it hard going, and the rest must have felt that way because when one daft sod asked "Do we get identity cards?" Johnny gave him a swift clatter on the back of the head.
We all strolled out of the barn, and as we rounded the end, the other group was standing to attention, the rain was that type of drizzle that soaks you through
before you realize. We went straight into the kitchen, there was a bit of a fight to get a tea first, so that we could get a good seat next to the stove. I was at the front and sat next to the window just the right distance from the fire, and lit a cigarette.
"So if you‟ve got your ID and the army pull you over, do you just show him your pass and go on your way?" Johnny was taking the piss out of the daft lad. He blushed.
The daft lad tried to defend his stupid remark. "I meant so that we could prove to other members that we were on the same side."
"For fuck sake," he kept up the attack "just turn out your pockets son, next thing you know you‟ll be in The Maidstone eating gruel." Johnny took a long drag on his cigarette, he was feeling pleased with himself. At this moment the men who had been doing foot drill poured through the door, there was a mad rush for the teas, and as they started to sit down and make themselves comfortable, Johnny started to recount the story of the ID card to them, but to our surprise, the young lad jumped up and gave Johnny a punch to the face. For a moment I thought Johnny was just going to take it but in an instant Johnny was up and at him. Most people in the kitchen did not know what was going on, as they both fell to ground, Johnny was on top, the other men were trying to stop the fight. Eventually, and not before Johnny had given the lad a head butt, they managed to separate them. It was in this instant you could see the killer instinct in Johnny, that look a man gets when no matter how large or small the insult, something snaps.
I always do the same thing when men fight around me, hold my pint or tea out of the way and wait to see who‟s going to win, and this was no exception. It would have been interesting, a big strong lad against this wiry little psychopath! The fight was stopped. I took Johnny outside, with him declaring that he would have killed the bastard. I knew he would have.
"Here‟s a ciggy." I handed a cigarette to Johnny.
"Come on, save that for the others, we don‟t want to be fighting amongst ourselves." He was still flushed from the fight and had a little bit of blood in the corner of his mouth from the first blow.
"I hope he does not stand in front of me when I‟ve got a gun." I remembered that we would be having the experience of small arms later.
"Calm down, he‟s just a boy."
"Well the fucker started it and I‟ll finish it." that look of threat came over Johnny‟s face.
At this point the men who had been over the hill doing small arms came into the yard carrying a mixture of weapons, one of them held a Tommy gun which must have been forty years old, they were smiling and joking.
The hunter was at the back and he was carrying a rifle with a green case, he looked the part, the men stacked the guns on a ground sheet just inside the first room and piled in to get their tea.
I went back in to get two more teas. The boy was nursing himself in the corner.
At the end of the break Noel Dougal asked us to line up in two ranks.
"I‟m sorry, but some of us have to go, there‟s trouble at Derry and we have to be there, the prods are marching," Dougal at this point said, "if anybody wants to come they‟d be welcome."
Dougal then started to make his way into the farm house.
Johnny turned to Hugh and Rory, we were in the same transport as them, "Well do you fancy it?"
Hugh the driver said, "I‟m going." The excitement was tangible. Men were hurrying back to the barn. We went in and packed our things up, I noticed the Hunter was sitting on his bed carefully cleaning his rifle, a Lee Enfield with telescopic sights, he did not look as though he was going anywhere.
Within a few minutes we were packed, and making our way to the car, Noel Dougal came across to talk to us.
"You‟ll have to come into the city from the north, the army have road blocks all over the place." Hugh got out an old map and they poured over it while we sat in the car, it had started to rain and the car had one of those wet dog smells. After a few minutes of giving directions Hugh tried to start the car, but there was just a clicking sound when he turned the key.
"Fuck, come on- get out and push." We leapt out and started to push the car back across the yard of the farm, and a few more men came across to help, it started on the second bump, and we were on our way.
We travelled north, with the radio on, reception was a bit poor in that area so it took a while to find anything out but what we did hear sounded like big news. The main story was that a land mine had killed two soldiers in an attack at Rosslea,. They all gave a cheer but I found it hard, but nobody seemed to notice.
Rory was map reading and Johnny and I were in the back, chain smoking.
We came into the city and almost immediately came to a road block, I just knew we would get pulled over, well what could you expect we were four men of that age group. The soldier pointed to a side alley, which we pulled into. They immediately started to look under the car with mirrors. Hugh wound down the window and a young soldier leaned over.
"Where are you going to?" Hugh handed over his license.
"Were off for Saturday lunch with my sister." this went right over the top of the soldiers head.
"Can we see in the boot?" The traffic was starting to build up, the soldier was in a hurry. Hugh jumped out and opened the boot, and the soldier just had a quick glance pushing a few of the bags around.
"Ok sir." We were on our way.
"We need to get parked up soon, and we can walk from here."
Hugh seemed to know his way around. I had only been to Derry once with Simon. We pulled off the main road and parked up, and started to walk in the direction of the city. As we walked along we talked excitedly about the events which were about to unfold.
"We can kick fuck out of them prods." Rory was expressing what the others were thinking.
"Come on down this way." Hugh lead the way, we walked through blocks of flats, through the maze of alleyways, eventually arriving at a street of small terrace houses. He knocked gently on the door, the door eventually open slowly.
"Hugh Dolan, what are you doing here?" the man who opened the door came into the street and started to shake his hand. He had a big smile on his face, he looked at the rest of us.
"Who‟s this lot?" nodding his head in our direction.
"Were here to see the prods off, they are marching sometime today, that‟s Billy, Johnny and Rory. Rory‟s dad is Jacky Docherty. Remember he worked at the factory on Antrim Road in the early sixty‟s. The man looked at Rory and slowly it came to him.
"Oh yes I remember him always singing at the top of his voice." Rory was smiling, recognizing the description of his father.
"Boys, this is Seamus." Seamus smiles at us.
"Come in, come in." We were waved through the door into the smallest front room I had ever seen, somehow they had managed to fit two large sofas into the room and a small table in the corner, the place had a damp smell and had obviously not been decorated since the sixtys.
"Mary put the kettle on." Seamus ordered his wife to the kitchen. He was about fifty and prematurely grey, his hair that had that dirty look about it, there was no collar on his shirt, and his braces had lost most of the elasticity and had been adjusted to take this into account. We squeezed into the seats and made ourselves as comfortable as possible.
"Are you working?" Rory enquired.
"Hell no, there‟s no jobs here for the likes of us." He looked to us for sympathy, and we nodded knowingly. "But the Prods walk into a job anytime they want."
At this moment Mary comes back in, she was carrying a pot of tea and a plate with biscuits, she went off to bring in the cups and sugar.
"Could you put the three o‟clock news on?" Rory pointed at the radio, I noticed then that they have no television. In fact there is precious little in the room. The radio was switched on as Mary poured the tea, and we helped ourselves to sugar and milk.
The bleeps told us it was time for the news on the hour..
"Shush, Shush, listen." We all stopped talking.
"The marchers will be leaving the Irish street area of Derry at about three o‟clock, and are protesting about the No-go area‟s in the Bogside and Creggan,
William Craig has spoken these words „We are no longer protesting, we are demanding action‟…
We started to talk over the broadcast on the radio.
"Well that will get that bastard re-elected." Seamus‟s face has a look of disgust, and we all have sympathetic countenances.
Rory jumped up "Come on." I started to bolt my tea and grab a handful of biscuits, and before you know it we were making our way round the city walls.
"What‟s the hurry?" Johnny realized that there would be plenty of time to get to the bridge.
As we got closer, the army were all over the place, every street corner had men with full riot gear, and weapons at the ready, there were armoured vehicles with men sitting inside, they were on high alert. We came down Aberckon Road and we could see that they had fenced off the bridge at both ends, using barbed wire and a six foot fence. Nobody was going over that bridge today. I was relieved, Johnny was disappointed.
"Let the fuckers come." Johnny was joining in with the rest of the crowd.
The army had put a roadblock of barbed wire and fencing at the junction of Harding Street and Aberckon Road, and we all pushed as close as we could. Soldiers were facing us, and we cursed and goaded them. The press were taking photographs of everything that happened. Suddenly a bottle was thrown over the heads of the crowd, at first it looked as though the army would not respond, but they were waiting until the two Land Rovers with half a squad of men were behind us. Typical they marched up to the temporary fence, we were spitting and bad mouthing them, when they pulled the barricade to one side and charged, at the same time a snatch squad jumped out of the Land Rovers and were baton charging from the back. It had the right effect we were running everywhere. I stumbled on the corner of the pavement and went down like a ton of bricks catching my right eyebrow on the ground. My biggest fear was to be trampled under foot with everyone running to get away from the solders who were just using their batons indiscriminately, while I was on the floor still dazed from the knock to my head. The soldiers passed me by, but as people fled the soldiers re-grouped and came my way again. I stood up and blood was pouring down my face, two squaddies lifted me up, pulled my arms around my back and marched me off through the barrier. I was aware that some of the protestors
were trying to stop them from arresting me, but the soldiers closed ranks and I was quickly through the barrier, but not before the press had taken some fairly good pictures of me covered in blood being choked with an arm around my neck.
There was a big temptation to shout "I‟m on your side." When your in the back of a Pig with two squaddies sitting on top of you, and another holding a loaded gun to your head( which was a little over the top,) lying in my own blood, hammering up the hill to God knows where.He knew but I didn‟t. The Pig swung into a yard, full of Army vehicles. I was dragged out and rushed into what turned out to be a side room in the library.
"What‟s your name boy?" I was being questioned by a corporal from the military police, down an isle in the library.
"William Deery."
"Address?"
"37 Mount Pottinger Street, Belfast."
"Date of birth?"
"11
th December 1951." "What are you doing here?"
"I was minding my own business, when you lot picked me up."
He leaned forward and snarled, "Shut the fuck up, we‟ve got witnesses you were the fucker who was throwing bottles, I‟m probably going to do you with grievous bodily harm." He stepped up close, but he didn‟t know that better people than him had breathed their bad breath over me, and I had been threatened by better men than him.
"You were handed over to me covered in blood, and no one will notice a bit more."
I did not flinch. He stormed off.
"Keep an eye on that twat." I stood in the isle while he went off to check my details, this gave me a chance to check myself over. The blood had stopped running down my face, but I had a nasty cut above my right eye, and this had a
swollen and puffy feel to it. Someone had stood on my left leg while they were trying to escape from the soldiers in the initial charge. All in all I felt rough.
I leaned against the wall at the end of the isle, resting and thinking of the events of the last few days. I was exhausted, when the military policeman came back his attitude had completely changed, he was carrying a cup of tea and a chair.
"Sorry mate." He placed the seat down and handed the tea to me.
"They're sending someone to see you." I looked at him to see if he knew what was going on.
"Who‟s that?" I asked suspiciously, staying in character.
"Dunno mate, but the word has come down to look after you." He started to walk away.
"I„ll get someone to clean you up, give me ten minutes." And with that he was gone.
The tea was hot and sweet and I sat there having a smoke and just resting, the toil of leading a double life had just caught up with me. I reflected on what I was first asked to do, just observe from the bus what was going on in the city, that was my only task. How things had changed.
After thirty minutes a medic set about washing and bandaging my head.
"How‟s that?" he enquired, standing back to survey his efforts. He had been very careful, only two butterfly stitches and some liniment on my leg.
"You will need to change the bandage in two days, so go and see your doctor."
He thought I had a doctor, my documents were with the M.O. In Germany, I had better get that sorted I thought.
After a while a Captain from the Fusiliers came down the isle.
"They're sending someone from Belfast to see you, do you want a rest?" He did not know what my status was but he knew I was important, and people in high places wanted me to be kept safe.
"Yes please." I kept the accent going, but I was beginning to relax.
"Could I have something to eat?"
After steak and kidney pudding, chips and several cups of tea I was taken through the library and up the stairs into an office where there was a lone camp bed for me.
"Get some rest." The officer disappeared and in the warmth and safety of that office I soon dropped off.
Chapter 10.
"Billy…. Billy." I was being shaken gently, and I was wakened with Simon Adder leaning over me. I sat up and stretched.
"Whoa that‟s a nasty bump." Simon sat back on a chair while I gathered my thoughts.
"I fell over while we were on the barricades in Aberckon Road, it was chaos, and I was trampled under foot, I thought I was a gonner."
I liked to exaggerate, and I wanted to point out how hard it was out there.
"Can you remember where the training camp was?" Simon needed to catch up, he needed information.
"Of course I can." I became indignant.
"We need to get you back to Holywood and debrief you."
"Hey, hey, I need an alibi if you‟re going to make me disappear for while, these people are not stupid." I needed to watch what was happening here, if I‟d got to go back and face these people I wanted a good cover story.
"We have a choice here, we could release you and you could make your own way back, or we can cover your back by putting someone in Crumlin Road for seven days with the cover story that you attacked a screw?" He was testing my feelings on the subject. "It‟s your call."
Simon kept pushing me. "Well what do you want to do?" I took my time and weighed things up.
"No, I need to make my own way back, it sounds tempting, but I need to get back out there before I lose my nerve."
"What‟s the time?" Simon checked his watch.
"Seven ten." There was a silence while we both pondered as to what to do, I wondered if Johnny and the car would still be here? Would it be safe for me to go through Derry on my own? If we put someone in Crumlin Road as me- would we be able to keep my identity a secret?
"You know, I was only put onto the buses as an observer" I looked at Simon. Simon thought for a while, he was formulating his words carefully, he knew I needed some encouragement.
"I know, but because of the situation here, we don‟t have many people on the ground, we have the R.U.C. but everyone knows them, and their judgment is clouded by past prejudices, we have informers, and who can trust them?" Simon lit a cigarette and leaned back, "and we have plants like you, and by chance you have dug the deepest in the quickest time, we could not have planned that." He looked at me, right into my soul and I knew I had to go on.
"I feel as though I‟m going too fast, I‟m out of my depth." I looked down at my shoes, I felt weak.
"Go for the jail option then, we can get a cover body in jail for you, you could be back in Holywood in two hours." He could see the strain on my face.
"No, it‟s too risky if word gets out that it‟s not me, bang." I made a pistol out of my hands. "I‟ll push on." I stood up and put my jacket on. "If my ride has gone I may need a lift to where I can get a bus back to Belfast."
We left the office and walked down to the main door, it was drizzling as I walked down the road trying to get my bearings, as it happened was still very close to the home of Seamus. The streets were full of people walking about, army vehicles were patrolling but not many other cars on the streets. I was not particularly sure which door we had knocked on, I just had to guess, the man who answered pointed to the next house when I asked if Seamus was in.
"Fuck me it‟s the hero." Seamus bellowed into the house when he saw me at the door. Johnny was the first to look over Seamus‟s shoulder.
"Get the lad into the house."
Hugh patted me on the back as we got off the street and into the house, everyone trying to ask what had happened.
"They had me standing against the wall for hours." I was making it up on the spot.
I mimicked the interrogator. "What you doing here? How did you get here? The whole fucking lot, I told them I came on the bus for a day trip." Everyone in the room was looking at me as though I was some sort of hero.
"Come on let's go to the pub." Johnny wanted a drink after the day‟s events, everybody agreed and we poured out of the small terrace house and walked round the corner and into a bar.
"Here‟s the boy who kicked fuck out of the army." Hugh was holding up my arm, I wanted to just keep a low profile, not much chance of that, the beers just kept coming. We carried on re-writing history all night, by the end of the night we had ripped down the barricades and seen off the army the prods and everyone.
We left the city by roads going north, which meant a long detour through Strabbane, and we managed to get petrol just over the bridge, scraping the money together to get a few gallons.
"Fucking seven and six a gallon, the robbing bastards." Johnny always worked out how many pints he could buy for the same money. I fell asleep in the back. Hugh woke me outside my front door, it was still raining, I let myself in. The seal on my door had been broken. I went gingerly up the stairs, my whole senses wide awake, but nobody was there. I went into the bedroom and looked under the floorboards as quick as possible.
Monday 5th June 1972.
"I‟m back." Simon was on the other end of the phone. I told him how we got back, and how they thought I was a hero.
"When are you due back on the buses?" I thought hard.
"Tomorrow, middle shift, eleven thirty I think."
"Well we need you in here as soon as possible for a report, it may take some time." Simon pushed.
"Well I am knackered, and I have to be at work by eleven I can't see where I can fit it in for days."
"No we need you in now." Simon was positive about this, but my batteries were running low right at this time.
"You will have to cover my shift tomorrow, and give me a cover story." I always had to look after my cover story.
"Oh that will be easy, just get to bed and I‟ll get that sorted." Simon made a note.
I put the phone down and went and had a bath, then open a packet of soup, I didn‟t have any bread but I did have some crackers which had gone a bit soft, but I was famished. Getting into the cold bed, I soon warmed up and was fast asleep when the front door was smashed in and big boots stamped up the stairs. When you think you're going to die, the rush of adrenaline makes your mouth go dry, you have the strength of five men and everything appears to happen in slow motion. My bed clothes were ripped off indicating to the world that I slept with my vest and underpants and I was still wearing yesterdays socks. My clothes were thrown at me as they shouted and bawled at me to move myself. I was pushed down the stairs with my shirt still undone, the vigilantes were out quickly, three Land Rovers with soldiers deployed in the street on the corners and in a defensive position, the vigilantes were shouting and banging dustbin lids, people were pouring out of their houses. I was unceremoniously thrown into the back of one of the Land Rovers and driven off. I still did not understand what was going on, but when we arrived in Holywood barracks Simon was there to meet the wagon.
"Sorry mate." he said as he helped me out of the back of the vehicle. We went up to the office, we went up to the main op‟s room, I looked at the clock on the wall it was five thirty in the morning. Captain Lunn from the SAS was there.
"Hello Deery."
"Hello Sir." He flicked the switch on the kettle and sat down on one of the chairs. Simon came into the office and patted me on the back. "Well done, but we have to get things recorded before you forget, we‟ll start with the mug shots."
Over the next five hours Simon, Lunn and I went over the events of the weekend, careful notes were taken, mug shots were scrutinized, and maps were studied, with a constant steam of coffee being brought in by one of the office crew.
I told them of the strange Hunter figure who never spoke when he appeared at the farm, I recounted all the practices in training, and all the men I had worked with there. They were very interested in Noel Dougal.
Then we went over the events in Derry, addresses, characters, by eleven my concentration was flagging.
Lunn looked at his watch. "Well, that‟s enough for now, Simon can you find a bed for Deery, I don‟t want him with the lads."
Simon said he would find a spare bed in the mess, and as we got up to leave Lunn opened the door of the office. "Well done Deery."
"Thank you Sir." I could feel myself blushing, he shook my hand. "Go and get some sleep, and be back here at four, that gives you Five hours." Simon led the way.
We went down the cookhouse, which was always busy. Men were coming in from patrol. Men getting ready to go out on patrol, it was a never ending flow of troops being fed. I had forgotten that I now looked like a tramp, my hair was long, and I never really had a proper shave, sideburns down past the bottom of my ears and my clothes could have done with a good boil wash. There was also the issue of the dirty bandage on my head, covering the two stitches on my eye brow.
Simon walked in and loaded up his plate, I was a short way behind, feeling a bit self conscious. Men were looking at me, some half recognised my face.
"We don‟t serve civvies in here mate." One of the cooks was in one of those moods.
Simon lent over the counter, "Shut up and serve, and don‟t ask questions." The cook put a fried egg on my plate. "Can I have two?" I held my plate there I loaded up with beans and a couple of sausages. We sat down at a table in the corner.
"So who do you think the Hunter is then?" Simon opened up the question.
"I don‟t know, but he was not normal run of thugs, I never spoke to him and he kept himself to himself, and he never came with us to Derry." I loaded my mouth again.
Simon was looking into the distance and thinking. "It‟s a pity that the Derry thing came up, you may have found out more had you stayed longer at the farm."
There was a bit more silence as we ate and drank our tea.
"What will happen to the info I‟ve given?" Simon thought for a while.
"We will pick them up one at a time and they will be interned."
I thought about this for a while. "I hope this can not be traced back to me? If you pick up everybody I come into contact with it won‟t take them long to figure that one out." I was starting to get nervous, and looked at Simon for some sign.
"We‟re not that stupid, anyway it takes months to find out their movements so they can be lifted." He wiped the last bit of sauce off the plate with a piece of bread and popped it in his mouth, "and most of them will just go on the watch list."
We walked back to the quarters, and Simon let me have his bed, throwing a sleeping bag at me.
"I‟ll come and get you at three thirty." I went to sleep thinking about everybody I had just fingered, and how deep into all this I was getting.
Inside Lunn‟s office he and Captain Ellis were pouring over the weekends work. They were both coming to the same conclusion which was that I had got myself into a position that could have taken years to achieve.
"We have to look after this boy." Ellis nodded, Lunn went on, "I want an around the clock watch on his house, with a rapid response team ready to go in at the first sign of trouble." Ellis looked at the notes.
"I see we have a telephone landline directly to our office, and we have two microphones in the flat, and the Police station is directly opposite."
Lunn thought for a minute. "How do you think Simon Adders handling this situation?" Ellis pushed his glasses to the top of his nose, more to give himself time to consider the question.
"Simon has a good relationship with Deery and seems to bring the best out of him, but he does have six other operators to run, but the others have not made any breakthroughs like Deery."
Lunn made some notes. "Well ask Simon to concentrate on Deery, even if it means he has to lose sight of the others somewhat."
In Lunns report, which would eventually end up on William Whitelaws desk, mentioned the good work being achieved, although they were coming from a long way back. There was a long passage about agent alpha7. I now had a code name.
I was awake when Simon came in.
"God you need a bath mate, I‟ll get you a towel and soap."
My personal hygiene had slipped quite a bit, I stank. I chose to have a bath for no other reason than the bandage on my head, Oh it was nice to lie there in a bath which was nearly full to the top, but I had to get a move on, I only had five minutes to get to Lunns office. I arrived in Lunns office still damp.
We went over the mug shots again, they definitely wanted a picture of the Hunter, he was the unknown person and part of the story, but he either had no driving license, or he was not from Ulster, as all driving licenses in Northern Ireland had a photograph with a copy on file, which was a great source of intelligence, but try as I might I could not find a photo of him.
"We want you to go in the slow lane for while." Lunn knew it was moving too fast, I knew what he meant, "but obviously take your chances while they‟re there" It was good advice, and I did want to slow things down, but I did not want to attract attention to myself, most of my training for this was to be invisible, and to watch was happening, but I didn‟t write the scripts. I had been in the press twice recently, I had been the only person to be arrested in Derry on the day, and I didn‟t want to be on the fast track. But the script was being changed all the time.
"How are you getting back?" Simon thought he was being helpful.
"How would anybody lifted by the army get back?" I looked him in the eye. "Well I suppose they would make their own way back." he answered.
"Well there you go then." I was slipping back into my other persona.
It was nine eleven and there was a bus in sixteen minutes back to Belfast, I had my bus pass, so I had a smoke as I walked to the bus stop, It was drizzling, and somehow it helped to clear my head. I did not know the driver, which spared me the obligation of standing at the front of the bus talking and explaining what had been going on.
Monday 5
th June 1972.il Stepping off the bus, about 150 yards away from my flat, it was raining but not heavily, it was just getting dark and I wished I had taken Simons offer of a lift home. I had this sense of foreboding and as I approached the corner I saw that my front door was ajar. I didn‟t know what to expect, it was not wide open and it was common for doors to be open. The lock was broken, that was due to the army as they smashed their way in to lift me. I stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened, no sound, no light, slowly and with my heart in my mouth I went up the stairs. Bravery is doing what you don‟t want to do, and I did not want to go up those stairs. I switched on the light in the living room the place was a mess and the television was gone. I listened, all was quiet, I switched on the light in the kitchen, the toaster was gone, next the bedroom, a mess but the carpet was still down. I lifted the carpet and floor boards the phone was still there, good.
"I‟m Just checking my phone is still working." the duty clerk had answered very quickly. "Is Simon there?"
"No."
"Well can you tell him that I have been burgled, and I‟m still trying to work out what‟s gone." The clerk did not give a flying f…. about me and my problems.
"Will do."
I checked the flat over, someone had gone through the flat quickly. It was not too bad, socks and underwear on the floor, and I couldn‟t remember how tidy the flat had been. Or how much the army might have done, but I had the feeling that the T.V. and toaster was enough for the people who had entered and then they were away. Not much use calling the police, but I could feel my sap rising. I went down and had a look at the lock on my door. Why did I think the army
would have made good after they had kicked my door in, most of them would not have known who I was. I went back up stairs to the phone.
"Can I have Simon now!." There was a brief pause while the duty clerk passed the phone over to Simon.
"Yep." Simon sounded unconcerned.
"I want my front door repairing- now." There was this pause while I sensed that he would be looking at his watch and thinking things through.
"My TV‟s gone and someone has been through the flat, to the best of my knowledge I don‟t think they found my phone."
"Can you wedge the door for tonight?" I could feel the blood welling up inside me. I felt at that moment that it was me putting in all the effort.
"No, get some handy man from that camp, some engineer, anybody who knows how to fix a door with a new lock down here and fix this door." Now that‟s not the way to talk to an officer, but needs must. I wanted that door fixed by tonight. I had other plans for this evening as well.
"I‟ll see what I can do." I had to bite my tongue.
"No Simon! I want this fixed to night, I‟ll be out for an hour." I slammed the phone down.
I walked around to Johnny‟s house, it was still drizzling. I knocked on the door, I looked up the street, vigilantes were standing on door steps, and I was being watched. The door was opened by Tommy O‟Neil, he was a thick set man, who always wore a tie, but never looked smart, but never untidy.
"Come in boy." He still had a newspaper in his hand, he was not the type to relax too often, keeping up with the news was the nearest he would get to relaxing.
"Johnny- your mate's here." O‟Neil shouted up the stairs.
"Who?"
"The Deery boy." I could hear Johnny getting dressed.
"Sit down." O‟Neil pointed to a chair on the other side of the table to him. This was a big test for me, I was sitting on the other side of the table of the most
powerful man in East Belfast, commanded of „C‟ Coy and union rep for the bus depot, obviously a man who takes the rights of the workers seriously, and a man who would be hard to pull the wool over the eyes of.., I needed to be on my guard.
"What‟s happening?" It was a simple question, but it opened up a can of worms for me.
"Well, I was lifted by the Army, they must have been informed by people in Derry, and while I have been answering questions in Holywood some twat has emptied my house." I looked at him to see how this had gone down. He pulled on his pipe, and thought for a while.
"Did they take much?" I thought he would have started his questions with the knock to my head, or- what did the Army want with me, or- how did the training go, but no- he started with the only thing he did not know about.
"Well the only thing that seems to have gone is the TV and the toaster, and these are not mine, they belong to the landlord." At this moment Johnny came downstairs.
"What‟s up?" Johnny opened a bottle of beer and sat down at the table.
"The bastards have robbed me, my TV‟s gone and they‟ve been through my house, and the army lifted me for over a day, questions, questions, questions." There was a silence.
"Johnny, go and see Spencer, see if he‟s seen anything." This was way down the pecking order for Tommy O‟Neil but he felt that he must help this young lad. Johnny was not in the mood to go round the streets at this time of the night.
"Get to fuck, I‟m away to my bed." At this point Tommy‟s voice took on a menacing tone, Spencer was a local fence selling a bit of this and a bit of that, and always knew what was going on in the area.
"Oh shit it‟s pissing down." Johnny did not fancy running around at this time of night, he took another pull on his beer and slammed the door on the way out. He had been away for no more than three minutes when he came back.
"Danny Steele." Johnny looked at his father, O‟Neil sucked on his pipe.
"Well I might have guessed, right up his street this one." Tommy looked at me.
"Do you want me to have a word?" He did not know what was running through my head. He did not know that I was going to make my mark tonight or die.
"Where does he live?" I had a plan.
"He‟s a tricky feller, and he has a lot of family near by, it‟s best I sort this one out for you." O‟Neil sucked his pipe some more.
"Where does he live?" I now looked at Johnny.
"I‟ll come with you, I‟ve had a few run-in‟s with this twat." Johnny pulled on his coat and we left the house but first picked up a heavy stick from behind the door.
We did not have to go far, we were round into Moira Street, which was very close to the bus depot.
We did not knock on the door, not that the lock gave much resistance. One kick and the door flew open, we walked into the house down a small corridor and into the back room, and these were very small houses, two up and two down. Danny Steele was well named the house was full of stolen items.
It was a shambles. There was lead rolled into a tube from off some roof, old bikes, even the engine of a motor bike in the corner. Steele had a knife in his hand and his back to the kitchen door where he had momentarily
thought of running through. The TV was on the floor and the toaster was on the table. I had to take all this in a very short space of time.
"What the fuck do you think your up to you cunt?" It was Johnny‟s way of letting him know we were not happy with him.
He had the look of a cornered rat, he was terrified, which made him dangerous. A red mist came down over me and I‟m not to sure what happen next, but according to Johnny I pulled the stick out of Johnny‟s hand and flew across the room past him and smashed his hand which was holding the knife. He went down, and all in one movement had my knee in his Adams apple. Two swift punches to the face finished off Steele, but at that moment a woman came
running in the room yelling at the top of her voice. She went for Johnny, but Johnny had no compunction, he just backhanded the woman to the ground. I turned back to Steele who was still on the floor.
"If I see you in my street again you‟ll be fucked, do you understand?"
This was a power struggle, I wanted an answer from him and I wanted subjugation, it was important that he knew his position in this affair. Steele nodded, but also knew he could not keep out of my street, but he sure would keep out of my way, until the tables were turned and he had more fire power than me. I picked up the TV.
"Johnny get the toaster." I stepped over the woman and made my way to the front door. We laughed and laughed all the way back to my house and as we approached we could see an army Land Rover outside my house, with squaddies posted all over the road. Johnny suddenly went quiet.
"What‟s happening there?" I knew that were fixing my door, but I did not want Johnny to find out how much pull I had with the army.
"Put the toaster on top of the TV and get yourself away and I‟ll see you later." Johnny did this and patted me on the back and turned for home.
I turned round, "Johnny," He stopped and turned back, "thanks."
He gave me a wink and went on his way. I pushed past the man repairing the door, the TV was starting to get heavy and I only just managed to get up the stairs. I was really feeling the strain of the last four days and just sat on the sofa till the engineer came up the steps.
"That‟s the best I can do." he passed me three shiny new keys on a key ring. I went down with him to let him out and have a quick look at the job. It was better than the original, and appeared to close better than it did before.
Before I went to bed I lifted the carpet and picked up the phone.
"Thanks." Simon had been waiting for a call. He wanted to know what was happening. I told him the story and there was a big sigh from Simon.
"What?" I could feel his displeasure.
"Well, don‟t you think you should be keeping you head down a bit, you‟ve been out there for a few weeks and you‟ve been in the papers twice, been arrested in
front of hundreds, hob-nobbing with IRA leaders, and been on training courses and now beating up the local hard man, you may be just pushing too hard."
I was silent for a while, because I felt as though I had done something wrong.
"I had to take my chances." I said defensively.
"You're right, and no one has done better, but try to slow down a bit, I worry about you out there.
I still felt a bit down as I put the phone back under the floorboards and replaced the carpet.
I set my alarm clock and was soon asleep.
Chapter 11.
Tuesday 6
th June 1972. When I awoke I felt a lot better, I had a shower and a shave, and I took the bandage off, carefully cleaning round the wound, it did not look to bad and the fresh air would help it heal quicker. I nipped down to the post office below which sold as many things as a much larger shop would, fresh milk, cornflakes, and a small jar of coffee.
Sid the only Asian man with an Ulster accent who was also my landlord, had a ready smile.
"How are you?" this was in reference to the door being kicked in by the army.
"Oh the army had the wrong man, they were looking for someone else, and they repaired the door." I tried to play last night down.
"And how is the new job going on the buses." I did not know whether he was just being nice or trying to find out if I could pay the rent, but he said it with a smile.
"Great, I love it." At that moment the door opened with a ting, and I paid for the items and got back up stairs.
When I arrived at work Kerry was in the office, he was the spare driver so was hanging around.
"Wow, what‟s happened to your head?" I could see the clerk waiting to clock me on.
"Just wait a mo." I went over to the duty clerk.
"Clock me on for one one four duty." The clerk gave me my running board for the day, and I got my ticket machine out of the locker, and went over to Kerry.
"I hit my head on a curb stone" I did not want to go into it to deeply.
"Where you pissed?"
"Oh yes." Keep it simple, when you're lying that‟s my motto.
I wanted to change the subject, "Have you seen the girls since I last saw you?"
"Oh yes." A big smile came across his face, "I‟ve got a date with the pretty one."
"They were both pretty, are you blind?" I wanted a piece of the action, "When?"
Kerry gave a dirty little smile, "this Friday." he leaned back against the bench.
I had to go, "Look I‟ll try and catch you later and hopefully I can come on one of the dates."
He winked at me I did not see him until much later.
I did see a few of the faces who were wanted later that day and I filed the normal report later. A pattern of their movements was emerging.
Chapter 12.
Wednesday 14
th June 1972. There was a knock at my door and I knew it was Johnny picking me up for a game of pool, we had been playing most Wednesday nights as well as at work. The competition was tough. I threw on my jacket on as I went down the stairs.
"I fancy a night at Jenson‟s." Johnny looked at me to see how this has gone down, and I was not sure I liked this at all.
Jenson‟s was the meeting place of the IRA‟s local leaders, and the atmosphere was deadly, I didn‟t know if I was ready for this, but I could just keep my head down and do some spotting.
"Yes fine." I tried to put on a smile, but my heart sank at the thought of the night ahead. It was a warm night as we strolled around, the vigilantes were on their doorsteps and we nodded to a few of them, our reputation was growing.
From the outside of Jenson‟s it looked derelict, all the windows were boarded up and painted brown and the door had galvanized steel screwed onto it. Nobody was going to break that door down easily.
We entered to find it was full, Johnny‟s dad was in his usual seat over in the far corner, and a heavy pall of smoke hung in the air.
"I‟ll have a Murphy‟s." Johnny laid his back on the bar, his way to tell me I was buying the first round. I was looking in the mirror on the bar to see if I could recognize anybody from the mug shots.
"Two Murphy‟s please." This was not the time to start eyeing everyone up, they were watching me.
"Put your name up for a game." I nudged Johnny, he went and put a penny on the pool table, and then thought about myself and put another penny down.
I had already picked two known IRA men from off the mug shots. It made you wonder how they moved around, but because everyone left their doors open, they could duck into any house on the street and be out of the back door before the soldiers got anywhere near them. All the street lights had been vandalised long ago.
"Hi Da." Johnny acknowledged his father. Tommy gave a nod but had other things on his mind. I, on the other hand, was looking around in amazement, it was wall to wall with all the people you would not like to meet on a dark night, even if there were no Troubles. But in these times they were the people who were doing the business, the people who could indulge in the violence they craved.
We stood at the bar drinking slowly, and I started to calm down.
Johnny was on the table first, he got into a long drawn out tactical battle on the pool table.
I got the pints in and stood watching from the end of the bar. I was at this time trying not to make eye contact with anybody who would have something to hide or be studied by strangers. Tommy O‟Neil waved me over to his table. I picked up my pint and ambled across.
"How are you?" I said as I sat down.
"Fine and you?" He muttered.
"Oh my head's getting better." Tommy pointed to the man on his right.
"This is John." I looked towards him, I knew who he was, John Anderson bomb maker and bank robber, he provided funds for the IRA, He could have been anybody‟s uncle or brother, the man who does the plastering or roof repairs, but he was not. He was one of the most ruthless men operating in East Belfast. He had big strong hands, broad forehead, and had not shaved for a few days. I shook his hand and told him my name, my hands were damp and weak and I was breaking out in a cold sweat.
"So your mother lives in Liverpool?" He was digging into my past.
"Yes, we did a runner, I never settled in, so after I got out of prison I came back here." Keep it simple, broad strokes.
"What school did you go to, because I have a sister who‟s a teacher up there." John was digging deeper.
"Holy Child in South Green, I stayed until I was eight then I moved over to Liverpool, and I came back here after a bust up with my mother and now I‟m on
the buses." I covered as much ground as possible to get to this point in time, and as I pulled on my pint Johnny came up to the table and gave me a nudge.
"You‟re on." He handed me his cue, he had been beaten and I was on the table. I was so relieved to get out of the line of questioning, but because my mind was not on the game, and my hands were shaking I was soon beaten and on my way back to the table. I sat down with Johnny at his fathers table.
"Did you put your name down again?" I nodded.
"It‟s your round." I nodded towards the bar, Johnny went over to the bar, and John who had been waiting his moment to tell me.
"We have a special job for you and Johnny." He must be satisfied with my cover, and he must have decided to give the job to us.
"Don‟t forget me and Johnny have not finished our training." I started to make excuses, but he cut me short.
"Look you‟ll be able to do the job, but you won‟t have enough time to do the buses as well." Anderson looked round at Tommy and then round the pub to see if anyone was taking any interest in our table, but they were all getting on with enjoying themselves. He went into his pocket and pulled out a big roll of five pound notes and without counting them peeled off about a third and putting the rest back in his pocket he gave me the money. I was so taken by surprise, he had only just met me, but he also wanted me to stop working- just like that.
"I can‟t take that." I hid my hands so as not to be able to take the money. I looked at Tommy hoping for some sort of help.
"Take the money." Tommy was in with this plan, he knew what was coming, he must have also known the nature of the job that me and Johnny were being asked to do. How much did Johnny know? At that moment Johnny came back from the bar, the pints spilt a bit as he sat down. Johnny must have thought I was fully informed by the time he got back.
"Are you in?" Johnny had known all along, and he had not come here by chance.
"I don‟t know what the job is yet." The money was pushed into my hand it was almost an acceptance of the job, but what?
I took a long slug of my pint, looking into the eyes of Anderson, in another time and another place this man would not be doing these things, but you don‟t get choices sometimes.
Johnny jumped in. "We have to look after ourselves." Johnny meant this but he was also a loose cannon, he was looking for adventure in a drab cold world.
I was cornered, but also I had to think of what Simon would want me to do, they wanted people on the inside, they would be shouting for me to accept this, but this was way past what I was expecting to do.
I put the money in my inside pocket without counting it, I smiled as though I was happy, and shook the hand of all the men at the table, I was dancing with the devil.
Johnny was back on the table as Anderson explained what was expected of me.
"So, you will look after the gun, make sure that all the exits are clear, and carry the gun to and from the site, you will help to pick the best sites, and don‟t forget that for every hit there is a bonus." Anderson carried on with his instructions, but my mind had gone numb, in that pub with all the things going on I was being give instructions on how I was going to help a sniper to kill my own comrades.
"You knew this was going down?." I challenged Johnny.
"Oh yes, it‟s the best opportunity me and you will ever get." He was defiant.
"I don‟t see this as a job opportunity, I don‟t see this as a career move, and I see this as getting way out of our depth." Johnny had a wild look in his eye.
"We have to strike back at the people who attack us, we have to look after our own, and if that means the others get hurt so be it, and if you don‟t want to get involved then your not the person I thought you were." He went on to take his shot at the pool table.
It gave me a little time to think, I will never get another chance to get this far into the IRA, and I would be able to bring valuable information back, it was just a question of my morals. Could I go on active service for the IRA? Could I help to hunt down my own kind?, if I did not do it someone else would, but it may lead to much more intelligence, it may lead to a quicker defeat to the IRA, an end to hostilities. I was brought out of my day dreams by Johnny.
"You‟re on." He stuffed a cue in my hand and started to set the balls, he had won his last game.
"You‟re not chickening out are you?" He said it with such fire, such menace, I was reminded what a wildcat he was.
"No," I said, "but you have to admit it‟s not every day you get asked to pack your job in and run guns." He roared with laughter and hit the pool ball right off the table, another rebel song came on the jukebox and the beer started to kick in, and as I looked around the pub I could not believe that I had come so far in such a short time.
We carried on drinking until last orders, playing pool then we staggered off home, back to our damp little homes.
As soon as I arrived home, I went straight up the stairs and into my bedroom. The phone was answered immediately.
"Get me Simon." There was a short wait.
"Hello?" Simon must have been quite close.
"I‟ve got a lot to tell you, do you want to do it on the phone, or shall I come in?" He was impatient to find out what had been going on.
"You could just give me a brief outline on the phone, and I‟ll make a decision after I‟ve heard the news." I told him the gist of what had happened, and he asked questions just to confirm certain things.
"So are you sure it was Anderson?" Simon was making notes.
"Yes I recognized him straight away."
"And how much money did he give you?" I had forgotten to look, I pulled the money from the pocket, it was all in five pound notes, and I put the phone down while I counted them. "Twenty three five pound notes." I told Simon on the phone having still not worked out exactly how much that was.
"A hundred and fifteen pounds." Simon mused, "A months wage."
"I think you should come in I want you to look at mug shots, and identify all the people in the bar tonight."
"How shall I get in?"
"We‟ll pick you up at the corner of Madrid Street and Tower Street in twenty minutes." I looked at my watch.
"Don‟t leave me waiting too long, the vigilantes are always watching." It was going to be a long night. I slipped out quietly, and crossed the road and past Mount Pottinger police station.
You would think there was not much out there at that time of night, but you would be wrong. Men were standing on their doorsteps, even on the coldest night they were fully alert, waiting and watching, all sort of skulduggery was going on.. People ready to go on the streets at a moments notice. I came out of the shadows, I had travelled through the back lanes to get the last few streets, and the car was standing there with its engine slowly ticking over. I jumped in the back door of the awaiting car and rolled up onto the floor, the car pulled away, and I just lay there while the car pulled out of the city and onto the road to Holywood.
"It‟s Okay now you can get up." I knew that voice.
I sat up in the back seat, glad to get out from being under all the fish and chip wrappers and empty cans of pop strewn all over the back of the car.
"How‟s it going hippy." Brian was driving but he also had Kelly in the passenger‟s seat. He was happy not to be sitting in some hide, and doing something which helped to pass the time.
"Oh, I„m surviving but only just." I did not want to tell them too much, I was not sure I know that I was just getting cagey, there was no reason to hold things back.
"Are you still on the buses?" They wanted to know how I was getting on, they were probably jealous, they still would not want to do the job if they knew what was really going on.
"Yes, fares please ting ting." I wanted to create the impression that things were just ticking over, and I was going in for a normal debrief.
"You get to meet some very nice girls on the job." I‟m trying to keep it all very superficial.
"Oh you lucky fucker," Kelly‟s imagination went overboard, "and you‟ve got your own pad, your own spiders lair." Kelly looked over the seat at me and smiled.
I wanted to find out how they were getting on and change the subject. "How‟s it going on your job?" There was a silence as they both thought about it, and Brian was first to answer.
"Well if you like sitting in a car with everyone around knowing just who you are its fine." Kelly was nodding his head in agreement.
"But we‟ve had our moments." Brian tried to make it sound exciting.
"Yes the time we walked in on a hold up at a post office on Castle Reagh Road and the two stupid arses who were doing the job only had pick axe handles, and we were there with our browning. Yes and all I wanted was a stamp, we managed to pocket fifty quid each in reward." they both burst out laughing.
We were at the camp in Holywood, and as we pulled in through the gates the guard gave me a long hard look, I did not carry any army ID but was given the nod.
Simon was in the main office as I walked in.
"Get the kettle on." He was smiling, he offered me his cigarettes and I took one, and he lit it, he was in a very good mood. I looked round, it was busy, I could hear radio operators giving instructions to units on the ground, there was some small arms fire heard in the Divis flats area, patrols were checking people out on the streets, reports of a shooting in the Markets area, a Land rover had broken down along the Falls Road, there were also reports coming in from static observation posts.
"So you‟ve been to the lions den, you are trusted then?" I looked around the operation room, but with me living in this cagey double sided world I found it hard to open up and tell the story, and Simon picked up on this.
"Come on we will go to an office." We walked along the corridor looking for an empty room I was carrying my steaming cup of tea, and a cigarette hanging out of my mouth and I was still feeling the effects of the Murphy‟s. Ellis‟s room was not being used and we settled down to talk of the new developments, Simon was taking notes and I was looking through the mug shots.
"I saw him a few days ago in Moira Street." I pointed to a photograph of Billy Toolan, Simon leaned over and made a note on his note pad informing that Toolan used the bus at about eight in the morning to go into town, I was pointing to another low life. These would be picked up at a later date, and probably slammed into Long Kesh
"Do you know what you will be doing in this active unit?" Simon wanted to get information on the job I had been given.
"All they said was, that we would be carrying a rifle for a gun man, and that we had to make sure that all the exits were clear and we would be picking the sites, or at least helping to pick the sites." I was sorry for Simon but I could not be more specific. At that moment the door opened and Ellis came in.
"Don‟t stand." It had never occurred to me to stand, so it‟s a good job he had given us leave to stay seated. He sat down on the same side of the table as Simon. Simon gave him a quick update.
"You have to run with this, it does mean that from now on you have the responsibility of being our deepest penetration in East Belfast. Go in and hand your notice at the bus station."
I jumped in here, "But Sir…." he was ready for this.
"No buts, I want you on hand here at all times. I want you to hang around in all the bars and clubs, rub shoulders with as many as you can, get your face known, use all the contacts you have make as many friends as you can."
He looked at me with a look of understanding, and man to man, which does not happen to often in the army.
"We have a police station just over the road with special orders to watch your flat, we are there, helping to keep you safe, but if you ever feel the need to pull out you can be over the road in a flash, and that will be the end of things."
What could I say? To pull back from this position would be a missed opportunity I could see that, but why couldn‟t it be someone else.
Ellis jumped up and stuck his hand out to me, I shook it, and it helped, helped to let me know that they realized how dangerous it was, and it helped me to go that one step further. After Ellis had disappeared Simon said "Come on, are you hungry?" we went down to the OP‟s room.
"Make sure the transport is back here in fifteen minutes." Simon gave the order to a radio operator, pointing at his watch. We strolled down to the cookhouse, and after an early breakfast or a late supper I jumped into the back of Brian‟s car.
"Home James." I was feeling in a better mood, but still apprehensive.
We chit chatted on the way back to Belfast and it was nice to see them but it did not take long to get back from Holywood so I was being dropped in a back lane not far from Mount Pottinger in no time. The house was a bit cold but it did not take long to get to sleep.
Chapter 13.
Thursday 15
th June 1972. I went to the bus depot on the Short Strand the next morning, and went straight up the stairs to the main office.
"You want to hand your notice in?" The girl could not believe what I had just said. She looked round at the other office workers.
"Mr. Deery wants to hand his notice in." The girl was going to make a fuss. She had turned round to project her voice into the office.
"You have not been here very long and you will still have to work your notice. Its company rules." She was not going to make this easy.
"How much time for holidays do I have left?" I looked back at her, it was now becoming a battle of wills
"Just stay there." She went off too check my record.
"Jesus where do you think I‟m going?" I said sarcastically.
She walked off to the filing cabinets at the end of the large office, and after a few minutes returned with a pencil and pad after talking to one of the more senior women in the office
"You have seventeen days holiday." She looked puzzled because she knew I had not been at the depot that long.
"I had some holidays from my last depot, and they came with me when I transferred." I explained, thankful that someone had done their job properly, even though I had never been to the other depot at all.
"Well you could use the holidays for your notice, but that does not give us much time to replace you." She knew she had lost this one, but as a parting shot, and to make sure that I would not be missed. "We can easily cover your shifts with overtime, it can go to someone who‟s grateful."
"Fine, when do you want me to come in for my pay?" I was leaning against the counter and getting cocky, when the door to Jackson‟s office opened up and I stood up quickly.
"Hello Deery." Jackson never missed a thing.
"Oh, hello Sir." I just wanted to get out with the least amount of fuss, and didn't really want to start explaining what was going on.
"How‟s the job going?" he was just keeping his finger on the pulse, and just passing the time.
"I have to leave Sir, my mother's not well and I‟m going to Liverpool to help her out." I just had not thought of a good reason, I was hoping to just get in and out again.
"Oh, I am sorry, is she very bad?" He looked concerned. Now I was really on the back foot.
"She‟s never really been all that well since she lost my small brother." Another unnecessary lie,I tried to keep it simple.
"How sad." Jackson had a look of great sympathy, "If you come back, come and see me." He shook my hand and patted me on the back, I was touched. He walked off as the girl came back. She had a form to fill in.
"Could you just fill this in, and I‟ll see when your money will be ready." She went off to consult with the senior woman at the back of the office. As I filled in the leaving form she came back.
"We can pay you this afternoon if you want to come back." Her tone had changed. She had overheard the conversation between me and Jackson.
"Yes I could get back and it would be helpful to wrap things up quickly." I was feeling a bit better, this had started to go to plan.
"Don‟t forget to bring in you uniform, badge and your bus pass, now go down stairs and hand in your ticket machine and get the clerk to sign here." She pointed to the form.
As I went down the stairs into the daylight I realized that I had been in the pay of the British Army, the IRA and the bus company all at the same time. At the bottom of the stairs I bumped into Tommy O‟Neil. He had seen me go up and had been waiting.
"Did you hand in your notice?" He was puffing on his pipe.
"Yes, and I‟m getting seventeen days holiday pay." He looked around to see if anyone was within earshot, and took the pipe out of his mouth.
"We want to keep you away from normal operations, do you understand?" He had an intense look on his face. "You have to stay out of trouble, keep yourself well away from the normal day to day harassment of the army, this job is special," he looked around again, "that‟s why you have been chosen."
I had to keep a smile from my face, he did not know anything about me, where had all this trust come from? Looking back now he probably did not have many people he could trust, and I had shown as much get- up- and -go as anybody.
"I‟ll do my best." and as I looked at him I realized, he was not doing this for profit or selfish reasons, he was doing this because he thought it was right. He was doing these things because he wanted to improve the lot of the people he lived with. It was why he was a union leader, why he struggled with paperwork long into the night.
"I want you and Johnny to look after one another," he was standing close to me now, "people are dying, people are getting hurt, and I don‟t want you two running unnecessary risks." It strange, that a man who can order shootings, beatings and all manner of punishment for the smallest indiscretions would be so protective of people close to him, the bottom line was he wanted me to look after his son.
I gave him a friendly punch on his shoulder, "Oh we‟ll be Okay." At that moment the heavens opened.
"Go and see Johnny." He held his news paper above his head.
I started to make my way to the main gate, and I waved as I ran off, glad to get away. By the time I had got to Johnny's .I was wet through.
"I‟ve been to hand my notice in." I said as I went though the door, Johnny was in his underpants and had just got out of bed.
"Shit, I‟ll do that when I‟m ready." He wandered into the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove, I followed him into the kitchen.
"So what happens now?" Johnny must know the plans.
"I don‟t know at the moment, but we‟ll know soon enough, do you fancy a game of pool?" he was smiling at the thought of no work.
"Get your kecks on I‟m going to thrash you." Johnny smacked me on the side of the head as he went past.
"I want three sugars and no milk." he skipped off up the stairs, and I could hear him getting dressed, the kitchen was a simple affair, Belfast sink with a network of cracks in it and a wooden draining board. A kitchen table with two chairs and a stool, the cooker was out of the ark, but it was spotlessly clean. I never found the milk yet, but three sugars made it drinkable. Johnny came running down the stairs, and we sat and drank the tea.
"It‟s going to be great not having to get up in the morning, I hate those early shifts." Johnny was putting on his socks, his feet were filthy, but the house had no bathroom, only the sink in the kitchen, and an outside toilet, looking at Johnny's feet showed that he did not get the tin bath too often. The bath hung in the back yard on a six inch nail. I was glad to get onto the road and out of the house.
"I bet you don‟t even win one game, I‟m on form at the moment." Johnny was looking forward to the game. We crossed over Mount Pottinger Road and were heading for the club, which would be full of men who had no job. The only place to get out of the way of the wife or the mother was the club. We went down Madrid Street, across the road. I saw the army patrol, so did Johnny, but we had nothing to worry about, we were clean, even if we got pulled over a quick check on the radio and we would be gone.
"Excuse me Sir." There was heavy sarcasm in the soldiers voice, Johnny had been slightly in the lead so he was the focus of the soldier‟s attention. The soldier put Johnny against the wall, I decided to carry on walking, the next soldier along the road had moved up close by now he pulled me over.
"Get your hands on that wall." I recognized him straight away, but I could see there was confusion on his face. It was Barry Thompson, he had recognized me, but what was I doing walking along the streets of Belfast, why was my hair long and unkempt? Why had I not had a shave? He spun me around.
"Billy, it‟s me, Barry." I looked at Johnny who had his own problems, he had been spread eagled against the walk. The soldier was kicking his legs wider and wider, making life uncomfortable for him. The army were not going to tell
everyone who was on undercover work, and it was a fluke that I was being stopped by one of my own Regiment, I had to think fast.
Barry did not know what danger he was putting me in. He was about to blow the whole operation. I turned my back on Barry and put my hands on the wall, I just needed a few seconds to think.
"My names William Deery." I wanted Barry to pick up quickly.
"What the fuck are you on about?" Barry spun me around again, I spat in his face. Barry‟s temper was legendary, he reacted just as I had hoped. He brought his rifle down across my face, I went down, and another soldier from the squad had come across the road to help out.
"Hello Charlie One to Alpha one, over." the radio operator had an edge in his voice that made Alpha one answer quickly.
"Alpha One, over." It was the plummy voice of an officer.
"We need a mobile at the junction of Madrid and Edgar Street, over." there was a long pause.
"Alpha one to Charlie One Rodger." the plummy voice came back.
"The wagon‟s on its way." I was still lying on the floor, I wanted to stay down Barry lent down and whispered into my ear.
"What‟s going on?" I could see that Johnny had his own problems and was not listening to me.
"Barry what ever happens do not lift the other guy." Barry looked over to where Johnny was being frisked, and at that moment a couple of Land Rovers came up the street, they screeched to a halt and six more bodies poured onto the streets taking up defensive positions. I was lifted into the first one and a couple of soldiers got on the back standing plate, and as we pulled off I could see Johnny being pushed away, they had released him.
The Land Rover raced through the streets, throwing everyone around, but it did not take long to get where we were going, we pulled into the back yard of Mount Pottinger police station. They left me in the back of the Rover for a few minutes but eventually I was pulled from the back and taken in through the back door, down a corridor and thrown into a cell, the door was slammed shut. After
half an hour the door was opened and a Sergeant came in, he had a pad in his hand and he took out a pencil.
"Give me your details son." He licked the end of his pencil and sat waiting for the information.
"Get me Lt Simon Adder, he‟s in intelligence at Holywood Barracks." He wrote this down, "and if you can‟t get in touch with him speak to Major Ellis." He started off obediently, "Oh and bring me a cup of tea, two sugars."
I lit a cigarette while he was away. It was another half an hour before another soldier brought the tea in.
"Can you come through?" There was a markedly different attitude. He did not know who or what but the atmosphere had changed.
The phone was lying on the desk, and the sergeant pointed to it, I lifted the phone and said, "Hello?" Simon was on the other end.
Simon said, "In the shit again?" I smiled.
"Yes, I was stopped by an old friend and he nearly gave it away, but I don‟t think Johnny picked up on it." Simon thought for awhile. "Are you sure?"
"Well you never know, but he had his hands full at the time, having his balls felt."
"Have you had anymore instructions?" Simons was trying to find out if I knew any more yet.
"No we were just off to the club for a game of pool, but things should start to happen soon." There was a pause while Simon got some instruction from some one else who must have been listening.
"Go to the club, tell O‟Neil that you were mistaken for Seamus Deery from Anderson Town, he may know him, can you put on the duty Sergeant."
I offered the phone to the Sergeant, and sat down on one of the seats, he stood there nodding his head while listening, after a few minutes put the phone down. He went over to his log and jotted the time and a few more details and then looked over to me.
"Which door do you want to leave by?"
I was soon at the club it was smoky, warm and full of men who have nothing better to do. I walked over to Johnny, two pints in my hand. He was leaning over the table taking aim, I waited for him to take his shot he missed, and came over to me.
"You know how to upset the bastards, don‟t you?" he lifted his pint, he was relaxed, no sign of distrust.
"The daft twats thought I was John Deery from Anderson Town, and that cunt that lifted me has given me trouble before." I watched how this went down, Johnny just turned to the other men.
"Hey they thought he was Deery from the other side of the water." everyone started to laugh.
We played pool all afternoon, slowly getting drunk, Johnny would get angry if he was beaten, but most of the time he was happy, he was playing well. I was listening in to as many conversations as possible, and generally picking up bits of snippets hear and there, logging faces, evaluating, so we were all happy.
At about half past five Tommy O‟Neil came in, I had my back to the wall on the far side and was playing cards with two older men, and I clocked him straight away. He bought himself a half of beer, and leaning against the bar looked around nodding at people who greeted him. After a while he managed to make eye contact with Johnny, he made a nod to a quite corner Johnny nodded back.
It was the only time I have ever seen Johnny set someone up for an easy finish, he shook hands with the winner and strolled over to where his father was sitting reading some notes, always the union rep. I watched as they put their heads together. Johnny was being give instructions. Tommy was obviously giving directions to somewhere on the other side of town, and then he looked at his watch, put his documents away in his well worn briefcase, he then finished the last mouthful of beer and left.
Johnny looked around to see where I was, I was still playing cards, with my head down.
"Hey Doc Holliday, come on we have to leave." I looked up as though I did not know he was coming.
"Give me a mo, I‟ve still got this." I pointed at my pint.
"No time, you‟ll have plenty of time for that later." I jumped up without even finishing the hand of cards.
It was early evening as we left the club and there was a light drizzle as we walked over the Albert Bridge, with hands in our pockets we tramped our way through the city. You always kept off the main drag if you could. This was a period of drive by shooting for no other reason than someone thought you were one of 'them'.
We weaved through the streets until suddenly we were at the foot of Divis Flats. It was monstrous mass of concrete and glass, showing early signs of wear and tear. Johnny looked at the directive signs, 106 to 142, with an arrow down that way, 143 to 162 this way, eventually he knocked on a door, we were about five floors up, the windows that faced the corridor had news paper stuck on the inside, not very house proud.
"Who‟s there?" someone was being carful.
"It‟s Johnny, I‟ve been sent by Anderson." Johnny was looking up and down the landing. The door opened, no carpets, but the man who answered the door I recognized straight away. It was The Hunter from the training camp. He shut the door and bolted top and bottom. I passed the small kitchen as we went through, just a bottle of beer standing on the work top and a few dirty cups in the sink. I passed into the living room, cheep curtains hanging on string held up with three nails and a bed in the corner, no carpets, and no other furniture just a radio on the floor and two more empty bottles of beer next to the radio.
"I‟m Johnny and this is Billy." Johnny nodded to me, and held out his hand, the little man took Johnny‟s hand and shook it.
"Jonass." He shook my hand, "please sit." He pointed to the bed, we sat down, the bed was unmade, and had a feeling of dampness, the sheets and blankets were old and not very clean.
He came back from the kitchen with three bottles of beer, pulled out a bottle opener and gave us one each. He sat on the floor on the opposite side of the room leaning against the wall.
"My team haff been arrested, do you have police records?"
We both thought for a while, trying to figure out how much to tell him.
"You must be truthful." He could see we had to think about it.
"Well, I‟ve been lifted a few times," Johnny came in first, "but I‟ve never been in court." Johnny looked at me and I was trying to separate my two lives.
I had been given a caution by the police, but that was in Liverpool, and I am not that same person today, but it still took me a few seconds too think about this. I shook my head. "No, I‟m clean as a whistle." I put the bottle to my mouth, you do these things to give you a few more seconds to think when your lying.
"It is very important that you do not get involved with other things." He was looking intensely into our eyes, "Ve haff to get on with our job, we have to go quietly about, we haff to be invisible." He was laying down the ground rules.
"We haff to look very careful, we have big job, and if we are not careful." He drew his hand under his throat. We both lifted our beers to our mouths and looked as solemn as possible.
Jonass carried on laying down the rules, we nodded to show we understood. After repeating the instructions a few times he was happy.
The door slammed behind us, and we said nothing until we were out of earshot.
"Ve haft to be carefool." Johnny mimicked Jonass, you could hear us laughing all over the flats. We made our way back to our patch.
"Do you want a quick pint?" Johnny was ready for more beer, but I was running out of steam. I wanted to talk to Simon.
"I could meet you in a couple of hours?" He gave me a little wink, "Okay I‟ll see you." Johnny carried on to the club. I made my way back to number 37.
As soon as I got in I put the kettle on, and then went into the back bedroom with the phone under the floorboards.
"Get me Simon please." I could hear the sounds of a busy office.
Simon sounded as though he had just got up "could you get me a coffee?" Simon was talking to someone in the office.
"What‟s happening?" Simon was starting to focus.
"I‟ve met him." I was excited.
"Who?" he was getting annoyed, and I don‟t blame him, it was a shit way of getting your message across.
"Remember the Hunter. Well he‟s the sniper." I let this sink in.
Simon was really waking up now "So do you think he could be One Shot Willy?"
"Yes I do." I was elated, but tried to hide it in my voice. We were both silent for a while, both enjoying the possible glory. This was like winning the pools, marrying Miss World and becoming Mr. Universe all in one go. We both came down to ground at the same time.
"It will get dangerous." Simon said seriously.
"I know."
"Tell me every thing." Simon was settling in for a long chin wag.
"Well I think he‟s from some sort of Iron Curtain country, and he‟s only here for money, and he‟s mad about security. The more I think about his accent the more confused I get." Simon was listening, but he was also making sign language for someone to listen in, I knew this but it did not bother me.
"Did he tell you his name?" Simon wanted to build a picture of him.
"Jonass, but he did not tell me his surname." I then went into a quick description, and telling him the address.
"What are your plans?" It was his way of letting me know I was in charge, to a certain point.
"Well I‟m going back to the club in about an hour…….and then I‟m just going to go with the flow." There was a silent question mark I wanted some sort of approval.
"Yes, just see how things go." Simon was encouraging, "But at anytime you feel you need to pull out," a pause from him, "just say the word."
I was feeling a bit weary, I wanted to rest, and I needed to be alert.
"We‟re meeting him tomorrow at nine because he wants to train us in his ways."
"Ok, get a rest then keep me informed, I want you to report in tonight."
After I hung up Simon strode down the corridor and knocked on the door.
"Come." Simon opened the door and entered.
"Sir, I think you should know what‟s happening." Simon was talking to Major Ellis who lent back on the back of his chair and put his hands behind his head.
"Its Deery sir, he‟s been recruited into an active unit, but he thinks he‟s working with One Shot Willy." Simon waited while Ellis thought about this.
"How sure is he?" Ellis leaned forward.
"Well he‟s not sure at the moment, this only started today, but the man is from Eastern Europe, and they will be working as a three man squad. He‟s under orders not to get involved with any normal street activities, and he was ordered to finish his job on the buses, which I sanctioned." Simon waited for more questions.
"Well, we will see what happens, could you put it all in a written report and keep me informed." Ellis had work to do, so Simon left. He had things to do as well.
Ellis filled in his weekly report which would get directly to William Whitelaws desk. It would be informing him they had six men now directly in active cells for both sides, stretching from Londonderry in the north to Newrey in the south, and over fifty men in civilian locations, bringing in intelligence with no local RUC bias. He leaned back in his chair feeling pretty pleased with himself.
Meanwhile Simon logged his report and put it in his out tray. He then ordered a vehicle to pick him up in thirty minutes outside the office.
"No, I don‟t want to go in an unmarked car, I would prefer a Pig- if not, I want a Land Rover. " Simon dashed off to get a shower. Twenty five minuets later he was climbing into a Land Rover with two escorts on the back riding shotgun.
"Take me to City Barracks." these were on the opposite side of a main junction to Divis flats, and sounded a lot more impressive than they really were, a disused yard, which had been commandeered early in the troubles. It had a
tunnel entrance, a high wall of brick with a higher fence covered with hessian and corrugated iron, to stop the yard being over looked by the high flats. Even this was not very effective, and staying out of sight was one of the preoccupations of everyone who walked across the yard. There were the normal line up of Pigs and Land Rovers parked in the yard, most of the outbuildings were used as barracks, stores and cookhouses. The main offices were in effect the outer walls and had to have steel covers on the windows, pot shots at the barracks were a daily occurrence, and they were an easy target, with a multitude of escape routes. Life in this place was living on the edge. Simon wearing his combat uniform instead of jeans and shirt, which had become his normal daywear, made his way to the OP‟s room.
"Good morning Sir." Simon saluted as he entered a small room, which was in reality little more than a boarded off alcove with a makeshift door. Every spare part of the wall was covered with maps, lists of units and call signs. Major Blyth, in the last years of his career, who had worked his way through the ranks and had over thirty years in service, and was well over pension time, but building on it every year.
"Good morning, sit down." he pointed to a chair which had a jacket on the back and a pair of boots on its seat, Simon put the boots on the floor.
Simon settled in, "I‟ve come to let you know what‟s happening over the road." Simon then informed Blyth about the sniper, and how I would probably be working from the area, and that I may need help at short notice. Blyth sat making notes and after Simon had finished assured Simon that he would let the OP‟s room know.
Chapter 14.
Friday16
th June1972. The next morning Tommy O‟Neil opened the door, "Hi ya." I walked past and through to the kitchen, Johnny was leaning against the sink eating his breakfast.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" The big old kettle was simmering on the stove.
"I‟ll make it, you eat your bacon butty." I poured myself a tea.
Tommy came into the kitchen, "You need to hand your notice in today, I‟m sick of them asking when your coming in." he slammed the door on his way out. Johnny burst out laughing.
We made our way across the Albert Bridge and through town, Johnny led me in such away as to come in from the back of the Divis flats, he was being careful. We did not even have to knock on the door. It opened as we got there and then the door closed behind us.
"Did you check if you were being followed?" Jonass asked us as we settled on the floor.
"Do you think we're stupid?" Johnny looked hurt.
"Well you can not be too sure." Jonass went through to the kitchen and put the kettle on, he came back with two cups of tea, with the tea bags still in them, we did not complain.
"The way we work is this," Jonass was looking to see if we were listening, "we look very hard to see a place to shoot from, we make a good escape run, it is best to go though houses, at least two streets, do you understand?" We both nodded, "we only have one shot, no more, then we go." He made a hand movement which meant go. "I always go the different way, and you two go hide the gun, wash hands very carful, and leave, do you understand?" We both nodded again.
"We collect the gun later, then we get paid." Jonass sat back on the bed and shrugged as to invite questions.
"How do we get the gun around, we can hardly walk the streets toting a snipers rifle?" Jonass sat up.
"We carry the gun in two parts, I carry the--," he had to think hard for the word, "Telescopic sights." He jumped up and started to put his coat on.
"Come, we will go to see the gun." we slugged of the rest of our tea, I was glad to leave most of mine, and we made our way out, Jonass left three minutes after us and met up at the top of the street. We then followed him from about thirty yards behind as he made his way through the streets, he stopped every now and then and watched, sometime stopping at bus stops, sometimes just looking in shop windows, but all the time watching. He headed back over the Albert Bridge and turned left down the Short Strand, which was where the bus depot that Johnny and I had been working at, down past the depot.
"Do you fancy a quick game of pool?" Johnny nudged me as we passed the depot. Suddenly Jonass squeezed through a hole in a wooden fence, we quickly followed. It was a big expanse of waste ground with a brick building over near the river, it was some sort of warehouse, but had clearly not been used for sometime. We all climbed in through one of the smashed windows, Jonass stayed looking out of the window for about twenty minutes. We sat on old boxes and had a cigarette.
"Better to check." Jonass was satisfied. I didn‟t know where the best places to hide a rifle was, but in a warehouse in the middle of waste ground did not feel right. At the far end of the building were some internal offices, we went over. The offices windows were all smashed… a couple of old desks and a filing cabinet had been left by the last occupants.
"Lift that up here." Jonass was pointing to some old wooden ladders with rungs missing, we obediently lifted them up and Jonass climbed up and gingerly disappeared over the office, he appeared again holding the rifle bag. We went into the office and watched Jonass unpack the rifle from what appeared to be a home made rifle bag, he unrolled the carrier to reveal a stripped down two piece weapon. The wooden stock had been removed and round the barrel was one layer of string wrapped where your hand would hold the weapon, the butt was removable and snapped together with a male and female locking device and the butt had been hollowed out at some point in its life making the weapon very light. Jonass quickly fitted the gun together, he then open the cleaning kit which had a pull through material, expertly tearing off a piece of four by two he threaded this through the draw string and pulled it through until he was happy, holding up the gun to the light looking through every few pulls checking for
some piece of dirt or some sign of pitting on the inside of the barrel, when he was satisfied he went back into the bag and out of one of the folds brought the telescopic sights. "Good optic." He then started to show us the basics, like a training sergeant.
"You must be able to do everything in the dark, you have to be able to strip the gun down and put it back together with no light, it may cost you your life." Jonass started to give us a lecture, "this gun has been modified to take NATO bullets, seven six two millimeter, easy to get hold of the ammo," he explained, "and can penetrate any jacket, but I always go for the head." I gave a little shudder it brought it home what I was getting involved in.
"You have a go." Jonass handed the gun to Johnny, he held the gun to his shoulder and took aim at some point at the far end of the warehouse, then he bent down and unlocked the butt from the rest of the weapon. He placed the two parts together and in a jiffy the weapon was ready again, he handed it to me, I was surprised at how light it was, the balance was not very good, but for a single shot attack it was perfect.
"How do we get it around town?" it was the same question I was going to ask, but Johnny beat me to it.
"It is always difficult, but the last team used golf bags, tool bags with other tools inside, or just hid the thing under their coats, but never the same way twice, even in taxis." Jonass could not tell us much more, that was our responsibility.
"They were arrested for other matters so you have to be carful." Jonass started to put the gun away, carefully packing every thing into its proper place and tying the two ends, he then climbed up onto the office roof and disappeared as he hid the weapon at the back out of sight.
"Ve haff a lot of work to do." We left the way we had come in, and when we got back to the fence he told us to follow him about fifty yards behind. We went through the fence, and back towards the city. All the time he was checking to see if we were being followed. We walked through town, until Jonass found what he was looking for, he nodded towards us, and we caught him up. He was looking at disused row of shops, the windows were smashed and the entire lower floor was boarded up, but it had a good field of fire you could see all the way down the road to the factories at the bottom. We went round the back of the
building. The back gate was hanging off, held by the top hinge with no lock, carefully we looked round the back yard, and the back door was unlocked and swung open to reveal what we wanted, stairs up to the floors above.
Jonass lead the way up the stairs, old bits of rubbish and bricks littered the way, on the first floor off the small corridor was four rooms and a bathroom, the bathroom had been trashed and pipe work had been taken. The toilet had been smashed, but the sink was still intact. The two front rooms had windows out, but most important was the fact that it had a very good view of the road, the junction to the main road about one hundred and fifty yards away.
"Good." Jonass liked what he saw, carefully he removed a broken pane of glass that would be in his line of fire. Then he went into one of the other rooms but did not find what he wanted.
"Go and bring me a long piece of wood, it has to go between here and here." he was pointing from a mantelpiece to the wood on the furthest window, which meant it had to be at least twelve foot long, "and you," he was looking at me , "can clean the stairs, we need to be able to get out of here quickly without falling over."
Johnny and I started to do our tasks.
"Make sure the yard is clear as well, quick exit."
Johnny left and I got on with making sure that there was no debris on the stairs and started moving an old bike frame and some broken bricks between the back gate and the back door. Johnny came back with two lengths of wood, one was shorter and thicker the other was longer but flexible. Jonass set about fixing the long piece from the window to the mantelpiece, and he used the shorter piece to support the longer baton, soon he was happy, he kicked some rubbish out of the way of where he would be standing to take his shot. It was a small arc of fire that he was interested in, just at the bottom of the street on the junction of the main road, just the sort of place the army would patrol regularly.
"Now we have to think of our retreat." we made our way downstairs and out of the yard which came into a back lane. Directly onto the back of some terrace houses, these were the small type of two up and two down dwellings, some of them had numbers painted on the back, we walked down about five houses. Number forty three had been chalked on the wall, we were tripping over all
sorts of bits of debris. Johnny banged on the back door, no answer, he banged again, still no answer.
"I‟ll go round the front." We walked back along the back lane and went round to the front door. Johnny quietly knocked on the door and after a short while the door opened enough for a man to be able to talk to him.
"Hi Jacky." Johnny did his best to smile, the door open all the way when the man recognized Johnny he stood on the step and looked up and down, then he gave me and Jonass the once over.
"Hi Johnny, what‟s happening?" the man obviously knew it was not a social call.
"We need your doors open for two hours tomorrow, between four and six." It was half an order half a request. The man now looked harder at me and Jonass.
"I don‟t want trouble for my mother." He had his hands dug into his pockets, his body language was saying no.
"We‟ll just be passing through." Johnny insisted "Jacky, we need this, we‟ll see you tomorrow." Johnny turned on his heels and walked away, we followed.
Next we went over the road and knocked on a blue door, the door opened quickly and a fiery looking woman of about fifty took one look at Johnny glanced up and down the street.
"Come in." She disappeared into the house and we followed, it was one room downstairs with a passage through to the kitchen, we all stood in the kitchen, the woman was leaning on the sink with her arms folded.
"What do you want?" She was looking at Johnny.
"We may need to come through here tomorrow between four and six and both doors need to be open, with nothing in the way." Johnny could see that was not a problem.
"Also," Johnny sucked on his teeth, "we need to leave a gun here for a day or so, do you have a hidy hole?"
"I‟ve been a Republican all my life," she lit the stove and placed a big kettle on the top, "my father and his father before him have been head to head with the Orange Men, and I‟ll give you any help I can, do you want a cup of tea?"
We needed friends like this, we all started to relax.
Johnny now thought of introductions "That‟s Jonass," he pointed to where Jonass was , "and that‟s Billy." She looked at us both, "and this is my aunty on my mother‟s side Kathleen Kerry."
"Sit down the pair of you, your cluttering the place up." We did what we were told, squeezing in at the small table. A loaf of bread stood on the chopping board with the cut end facing down and a bottle of brown sauce stood next to the salt and pepper. The table cloth was coated with crumbs from the bread. As the kettle boiled Kathleen set out four cups and went through the ritual of tea making, heating the teapot and three heaped spoons of tea into the brown teapot, slowly pouring hot water in and letting it brew, we watched in silence until the cups and biscuits were on the table.
"We hide things in here." She had opened a small cupboard in the kitchen, and pulled back some old tarpaulin and there were a few lose floorboards, she pulled them up and we peered in, you could smell the damp rising from the hole. It was big enough to hide the gun.
"That will do fine." Johnny smiled, we all sat down and finished our tea. Johnny and Kathleen talked family matters, Jonass and me just sat there and listened.
"Well we need to get on." We all stood up Johnny gave Kathleen a kiss and we smiled and thanked her for the tea. Once back on the streets we walked to the main road.
"Meet me at two o‟clock on the back stairs of the shop, you must have the gun in place, I will bring the scope and the ammo." Jonass walked off and immediately began checking behind him, checking that he was not being followed.
"Fancy a game?" Johnny was feeling pleased with himself, I wanted to report in before I forgot all the details.
"Come on," Johnny knocked my head, "lets go to O‟Donnell‟s."
"How are we going to get the gun through town?" I was getting jittery at the thought of going on tomorrows operation.
"We‟ll get a taxi, you're paying." Johnny was walking at a brisk pace, obviously keen to get his first pint down his neck.
The bar was full for that time of the day. I start to take in all the faces, logging the ones I knew well, and then trying to pull the new ones off the mug shots. There was some very hairy company here today.
Johnny was chin wagging as he waited for his turn on the pool table, I ordered the pints, and made sure I ordered a shandy for myself.
One of the things I did was to watch people in the mirror behind the bar, it was easier to hide the fact you were studying them.
"We‟re on." A jab in the kidneys from Johnny told me he meant me, it was a game of doubles not an easy game to play, but we won easily, me playing safe and Johnny cleaning up after they set him up.
"Fancy playing for pints?" Johnny was chalking his queue as he asked the next couple up for a game. One of the men playing was on the files, I watched him carefully.
"Okay, but I‟m drinking double gins." But Johnny has missed the signals.
"No bother." the winners break off, so Johnny gave them a good whack, the balls landed badly, wide open.
"Go on Ivan." Oh shit I had just remembered his name, Ivan the Terrible. He was though to have tortured many poor Orange Men, and drive- by shooting his specialty. Yes, the army would love to know where this man was. I could feel myself tense up, I wondered should I throw the game? Then I thought.. what the hell I‟ll pay for the drinks. Ivan had an easy four balls but then the fifth was a hard shot, he missed.
"Go on boy." None of my shots were easy, so I played safe, much to Johnny‟s disgust. Ivan‟s partner potted two balls from an impossible position, and we were staring defeat in the face.
We slowly but surely worked our way back into the game, Ivan was getting more frustrated with every shot and I was tempted to play a lose ball, but something inside me wanted to win. Johnny punched home the last ball.
"Yes." He thrust his queue into the air, I was smiling and shaking Johnny‟s hand.
"Two pints of the finest, he‟s paying." Ivan had already sat down.
"Fuck off we were playing pool not snooker." Ivan had that look on his face. Johnny‟s quick temper immediately showed itself.
"Get the fucking beers in." His thumb pointing to the bar. I was looking round for any possible allies, but there was no one in the bar who fancied this one. Once again Johnny could not control himself, he leaned over the table and slapped Ivan in the face, in a flash chairs were being pushed back. The manager was around from the bar, but not before Ivan had head butted Johnny and I had done a half dropkick on Ivan from behind, not very successfully because he quickly turned round and gave me a one, then two to the face. I was on the floor holding my face. Johnny was being held down and about five men were holding Ivan back. We were on the street in no time.
"You are barred for a week." No manager wants to loose a paying customer for too long, but he has to show some sort of control, so we were out for a week.
We re-played the action all the way to Johnny‟s house, I was claiming I had done a full dropkick and that‟s how he caught me. Johnny was claiming he had give a full punch to his face which was just a slap really. My face was still stinging as I picked up the phone.
Simon answered and I gave him my report.
Chapter 15.
Friday 16
th June 1972. I woke early, and staggered into the kitchen and filled the kettle. It was nice and sunny outside and as the kettle boiled I caught sight of myself in the small mirror hanging on the window. I don‟t bruise easily so to have a yellow patch on the cheek bone with a darker bit at the centre, I knew I had been hit.
I sat and listened to the radio and drank my tea.
A body had been found on Shaw‟s Bridge, and some news about the Olympic games which had just finished.
While I was waiting nervously to go on my first active duty for the IRA Major Ellis was finishing a meeting.
The room was full of operation officers from around the province. Sitting around the large table, each officer was reporting, giving details of their successes and their weaknesses.
"We have two in Strabane, one works in a bar on the main street, and one in a bakery, but both of their tours of duty come to an end next month." the officer looked at Ellis.
"Yes, this does seem to be a problem, no sooner do we get someone in and their tour finishes we need to look into this." Ellis picked up his papers and started to put them into his briefcase.
"Well gentlemen we will meet next week same time, thank you." there was a scraping of chairs as everyone stood up.
"Oh Simon," Ellis was looking over the crowd, "my office in five." Simon nodded.
Simon went to the OP‟s room just to check all was well, just at that moment I picked up the phone.
"Simon please."
"You mean Lt Adder don‟t you?" and before I could say, "just get him", Simon had taken the phone.
"Simon I don‟t want to do this." Simon looked at his watch, he knew it was a big ask but he also knew I was in deeper than all but one other operator, my penetration into the interior was being hailed as a great success, but it relied on me being in this active unit.
"We need you in this squad, if you were not in there, someone else would be." Simon let this sink in as he tried to think of more reasons why I should'nt go.
"I‟ll have a squaddies blood on my hands." I was near to tears, Simon's mind was racing.
"We have lifted over fifteen dangerous men who, had it not been for you, would still be on the streets, just last night we shifted two very evil men off the streets. There are people who are now locked up in Maidstone for a long time due to your evidence."
I listened, I told myself he was right, but my hands were shaking.
"Okay." I calmed myself down. I needed some sort of justification for what may happen.
"Okay, I‟ll be okay."
"Do you want to come in tonight?" I needed time to think about this.
"No, not tonight, I‟ll just carry on." I put the phone away. Simon walked into room seven.
"I‟ve just had Deery on the blower sir he sounds a little shaky."
Ellis looked up. "What‟s the problem?"
"He‟s on his first mission today and he‟s feeling the pressure." Simon sat down, Ellis thought for a while.
"I think we‟ll bring in Lunn, he has a great deal of experience of this sort of motivational work." Ellis picked up the phone and dialled Lunns number.
"Hello Gerry its Michael Ellis here I‟d like you to help Deery. He has a self doubt problem." Lunn listened and remembered him well.
"How soon do you need me?" Lunn turned around and looked at the wall calendar, he had a full month of training ahead of him.
"Pretty soon, you could do a night call?" it was more a question, "He‟s got himself well placed and we need him to be exactly where he has got himself." Ellis waited for Lunn to consider.
"Could you bring him in for Sunday?" Ellis had his diary open, two days, should be enough.
"Yes that will be fine, thanks Gerry." Ellis put the phone down.
"Come on let‟s go and see Ivan and McDavid before someone kills them." they made their way to the prison cells.
I slammed the door and looked both ways along the street, no one was looking, so I put a matchstick in the gap of the door. I then made my way to Johnny's, his mother opened the door and we went through to the kitchen. Johnny was up and eating toast.
"Do ya want some?" he waved his toast at me, I could not eat at the flat but the smell of his toast made me think again. His mother was already cutting the bread.
"Yes please missus." the kettle went on and I soon had a brew in my hand and a big thick slice of toast with jam dripping off the side.
We left Johnny's house without talking too much. He was carrying a duffle bag with a pair of squash racquets sticking out of the top. We made our way to the warehouse on the waste ground, squeezing through the fence, at this moment we were only trespassing, but soon we would be carrying a gun. I was sweating and took comfort from the fact that if I got caught it would not mean years in jail. We climbed through the window and quickly recovered the gun from its hiding place.
Johnny split the gun and handed me the barrel which on its own did not look that much. With my coat off we taped it to the back right-hand side of my body winding the tape round my body a few times and put the coat on, Johnny inspected me.
"You can‟t tell." Johnny then took an old pair of plimsolls out of the bag and tied them to the bottom of the handle of the duffle bag, then he put the butt of the rifle into the bag but some of it was still sticking out but with an old tee shirt
over the top and the two handles of the squash racquets sticking up even further it would take a full search to find out what really was in the bag.
"Better than a violin case eh?" Johnny smiled, we were running early but Johnny thought that it would be better in the morning. We made our way out. Straight across the road to the bus stop, the conductor did not take our fares he knew our faces and was probably not aware that we had left the buses.
"Off for a game of squash?" the conductor came to talk to us. We did not want too many questions.
"Aye, were just learning." Johnny replied, that stopped any follow on questions hopefully.
We sat on the bus until we were one stop past our stop, which was not too far but it gave us a chance to survey the area as we approached.
"Fancy a game of pool?" Johnny patted me on the back of the head trying to make me loosen up. We entered the pub and Johnny ordered two pints and we sat down, it was at this point I realised that I had the barrel still strapped to my back. Johnny put his bag under the bench seat out of sight and set the balls up on the pool table, I left my coat on, the sun was streaming through the high windows and the smoke hung in the air. The time passed slowly but eventual the clock struggled round to half past one.
"Come on big boy." Johnny picked up his bag and made his way out onto the street.
The sun was high in the sky. We made our way to the back of the building and then we checked that the back door to Jacky's house was open, it was.
Jonass came down the back lane, quick glance behind and steps into the back yard.
"Did you haff any difficulty?"
"No it went okay." I answered.
We made our way up the back stairs, Jonass was cleaning up a small piece of rubble, everything upstairs was as we left it, and the baton across the room was still fixed. Jonass quickly slotted the gun together and gave the gun a pull through, he then fixed the telescopic sites to the gun, he then took a round of
ammo out of his pocket and carefully polished it, and making sure as he put it in the breach his fingers never touched it. Now rubbing down the gun making sure his finger prints were cleaned off the weapon he took a length of cord out of his pocket and strapped the gun to the baton, twice round the gun with a reef knot, the gun stayed suspended pointing up to the ceiling. He now went into the back room the sink had been smashed but the tap still worked. Using a piece of soap out of his rucksack he carefully scrubbed his hands, washing them three times, then the last bit of his preparation he took out a pair of yellow rubber gloves, snapping them on, he was ready. All this time I was leaning on the back wall of the room, Johnny was sitting on an old set of drawers smoking a cigarette, looking out of the window.
The pattern for our working day was being set. Jonass was ready, he stood there not talking, like the hunter he was, focused, poised,had been ready to pounce for two hours.
At first I was sweating, but as time went by I slowly calmed down. Johnny was calm, but to him they were the enemy, to me they were my comrades. Nothing was said, then air was thick, time passed slowly, at exactly six o‟clock Jonass snapped off the telescopic sights and put it in his pocket.
"Same time tomorrow, same place." He took his rubber gloves off, and Johnny started to strip down the gun packing the butt into his duffle bag, at this point Jonass pulled out a small wad of pound notes and gave both of us seven pounds Johnny just put his in his pocket and carried on packing up strapping on the barrel to my back. Jonass was gone.
"He‟s not happy." I nodded down the stairs.
"Well he only gets paid when he does the job."
"Oh, that explains it." We left the building as we found it and went to the back of Jacky‟s house, the door was open we walked in closing the back gate.
"Hello, Jacky?" I closed the back door, there was nobody in the house so we just left the front door with the latch on and walked over to Kathleen‟s door which was open.
"Fancy a cuppa?" The big kettle was already simmering.
"Does the Pope pray?" It was Johnny‟s stock answer for yes, "we‟re back tomorrow, can we leave this here?"
"Of course, put it under the boards." She nodded in the direction of the cupboard. Johnny lifted the boards and placed both parts of the gun and the duffle bag with the squash racquets inside, and then sat down waiting for the brew.
"How did it go?" Kathleen asked.
"No one passed by, a total waste of time." Johnny said.
"Well are you going on the march next week?" Kathleen was trying to keep the conversation going.
"No. We‟ve been told not to do anything, this is too important we have to keep out of the limelight." She laid the teas out and we sat and enjoyed the quiet moment. Then as she poured the tea Kathleen casually asked me,
"Where do you live Billy?"
"Oh, not far from Johnny." I realised this would not be enough, so after a slug on my tea, "37 Mount Pottinger, above the post office opposite the police station." I let this sink in, hoping that would be the end of it.
"Don‟t you live with your parents?" I‟m was now scanning my file, the sweat was running down my back.
"No, my mother lives in Liverpool she works in a tyre factory, she‟s on good money, and my dad did a runner when I was three." she looked deep into my soul, I held her gaze.
"What about your grand parents?" It made me wish that I had made the effort to see my ran.
"I never knew my Grandad but my Gran is Ella Ward she lives just off New Lodge Road." Kathleen‟s face lit up.
"I know her, we used to go to bingo." This was getting out of hand, Johnny suddenly jumped up.
"Come on, we‟ve things to do." He gave Kathleen a hug and I drank the rest of my tea and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"See you tomorrow."
Next thing we were out on the street, I was so relieved to be out of that grilling, Johnny did not see it that way, and to him it had just been two people reminiscing.
I thought I must get more information on my invented blood line, Johnny wanted to get to the club, a game of pool on his mind.
We jumped onto the bus, straight upstairs and lit a fag.
"Hey, we're still banned from O‟Donnell‟s." Johnny jabbed me in the ribs, "I‟ll see my dad."
"What do you mean?"
"It‟s the best table in town I want to play there tonight." My eyebrows rose.
"I‟m going in tonight." Johnny had that determined look on his face.
I needed to talk to Simon.
"Look, I‟ll go home and get something to eat and I‟ll see you at the club for eight." Johnny looked at his watch and pulled a face , "Okay, but don‟t be late."
"Simon?"
"Yes."
"I need more info on my family." Simon wanted to know what had happened.
"Oh, the red haired lady, Kathleen Kelly she knows Ella Ward, they went to bingo together."
"I‟m onto it, what happened today?" I quickly explained the detail.
"I‟ll be around to see you in an hour." I looked at my watch.
"No time Sir, I‟m supposed to be at the club by eight."
"I‟ll be there at seven tomorrow."
Johnny won at pool all night, my mind was on other things, and we staggered home at just gone eleven, having decided not to stay for the lock in.
17 June 1972 Saturday.
My front door slammed at ten to seven, I jumped out of bed and grabbed my piece of wood, but looking down the stairs Simon was picking up some mail, he had a couple of files in his hand.
"Put the kettle on." My heart was thumping. I went into the kitchen put the kettle on the stove, and rushed into the bedroom to get dressed. Simon was laying out the photos on the living room table.
"Yuk, I don‟t take sugar, do another one." I went and made another one. I sat down on the opposite side of the table. We went through the normal mug shot book.
"He was in the club last night." I pointed to a picture, "He was in the botched bank raid at New Townards."
"The one where the bystander was shot in the leg?" Simon knew the job.
"Yes, and he was with him, bragging about some gun battle in the Lower Falls." I fingered another one.
Simon was taking notes.
"And he‟s in 2
nd battalion West Belfast." I pointed out some more. "I‟ll get those sorted, now look at these." Simon opened up the other folder and showed me my family tree. Someone had done a lot of work.
We sat there, reading, studying for about two hours, pouring over driving licence photos, old newspaper cuttings, address and copies of birth certificates.
"Remember, these people have not seen you since you were very young, chances are they won‟t remember you." I sat back, I wasn‟t to sure. We had another cup of tea. Simon told me to keep a look out for certain people and went through the reasons why I should carry on with the sniper job. There was a knock on the door, we both jumped up and started to pack up the documents.
"Go and answer the door." I went down the stairs and opened it up, Johnny was standing there.
"Bloody hell you‟re early." I leaned out of the door and looked both ways up and down the street, trying to stall and give Simon more time to hide things.
"Come on, get yourself in." Johnny tried to push past me.
"Slow down, what‟s the hurry?" I ambled up the stairs and was relieved to see Simon had cleared all the documents and hidden himself as well, I hoped he had not hidden in the bathroom.
"The kettle's boiled, I‟ll get dressed." I disappeared into the bedroom. Simon was hiding as best he could, but Johnny was not the type to go into someone‟s bedroom, it would be the last thing he did. Johnny was replaceable, I was not, it would be just another tit for tat killing.
I threw my clothes on as quickly as possible and went into the living room, Johnny was busy making tea.
"I fancy having a look round town before we head off?" so that was why he was early.
"We could do." I looked down and peeping out from under the chair was someone‟s birth certificate, now I could explain most of the documents we had been looking at but a birth certificate belonging to some one else, I did not fancy that one.
"Fancy a piece of toast?" I stood up and walked to the window, pulled back the curtain and looked out over the police station over the road.
"What the fuck is that?" any port in a storm, a new type of army vehicle had just pulled up outside the police station. Johnny stood up and came across, while he was looking I went over to his chair and put the paper in my pocket.
"That‟s just a Sarrason they are replacing the old Pigs with those." I had what I wanted.
"Right- some toast." I went into the kitchen and put the grill on. I was in a hurry to get out now, before I left I went into the bedroom and threw the paper on the bed. Simon realised the significance of this and gave me a wink, he had a Browning pistol in his hand and I realised the significance of that.
We wolfed the toast down and left.
As we walked up the street we passed Danny Steel, the man who had burgled my flat, I made a mental note to finger him at the next meeting.
Chapter 16.
Late morning 17 June 1972.
BBC News....
A man who suffered two gun shot wounds on bloody Sunday has died, his family claim that he died from the wounds suffered on Bloody Sunday. The Prime minister Mr Edward Heath is expected..... We made our way over the Albert Bridge and into Belfast City and after Johnny had done some petty pilfering from Woolworth's. We ended up in a small cafe down a back street, it was a lovely day.
"Two teas please." Johnny was looking at the pens and rubbers that he had stolen.
"What do you want those for, you can‟t even write?" he slapped the side of my head. I felt the blood rise but managed to take the blow without reprisal.
"Do you feel nervous when you‟re going on a mission like this?" I asked Johnny.-
"Hell no," he was serious, he leaned forward over his tea, "look, they come here, and they wave their guns around they don‟t know the history of this place, they don‟t know who‟s being held down, the B specials kicking shit out of the people that they don‟t like, jobs for the Prods and not for us, well bring it on. I‟ll do for them." He leaned back, fire in his eyes, a look that reminded me what was really going on as far as most people were concerned.
Exacerbated by school segregation, the ghettos where people were almost a hundred percent separated by their religion. It was an us and them situation. I must have shown it on my face, because Johnny leaned across the table and grabbed my arm.
"Don‟t worry, I‟m going to look after you." He meant it, he had formed a bond with me too, which I did not deserve, which I did not want. I was confused, my loyalties were being pulled.
Just as this was running through my mind the door opened and Kathleen Kelly walked through the door, she was with a man. She looked at us and as I
remember she was not the least bit surprised to see us. They ordered coffees, the man seemed familiar, I immediately started going through the mugshots stored in my memory. He was skinny and had watery eyes, not quite sure footed. He wore the top of one suit which mismatched the trousers of another, they had not been to the cleaners for many years. Kathleen paid for the teas and they came over to our seats, she led the way, he followed, spilling some of his drink as he made his way through the tightly packed seats.
"Fancy meeting you two here." She sat down and we made room for the man. In my mind I was going through the photos, I had seen that face recently.
"This is Alphonsus." Kathleen nodded to the man, I nearly did a summersault, yes I remembered. My uncle, his photo was in all those documents strewn all over my coffee table, it was that name that did it.
"Are you my uncle?" I asked him.,
He took a long hard look at me, "Why it‟s wee Billy, I haven‟t seen you for years." His eyes rolled upwards while he tried to remember, "It was your Aunty Jo‟s engagement."
She wasn‟t really my aunt, but she was always in our house, my mother‟s best friend, and yes that was the last time I had seen him. He had been singing old songs in the corner with the older folk at the party.
At that moment Jerry Mason, my old bus driver came into the cafe. I jumped up and went over to see him while he ordered a tea.
"How‟s it going?" I smiled at him. It was nice to see him and I was pleased to get my mind off other things.
"I finish the buses next week," he looked at me while stirring his tea, "but I‟m not sure I want to now the time has come"
"Come on you‟ve waited all your life for this." I tried to encourage him. We sat down on a table near the window
He looked into my face, "Why are you hanging around with the likes of him?" He nodded over to Johnny, straight to the point with Jerry. "He‟s bad news that boy." I didn‟t have an answer.
"Aw, he‟s not that bad." But that was not going to change Jerry‟s mind.
I now felt uncomfortable on more than one level, so I patted Jerry on the shoulder.
"Look, good luck, it was nice to see you." I stood up to go.
"Watch your back Billy, just watch your back." Jerry gave a little nod and I made my way back to Johnny's table. They had nearly finished their teas.
"What‟s does that old twat want?" Johnny had a nice turn of phrase.
"He‟s finishing the buses next week he‟s been on the job since he was a young boy." I drank my tea.
Kathleen stood up, "Shall we go and see you Gran?" She was looking at me. I had been putting it off but now was a good a time as any.
"Yes good idea, but I have to out by one o‟clock." I looked at Johnny and the look on his face told me he was not up for that.
"I‟ll see you at Kathleen‟s at half one sharp." Johnny scraped his chair as he stood up.
We left the cafe and I followed Kathleen to the bus stop. Alphonsus had thought of a reason not to come by then.
"Well I‟ll be off, Mary will be making my dinner and I better not be late." I think Kathleen was happy for him too disappear, he wondered off. The bus came straight away and we jumped on. As we went past the street Alphonsus had turned down, I had a quick glance and saw him go into a pub on the left, he was going to drink his dinner.
We knocked on the door and slowly it opened. My Gran had not changed much and Kathleen was standing in front of me so it took her a while to notice me.
"Eeee, Eeee, will you just look at him." She stood and held both my hands, "God he looks just like his father, will you look at him so tall." She gave me a hug.
Her house had not changed a jot, still the worn out carpets, the smell of barley, cats running all over the shop and the effigies of Christ over the mantelpiece.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" She disappeared into the kitchen.
Kathleen was beaming "Are you glad you came? She‟s delighted to see you."
"Of course." What else could I say?
She came back in with a tea pot on a tray, and put them down and then came over too give me another hug, and then she went back to the kitchen for more. We sat and ate biscuits and told each other our news, with Kathleen just listening. I kept a close eye on the time and the only lie I told her was that I was still on the buses. Eventually time was up.
"Well I have to go now, I have a shift to do." I stood up.
"You must come and see me again soon." she then gave me another big hug, I hugged her back. She was small and frail.
"Of course I‟ll come and see you." I felt guilty as we left, I promised myself I would come and see her once a week.
"Shall we walk?" Kathleen looked at her watch, "we can be there in ten minutes."
I was feeling better having seen my Gran.
"Yes we have loads of time." So we walked back to Kathleen‟s house, the sun was shining but deep in my heart I was dreading the rest of the day.
Johnny was sitting on the wall at the end of the street and we all let ourselves into Kathleen‟s house. The kettle went on and I sat there smoking while Johnny went into the cupboard and took the gun out. I cleaned it while we finished the tea, and once I had packed it away I carefully washed my hands, twice. I then started another cigarette. The desire to just run away never really left me on any of these jobs.
We sat there making small talk until five to two, every minute seemed like an hour, and at last Johnny looked at the kitchen clock, "Come on, Jonass will be waiting." Johnny picked up the duffle bag and I looked out of the door both ways. We were on our way. It was very close to the back lane and we were soon walking up the stairs.
Jonass was in the upstairs room.
"Have you checked that both houses have their doors open?" Johnny and I looked at one another.
"I‟ll go." I doubled back along the back lane, kicking old bricks to the side. I would hate to trip on those while running flat out. I walked through the house and came out the front, Kathleen‟s door was open. I got to the top of the stairs and saw that Jonass was set up, with the rifle tied in place he was still washing his hands at the tap with no basin. Johnny was sitting on the floor at the far end of the room. I lit a cigarette and leaned against the wall.
"Phissst" Jonass attracted our attention.
Johnny sprang up and grabbed the duffle bag. I stood where I would not be able to see down the road. One shot, Jonass kicked the bolt action of the rifle the empty shell fell to the floor, and he then removed the scope and placed it in his inside pocket. He then took a brown paper bag out of his pocket and placed the shell into it, and peeled off his yellow rubber gloves.
"Don‟t run, walk, and go to mine at six." He calmly walked down the stairs and was gone.
All this time, only a few seconds but it felt like a life time, my mouth had dried up, my body could not handle the adrenalin, I thought I was going to pass out.
Johnny had split the gun and put the two pieces into the bag.
"Come on." He launched himself down the stairs, I followed as fast as I could, falling down the last six stairs, Johnny did not look back. I picked myself up and followed, through the back gate and into the house. An old woman was in the hall so we pushed past and out into the street. Kathleen‟s door was open and we burst in.
"That was quick." The cupboard door was open with the floor boards ready, the bag was flung down and the boards were down on top of it in seconds. We both gave Kathleen a quick peck on the cheeks and out of the back door. I wanted to run but Johnny just put his hands in his pockets and strolled down the back lane.
We jumped onto the first bus that came, it did not take us home, but it did go into Belfast town bus station where we would be able to get a bus going over
the Albert Bridge. As we passed the end of the street I looked away, Johnny was peering through the windows. We jumped off the bus and quickly caught the sixty four over the bridge. It was only two stops but got us on to our side of the river where we felt safer.
"Are we going for a pint?" I needed to talk to Simon.
"No I‟ll give you a knock at quarter past five." I quickly turned away and strode off in the direction of number 37. I could feel tears welling in my eyes. It took for ever to get the key in to the lock, all field craft ignored, I just blundered into the bedroom and buried my head in the pillows and sobbed.
It was quite some time before I pulled myself together and as I lay on the bed smoking a cigarette I decided that was it. I had had enough I was going to tell Simon.
I unpacked the phone and sat there for a bit longer, slowly coming to terms with what had happened.
"Hello can I have Simon please." There was a pause.
"Hello." He knew, I knew, everyone in the office knew. They had been listening on the loud speaker, on direct microphone in my flat.
"Do you need to come in?" I shook my head and with a big lump in my throat managed to tell him I was okay.
A cup of tea and a cigarette later I was feeling better. Four thirty… Johnny would be at the club still. I threw my jacket on and made my way around there. As I walked into the club I could hear the noise, cheering and singing. Johnny was sitting at the main table surrounded by well wishers. He had three pint standing in front of him.
He saw me and jumped to his feet "There‟s the boy." Everyone turned to look at me. I was shocked, they all knew. A massive cheer went up and people were patting me on my back.
"What do you want son?" some feller asking what I wanted to drink, I smiled weakly.
"A Gin." I went over to Johnny's table, he was sitting there smiling, loving every minute.
"Come on sit down." The gin and bitter lemon was placed in front of me, Johnny then carried on telling the story.
"And then he" pointing at me, "went arse over tit, I was off." They roared with laughter.
Johnny then remembered the old lady in the hall of the house we had run through.
"Then the stupid bastard knocked over the old lady in the hall and I trampled all over her." There was more laughter. I slugged my gin and people patted me on my back, and I got used to the feeling. The feeling of not caring what I did, not caring who got hurt. We carried on drinking until Johnny patted me on the back.
"Come on." We went for the door. Outside there was a taxi waiting for us.
"Back of Divis mate." Johnny paid. Seven bob on the meter, he just handed over a pound was a full days wage for most people, we jumped out. We were forty five minutes late and we did not care, Jonass did.
"You're late !," We followed him into his living room, "and you haff been drinking, you must be very careful." I was trying to look as sober as I could.
"I hope you tell no one?" Jonass looked accusingly at us.
"Not a chance, mum‟s the word." Johnny jumped in quickly.
Jonass looked out of the window, "we start to look for a new hide from tomorrow."
Johnny sorted that one in one go. "Not me mate, I‟m in church all day tomorrow." Johnny had set his jaw, "Not me." He turned to look at me.
"Church." I said weakly.
"Okay, first thing Monday, you must be here at ten." He pushed a roll of money tied up with an elastic band in each of our hands. I could see that the outer note was a fiver, I just put mine in my pocket.
Jonass shepherded us down the corridor to the door and before he open it, he turned back towards us.
"Here at ten on Monday." We nodded as we walked past him, I held my breath because I did not want him to smell the gin. As the door closed Johnny started
to count his money nearly tripping over as we walked along the concrete corridor to the stairs.
He turned to me beaming "Fucking two hundred quid." I pulled mine open and counted, forty notes all fivers. Blood money, I looked at it a while, then rolled it back up and tied the elastic band round and put it in my pocket.
We walked into town, not really a safe place to be for two young Catholic men but we did not care, we were invincible tonight.
It was early evening and we went into one of those expensive bars which were priced to keep out the likes of us.
A busty blond barmaid tried to ignore us for a while, but Johnny kept his fiver held up and eventually could not find anyone else to serve.
"Two double gin and lemons." The barmaid looked towards the steward who was polishing glasses at the end of the bar, as an after though Johnny said, "please." The steward nodded and she served us.
"Ice and lemon?" She said, Johnny nodded.
"That will be ten and four please." Johnny turned to me and raised an eyebrow and smiled.
I leaned against the bar and lit a cigarette and as the gin sunk in I started to feel more relaxed.
"I fancy a pub crawl." My defences were lowering.
"Yes so do I but not in pubs like this." We were out of our depth and our eyes were the wrong colour. Most people in Ulster could tell Catholics from Protestants and if you did not know a person, it was wiser to assume the worst.
"No but let‟s enjoy this one." I lifted my drink.
I saw him before he saw me, maybe it was my training but just as we were finishing our drinks Kerry Howell came through the door. Johnny hated him, I liked him. He was with a friend who went to the bar- but Kerry went straight into the toilets.
"I‟ll just have a piss." I left Johnny standing at the bar scowling at anyone who looked his way. I did not have much time.
"Hi Kerry." He spun round and his easy smile came across his face.
"How you doing?" I was glad to see him.
"Look I‟m out with Johnny so I haven‟t got long do you fancy going for a pint soon?"
"Well you wouldn‟t believe it I‟m meeting Jill on Thursday and her buddy is coming along. Do you remember them on the bus that day?"
"Oh yes I remember them."
"What‟s the other girl called?"
"Denise, she‟s nice." He finished washing his hands. "I‟m meeting them at eight in The Blue bell on Ravenshill Road on Thursday," he patted my arm, "come along."
I left the toilets before Kerry and went over to Johnny.
"Come on let's go." Johnny lead the way and Kerry came out of the toilets behind Johnny's back, but only because he had been combing his hair for so long, but this suited me.
They were glad to see the back of us but we did not care. Johnny knew the safe pubs and we did the rounds. By ten thirty I had had too much to drink and caught myself ordering a round with my Liverpool accent. The alarm bells started to ring. I needed to get home before I said something stupid. Last orders had been rung while Johnny was at the bar so this was the last pint. He laid them on the table and as soon as Johnny turned his back I knocked my drink over.
"You fucking useless bastard." Some of the drink had gone on Johnny‟s leg.
"Give me half of yours." I held my glass out.
"Not a chance." He held his drink where I could not reach "Not a chance."
I tried to look hurt "Go on." This made him drink faster because of the threat of some one wanting some of his drink.
We got a taxi home.
Chapter 17. BBC News. There are reports coming in of an air crash just outside Stains Middlesex, BEA say there are 118 passengers and crew on board. There are no casualty figures yet…. Sunday 18th June 1972. I was up early and I caught the nine eighteen to Holywood, getting off at the far end of Palace Barracks and walked back to the main gate once the bus had gone. After the normal rigmarole of getting into the camp I made my way up to the op‟s room. Simon was not there so I made my way back down to the cookhouse and had a massive breakfast. Simon came over with a cup of tea.
"How are you?" I carried on eating, "Was it bad?"
"I‟ll get used to it." I still had my mouth full.
We talked about who was where and when, while we sat there in the cookhouse. Simon took notes and at the end he said, "Do you want to see anyone?" he meant did I need any help.
"No I‟m fine." I slugged my tea and lit a cigarette.
"I need to get back, I don‟t want Johnny to find me missing" I stood up looking at my watch and walked out leaving Simon sitting there. I would have to hurry if I wanted to catch that eighty six back to Belfast. I didn‟t buy the Sunday papers on the way home. I did not want to read anything about the shooting.
The next morning I knocked on Johnny‟s door at five past nine.
"Come in." Johnny‟s mother answered.
We got to the Divis Flats five minutes early and the door opened as we got to the door. Jonass missed nothing.
Jonass gave us instructions as to what type of place we were looking for. A disused building, good escape route, near junctions that the army would be patrolling, a confusing landscape with lots of possible shooting places.
We were sent out and within half an hour had ended up back on our side of the water.
"That will do." Johnny was pointing at an old engineering building. It had been closed for many years. We climbed through the gates and had a look around. It had two escape routes. It had loads of windows most of them smashed. It only gave Jonass a small field of fire, but in a way that was good because it meant that the army had a small view of the building. We were happy and went and played pool for the rest of the day.
Tuesday 20
th June 1972. The next day we rolled up at Jonass place. He was not ready for us and it took a long time for him to answer the door.
"Where have you been?" he was annoyed that we got to his door without him seeing.
"Hey, keep your hair on, we‟ve been working hard," Johnny straight on the defensive, "and we‟ve found a place." He stuck his jaw out and faced Jonass.
He was happy when he saw the place and even happier when a patrol walked past while we were there. The patrol ignored us, we studied them.
"Okay, I need the gun. I need to set the...." he shaped his hands in such a way that we knew he needed to calibrate the sites. This would involve taking the weapon somewhere in the country.
We all caught the bus over the bridge to Kathleen‟s house, and dug the gun out from under the floor boards. While we had a cup of tea Jonass cleaned the gun and packed the weapon away in the duffle bag then he carefully washed his hands. We talked about anything but the shooting.
"Go and get a taxi." Jonass was looking at me, so I left and went over to the pub. There was a public phone in the corner with taxi numbers penned onto the wall. I was soon back at Kathleen‟s house with the taxi due. I had not been back long when there was a peep of a horn outside.
"We can start work on Monday, just come and see me." Jonass opened the door and looked both ways he then came back into the kitchen for the duffle bag.
"And don‟t get any trouble." He was trying to look stern. He was gone.
"Amen, off till next week, I may and go and see my mother." I wanted out for a few days. I also wanted to see Kerry on the Thursday night without Johnny knowing. I looked on the calendar hanging on Kathleen‟s wall. Johnny had his hands dug deep into his pockets.
"I could be back on Saturday." I turned to look at Johnny he was scowling.
"That would be nice." Kathleen thought it would be nice to go and see my mother. Johnny was trying to think of reasons why I should not go.
"You‟ll miss the pool competition on Wednesday."
"Well it‟ll be easier for you." I ruffled his hair, he shrugged my hand off.
"I‟ll book the ticket when I get there," I looked at my watch, "yes I‟ll catch the half ten tonight." I thought I would tease Johnny a bit more. "You can come."
"Fuck off." No sense of humour. I finished my tea and put my jacket on and gave Kathleen a kiss.
"I‟ll give you a knock when I get back " Johnny did not even make eye contact.
The bus was coming down the street as I got near the bus stop.
"One to the town, Please." I quickly got in to the city and with my pocket full of money I bought myself a full new outfit including a brown suede leather jacket. Then over to a city barber, it was the first time I'd had my hair blow dried.
I told the taxi to drop me off on Mount Pottinger Road, about fifty yards down from the police station, I did not want to be seen getting out of a taxi with all my bags. I quickly slipped into my flat, but still checking all the signs. I could never drop my guard.
I filled the bath right up to the top, no mother to nag me here. Then after a kip on the sofa I packed my suitcase, all my new gear, tooth brush and all the things I would need from the bathroom, and my wallet. I lifted the carpet in the bedroom and rang Simon.
"Simon ,please." I could hear him say, "Lt. Adder."
"Hello." Simon sounded chirpy.
"Simon have you got a patrol in my area, I‟m coming in for a few nights."
"Hold on a sec." It always feels like a long time when you can‟t see what‟s going on. I just lay there on the bed, while Simon was checking the locations of all his mobile patrols.
"No, but I fancy a ride out. I‟ll come and get you" Yes, I guessed that he must have been sick of sitting in the op‟s room day after day.
"You‟re as good as anyone, I‟m ready."
"I‟ll get a wagon from MT - give me thirty minutes."
"Pick me up out side Thompson Engineers. I‟ll be in the gateway.‟ I lay back and checked through my mind, it was easy to take your eye off the ball. I was not going to do that. I carefully placed my triggers- I wanted to know if anyone had been in the flat while I was away I left the kitchen and bedroom lights on,
and then walked down to Thompsons. They had a nice little gateway, in the shadows and I stood and had a cigarette. Simon pulled up.
As I got in the car I said "I‟m not needed till next week and I‟m pissed off just playing pool all the time."
Simon pulled away from the curb. I looked around to see if anyone had seen me.
"I need a return ferry ticket to Liverpool then I‟ll treat you to a pint." Yes I was getting cocky, you can‟t order an officer around and then offer him a pint, but I did. The pendulum was swinging and he knew how important I was.
He accepted that I was doing a very dangerous job and needed some slack.
We drove out to the booking office on Corry Road which was only a ten minute drive.
"A return Belfast to Liverpool, leaving tonight and coming back on Sunday at ten thirty in the morning." The booking clerk repeated what I had just said.
"Yes please."
"Four pounds eighty pence," I gave him a fiver, "and four bob change." He was the same as me, we still had not really come to terms with the new money. We knew what he meant. He gave me the ticket and I sprinted out to the waiting car.
"Fancy a quick pint?" It was still quite early.
"I know a nice pub." As he drove we covered all the intelligence I had missed and I gave him all the small details of Johnny and Jonass.
Without noticing we had pulled into the car park of a small pub and were deep in conversation. We strolled in and ordered drinks.
I was just finishing the story of the shooting and was just explaining the detail of the gun.I explained ".……and then he calmly picked up the shell and disappeared," Simon ordered two more drinks,
"and I fell arse over tit running down the stairs."
We ordered scampi and chips and had one more drink before Simon looked at his watch. I was sucking on a cigarette. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Well I‟m coming back to Palace Barracks for a bit of rest, but I am going to be in town for Thursday night at eight." I sucked on my fag, "I fancy seeing what this midweek piss up is like tonight." Simons face changed.
Most of the soldiers in Palace Barrack were Paras. It was their place. The other units in the camp gave them a wide birth. Other units could go to the midweek dance, but never did.
We drove back in silence, the whole atmosphere had changed. I smoked, Simon had the window wide open. We pulled straight into the camp, no fuss with Simon in the car. I took my suitcase up to my room, well the one I had been sleeping in. All the beds were taken. I walked back to op‟s room.
"I need a bed, my old bed has been taken." Simon phoned the Sergeants mess, I heard him say quite forcefully, "get me the duty sergeant." I looked at the incident board and listened to the radio, but I could still hear Simon.
"Yes a separate room," Simon was on form, "and yes he will want breakfast" a pause, "two days, minimum." There was a long pause , "Thank you."
Simon looked at me I was still listening to the radio with two radio operators, we all heard.
"Jenkins take Deery‟s case to the sergeant‟s mess they are expecting him." Jenkins had not joined the army to lift cases so I recognised a lot of body language as he went off, it was not heavy so I let him carry it. The duty sergeant was not expecting a civilian, a scruffy civilian who had not shaved and wore second hand Wellingtons. I did not care. He showed me to my room and it was large and comfortable but had two more beds there, the other was being used, but empty. I got my good clothes out and washing gear and stowed the case under the bed and went and found the showers. After a clean up I entered the room to find a bull of a man in a Para uniform getting undressed.
I closed the door and he looked at me with my towel round my waist surprised. "Hi I‟m Billy Deery military intelligence," I stuck my hand out "I‟m only here for a few days" he shook my hand "and they‟ve put me in here."
"Tom White" He carried on getting undressed, "we‟ve just got back from doing a two day hide and seek mission and I‟m clamming for a pint."
"I‟m going to have a look at the midweek dance over in the mess." I said, and he smiled.
"They will eat you alive." I looked into his face, looking for a sign that he was joking there was none.
"I thought anyone could go." I stuck to my guns.
"Oh they can, they can, but they don‟t. The boys are a bit wild." He picked up his towel and left the room. I finished off drying my hair and put my new clothes on. Then I packed away my old stuff into the suitcase. I had left before Tom came back. I made my way back to Simon‟s office and he was not there so I asked Jenkins where the NAFFI was.
"Turn left out of here" he pointed to the door, "and keep going left, you can‟t miss it." He was smiling.
I did not need to ask, as I left the building three girls all dressed to the nines were walking past, I just followed them.
I stood in the queue enjoying being behind the three girls, smelling the smell of females and listening to their chatter.
"Ten pence." The doorman was still in uniform, he stamped my hand with a blue ink pad, DANCE it said. I was in.
During the day it was just a normal NAFFI canteen but tonight with the aid of two spinning mirror balls and disc jockey set up in the corner it had become a dance hall. There was a bar with roll down shutters and a hand rail to guide people through. I made my way to the bar and felt as though I had a flashing light on my head. Every eye in the place was following me. I stood in the queue for a drink and the woman behind the bar was doing her best but she was very slow. The girls in front of me were just finished being served when I was pushed aside by someone pretty strong. I looked around and saw a thick set man with two friends. The look on the mans face told me that it would not be worth complaining. I stood and waited till they had been served but when they pushed past the next soldier immediately put in his order and the barmaid served him. I decided to go to the back of the queue again. Once I had been served I made my way over to one of the posts and leaned against it. I could now see why I had been advised to stay away. It was mostly highly charged young men, with a smattering of very attractive girls. I would finish this pint and go, I was due to meet Kerry in town the next night anyway. Two girls who had been dancing around their handbags to a James Brown song suddenly picked up their bags and came over to where I was standing. I was wearing my new suede jacket and also had a new pair of brown Cuban heeled cowboy boots and a pair of jeans. I liked it but it was not what everyone else was wearing and with the long hair and sideburns I stood out.
"Hi." This took me by surprise. The first girl who was taller and slimmer than the other one opened up the conversation.
"Hi." I could feel myself starting to blush I stood up from leaning against the post.
"You‟re new here?" she turn to the smaller girl, "this is Anne and I‟m Maggie." I nearly choked on my words.
"I‟m Billy." What the hell was I going to say, I never thought for one minute for a cover story, why was I here?, "Do you want a drink?" I asked.
"I‟ll have a brandy and Babycham and Anne likes Rum and black." I made my way to the bar, and while the drinks were being poured I though of a reason
for being in camp tonight. We sat down at one of the tables. The night was starting to take off, people were starting to dance. I started to relax.
Maggie did most of the talking "We‟re from Newtownards, the army put a bus on for us." at that point Anne jumped in with, "There are about twelve of us," I looked round the dance floor and the place was filling up "some of the girls go to the pub before they come here, they don‟t want to look too keen."
I finished my drink and did not fancy getting myself one without offering another one for the girls.
"Do you want another?" Anne declined she had not touched hers. "I‟ll have another." Maggie was holding up a near empty glass, I stood in the queue and did not have any problems getting served. I made my way back to the table to find two soldiers chatting up the two girls. I placed the drink next to Maggie and sat watching the dance floor. I enjoyed watching people being sociable so was quite happy sitting there. The body language of the soldier talking to Maggie was loud, it said 'she‟s mine.'
I bought myself another drink and when I got back to the table Maggie was on her own. Anne was on the dance floor with the ape-man she had been talking too.
"What do you do?" Maggie was looking at my hair length, so she knew I was not a soldier.
"I work on the vehicles up at the top of the barracks" I made a gesture with my hand in the general direction of the top of the camp, I'm a diesel fitter."
Her face lit up, "I‟m a trainee hairdresser."
I tried to keep the conversation going "I‟ve just had my hair cut, but you can do it next time."
She looked at my hair. "Which one?"
At that moment I fancied a dance, "Want to shake a leg?" I nodded at the floor. The floor was quite full now. Maggie put her bag in between us and we danced round it, we stayed on the floor for two records and then made our way back to the table. Both the soldiers were sitting with Anne and they made room for us as we sat down. At the end of the day I was there to relax in a safe environment, I was not looking for romance, just a few pints and bed. I was
quite happy for Maggie to start talking to the soldier boy. They chatted away, I watched the dance floor. I finished my pint and went over for one last pint. It was getting rowdy and the air was filled with the smell of testosterone and cheap perfume. Because of the imbalance of male to female, men had started to dance with men, or groups of girls would be dancing with twice as many men as girls.
While I was being served I felt a dig in my ribs, I turn round to see monkey man and his mate.
"Them women are with us." I handed over my money to the barmaid.
"No problem." I looked back as I was getting served. I picked up my pint and made my way back to the table and placed my pint down. I gave Maggie a wink and went to look for the toilets.
The building had been built just after the last war and the toilets reflected this. Large urinals with brass pipes running down from the cistern, white wall tiles with hair line cracks, the centre drain was slightly blocked with cigarette ends so there was always a small puddle of yellow urine along the drain. I had just relieved myself, to be honest I can‟t remember, a glass bottle smashed just above my head. The shot of adrenaline that entered my body nearly made me pass out. Any tiredness or tipsiness disappeared in a flash. I turned round to find Monkey man with his mate standing between me and the door. I was in big trouble. Of all the dangers I had been in, of all the people I had mixed with I was in more trouble than all of those right now.
"Did you understand me when I said „they are with us‟?"
I tried to hide the shake in my voice "Yes."
"So why are you still here?" they had slowly started to move towards me.
"I‟m just finishing my pint, then I‟m off" my accent was not helping the situation.
"Who the fugg are you?" they were now shoulder to shoulder and added together amounted to being two yards wide.
They would know I didn‟t work in the camp "I cut the grass round the camp, I have a special pass." I stalled looking in my pockets, they moved forward. It
was at this point even though I was a devout atheist I started making promises to someone I didn‟t believe in.
One of the toilets flushed and the door opened with a clang of locks, and there stood Tom White, my room mate over at the mess.
"Billy," He just nodded to me and finished doing up his belt "are you going to get me that pint?" he walked forward and pulled on my elbow.
As we walked past he turned round, "I expect my junior NCO‟s to behave better that this."
We walked straight out of the building, my body was in crisis I was shaking all over and still had shards of glass over my jacket and hair. He was calm, poised and in control. He helped me brush the glass off.
"Come on, you owe me a pint." As we walked to the Sergeants mess I was like a puppy round the feet of his master.
We entered the mess and made our way over to a table. At the table was obviously the most senior members of the club.
"Sir," Tom almost stood to attention as he addressed the Regimental Sergeant Major, "this is Sergeant Billy Deery, intelligence. Just in for a few days rest."
The old warhorse looked me up and down, well someone had to mix with the locals. He raised his glass as a sign that all was well. Tom jabbed me in the ribs, protocol done with.
"I want a large gin and tonic." He turned to me.
"Can I have a coke?"
"You can have what you want," he turn to the steward, "and a large vodka and coke." I owed him -big style- so I did not complain. The only table not taken was very close to the dart board, but we sat there. I looked round at the club, it was sumptuous, you cannot buy your way into a mess, and you have to earn it. We sat there with the deep pile carpet, heavily varnished wood and original paintings of war scenes on the wall and told each other stories. His were much more interesting. Mine missed out the last few days.
I never heard last orders, but everyone got one more in just after the Regimental Sergeant Major left, my head was spinning and did not order myself one. I don‟t remember getting to bed.
Chapter 18.
Thursday 22
nd June 1972. I awoke at eight and Toms bed was empty and I did not feel like having any breakfast. I also wanted to get out of this room, so made my way over to the OP‟s room.
It was quiet, so I read all the incoming reports and followed up the arrests due to my information having been given. My information resulted in a large number of arrests and I wondered if links would be made to me as a result. There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned round to see Simon.
"How‟s it going?" he filled his cup from the urn of coffee which stood at the end of the long counter which was cluttered with radios and telephones.
"Bit of a funny head, but I had a good sleep." Simon leaned back on the desk.
"Ellis wants to talk to you before you shoot off." I pulled a face that said I don‟t really care.
"What time will he be in?" I asked.
Simon looked at the clock, "Oh, about one, he was on the desk last night till four." Simon was judging how I felt about that.
"I‟m off for some grub and a lie down." I put the files away, "I‟ll be back at one."
"Have you seen this?" Simon handed me some photographs and at first my eyes could not comprehend what I was seeing. It was a black and white photograph of what appeared to be bits of meat strewn on a floor somewhere, but when I had taken all the information in, I realised that it was a body which had been blown up.
"That‟s the sort of people you‟re putting away, people who will do anything to get their way." I kept leafing through the pictures, "You have put three known bombers away, and one day you may get the bomb makers," He smiled as he said this ,
"Now go and get that food and I‟ll see you at one."
I made my way down to the canteen and just had a coffee and a slice of toast, then made my way back to my room. The room was empty. I lay down and looked at my watch, one and a half hours before I saw Ellis.
I leapt up and looked at my watch, ten past one. Once you‟re late it‟s not worth hurrying so I washed my face, I strolled in at just gone half past. Ellis was on the phone and Simon was writing a report so I just hung around.
"Ah Deery," Ellis had seen me, "I‟ll be there in a minute," he filled in the log.
"Let‟s get a coffee and go to my room," he poured me one as well, "sugar?"
"Two please." Simon looked on as we disappeared of down the corridor.
"Sit down." We sat on each side of the desk, Simon made his way in.
"So how do you think its going?" An open question. He wanted me to babble on, and see what my frame of mind was.
"Well sir, I seem to be taken in by these men on all levels and I find it a bit worrying, mostly because I don‟t have a long association with these people, and the only reason I can think of is that in times of need they just use who they can."
I looked at Ellis he was nodding and this made me go on . "Also because I‟m partnered with Johnny O‟Neil and his father is top dog in East Belfast I seem to have some extra pull, and if you add that to being in a hit squad that only the big boys know about, it all adds up to a level of high trust."
Ellis put his hands on the back of his head and stretched. "Yes", he only said that to give himself time to formulate another open question.
Simon handed Ellis a list of the men who had been lifted as a result of me having given them my information.
"Mmm, good" he had a quick glance at the second page, "good, well how do you feel about yourself?‟ I didn't look down this corridor of life too much , so it took me a while to formulate my answer.
"It can be stressful and have to watch my drinking, but I only have just over a month left on my assignment." Ellis looked at Simon, the alarm bells were
ringing. It was one of their main problems, working hard to get someone in and then having to wrap it up, their time having finished. I had missed the glance.
"Well all I can say at the moment is - well done Deery, and we need ensure that you get as much rest as you can." he opened my file, Simon knew it inside out, "I see your mother lives in Liverpool?" he looked at Simon,
"I think you should get out of Belfast as much as possible, we don‟t want you to burn out, do we?" a hint that it maybe a longer tour than most.
Ellis stood up, a sign that the meeting was over. "You're handling this very well." he stuck his hand out, I never had an officer shake my hand except for the time I beat Lt. Billings in the orienteering final - and that was more like a slap.
"Thank you Sir." I left the office with Simon close on my tail.
"You may get a medal for this."
"I deserve it just for last night." I quickly told him the story of the midweek dance.
"Yes the Paras are a bit of a handful when they‟ve had a drink, I should have warned you."
"I would have still gone." We walked over to the canteen because I wanted to line my stomach before I went out tonight.
"What are you doing tonight?" we loaded our plates with army food and sat down.
"I‟m off into Belfast to meet Kerry, a mate of mine from the buses. He‟s bringing two girls," I smiled but I was not sure that Simon liked the idea , "don‟t worry I‟ll be coming back here to sleep."
"Well just be careful you don‟t want to run into anyone who thinks you‟re away." I knew the risks.
"No chance, we‟ll be in Proddie areas all night. I‟m meeting them in the Blue Bell at seven thirty," I finished the last of my meal, "you could organise a lift for me?"
"Okay, be ready at seven fifteen." Simon patted my arm as he left.
I sat and had another cup of tea and read one of the many news papers on the tables. I felt a friendly slap on the back of my head and looked around to see Brian Fodden the fat lad who had been seconded at the same time as me, he sat down.
"How‟s it going?" he looked happy but I was sure he had put on a bit more weight.
"Fine and yourself?" he bit into his sandwich and answered through a full mouth.
"Great, it gets a bit boring but it‟s better than standing in the rain every night." He filled his mouth again. I did not want to elaborate too much on my side of things so I just said, "Yes, I know what you mean."
He went on to tell me of all the incidents he had been involved in, which made good stories. I just listened and enjoyed how he was exaggerating his part in the story.
I listened until he had burned himself out.
"Are you still on the buses?" I did not want to lie, but I did not want to tell him what I was really doing.
"It‟s great on the buses," not a lie, "I‟m off for a few days so I decided to come into camp." Not another lie. I looked at my watch, just time for a kip and then get ready for tonight. I stood up.
"Brian it was nice to see you but I‟m going to get ready for tonight." I patted him on the back and made my way out. I looked around as I left and Brian was going for another sandwich.
I had a few hours to kill so I made my way back to my room in the sergeants mess. The room was empty and I quickly dropped off to sleep whilst still wearing my clothes.
The door opened and I was awake in a flash and sat up, Tom threw his webbing onto his bed and started to wash his hands in the sink which was in the room.
"I‟ve had a lazy day." I lit a cigarette and lay back on my bed.
"Well I‟ve been kicking arse all day," he smiled, "our two friends from last night."
I pulled on my fag. "And I‟m on the piss again tonight. I‟m off to meet a friend who happens to have a spare girlfriend. She‟s a nice looking girl."
He wiped his hands on the towel, "I‟m happily married."
"But I‟m not." The gong went somewhere down the corridor and you could hear doors opening and people making their way down to tea.
I followed close behind Tom, not quite sure if there would be a meal place for me. I need not have worried it was casual, people sitting where they wanted. We had a nice curry with all the trimmings and Tom got a couple of pints on his mess bill.
After the meal Tom made his way to the bar and started chatting to some of the other members so I got Tom a pint and made my way upstairs.
I sat in the television room until just before my lift was due and then stood outside having a cigarette.
One of the squad cars rolled up and tooted his horn. I did not know the man, which was good, as it meant I did not have to lie or make small talk.
"I‟m going to Ravenshill Road, East Belfast there‟s a pub called The Blue Bell." We roared off, the guard on the gate just got the barrier up in time. He never asked any questions and I never spoke to him, and that‟s how I liked it. We drove in silence.
"Just drop me here." I pointed to a spot fifty yards short of the pub.
"Ta." he nodded and did a racing start.
The pub was small with a bar and a snug, I looked in both rooms. No one had arrived so went back into the bar.
"Small lemonade please."
"Ice and lemon?"
"Yes please."
"Eleven pence."
"Ta." I sat down, it had carpets, it was clean and the heating was on. There were not many in, but those who were knew each other. It was still not eight
yet, but when you‟re waiting for someone it feels like its forever. I wished I had turned up a bit late, but here I was.
Two men came through the door and went to the bar and while they were being served Kerry popped his head around the door. Life was looking up. He waved at me to come over to him.
"We‟re meeting them next door." I went back for my drink, the barmaid looked at me and I pointed next door to the snug, she nodded. The prices were a bit more next door, so it was not best practice to change room half way through a drink.
Kerry was leaning on the bar waiting to be served, smiling, smart and all poshed up.
"They‟ll will be here soon, what do you want?" pointing to my drink.
"I‟m Okay." I shook my head and found a seat in the corner. The same barmaid was working in both rooms, she served Kerry. He came over to the table smiling, "How‟s things?" he pulled his chair in.
"Oh fine." I started to realise that I would need a cover story about my work, I could hardly tell him that I was a gun carrier.
I asked him about the buses to give me time to think of something, he babbled on, I was not listening though.
I decided to carry on the story of being a diesel fitter at the barracks. Kerry carried on talking about the buses. Lots of little stories about girls he had chatted up and driving misdemeanours.
The girls eventually came through the door. I had forgotten what they looked like. Jill was very pretty with long legs showing from the bottom of her mini skirt. Denise was just as pretty, but like so many girls who wore glasses you could just miss that. They sat down and Kerry jumped up.
"What you drinking?"
"Babycham." Jill was in first, he then looked at Denise , "Vodka and lemon please." I was impressed, they drank sophisticated drinks. They dressed smartly and they knew their way around a bar. I decided I was among friends and maybe I should have a little drink, it would help me to relax. I jumped up
and went to the bar. It would give the girls time to talk. Kerry had rung the bell to call the barmaid.
"I‟ll have a gin and tonic." I said. The barmaid came through.
Kerry told the barmaid the order and turned to me, "what do you think?" pointing to the girls.
"They‟re nice." I smiled. Kerry gave me a little punch in the tummy.
"Remember Jill‟s with me." He gave me one of those looks. I did not want to tell him she was not my type but he would have taken that the wrong way.
"Fine, I like the look of Denise." Kerry smiled again and patted my face.
Kerry paid for the drinks and we went back, the girls had been obviously discussing us because they stopped talking as we approached. We sat down.
"Kerry said you have left the buses." Jill was looking at me as though I was mad.
"Yes, I started a job at the army barracks out at Holywood." Jill and Denise had a look of incredulity.
"As a diesel fitter," I looked at them, they did not know what that meant, "I repair engines, its good money." That was all they need to know, it was good money. Kerry backed me up here by nodding, although he did not know what I was doing for a living.
"Yes, the best paid men at the depot are the mechanics." I tried to play it down.
"Hey, I‟m only a glorified grease monkey." We chatted for a while and had a few more drinks, it gave me time to watch Denise. I also caught her looking at me a few times. Kerry did most of the talking but Jill could hold her own when it came to talking. Jill was a trainee hairdresser and had some good stories about forgetting to rinse hair when customers were having bleaching or colour put into their hair. It went over our heads, all the technical details, but we could just follow the story, it made the girls laugh. That was good enough for us.
Kerry looked at his watch, "Hey, where are we going next?" Every one except me knew, but they played the game. Each one shrugged their shoulders. I did not have a clue.
"We could go to Jacksons." Jill was first to drop the name, Denise was nodding. I looked at Kerry. It‟s where they went last time and had they had a good time, we downed our drinks. Kerry went through to the bar and used the pay-phone, we went outside.
He came out, "East Town Taxi, three minutes" Kerry grabbed Jill and embraced her. Denise and I stood close, that was good enough for me. I would not be making the first move. I had a total fear of rejection.
The cab came quickly and we jumped in, Kerry got in the front which put Denise and me very close together. I was enjoying the ride, her long legs pressing next to mine and the ride was over too quickly for me. We paid our seven shillings to get in and went down the stairs into the club. At the bottom of the stairs we paid another shilling to hang our coats in the cloakroom. Then into the club, there were ultraviolet lights in the club which lit any white clothing up.
"What are you girls drinking?" Kerry held a five pound note in his hand.
Denise was first in, "Brandy and Babycham." Kerry smiled, that‟s what he wanted to hear he looked at Denise, "I‟ll have the same." Kerry nodded to me to come to the bar.
The bar was busy, people were pouring in from all over the city for the extra drinking time.
"We are well in here." He stood with his back to the bar nodding at the girls. I did my normal check of the club, checking faces. There was no IRA but I did notice two UVF middle ranking bad boys that were on a report only basis. I started to relax a bit. Kerry was busy ordering the drinks, I leaned over his shoulder and grabbed the two Brandy drinks and went over to where the girls had squeezed into a half round table with red velvet seats. I sat next to Denise and put the drinks down and Kerry came over with the two pints. He sat on the other side.
Jill and Denise had sips of their drinks and the song Knock Three Times blared from the disco.
"Fancy a dance?" Denise was looking at me.
I nodded excitedly we made our way into the small dance floor. She held my hand to lead me on, she had lovely soft hands. Once we had made physical
contact I was not letting go, so we dance holding hands. After a few songs we sat down. Kerry and Jill were still on the floor. We sat close, still holding hands. She was giving me the green light. She told me about her job, how she hated being a receptionist to a dentist. How time stood still while she was there, and how difficult it was to get to work, I listened and admired her soft white skin and how, behind the glasses was a very attractive girl. Kerry and Jill came back and Kerry nodded towards the bar.
"Same again girls?" I stood up and finishing my drink off. The girls nodded and smiled, I looked at Kerry, "same again?" he nodded.
At the bar I ordered the same for them but got myself a tonic, which looked the same as gin and tonic. The night carried on with more drinks and more dancing. Last orders had not been rung but you knew it was the end when the disc jockey put on the Last Waltz. I was holding Denise very close and we were not really dancing just swaying to the music. I was enjoying the smell of perfume which came from her. Outside in the taxi queue we held hands. Jill turn round and whispered in Denise's ear, Kerry winked at me. I missed the signals I may have been looking in the crowd for wanted men.
Denise pulled my head down to her level.
"I don‟t want to go home." She looked at me, I started to make calculations. I could not take her back to the barracks, and I could not be seen going into my flat.
Kerry and Jill jumped into the first taxi, soon the next taxi pulled up and we jumped into the back.
"Mount Pottinger Road please." I nuzzled her neck as we drove, I was past caring. Any thought of risk had evaporated from my thoughts.
"Just here." I had made sure it was well down the road, most of the street lights were off, the timers had all been taken out, I slipped the driver a pound, well over the top for a tip.
I stood on the corner for a few seconds, looking up and down. The sentries were watching from the Sangers in Mount Pottinger Police station and there was a door open further down Madrid Street . A light was on but there was no one in the doorway. With my key ready I approached my door, a quick check to see if my half a lollypop stick was still in place, which meant no one had opened my
door while I had been away. I was in at the bottom of the stairs. I reached up and knocked the master switch on the fuse box to the off position. Denise stepped in and I closed the door and slipped the sneck down. I held Denise in my arms for a while, my heart beating fast for more than one reason. We went up the stairs in darkness. I lead the way still holding her hand. I switched the light switch at the top, no light came on. I flicked it a few times, no light. I went into the living room and switched the light switch a few times.
"Shit, the fuse has gone again, I‟ll have to tell the landlord about this." I don‟t think Denise was thinking of having the lights on for long. We sunk onto the sofa. She was on top of me and we started kissing. This gave me the best position to run my hands over her. Stockings were an absolute nightmare to a beginner like me.
In the op‟s room the direct line microphone speaker was turned up and someone had sent for Simon, the duty officer and all the duty radio operators were listening in to us.
Needless to say I got too excited and suffered from a bad case of premature ejaculation, but she never complained.
Eventually we sneaked into my bed which felt a bit damp but soon warmed up. We went to sleep enjoying our naked bodies close together.
The sun woke me up early, and I just lay there looking at Denise.
She had very white skin with a slight mottling and a there was a fuzz of fine blond hair on her arms.
I did not want any curtains to be moved, neither did I want anyone looking at the house and knowing people were inside. I slipped out of bed and went to the toilet, I was glad to see I had left the curtains closed in the bathroom. I climbed back into bed.
"The electricity is still off." She rolled over to face me.
"What‟s the time?" she said sleepily.
"Just gone six." I wrapped my arms around her and we snuggled. The feeling of being wanted was over powering. Lying there naked next to a lovely girl just felt so good. No guilt, no hidden agenda and no reason to finish this moment.
Slowly we built up to a return match and afterwards I made tea and toast. The bread was stale and the tea had no milk but we enjoyed it.
"I have to be at work by eight thirty." She started to get out of bed, I viewed her backside, and she showed no shame. I lay in bed while Denise had a bath and she dressed in the same clothes as she had been wearing the previous night..
"Will your parents ask you where you‟ve been?"
"Oh no, I told them I was staying at Jills, and she told her parents she was staying at mine." She gave a wicked smile, just a glimpse of the deviousness of women. I walked her to the bus stop on Albert Bridge Road.
Chapter 19.
Friday 23
rd June 1972. As soon as she was on the bus I turned around and headed to the bus stop which would take me to Holywood. I sat there on the bus running over the events from last night through my head. I had a track record of falling in love quickly, it may have something to do with my home life, or Mother Nature has given me a strong bonding mechanism. Either way I had fallen for Denise and it changed everything. I left the bus directly outside the barracks instead of getting off at the next stop. All my field craft had gone in one night. I did not even look to see who was watching, I just walked in the gates.
"Morning." I made myself a coffee from the brew kit on the bench. I had forgotten all about the microphones in the flat and assumed that I was the only one to know about last night.
One of the radio operators still on from last night smiled at me, "I think Ellis and Simon will want to talk to you Casanova." I blushed and lifted my coffee to my mouth to think about the remark.
"Oh, why?" I lit a cigarette.
"You‟ll find out." He looked at the speakers on the wall, "Oh yes, you‟ll find out."
"Well tell them I‟m in the canteen." I stormed out of the office and made my way across to the canteen.
Had they listened in? What did we say? Surly they were powered from my electricity, the microphones would switch off when I pulled the electric switch. I loaded my plate with two of everything. I ignored a remark from a squaddie.
"Hey, get your hair cut." The squaddie persisted. My mind was elsewhere.
I sat and ran the whole night through my head, had I made any mistakes? Had I said anything out of place? No.
Simon did not normally come in the canteen, he mostly ate in the officers mess or had a sandwich in the office. So when he sat next to me with a cup of tea. I glanced over to the big mouth squaddie.
"You were listening to me last night." I was furious.
"We switched it off as soon as we established it was you." Simon lied.
"How did that twat know? He called me Casanova." I pointed over my should at some unknown person.
"He‟s just putting two and two together." Simon slugged his tea and watched me, "You said you were coming back here after your night out, your mikes were on so we could keep a listening post on your flat." It sounded plausible.
I went onto the defensive. "Well you would have taken the chance, wouldn‟t you?"
"You did nothing wrong," he was trying to calm me, "a bit risky, but....." he left it at that.
He changed the subject "When do you arrive back? What have you told Johnny?"
"I said I‟d be back today or tomorrow, there are four ferries so I said I‟ll just make my way back about mid-afternoon."
"Okay, I‟ll catch you later, try and read some of the bulletin boards before you go, and get yourself up to speed." I knew what he meant, just a few days out of the loop and you were behind.
I bought a newspaper and sat and relaxed. Later I made my way up to my room in the Sergeants' mess. Tom was not in, so I packed my few things in to the small suitcase and left a note on his bed. It just said "Ta, see you soon, Billy D."
I caught the bus back to town and I let myself in. I had to switch the electricity back on and after a cup of tea I went to the washeteria I did the lot, sheets, whites and jeans.
I expected Johnny to be knocking on my door, but no. At about seven thirty I picked up my pool cue and made my way to Johnny's. His mother opened the door.
"He‟s at the club," she looked at me, "he left about two hours ago"
"Okay, ta." I walked away in the direction of the club, I was a bit surprised with this action from Johnny. It meant he had passed my front door. I walked in and Johnny was sitting with his back to the door watching a game of pool. I
made my way over to the bar and bought two pints. Johnny still had not seen me.
"There you go Bud." I put the pint down if front of him and stood there slugging on my beer.
"Hey, your not due back till tomorrow." He jumped up, I was relieved. Relieved too find out nothing had happened while I was away.
I explained, "Well my Mum‟s got a new boyfriend and I was in the way, you know how is?" He did not, his parents were old school and would not even consider splitting up, or even looking outside their marriage, but he nodded.
I got my pool queue out and joined the two pieces together and sat down with Johnny.
"Has anything been happening?" Johnny thought for a moment and his face lit up.
"The Paras were at both ends of Thomas Street and they started shooting at one another." He started to laugh, I did read in one of the reports that the Paras had been in a gun fight but no gunman had been caught.
"Did anyone get hit." I said hopefully had a grudge against the Paras.
"No, the bastards are such bad shots they missed each other." We both smiled.
We played pool till closing time, and just like clockwork Johnny started a row with our opponents on the pool table. We were thrown out of the club by the club steward.
"Don‟t come back." The steward looked defiant.
"You're not barring us are you?" Johnny looked at the steward. The steward knew how important Johnny‟s father was to the community.
"Yes," he then thought of the consequences, "for three days." We strolled off. As we got near to my flat my head started to get back to business.
"When do we see Jonass again?" we went past a section of troops on patrol, but they let us pass.
"We‟re not due to see him till Monday he‟s off getting the gun sorted."
Johnny turned away and disappeared into the night.
I made my way upstairs listening as I went. It was all clear. I went into the bedroom and dug the phone out of the floorboards.
"Hi, just tell Simon that all is well." Simon took the phone off the radio operator.
"How did it go?"
"Fine, he was expecting me back tomorrow, I think I had left it open. We‟re going to see One Shot on Monday." We both knew what that meant.
"Well, catch up on your mugshots because there are some new men on it, mostly Protestants but still just as dangerous," there was a little silence, "The new book is under your wardrobe."
"Okay, good night." I was miffed that he had been in the flat and I did not know about it.
"Good night."
The bed still had the smell of Denise. It was nice.
Chapter 20.
BBC Radio 4……The Chancellor Anthony Barber has announced his decision to temporarily float the pound. The news comes only a day after the bank lending rate was increased by 1%........... Monday 26th June 1972. We approached Jonass‟s flat and looked around before we knocked on his door, no sign of watching eyes. The door took a long time to open.
"Quick." He closed the door behind us. He obviously had just woken up and he must have slept in his clothes, there was empty bottles scattered around the bed.
"What‟s happening?" Johnny wanted to get on with things.
"We must start work again. " Jonass sat on the bed.
"Well we could start at the warehouses we looked at the other day?" Johnny was leaning against the windowsill.
"Don‟t stand there," Jonass pointed to the window, "some shooting last night and the army are very nervous." Johnny moved away after a quick look. He could see the temporary army quarters with its steel windows and tin and wire walls.
"Ok, we meet at the factory at three o‟clock, before I get there you must check that the getaway is fine," he made a sign with his hands "and the gun is in place." He pointed to the duffle bag in the corner. He must have done all the calibration. Jonass open another bottle of beer and drank straight from the bottle.
Outside we walked along in silence I carried the duffle bag. I was dreading the day and hoping for a blank, Johnny was hoping for a hit, the money was better.
It was only twelve fifteen but we made our way over to the factories. There were some houses directly opposite the factory gates, so we sat on a wall and watched the flow of the day. After half an hour we walked round the back of the factories. The fence had plenty of holes in which lead into back streets, rows of terrace houses with many back lanes and alley ways, which were ideal for getting away.
We walked along to the main road and stood at the bus stop and the number forty two came along spot on time. We jumped on and went upstairs, the conductor did not bother coming up to collect the fare. Nobody tried to take money off the son of the union shop steward.
We walked round to Kathleen Kerry‟s house, the gun was still under her floor.
„Come in‟ she walked ahead of us „do you want a cuppa?‟
Johnny looked at the clock „Just a quick one, we have to be on the other side of town‟
Kathleen‟s kettle was always ready, she lit the ring under the big old kettle which started to make a boiling sound quite quickly.
Johnny looked at me „Go over to the pub and order a taxi‟ he glanced at the clock, „for about fifteen minutes‟ I was glad to get out, not that I did not like them it was just a way of passing the time quicker. I liked to be doing something.
I let myself in and went in to the kitchen.
„Okay‟ I looked at Johnny.
Johnny opened the low cupboard door and started to lift the floor boards, I sat and drank my tea with a slice of jam and bread. Out came the duffle bag which still had the badminton racquets showing.
„We‟ll clean the gun when we get there‟ he placed the bag between his legs, I could see he was getting a bit nervous.
„Have you been to see your Gran lately?‟ Kathleen was talking to me. I came out of my little daydream.
„No not for a while, but I‟ve been to see my Mother in Liverpool‟ I finished the last of the tea.
„Oh, how is she?‟ at that moment the taxi driver knocked on the door and we all jumped.
„Fine but her new man is a tosser‟ I was glad we were moving on I did not want to have to invent too many lies.
I paid the taxi while Johnny carried the duffle bag, we walked along the main road and slipped in through the gate, its chain was too loose to stop any determined person getting in. Even though there were many smashed windows it still took quite a long time to enter.
The factory was quite clean on the inside with some bits of glass where the kids had thrown stones through the windows but largely still free from debris which would hinder us from making a quick escape.
We wandered around until we found the stairs which best suited our escape. There were two offices and that gave us a choice regarding the field of fire, we choose the one nearest to the exit. We quickly set up a table with a chair on for Jonass to rest on and took out the three windows that would be in the firing line, we did not want bits of glass falling and giving our position away. I walked down stairs and looked for the best escape route, it was fairly easy, a long concrete floor with high shelving on lead all the way to the back door. At the back was cinema type double door with push bars, some one had wound a light weight wire round and round, effective from the outside but I just unwound it and left the doors wide open. The back had mostly wall, but the last ten yards was fencing and it had bars removed in two places and it was easy to get through. I popped my head through and had a quick look at lines of side streets with back lanes too small for vehicles to go down. The area was protestant and catholic mix but we intended to be gone, no stopping on this job. I made my way back over the yard and found Jonass coming towards me. We both walked back to the front office.
"Nien , that is not good." His language got worse when he was excited. He did not like the set up of the table and chair. He disappeared out of the room and came back with a heavy metal tripod I have no idea what it could have been used for but it had adjustable height with a rest on the top. Jonass spent a few minutes getting it set up to the right height then he took the gun from Johnny who had been cleaning and oiling the weapon. Jonass inspected the gun taking a long time to look down the barrel he then slid on the telescopic sights and
wrapped a piece of cordage around the barrel of the weapon. Now he cleaned and polished the round to make sure there were no finger prints on the bullet and snapped it in to the breach. Then wiped the gun off, he was happy. He disappeared out of the room coming back with his hands still wet he went into the duffle bag and found the towel which was part of the sports gear, carefully drying his hands then pulling a pair of washing up gloves from his inside his jacket he pulled them on, they were a bit tight. He was ready.
"Go clean your hands," he looked over his shoulder, "get the oil off, they can check dis."
"We‟ll have the fucking gun on us, you stupid git." Johnny did not like to be told.
"You may have a chance to drop." I started to go out of the room to wash my hands, it sounded like a good idea.
Jonass made a humpf sort of noise, "be ready" he went in to position . Johnny stubbed his cigarette out and moved over to stand behind Jonass.
In cases of real panic my mouth gets this electric feel. I don‟t know if it‟s a taste or my nerves go ape shit or what, but at that moment it happened as the gun went off.
Jonass stood back removed the sights and peeled the gloves off and walked calmly out of the door. I was just not ready, I was expecting to be sitting for hours. Now some poor soldier would be lying at the gates with his brains blown out, Jonass just does not miss. I froze. Johnny undid the gun off the tripod and split the gun in two and rammed them in to the duffle bag, I still stood still.
"Get fucking moving." and he was gone.
We both ran down the length of the factory floor and out in to the light. Jonass was climbing through the fence, he the turned left and walk away. We sprinted to the fence climbed though and went to the right the first corner was only twenty yards away and as we went round the corner Johnny grabbed my jacket.
"Walk," I just wanted to keep running, "walk and just keep calm."
Calm!!, my heart was pushing blood round my body so fast I though I was going to pass out. We turned another corner, pushing on to the main road. An army vehicle shot past the end of the street. Before we had gone another ten
yards another Land Rover had past the end of the street, we slowed down walking quite slowly.
"We need to be off the street." Johnny looked up and down the street trying to think of anyone he may know.
No, we needed to act now, Johnny walked over to a front door and knocked, we stood turning our head from side to side trying to see if any army vehicles were coming. The door open slowly Johnny pushed the door open and the old lady behind fell backwards. We rushed in. I closed the door behind me. Johnny went straight through the house looking for anyone else who may be in. She was alone. I stood in the hall and lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.
"I‟ve no money." The old lady thought we were robbing her.
"Shut your mouth." Johnny peered through the window, trying to see up and down the street. There was nothing on the street. Johnny came over to the woman and held her shoulders.
"Look, we‟re being chased by a man with a gun, he‟s going to shoot us because," Johnny looked in to the woman face and had a quick look around the room to see if there were any catholic icons and he decided she was a protestant
"we‟re Proddies." He let that sink in. She looked at the both of us, we had brown eyes and the look of Catholics, and we were Catholics, but it had a strange ring of truth. She obviously came to the conclusion that for her to come to no harm she may be better playing along with us.
"Well then you can stay awhile, I‟ll put the kettle on." she pushed past me and went to the kitchen.
"Has she got a phone?" I was starting to function again and not wanting to be walking around with the gun. I wanted a taxi. We both wandered round to the kitchen.
"Have you got a phone? I would like to phone my Dad or the police." Johnny put on his most innocent face.
"Oh I couldn‟t afford a phone." I looked around and she was right, the house was threadbare. At least we knew she could not dial the police. She finished making the tea. We could hear the army vehicles flying past. We could be here sometime.
"So what school did you go to?" she was fishing, why she should do that I don‟t know but I could see Johnny flush.
"I went to school in Liverpool." I jumped in quickly to give Johnny time to think. She poured the tea.
"But you‟ve come back to Belfast?"
"Yes, I fell out with my Mum and came back here for a job." It did not matter what I said to the little lady, Johnny was listening as well, so I had to walk a fine line.
"Do any of your neighbours have a phone?" I want to get on our way, the little woman thought but only came up with, "my sister in Antrim has one."
"There‟s one at the end of Saint Thomas St." Johnny was now thinking like me, to get out as soon as possible.
I took a drink of my tea and put my cigarette out, and went over to the sink. There was a crusty old bar of carbolic soap on the side of the Belfast sink and the tap was an old brass type coming off mild steel pipe. I turned it on and slowed it down to a slow dribble and washed my hands very carefully. Johnny carried on talking to the lady. When I was sure there would be no oil on my hands I dried them on the old tea towel hanging on the back door.
"Which taxi company should I call?" Johnny thought for a while.
"Most won‟t come in to this area, it's too dangerous, one was shot a month ago just around in Tower Street."
The old lady looked at us "I used East End Cabs to go to hospital just a few weeks ago," she went in to the front room and found the number, "here you go, tell them it‟s for Mrs Agnew, 26 Edwards Street." I left Johnny and the old lady in the kitchen, Johnny was washing his hands.
I went out the back in to a back lane no wider than it needed to be to be able to carry the dustbins down for emptying. At the end a sharp left turn and out on to the street behind Mrs Agnew‟s. When I got to the phone box the phone was empty. No phone and most of the windows were out. The Catholic club was only a few streets away and I knew the telephone would be working there.
The doorman recognised me as I went in, "Johnny‟s not in." he was being helpful.
"I just need to use the phone, do you have a two pence you can let me have?" the doorman peevishly went in to his pocket hoping he did not have one but when he pulled out his small change there was a handful of copper.
"Ta, I‟ll see you right."
"Hello, could I have a taxi for Mrs Agnew, 26 Edwards Street." The clerk said wait.
"Is that in Ballymacarret?"
"Yes, straight away please." I stood there waiting, taxi companies were very cagy about who they picked up if there were not known customers.
"Okay, the taxi will be there in five minutes." I hung up.
"Tommy I‟ll square with you next time I‟m in, you saved my life then."
He smiled, "Aye, make sure you do."
I quickly made my way back to the back lane trying to judge how many army patrols were running around, but the initial burst had quietened down.
I knew Johnny would be jumpy, so I tapped on the door and let myself in.
"Be here soon." Johnny nodded.
"Well thank you Mrs Agnew we're grateful, we could have been in real trouble there." There was a peep of a horn outside, Johnny did something strange, he bent over and gave the woman a peck on the cheek, and I just nodded.
"The taxi is for Mrs Agnew." The taxi driver was not expecting two young upstarts to get in.
"No you must have misunderstood it‟s for Mrs Agnew son." The taxi driver did not like this and thought about picking up his radio handset.
Johnny bent over from the back seat "we‟re just going in to Belfast," he handed over a pound note, "keep the change."
This was four times the fare and greed overran any danger he might have anticipated.
We jumped out just out at the top of Divis Road and the taxi driver roared off , he was well outside his comfort zone.
Knocking on Jonass's door we waited, there was no answer. We still had the gun and were getting edgy. This job had not been well planned and we had gone off half cocked, this would not happen again.
"We could go to Kathleen‟s house or get a bus back over the bridge." I did not want to be caught carrying that gun, and walking the streets with any sort of bag or package was not healthy in Belfast.
"It's five minutes to Kathleen‟s house we can go through the back streets." It made sense, dump the gun quickly. At that moment Jonass came up the stairs and along the open air walkway.
"We may get paid." Johnny‟s mind was always on money.
"Why you bring the gun here?" Jonass was not happy, he opened the door and we filed in.
"Where do you want it?" Nothing had been agreed, "You should put the gun somewhere safe." We were being chastised and Johnny did not like this.
"Put it in the woman‟s house." Jonass suggested.
"You‟ll have to pay her, it‟s a big risk." Johnny‟s was here for the money as much as anything.
"Two pounds." Jonass ventured.
Johnny was always going to double the amount, "I was thinking of five pounds a week."
"What is this?." Jonass turned away.
"Well we could leave it here." A hidden threat but Jonass was making good money, he wanted to keep it simple.
"Okay, three pounds every week, work or no work."
Johnny nodded "and you pay us for today." Jonass gave way.
"You wait outside." He shooed us out of the flat, he obviously did not want us seeing where he kept the money or how much. We stood on the walkway
spitting over the edge and smoking and after five minutes he came out and handed two rolls of pound notes and the duffle bag.
"It's two weeks money for the woman." He looked around leaning against the handrail, "we are working in Derry, on Thursday we travel up and come back the next day."
Johnny pick up the bag, "How are we travelling?"
"Get a car, good car, not some shit, and bring your sleeping gear." He spat over the edge and walked in to his flat and closed the door.
We counted our money, "who‟s driving?" I wondered aloud, we did not have licences.
"Me‟ I‟ll nick a good car, the best, you just watch." He ruffled my hair and walked on. We dropped the gun off at Kathleen‟s house and Johnny gave her a pound, she did not want it but Johnny forced her to take it.
As soon as I said good bye to Johnny I went upstairs and onto the phone to Simon.
"We go to Derry on Thursday, I‟m off to bed" Simon listened.
"Do you need to come in?"
"No I‟m fine, I‟ll keep you posted."
Chapter 21.
Thursday 29
th June 1972. In Holywood barracks in the end room which was a big one for meetings, eight men were sitting around the large table where at the head of it sat Ellis. He was taking his weekly reports from around the province.
One of the men was reporting…. ‘And I’ve now got two men in Omagh, one is behind the bar in O’Tooles and one delivers milk, his boss is James Blaney commander of ‘E coy’, they go drinking every afternoon, we’ve had some good information from these men and currently have twenty one men in Maidstone from them’.
Simon Adder was the last to report ‘We have three men in deep now with another eight working in several industrial or good observational positions, our best operator at the moment is on active service with the IRA and he alone has been responsible for over sixty six arrests,it all will eventually go through the legal system’ Simon looked up feeling pretty good with himself.
‘Well if you could leave your written reports with Corporal Tomas in the main office and I’ll see you next week, thank you gentlemen’ We needed to be at Divis Flats for about nine thirty and Johnny knocked on my door at eight, I was ready.
"A quick tea and some toast and were away." Johnny pushed in the door.
"I‟ve no bread." I lamented.
"Well put the kettle on and heat the grill and I‟ll get a loaf, bloody hell you live above a shop, how hard can it be?" he disappeared out the door, I left the door ajar. The kettle was boiling and the grill glowing red by the time he came back, and I had lit the oven and left the door open to warm the kitchen up.
"What we‟ll do is go to that petrol station on Ravenshill Road and wait until someone‟s filled up a nice car, something a bit big, a bit roomy and we‟ll just take it."
"Just like that." I bit my toast.
"Yes just like that." He opened his jacket and inside his belt, just tucked in like some American hood were two pistols.
"Shit, where did you get those?" he handed me one it was loaded I pointed it over the room, Johnny moved out of the way.
"Hey you idiot they're real bullets." He went to slap me on the head, I ducked. The toast was burning, we made some more.
"They cost me ten quid each, so you owe me a tenner," I looked at him knowing that he was lying, but what could I do, "and a pound for the extra bullets." He put ten bullets on the table, "well you want to practice with it don‟t ya?"
We ate the toast on its own because I could not be bothered to go down to the shop and get marmalade.
It was exciting to have my own gun, stupid, but exciting.
We left the flat and made our way to the petrol station, it was Johnny‟s plan and it sounded good. It was only a ten minute walk, traffic was busy, the sun was shining and we were packing a piece.
We arrived at the petrol station and walked past, there was only one man on the till. There were four pumps, the new type where you paid inside after filling up. We walked passed again, carrying our rolled up sleeping bags and a few pieces of clothing wrapped up all together. When we got out of sight Johnny stood and lit a cigarette. "We can‟t just keep walking by."
"So what do you want to do?" I leaned against the wall.-
Johnny thought for a moment, "I‟ll get a paper and stand at the bus stop over the road, when I see a car I like which is filling up- we‟ll move in" he looked at me, "you just stay here out of sight."
He dumped his bag on the floor and went into the shop and came out with a paper. I stayed with the bags and lit a fag, Johnny crossed the road and walked up to the bus stop, I settled in for a long wait.
I just managed to get myself comfortable sitting on the sleeping bags when I saw Johnny sprint across the road and into the garage. I jumped up and left the
sleeping bags and started to run towards the garage, but my pistol fell out of my waist band and skidded along the pavement. As I bent down to pick it up I looked up and saw the driver of a bread van, his eyes nearly popping out of his head as he saw the pistol on the floor, I could feel myself getting angry, not at the driver but at myself. I picked the gun up as he slowed down to see what was going on, I slowly took aim at his head, he stood on his accelerator and the van disappeared down the street. I turned back to the garage and as I came round the corner I could see Johnny had the door of a car open, the driver was still in the seat but Johnny had his tie in his hand and was pulling it, the driver was determined not to get out of the car, he was grimly holding onto the steering wheel. I opened the passenger door and put my pistol to his head.
"Shall I let him have it?" I had no intention of pulling the trigger, but I wanted him out of the car quickly.
Johnny gave one last pull and the man let himself be yanked out of the car, he fell to the floor and Johnny stepped over him started the car and pulled out of the petrol station, we turned left.
"Our sleeping bags are back there." I pointed back the way we came.
"What the fuck." Johnny yanked the wheel and the car did a half spin, he then selected third gear and stalled the car, all this in early morning traffic.
"Calm down, calm down." This just made him worse, on the third attempt he managed to pull around, as we went past the petrol station there was no sign of our man with the tie.
I jumped out and loaded the sleeping bag onto the back seat.
"Did you haff any trouble getting the car?" Jonass asked has he climbed into the back seat.
"No, no, and it‟s full of petrol." Johnny made a weak smile, I lit a cigarette and lay back, I did not want to look at Johnny‟s bad driving.
We raced through town till Jonass told Johnny to slow down.
I leaned forward and helped Johnny with directions, "just follow the signs for Antrim or the A6." Johnny knew his own patch but had not been out of Belfast that many times.
"Left up there." I kept him on the right road, once we got out of town it was more or less the same road all the way to Derry with a few lefts and right when we went through Antrim and Randalstown.
We pulled into Derry over the Craigavon Bridge and went left passing the very place the army had put up the barriers stopping anyone crossing the bridge.
I was remembering the day when I heard Johnny say "Does anyone know where we‟re going?" he pulled over and switched off the engine. We all got out of the car and looked at the river. I lit a cigarette.
"Ve haff to be here at two o‟clock." Jonass had the name and address of a contact. Johnny looked at his watch.
"I think we should try a Post Office." He looked at us both.
"Yep, sounds good to me, and we need something to eat." We made our way back into the city and drove passed many army Sangers and armoured vehicles and made our way to the far side of the city.
"I think we should dump this car." We were driving a newly hijacked car almost brand new I felt like we had a Belisha beacon on top of the car, and we were asking to be stopped.
"Not a chance baby, I‟m keeping this." Johnny patted the steering wheel.
"Come on it does not make sense, when would we be able to have a wagon like this?" I looked around at Jonass in the back of the car, he just raised his shoulders in a motion of "What do I know."
We came round to the back of the city, there were a lot of burnt out and boarded up buildings. As we drove along I was watching for a post office.
"There‟s a post office." It was in a row of shops , "I think there‟s a cafe as well." Johnny pulled into the side.
"Could we just put the car down that side street?" I wanted this car out of sight. Johnny nearly took a bus out. He did not like me giving orders. He parked half on and half off the pavement. I stomped off towards the post office with the bit of paper in my hand.
"Well your not far, which way is your car facing?" The woman behind the glass was trying to be helpful.
"I‟m not in a car." I lied. "Well go along this road about half a mile and bare left then first right and the block is more or less in front of you." I was pleased, we could walk.
"Ta." I went outside and found Johnny and Jonass looking at a cafe window menu.
"Where else are you going to go?" I just walked in and ordered a tea and bacon sandwich, "Yep, plenty of brown sauce, please."
"That‟ll be five and six, twenty seven and a half pence." He still had not stopped quoting both the new money and the old money, "I‟ll bring it over when it‟s ready."
Johnny and Jonass were still reading the menu, which meant I could pick the table and get the best seat.
We sat there and ate in silence, Jonass was not the best talker in the world and nothing came between Johnny and food. I lit a cigarette before Johnny was finished but he did not say anything.
"The block of flats is not far from here, I think we should walk." I looked at them to see how this went down.
"No." Jonass had a plan, he just had not told us, "Ve haff to have the car for a quick get away." He finished his last mouthful and with one gulp finished his coffee.
"I don‟t want to use that car again, we should get another." I just thought it was a bit to flash, nice but not what we needed.
"He may be right." Johnny started to talk sense.
I looked at my watch it was just coming up to one o‟clock, "We can jump start an older car and park it up near the job. That way we‟re not riding around in a well flagged car."
"He‟s right, come on lets see what we can get." We stood up and left the cafe. The duffle bag and sleeping bags were still in the boot of the car. We walked down one of the side streets and straight away there was one of the easiest cars to steal, an Austin A5. Johnny leavered the side window open and put his arm inside and opened the door. Me and Jonass just stood and looked both ways
while Johnny did something under the dash board, I wondered where you learned that, it felt like he had taken forever but the car fired and we jumped in. We went round the block to where the other car was parked and loaded our bags into the back. Having no key for the tailgate meant that we passed things over to the back seat.
"Left here," I followed the instruction I had been given, "right down that street." We passed boarded up houses and shops, "and when we get the end we should be able to see the block of flats."
There they were. Johnny parked the car in between two other cars we got out.
"I vill go and see the man." Jonass had his bit of paper in his hand and wandered off. We stood around and watched the people wander by. Jonass was gone for about fifteen minutes. We all got in the car.
"We are not here to shoot a soldier." We were in the front of the car and turned round to listen to Jonass.
"No we do a bad man," we looked at each other, "but we get a special price." Jonass smiles at us.
"How do we find this man?" Johnny had asked what I was thinking. At this Jonass pulled out a bit of paper, along with a massive roll of five pound notes which he stuffed back in his pocket, but not before we had seen them.
"The man always, always leaves the house at ten to six, he walks along to the club, same time same place everyday, easy." Jonass smiled at us, we said nothing.
"And we get two hundred pounds each." There was more than six hundred pounds in that lump.
"Let‟s find the street, and see what‟s what." Johnny started the car and drove till we saw the first post office.
"I was wondering if you knew this road please." I handed the piece of paper over to the woman across the counter.
"Oh yes, it‟s on the other side of the water, do you have a car?"
"Well it‟s a van, I‟m delivering some tools." I wondered why I was lying, she may just watch me get in the car.
"Go over the bridge and bear left after five hundred yards bear right up the hill to the top then go right, you can‟t miss it, it‟s the old Strabane road."
"Ta." I was gone I walked past the car with Johnny and Jonass in and when I was out of sight of the post office I waved then to come and get me. They did not ask me why I had done that.
We still had over two hours before the target was due to leave his house. The house was in Proddy country and would be dangerous for us to hang around.
"Lets do a drive by and just see how the land lies." We were getting edgy, out of our own territory, so any distraction was helping to pass the time. We drove past the house. It was raised up from the road with a bit of a walkway down to the road. Johnny went down the road and turned round, stalling the car at the junction. People were looking and Johnny got flustered and stalled for the second time, his face went red as he hurriedly tried again pulling out in front of a coal lorry.
"Slow down we need to have a look." Johnny was now nearly out of control. He pulled in almost opposite the house.
"You fucking drive." I did not want to tell him the only thing I could drive was army track vehicles and motorbikes.
"I‟m sorry it could have happened to anyone in this piece of shit." Pointing at the steering wheel, it calmed him down.
This little bit of time had give Jonass time to study the lie of the land.
"Okay I haff seen what I need." He leaned over and pointed at a track leading up to a field with a hedge around it, "we can put car there, and go quickly." He made a movement with his hand.
"Come on let's find a pub, I need a pint." We drove down our exit road and turned left onto the A5 and found a little pub, and we played darts till just gone five thirty.
As we pulled into the lane and up a slight bank I had gone into some sort of blank, I felt exposed. We were there for all to see, and in these times of vigilantes and bombs people were always on the lookout.
"I don‟t like this." I said, Jonass was putting the gun together.
"It‟s three minutes to go, what if he‟s late?" Johnny got out of the car and opened the back tailgate which lifted up leaving a full field of fire.
By now all my functions had closed down, I did not want to be part of what was about to happen.
Johnny tapped on the side of the car.
"There he is." I looked and saw this overweight middle aged man he was waving to someone on the other side of the road. At that moment Jonass pulled the trigger. Everything else was happening in slow motion, I won‟t describe what happened to his head, I will tell you that I burst out crying, I could not see a thing I held my head in my hands and froze.
Johnny slammed the back door and jumped into the car and started it with a roar, he then did a u turn in the muddy field and sped down the track pulling onto the road making the traffic scream to a halt. We passed the body lying on the pavement in a pool of blood, with a woman trying to help, he was beyond help. Johnny drove like a madman down the road to where we pick up the A5. Once we were on the main road heading towards Strabane we travelled at the same speed as the rest of the traffic. Jonass split the gun and pocketed the scope, then he passed it to me in the front of the car. I bagged the gun with the badminton rackets. I looked in the small glove compartment and found a small folded map of Ireland.
"I think we should get to Omagh and then get the forty four to Belfast, we‟ll be there in time for the five past seven."
Johnny did not like the sound of that he looked at me with disgust.
"What, the bus?"
"Yes the bus, they will be looking for this car and in another half an hour every Tommy will have the number plate, and who would think a murder squad would be travelling on the bus?" I turned around to see if I could get some support from Jonass. Jonass was nodding his head.
"It could be a good idea." Jonass was coming round to my way of thinking.
"No, it‟s a bag of piss idea, I‟m going back in this." He tapped the steering wheel.
"That okay, but drop me in Omagh." I‟d made my mind up. We travelled in silence for the next forty minutes. As we pulled into Omagh Johnny had one more go at making us seeing it his way.
"Come on boys, you‟re not really going to get a bus?" he turned to look at me.
"Yes, for fuck sake, it‟s madness to carry on in this." I stuck to my guns and Jonass got out of the car with me.
"Well fuck you." He put the car into gear and drove off. Jonass walked over to a bin and dumped his pink rubber gloves.
We did not have to wait long for the bus and we sat at opposite ends of the bus. I put the duffle bag on the rack two seats in front of me, I could keep an eye on it but if they searched the bus I would be clear. The bus was like a slow boat to China, stopping at every village. Having passed two army check points and not been stopped I felt vindicated. I got off one stop before the city centre and walked over the Albert bridge. I had the duffle bag over my shoulder and was just too emotionally drained too care. As I got up to get off the bus Jonass lipped the words "two o‟clock tomorrow, come for your money." I gave a little nod.
I closed the door and made my way up the stairs switching all the lights on as I went. I stood in the lounge and burst out crying.
"Sir." The duty clerk clicked his fingers at one of the officers who was busy giving orders to men out in cars watching, just watching.
They turned up the speaker that was a direct line to my flat. They could hear me lying on the sofa bawling my eyes out.
"Go and get Mr Adder or Ellis, now." The corporal rushed off.
I brushed of the tears and snot with my one good tea towel, and still with big sobs every now and again. I replayed the moment that the head of someone‟s father, son, brother or uncle fell to the floor. Some how I managed to put the kettle on and light the stove.
They listened as I slowly calmed down.
"We need to lift him tonight." Ellis was looking at Simon, Simon nodded, "We will need some help on this, who trained him?"
"Old Jerry Mackie he‟s at Chepstow, he‟s working on a new lad at the moment." Ellis scratched his head and thought, "Okay I want him on a plane in two hours, and I don‟t care what it takes." Ellis turned and left.
Simon turned to the clerk, "I want the phone numbers of Chepstow duty officer and the home number of Sgt. Jerry Mackie and unless there is a nuclear war in the next half hour you do nothing else." He went over to the tea urn and poured himself a cup. He stayed close to the speaker with the direct line, by now I was just sulking on the sofa. Simon was trying to plot the nights work.
"I want a car parked on Mount Pottinger Street, and I want them well hidden."
"Hello Alfa seven seven, Alfa one, over." The radio squawked.
"Alfa, seven seven, go ahead, over."
"Alfa seven seven, move to Location fifty-one, park on side street out of sight, stay mounted, over."
"Alfa seven seven, Rodger, out."
Simon picked up the phone and dialled the land line for Mount Pottinger station, "Hello, duty sergeant." It was an Ulster voice that answered and Simon did not want that.
"Hello this is Lt Adder here Holywood Barracks, who‟s the duty officer tonight?"
"Its Staff Sgt Edmonds sir, would you like to speak to him?" the RUC policeman loved to disturb army personnel while they were having their break, "I‟ll go and get him sir." Before Simon had chance to think about it ,the phone was down and the RUC policeman was gone.
"Hello." Staff Sgt Edmonds had been enjoying a bit of television.
"Hello this is Lt. Simon Adder, Intelligence."
"Good evening Sir."
"I hope I‟m not disturbing you but I need a job doing that I don‟t want broadcasting all over the place." Edmonds was nodding even though Simon could not see him, his interest was picking up.
"Yes Sir."
"We have someone of interest in a flat directly across the road from your position, and we really don‟t want any RUC personnel poking their noses in, if you see what I mean?" Edmonds was still nodding his head.
"Yes Sir."
"We will be lifting him quite soon," Edmonds was still nodding "and we would like you, you personally to keep an eye on the flat. Could you just do a quick report and then keep an eye on the flat until we lift, understand?"
Still nodding Edmonds, "Yes Sir, I‟ll have a quick look and phone you back, what‟s your direct number Sir?" Edmonds jotted the number down and made his way to the main Sanger which had a good view.
"Out happening lads." Edmonds tried to look casual as the two squaddies tried to dispel the cigarette smoke.
"All quite really, Staff." They had been talking rather than looking, but not much was moving, which backed up their story. Edmonds tried to make it look as though he was surveying all the views, but he lingered on the post office and the flat above.
"Okay, I‟ll be back in a minute." He left the two soldiers scratching their heads over this behaviour as he dashed back to inform Simon.
"Yes Sir, all very quiet, which sometimes means trouble but then again it could just mean it's quiet." He did like to cover his back, giving the most possible number of interpretations as possible.
"Well done Staff." Simon knew the value of encouraging someone like Edmonds.
"I think we should be lifting quite soon, so if you could just keep an eye on things, we don‟t want any crowds, if you know what I mean." Edmonds was nodding again, "and you may want to prepare the men for crowd control?"
"Yes Sir."
"But only deploy if it really gets out of hand." Simon was trying to cover all bases.
"Yes Sir."
"Thank you." Simon hung up.
Edmonds went up to the second floor and into the lounge with the television, "Sammy, get the men ready, I want ten men with shields and full riot in the outside yard now." Sammy jumped up, time passed quicker when something was happening and not a lot happened in this patch, they stood in the yard ready to go, excited.
The outside yard was inside the police station walls, but open to the weather. The RUC officers tried to find out what was happening, the soldiers just shrugged.
Simon picked up the phone and dialled the number for Mack‟s home.
"Hello." Mack‟s wife answered the phone.
"Hello Mrs Mackie?"
"Yes who‟s speaking?"
"It‟s Lt. Simon Adder, I‟m calling from Northern Ireland and was wondering if I could speak to Sergeant Mackie please?"
"Yes, yes I‟ll go and get him." Simon looked at his watch it was nearly quarter to ten.
"Yes." A strong voice on the end of the line.
"Hello Mack its Simon Adder Intelligence, Belfast."
Mackie carried on drying himself, "How can I help?" they had only crossed paths on the training de-brief for Deery.
"It‟s Deery, he‟s been on active service with the IRA for a few months, he‟s bringing in a rich seam of information and he‟s as deeply in as anyone can go," Mack‟s wife put a dressing gown over his shoulders and he threw the towel onto the floor and stood on it, "well he‟s has been on active duty today up in Londonderry and we think the wheels are coming off, we need your help. "Mack scratched his lower back and looked at the clock on the wall.
"What are you thinking?"
"We need you tonight, I‟ve been onto transport and they can have a plane ready from Brize Norton in an hour."
"It will take me more than that, but I‟m on my way, get me a police escort I‟ll be leaving in ten." Mack put the phone down and padded into the living room, his wife was watching the television.
"Make me a packed lunch and a flask love, I‟m on a job, two days tops." His wife would never complain. She had been here before.
Simon turned round to the clerk, "Get onto Chepstow cops, I want flashing lights from Chepstow barracks to Brize Norton now."
The clerk picked up the phone and dialled directory enquiries.
Chapter 22.
Late Thursday 29th June 1972. BBC news...........and the man shot in a drive by shooting in Londonderry has been named as.............. I had been sitting on the sofa feeling sorry for myself, I did not want to put the television on, and I did not want to see the news. I had had enough was going to tell Simon I wanted out. That made me feel better, yes, that was the answer. As he said at the very start of all this
"Just shout, and we will have you out." That was the deal, yes that was the answer. I put the kettle on and ran a bath I let it fill right to the top- it was not my gas bill. The kettle‟s whistle started blow and I put three sugars into my tea. Yep, just have a bath then phone Simon and I‟d be out of here. Across the road Edmonds watched as I passed the windows, Mack was driving behind the patrol car with the lights flashing making his way to Brize Norton. Alfa seven seven sat in the back lane wondering what was going on and Simon was trying to second guess what I was doing.
I‟m not one of those people who like to wallow in the bath, so I was in and out, dried and dressed. I looked round the bedroom as I lifted the floorboards, no there was not much I needed to pack. I could be ready in ten minutes at the most. I wondered if I could get the gun back to England without anyone knowing.
I lifted the phone out of the floorboards. "Get me Simon please."
"It‟s me."
"I want out." Simon knew this was going to happen.
"How long will it take you to be ready?" He sounded calm.
"I‟m ready now." I was surprised, he was going to be fine.
"You could walk over to Mount Pottinger and I‟ll have you picked up from there." It sounded good to me, I expected just a few more questions.
"Fine, ten minutes, can you tell them to expect me." I hung up. Well that was easy enough.
Simon picked up the phone, "Could I speak to Staff Sergeant Edmonds please." there was pause.
"Yes." Edmonds had come through from the main Sanger.
"My man is coming into your place, he‟s undercover with long hair with the name of Deery," Edmonds was nodding, "I want him to be kept out of sight of the RUC if possible, and we‟ll pick him up in less than two minutes, do you understand?"
"Oh yes Sir."
"Thank you Staff, you‟ve been very helpful tonight." Simon went over to the radio and picked up the mike, "Hello Alfa seven seven, over."
The radio crackled, "Alfa seven seven, over."
"Alfa seven seven, could you be ready to collect from Location fifty-one ASP over." The radio squelched, "Alfa seven seven Rodger, out."
I slammed the door, not even putting the trigger on, why should I, I was never going back. I walked over to the main door of Mount Pottinger Police station, straight over the road I was carrying my small suit case, which had the pistol at the bottom and a few of my jeans and tee shirts, and over my shoulder the duffle bag with the rifle. I left everything else. The door opened as I got there and I walked inside. There was a Staff Sergeant directly inside who walked me rapidly through the station holding my arm as thought I was under arrest. We went into the back yard where about ten soldiers were standing around, some had the short riot shields leaning against their legs, all had piss pot helmets with visors.
"Okay lads stand down, relieve the Sangers in about twenty minutes." The soldiers shuffled into the building and the Staff Sergeant opened the back gates and had a quick look out looking both ways. An unmarked car pulled up, he went over to the car and had a quick word.
"Okay son jump in." He held the door open for me.
"Hello Alfa One this is Alfa seven seven, we‟ve made the collection and on our way to Location four -over."
"Alfa One, Rodger out." I recognised Simons plummy voice.
I did not talk to the men in the car and they ignored me and soon we were pulling into the main gate of Holywood Barracks.
Mackie and the police escort made good time through the early night traffic.
Ellis and Simon sat waiting in room seven. The two men walked with me up the stairs, they were not quite sure of my status.
The duty clerk led me down to room seven and knocked, "Come in." the clipped tones from Ellis.
I placed the two bags in the corner and sat down and looked at them both. At that moment I burst out in the most heart felt sobbing, Ellis and Simon just sat there and waited. My head was in my arms resting on the big solid table. After about three minutes I sat up, Ellis went over to the bottom drawer of a steel cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Scotch.
"Try this, it will help." I hated Scotch, but had a little sip, still having the occasional sob and rubbing my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket.
"I‟m sorry Sir." I now took a bigger slug of the Scotch I just wanted to get it down as a comfort.
"It‟s fine, you‟ve done well Deery, very well. It must be tough out there." I started to feel sorry for myself and hung my head and had another little weep, eventually lifting my head and wiping away the stream that ran down my face.
"Do you want to tell us about it?" Ellis was delightfully sympathetic.
Mackie‟s plane took off, he was the only passenger.
I lit a cigarette and offered my packet to the two officers, they declined.
"Well Sir, I was okay until today, we did a job in Derry," they already knew that would be our team, "and today I watched as the bullet went through the targets head, I watched him die." I looked at them to see their reaction, both men would not have seen this, not many men do.
"At the end of the day, I don‟t think I can carry on." I had another slug of the whiskey, they both sat there a while.
Simon was first to talk. "You have been an outstanding operator, with by far the best lift rate, and we understand how you feel," he had a sip of his Whiskey
to give himself time to formulate the next sentence, "you‟re probably very tired, I want you to sleep on it over night." Another sip, while he watched my face for any signs of resistance.
Ellis leaned over and topped up my glass with a few fingers of blend, "when are you meeting Johnny O‟Neil next?"
"We have to be at One Shot's house for our wages at two tomorrow." The whiskey was starting to take effect, I took another drink.
"Right I want you and Simon to go to the officers mess and have a damned good drink and in the mean time I‟ll get you your room at the sergeants mess sorted and we‟ll look at it in a fresh light tomorrow."
"I want out Sir, I have to get out."
He turned round and pulled out a steel petty cash box from the locker and carefully opened it with a small key on his key ring and peeled two pound notes out. "Go and relax now, have a good chat." There was a scraping of chairs as we stood up.
As Simon and I sat drinking the second drink and he told me of some of the funniest cock- ups that had befallen some of the men.
Mackie‟s plane landed in RAF Aldergrove. The customs men quickly searched through the old mans bag and he was picked up by a land rover with two armed guards. Within a few minutes he was sitting having a cup of tea in room seven with Ellis.
"It‟s by good fortune that he finds himself in this spot, he just hit it off with Tommy O‟Neil‟s boy." He looked at the old man as he fed him the information to bring him up to speed with the local IRA pecking order and the importance of the position I found myself in.
Mackie just nodded and listened and looked at the list of detainees that I had located.
"The boy's done well, what‟s his state of mind at the moment?" He asked Ellis.
"I‟m not sure that he‟s a tower of strength at the best of times, but he was part of an IRA active service squad today and watched a man being shot at quite
close quarters and it has unsettled him." Ellis remembered the scotch and poured one each for him and Mackie.
"And where‟s he now?" Mackie appreciated the scotch and looked longingly at the near empty glass, Ellis missed the sign.
"He‟s with Simon Adder in the officers mess, were putting him up in the Sergeants mess he‟s stopped there before, not too many eyebrows raised."
"Could I go down to the mess and see them?" Mackie‟s status was very ambiguous and he never wore his full uniform except on Remembrance Sunday.
"Yes, I‟ll just have a quick look in the op‟s room and come down with you." They both stood up.
"Is there anything important happening?" Ellis was talking to a Subaltern who was manning the phones.
"Not really Sir, just a small street fight going down in Newtownards, we‟re keeping an eye on it." The phone rang and the young officer answered it.
Simon was at the bar when Ellis and Mackie arrived in the quiet surroundings of the officer‟s mess. I had been to the toilets and cleaned up my face and was looking a lot better, and the drink was doing its job.
Ellis nudged Simon in the back and he turned round and saw him and Mackie, "I‟ll get them in Sir, what do you want?"
"A couple of double Scotches.. get the good stuff." Mackie had quietly padded over to where I was sitting facing the bay window.
"How are you doing Son?" I spun around. I felt like a little child that had got himself into trouble and was being picked up by his parents.
My bottom lip nearly gave away and signalled how much pressure I was under, Mackie would not have missed the brief show of emotion.
"Mack, what are you doing here?" I sat up in my chair while Mackie sat down.
Lies came easily to him, "I‟m here to train some local lads, just a bit of observational stuff, just like we did at Chepstow, it‟s my field." We knew field craft was his real field, but I was happy with the explanation.
Ellis dropped our drinks off at the table and went back to stand at the bar with Simon.
"I hear you‟re doing a great job," he smiled at me, "well done." I felt pleased with myself and stared to relax.
"Yes, its been moving really fast considering that I was only brought in to observe." I finished my pint off and put the glass in the middle of the table and put the new pint on my beer mat.
Mack took a sip of his drink, "Well I‟ve been told you‟re the top operator and are in at the very top." He looked at me to see how this was going down, and I must admit it was nice to get some recognition for my efforts.
I‟m not the sort to brag so just said " I was just in the right place at the right time."
"You would not pull out now would you Billy?" Mack was leaning on me, "without you, more than sixty really bad men would still be on the streets, some of them gunmen, some of them bomb carriers."
"But it‟s wearing me down." I started to feel sorry for myself again.
"It may take us years to get in as far as you have penetrated again, we could put a hundred men in and not get where you have." Simon and Ellis were still at the bar.
I leaned forward, "Do you know what it‟s like to be in a vipers nest all the time, one slip up and you‟re a piece of meat in a back lane." I looked at Mack, at his solid face, his dependable face.
"Kenya, Borneo, Yemen, yes I‟ve looked down the barrel in a few places and it‟s not quite the same as being on your own in the damp streets of Belfast often doing things you just don‟t want to do," I drained my pint, "But we do realise what‟s being asked of you and you will get the recognition, stay there.", Mack jumped up and came back with two more drinks.
"Would a few days away help, at least you would have a bit of a rest?" I found myself nodding, which meant I was agreeing to stay even if it was for short while.
I thought for a while, "we have already pulled a visit to my mother, so I don‟t really know what excuse I could use again."
Mack looked into the middle distance while he thought, eventually his face came alight. "Okay, we‟ll lift young O‟Neil and slam him in nick for a while, that should give you a breather, you just tell this Jonass character that you want to lay low for a while."
It sounded good to me, Mack made some notes on a pad.
"When do you have to be back?" Mack looked at his watch it was getting late, the officer‟s mess stayed open until everyone had finished.
"Mack, I would like to get back to my flat, I just don‟t know when Johnny is going to call, the last time I saw him he dropped us at a bus stop and drove off, and we have to collect some money from Jonass at two o‟clock."
I was getting worried that Johnny may knock on my door and find me out. Mack went over to Ellis and Simon and had a quite word.
"Come on then." Simon nudged me, "I‟ll run you back to number 37." I finished my beer and followed Simon, we walked up to the vehicle park.
"It‟s not a nice feeling killing people for money." I watched Simon to see how he took that, he took a few seconds to formulate his answer.
"You have to look at the bigger picture, try and see through your day to day actions and see how lucky were are to have you being on the inside. Apart from the arrests think of having someone in the house of one of the local IRA chiefs."
He stopped walking and turned to me, "don‟t think for one minute we don‟t know what it‟s like being in the lions den, and that‟s why we have men ready twenty four hours a day just waiting to pull you out."
He said that to me without blushing without any regret, it made me feel better. It was not true.
Simon drove me back to number 37 and dropped me off two hundred yards down the road. I walked past just to have a good look at the flat, it was clear.
I decided to have a bath the next morning and went straight to bed.
Chapter 23.
Friday 30th June 1972. I awoke to the noise of my front door being banged hard, I looked through the landing window to try to see who it was, but they were too close to the door. It was Johnny, he pushed past me.
"Get the kettle on," he ran up the stairs, "we're going on a trip with my Dad, you‟ll need your gun." I followed him and we stood in the kitchen while the kettle boiled, I offered a bowl of cornflakes, he declined.
"We‟re doing bodyguard duties for my Dad, some big meeting out of town." He smiled excitedly.
"How did you get back?" I wanted to know if he got stopped getting back yesterday.
"I saw the road blocks and went round the long way round coming in through Newtownards and dumped the car in Lily Street, I was running on empty for the last five miles." He smiled, pleased with himself.
"Jonass wants us to be at his flat at two o‟clock." I shovelled another spoon full into my mouth.
"Fuck him, he can wait, what ever is happening with my Dad is big and he wants me and you as back up," he had a smug look on his face, "anyway get yourself dressed, we need to be at my Dads in ten minutes."
I went into the bedroom and thought of phoning in but decided against it. They may have already heard it on the microphone, I did not know.
We pushed our way into Johnny‟s door to find Tommy O‟Neil in the front room having a cup of tea with Noel Douglas, the menace was palpable.
"Hey you two wait outside." Tommy was annoyed with us bursting in. We disappeared outside and stood against the wall.
We sulked in the street and smoked, I was speculating on what could be happening that would get O‟Neil and Douglass to go to a meeting. Suddenly a couple of cars pulled up and Johnny‟s Dad came out with Douglas, they got in
the front car both sitting in the back seat, we got in the rear car. There was not much room for me and Johnny because there were four of us squashed up in the back seat. I lit a cigarette and my leg went dead as we headed out of Belfast. I tried to watch where we going and moved my gun from my waist belt. The last town we went through before pulling into a farm was Downpatrick, and the best I could tell it was about two mile south of the town. As we pulled into the farmyard I could see five other cars, men were milling around. We climbed out of the car and stretched our legs. My right leg was numb. O‟Neil and Douglass went into the
Farm, we stood outside and smoked. I logged faces and names and Johnny went over to talk to some of the other men.
Tommy had not told Johnny anything about the meeting, so we were in the dark. I wandered across to where Johnny was standing with three other men to listen in.
"What‟s going on?" Johnny drew on his cigarette and looked at the men.
"Nothing's being said, it‟s really hush hush." I recognised the man even thought the mug shot I had seen of him was very poor. He was Henry Steele famous for knee capping with an electric drill, he was also a bomb planter. Next to him leaning against the wall was Eric Johns another well known bad boy.
"There‟s a big load of guns and explosive come into Ireland from some Arab country, and I think it‟s about who will be paying for it." Johns spoke quietly, but with authority,
"they‟ll be planning bank raids and the such."
We stood around and chatted, I was making mental notes of who told what story, all this would be used in law courts at a later date. Eventually the top men came out of the farm house, my jaw dropped as I watched the whole top IRA pour into the yard and shake hands, each area chief getting into his car and disappearing down the track. We jumped in the rear car and followed closely the car with Tommy O‟Neil‟ and Noel Douglas. I would love to hear what was being said in that car. We did not take the straight road back to Belfast, but went a longer way round, but I managed to get a better seat. I smiled to myself as we passed the Holywood Barracks. They dropped us off round the corner from the O‟Neil‟s house and we walked the rest of the way. It was still only a quarter past one and we still had time to get to Jonass‟s house in time to collect our
wages, this was forefront in Johnny‟s mind. Forefront of my mind was I needed to tell Simon what was going on, they may have been able to intercept the weapons. Forefront of Tommy O‟Neil‟s mind was how he was going to raise eleven thousand pounds which was the amount demanded at the meeting, his "corner." as he called it.
"Where are you going?" The tone of Johnny‟s voice unsettled me.
"I need the toilet." I hoped to get back to mine for a few minutes.
"Go in ours." He opened the back door and nodded to the outside toilet. I went out and sat there for the right amount of time, knowing I may be missing useful information. The kettle had been boiled by the time I got back in.
"Come on drink up, we need to get going." Johnny nodded at the kitchen clock.
As we walked up the road and over the Albert Bridge Johnny filled me in, "My Da needs to raise eleven thousand pounds in the next three weeks, all that hardware has to be paid for."
"What exactly has been brought in?" I was digging.
"All I know is it will blow the army to kingdom come." We turned towards Divis flats and made our way up the concrete stairs and along the walkways, the door opened up as we got to it. There was a smell of stale beer.
"All Okay?" Jonass asked.
"Fine, fine." Johnny held out his hand, he wanted out of the flat as quick as possible, as did I.
"We maybe working elsewhere for a few weeks." Johnny opened up the roll of money and counted it, I just put mine in my pocket not bothering to count it.
"Okay, Okay. I will find the next job and have it ready, but remember," he held up his finger, "no work, no money." We had a pocket full of money, what did we care? Johnny patted him on the shoulder.
"Okay, get yourself some beer, we‟ll be back." As we walked back down the steps we were high spirits, pockets full of money, and in the heart of what was happening.
We went to down to the local pub and had a game of pool, no, we had a few games of pool, he won the first three games I won the last game, he remembered winning the most, I remember winning the least. We got a taxi home Johnny paid.
"I‟ll see you tomorrow." and even though I was drunk, the last thing I did as I put my key in the keyhole was look to see if the trigger was there. The trigger was a matchstick placed in between the door and the door frame, when the door was opened the matchstick would fall, the matchstick was on the floor. I opened the door and went inside. It is amazing how fast you sober up when you‟re in danger. The door closed with a click, I slid down into the corner of the stairwell and listened. The only thing I could hear was my heartbeat, my pistol was under the bed, there was a deathly silence, I needed a piss. I sat there, crouched, all my senses on full alert, nothing. I could just get out, run over the road into the Mount Pottinger Police Station, where in theory ,my guards were waiting twenty four hours a day to help me. I could run to Johnny‟s house, we could raise a few hands, kick the door in and beat the shit out of who ever was up there, or I could flag a taxi down and be in the safety of the army barracks in less than fifteen minutes.
The sweat was pouring out of me, I was trying to breath quietly, it sounded like I had walked up a mountain, puffing, blowing.
"Billy?" I nearly jumped a mile.
"Billy?" when someone‟s whispering loud, you still can‟t be quite sure who‟s whispering.
"Billy?"
Bump, bump my heart was thrashing, it made hearing hard.
"It‟s Simon." He popped his head round the banister.
"For fuck sake." My whole body relaxed and I fell into a locked position at the bottom of the stairs, Simon could hear me grunting.
"You better come and help me, I‟m stuck." I just sat there until he came down and lifted me straight.
We did the report under torch light, I was exhausted but we could not have the light on, there were still many vigilantes and they stayed out all night.
"Yes, that‟s him." I pointed to one of the last faces we had to identify, a small time crook-cum-trouble maker.
They had more bodies to lift, more men off the streets, more time in the law courts for me, behind screens.
Simon let himself out, I eased myself into bed.
Another twenty men fingered. That made another twenty reasons why I should carry on.
Chapter 24.
Monday 3
rd July 1972. BBC Ulster radio
A man was shot in an armed robbery of a petrol station this morning, Hospital sources say he’ comfortable. Police are asking for any witnesses to come forward.................. Johnny and I swaggered into Jenson‟s, we had been told to be there by Tommy O‟Neil. Johnny set the table up for a quick game of pool I ordered two pints. I turned to look around the bar once my eyes had accustomed to the light. The people of the night were there, all of these men would not be seen walking the streets, some were new but most were hardened IRA operators and had gone underground. Tommy was holding court on the big end table.
We finished our game of pool which I won a quickly as I could, I wanted to sit down and find out what the plan was.
"Okay men," Tommy open the meeting, "we have to raise eleven thousand pounds in the next few weeks and this will set us up with guns and all the bullets we could need," Some men gasped, "and then we can kick the army out of Ulster and eventually a united Ireland." There was a little cheer from the men sitting around. Tommy carried on, "So I need ideas, I‟m thinking banks, I‟m thinking payroll snatches and possibly any big shops at the end of the day." Tommy stopped talking and looked around.
"Thompson & Jackson‟s have one of the biggest wage bags round here." This came from someone not on file, so I did not recognise him.
"There is the bus depot." This was Johnny‟s idea.
"And there‟s Edwards Engineering, they have nearly twelve hundred men." The men were thinking of any big employer and shouting out the name.
"Okay, Okay," Tommy held his hands up and everyone stopped talking , "we need to concentrate on two or three places we could hit." Tommy pointed at one of the men, "Billy go and check all the outlying banks, I‟m interested in
banks with old fashioned security, you know the type, but the bigger the better." Tommy then turned to the Fox brothers, "I want to know everything about Edwards Engineering, that must be a big wage bill." He then gave some other men smaller details.
Tommy picked up his half a beer, and finished it off, "you two," he nodded at me and Johnny , "outside." . We jumped up and left by the back door.
Whilst we walked back to Johnny‟s house, Tommy told us that he wanted us to go and see one of Johnny‟s cousins who worked in Thompson & Jackson‟s, he had an office job, and he would know about the wage delivery, he may even help out by filling wage packets.
Tommy handed Johnny a piece of paper on which was written his name and address .
"He won‟t get home until five at the earliest, but don‟t let him get to the house - he‟s a right Mummy‟s boy."
Tommy rummaged through the drawers and found a few black and white photos‟, "that‟s him last year at Elsie and Tom‟s wedding."
Johnny looked at the photo‟s nodding his head "I remember him, he‟s a little smart arse. He gets the forty four from right outside the gates of Thompson & Jackson‟s at six minutes past five on Sydenham Road" Johnny was pleased with himself.
"Well I want you to go and get him, bring him back here. We‟ll have a word to the good," Tommy handed the photo over, "and I‟ll get you a driver for this afternoon."
We went to the Catholic Club for a few games of pool. My mind was not on the job and Johnny beat me six three. On the way back from the club I told Johnny that I needed to pop into my flat for the bog, and told him I‟d meet him at his place. I lifted up the carpet and reported to Simon.
"Yes, that‟s eleven thousand pounds just from East Belfast, so God only knows how much money they will be getting from all the regions." Simon was taking notes, this was dynamite.
"Okay, keep me informed." I replaced the carpet and made my way over to the O‟Neil‟s.
There was a Transit van sitting outside. I pushed into the unlocked door and in the back kitchen Tommy, Johnny and the driver sat having a cup of tea. I helped myself to a cup.
I did not recognise the driver. He may have been from outside of the Belfast area.
Tommy was keen to talk to me in private and nodded in the direction of the front door, I followed him out.
"No talking in front of Jacky," he nodded towards the kitchen "all he knows is that I want to talk to some boy, Okay. Lets keep it that way." He patted my back as we went back into the kitchen.
We planned the lift and it made sense to pick him up as he got off the bus not while he was waiting for the bus. It was decided that I would ride on the bus and sit close to him. They dropped me off on Sydenham Road at quarter to five. The bus stop windows were smashed and it was drizzling rain. All the manual workers had gone, having finished at four thirty. The frenzied rush was now over and just the office workers were still at work, they would come out at five. No mad rush with this lot, young girls in mini skirts, older women who had qualifications and could get good jobs in the warm, and men who had other skills, purchasers, draftsmen, accountants. These were the jobs that started at eight thirty in the morning and not some cold ungodly hour. They wore clean clothes, their hands were manicured and they read broadsheet newspapers. I stood there totally out of place, at the front of the queue.
Cuthbert was not in the queue, I looked at my watch, three minutes past five. I could see the bus coming. The bus turned around the turning circle and pulled up at the stop.
The two busmen were from the Short Strand depot but they did not know me. I jumped on the back step and had a glance over my shoulder. Cuthbert was running for the bus, good. I sat downstairs.
"Eight pence to town." I held onto my ticket and watched Cuthbert all the way. The bus made its way into Belfast, the bus was a works special, and did not pick up, so the conductor had gone upstairs for a smoke and read his paper. A glance out of the back window told me the Transit van was following.
Cuthbert looked out of the window at streets he looked at every day, my heart was racing, and I knew where he was getting off. Right on cue - Cuthbert stood up and I followed and as the bus slowed down we both alighted. He was a slight man so if it came to a fight we should not have much trouble. He walked towards were the van had pulled up. Johnny leaned against the van, and I was right behind him.
Johnny stood in his way, "Cuthbert," he was startled and stood still, "My Da wants a word with you." He turned round, unsure "don‟t worry, your okay just a quick word." He saw me standing there he faced Johnny again.
"My tea will be ready, my Mother is expecting me." Cuthbert cast around for reasons why he should not get in the van, Johnny opened his jacket and there silhouetted against his shirt was the pistol.
"You‟ll be fine, just a word with my Da." Cuthbert's body sagged, his head went down and he paused for a few seconds, then a slow nod of the head.
We did not talk on the way back, and when we had Cuthbert in the house Tommy gave me a five pound note, "give that to Jacky, tell him thanks." I went outside and gave him the money.
For the next two hours Cuthbert was questioned very closely about the wage delivery, it could not have been better, Cuthbert always helped on payday. Thousands of pay-packets to be filled, it needed a lot of hands.
After a while Cuthbert started to relax and confessed that he had thought about robbing the wage bill many times. Tommy helped by telling him he would get his cut, Bingo.
It was unbelievable how slap dash the wage collection was. Thompson & Jackson‟s used one of their own vans to transport the money, no fancy security here, they were even too tight to pay for the wage packets to be filled by the bank. The pay office manager and four men armed with pickaxe handles plus a driver drove over to Belfast‟s main bank and in front of everyone in the High Street loaded the money and drove back to the docks.
"And you say they always cross the Albert or The Queen Elisabeth Bridge?" Cuthbert nodded and smiled, he was getting into this, his dream.
"Right Cuthbert get a taxi home and tell your mother you had to do two hours overtime at short notice and you were on double time," Tommy handed Cuthbert a pound note, "there‟s a taxi office over on the corner with Albert Bridge Road, what do you do on Saturday?" Cuthbert was a bit lost with this question.
"What do you mean?"
"I want to talk to you on Saturdays without your mother knowing." Tommy did not like anyone being cute.
Cuthbert could not think of anything that would stop him talking to Tommy "I just walk the dog and sometimes...."
Tommy stopped him, "That‟s fine, you be here at ten on Saturday and we‟ll wrap this up." and then Tommy leaned towards the boy, "but remember this, Sonny," he used his index finger as a threat, "don‟t even think about telling anyone about this little chat, do you understand?"
Cuthbert had already started to nod, "I don‟t need to tell you, nobody double crosses me." The hairs stood up on the back of my neck and this threat was not even aimed at me.
Cuthbert stood up and looked around, we looked hard and quietly threatening, Tommy eased the mood, "It will be fine, and you‟ll get a good cut." He patted Cuthbert on the back as he led him down the hall to the front door.
Tommy came into the kitchen smiling, he was not a man you saw smiling much.
"Sounds to good to be true." Johnny said.
"Well, if what the boy said is true, and it could be, we may be onto a winner." At that moment we heard a light tap on the front door, we stood for a few seconds and Johnny went to the front.
I heard Johnny say, "Come in we're in the back." The kitchen door opened and Danny Steele came into the kitchen, he clocked me straight away.
"We did a petrol station today, here‟s the money." He had a small bag of cash which he poured onto the kitchen table.
Tommy looked at the money and took a small black book out of his inside pocket "How much have you kept for yourself?"
"Nothing, nothing, not a penny." Danny was lying, but Danny always lied. Tommy looked at the money on the table and picked up two five pound notes and gave them to Danny.
"Well done, who did the job with you?" Tommy had the book open and licked the end of his pencil.
"Jenny Edwards kept watch, and me and her brother Sam did the work." He smiled and looked for approval, Tommy nodded, we stood stony faced, I for one would not be forgiving him for stealing my T.V. and toaster. Tommy wrote it down in his book and then started to count the money.
"Put your name here." Tommy pointed to the bottom of the page, Danny signed.
Tommy walked him to the front door. We relaxed back in the kitchen.
Tommy sat down and drank the dregs from his cup of tea, " One hundred and eleven pounds down, just ten thousand eight hundred and ninety nine to go, but it‟s only day one." He smiled again. It had been a good day and I had a lot to tell.
Tommy picked up the lone pound on the table that had not been added to the pile, "Get yourself a drink boys." He handed the pound to Johnny, we did not need telling twice and slammed the door as we left for the Catholic club.
That night after Johnny and I had been playing for beers against all comers, we did not lose one game, and I lay on the bed and told Simon of all the details I could remember. I was starting to feel detached from the army, starting to feel as though I had a foot in both camps. I went to sleep thinking of Denise.
Chapter 25.
Tuesday 4th July 1972. The heads of departments sat in room seven , along with Simon and Ellis. They had gathered for their weekly meeting. They had been discussing the information which had been pouring in for more that one source, but my close contact with the O‟Neil‟s gave a certain amount of weight to my report. They were considering all of the whispers and snippets which were coming in from all over the province.
"There have been two petrol station robberies and a night club in Derry was done over last night, but the word on the street is the IRA need cash and need a lot of it. They are starting to raise cash in America and Ireland but this all takes time and time is a commodity they do not have." Ellis looked over his glasses at the men in the meeting.
"Well Sir, we have to decide whether we take the position of warning all cash run businesses, or just let it run its course." A young officer from logistics had put his finger right on the button.
"If we warn everyone or anyone and it gets back to the IRA they will know we have insiders and it could set us back months, even years." Ellis looked around for dissenters. "No, what I propose is that we keep a watchful eye, try and find the reason for the need for so much cash, and nip it in the bud at that end."
"But Sir, if the IRA were to get more powerful weapons, more sophisticated explosives and timers our lads would be sitting ducks." The young officer was spot on again.
"All the more reason we find out what they are up to," Ellis was now pointing his finger to make his point. "No, we have to keep listening and watching, we have to sift all information no matter how insignificant - for a hint of what this money is going to be used for." All the listeners were silent as Ellis drove home the message, "Go back to your districts and brief your men, nothing over the phones, nothing written down," Ellis hammered his fingers on the desk to emphasize his point , "They need money, they need a lot of money, what is it for? We‟ll meet a week today."
I woke up wanting to see Denise, I also wanted to get off the daily grind of IRA work but we needed to see Jonass about our money.
I went round to Johnny‟s house and his mother let me in, she shouted up the stairs , "Hey John, Billy‟s here, get your‟sel up."
"Tell him to get to fuck, I‟m lying in."
I shouted up the stairs , "I‟ll get your wages from Jonass and see when he wants us."
"Okay, but don‟t fucking run off with my bit," his door slammed, "and tell him we're busy for a few weeks." His door slammed again.
I walked round to the bus stop and thought about the day ahead. It would be too early to knock on Jonass‟s door without warning. I jumped on a bus which was the direct bus near to when my Gran lived, this had a couple of advantages one it killed some time and it gave me a better alibi.
"Well hello Son, come in, do you want a cup of tea?" I followed her in, she turned and gave me a big wet kiss and not having her false teeth in made it much worse. She kept running in and out of the kitchen while the kettle boiled giving me news about the family.
"And your uncle Sam‟s had his leg broken in a car accident, he‟s the one who lives over Anderson Town." She brought the tea in on a tray and a small plate of chocolate fingers all laid out neatly in a straight row,
"And Helen, one of Junes daughters is pregnant and she‟s only sixteen." She carried on talking as she poured tea, I went off into a little day dream wondering how I could get in touch with Denise. I knew where she worked, so I could sit outside of her dentists and wait for her to come out. I knew where she lived and could sit at her bus stop and wait for her to come home.
"Did you hear what I said?" My Gran brought me back to life with that question, my eyes started to focus and I nodded, "so what do you think?" I did a quick re-run of what she had just been saying, which I must have heard but not really registered.
"Aye it‟s a funny old world we live in" it‟s the first thing I could think of that could mean anything without meaning anything. I now listened as she filled me in with loads more small time family tittle-tattle and when she had run out I
filled her in with what I was doing. Not a lot of it was true, I could hardly tell her the truth.
"Well I better get going, I start work in an hour." I stood up, my family duties done.
"Well look after yourself." She fussed over me and I gave her a kiss, and then wiped my mouth as I turned around, it was like kissing half a pound of tripe.
I almost skipped down the road. I decided to walk the short distance back into town and I was still trying to kill time.
There is something nasty about the concrete stairs and walkways around the Divis Flats, but the sun was shinning and I was about to pick up a good wage so was feeling quite good. I knocked on Jonass‟s door and stood back so Jonass could see me easily. The door opened and he walked away down the hall, I went in.
"Var haff you been?" he had been drinking and his accent was more guttural than normal.
"We‟ve been put on some other jobs for Johnny‟s dad and we have to work with him for a few weeks." I watched how he took this, "Humpf." It was a grunt of dissatisfaction.
"I could find a new team." He lifted his beer bottle to his lips and watched me take this in.
"Come on, it‟s only two weeks, and we don‟t want to over- do things." He rubbed his thumb and fingers together the international sign for money.
"Aye, well talking about money I‟ve come for our bit." I made the money sign with my fingers he put the bottle to his lips again, but he was shaking his head at the same time.
"Johnny muss come here for money." Johnny was not going to be happy about this.
"Hell man, you can give me his." I slapped my forehead, but he kept shaking his head. He disappeared into the bedroom and came back with a wad of pounds and five pound notes and carefully counted them out into my hand.
"No weekly wage when you not work." He meant he would not pay the seven pounds a week while we weren‟t at his beck and call, which was fair enough as far as I was concerned.
I left Jonas‟s flat and made my way down the stairs I had a pocket full of money and time to spare. Denise did not finish work for a few hours so I went into Belfast City and bought myself some new clothes and had a hair cut which had grown quite long. Then I was walking past a city centre shoe shop and there in the window was pair of platform boots in soft brown leather. I went in hoping that they had them in size nine. I went crimson when I took my left shoe off to try the boot on. My big toe was poking through the sock. By the time I had finished I had a brand new look. I made my way to the dentists and sat on a bench where I could see the door. It was still only quarter past four and I was not quite sure what time she finished, I pondered, should I go in? Or should I just sit here? I decided that I had to go in, she may not be working, or she may be working late.
I went up the stairs and opened the door. Ting, the bell above my head rang as I walked in the door. The waiting room had a hatch with frosted glass which slid back for the receptionist to talk to me.
"Oh hi, I‟ve just moved back to Belfast and need to register with a dentist." The woman, who was framed in the space looked me up and down like she was evaluating whether or not she should register me. I could hear the dentists drill grinding away and I imagined someone sitting there gripping the arm rests with the drill slowly turning in his mouth.
"Fill this in." She handed me a form. I bent down to see if I could see into the surgery, no such luck.
I filled the form in and handed it back. "We could give you a check up on Wednesday at nine fifteen." She looked at me.
"Fine." This had got out of hand, I only wanted to find out if Denise was in. The lady behind the partition wrote the time of my appointment on a small card and handed it to me.
I took the card "Ta."
The surgery door opened as I was picking up my shopping bags and a young girl came out and ran over to where her mother was sitting, and as the door slowly closed I had a quick glimpse in the surgery. Yes, she was there.
On the card was the name and address of the dentist with the opening times. 8.30 Till 5.30.
I made my way downstairs, about five doors down on the other side of the road was a cafe. I made my way over and bought a cup of tea, and a scone and picked up a newspaper on one of the tables. Sitting behind the dirty net curtain I could keep and eye on the door and catch up with the news.
The lady who had given me the appointment card came out first, then Denise with her short skirt and equally short coat. I jumped up and picked my bags up and ran out. Denise was walking purposefully towards the bus stop, I looked at my watch because I knew her bus and I knew the times. She had about five minutes before the forty nine was due.
I needed to see the lie of the land. Did she still want to see me, had anything changed? I caught her up just as she arrived at the bus stop.
I walked up behind her and said, "Hi." She looked around.
"Hi? Is that all you can say? I‟ve a good mind to slap you." This took me by surprise.
"What have I done?" I put my innocent face on, but to be truthful I did not really know what I had done.
"What have I done?" she mimicked me, "I'll tell you what you‟ve done, you‟ve" she looked round at the other people at the bus stop and lowed her voice and came a little closer "you‟ve," there was a little tremble in her lip.
At this moment she did not need to say anymore. I dropped my bags on the pavement and grabbed her and kissed her. I was smitten. She was soft, she was Petite, she smelled gorgeous, just as a young woman should smell and she was with me. I held her so hard her feet came off the floor just a little bit. I heard her bus come and go, but that was not in my plans.
Eventually we parted. "Are you coming home with me?"
She thought for a moment, "My Dad's in hospital and my Mother will be visiting him all night, lets go to a phone." we both stood in the phone box as she made the call, and she inserted the two pence piece as the pips went
"Hello Jennifer, it's Denise here, yes I‟m fine, how‟s yourself?" There was a little pause while Jennifer told Denise how she had won thirty three pounds on the Bingo. "Lovely, look, could you pop round to my mother‟s house and tell her I‟ve bumped into Jill McIntire and I‟ll be stopping round her house tonight." Denise was nodding "I‟ll love you for ever, see you later." The pips started to go indicating that more money was needed, she put the phone down and turned to me and gave me a big wet kiss, there was a tapping on the window.
"Hey come on you two, people need to use that phone." An old man was anxious to get in to use the phone.
We made our way down the street to a taxi office above the cafe.
"Where you going?"
"Mount Pottinger Road." The fat lady behind the desk looked me up and down then gave Denise the once over.
"Seven,… where are you?" She spoke into the microphone.
"Just dropped off at Bell Street." The speaker was on too loud.
"Job at the office to cross the river," she looked up at me, "he‟ll be downstairs in two minutes, it‟s a red Cortina."
We sat in the back seat holding hands and I directed him to about fifty yards past my flat and I gave him a four bob tip, he did not say thank you.
"Could you get a pint of milk from the shop?" I did need milk, but my main aim was to quickly check the flat over and cover the microphone up so we were not overheard. She slammed the door and came up the stairs, it had only just gone six but we went straight to bed.
I heard someone knock on the door at about seven thirty, but wild horses would not drag me from that warm bed. Johnny knocked on the door on the way home from the club, but quickly gave up. You could hear him roaring all the way down the street, he wanted his money but my house was just over the road from Mount Pottinger police station with soldiers watching his every move.
We kept waking up all night and enjoying each other.
Wednesday 5
th July 1972. The next morning after a bath Denise traipsed around the round the flat in just her knickers and bra. I made toast and two big mugs of tea and we sat on the sofa.
"I could get a few days off work," she still thought I worked at Holywood Barracks as a diesel fitter, "but that would not be for a week or two because Edward is still away." I had remembered the wage snatch job and that would be time consuming and Jonass would need some days work from me as well.
She said, "Well why don‟t we go for a drink on Saturday?" it gave me something to look forward to.
"Okay, I‟ll meet you in the Blue Bell, what‟s a good time for you?" I gave her a questioning look.
"Eight"
"Fine." She went into the bedroom and quickly got dressed and gave me a peck on the cheek. We both went down to the door I had a quick look out before she emerged. I watched as she made her way up the road to the bus stop. I went back to bed and slept until I heard the door knocker go.
"Did you get my money?" Johnny pushed past me and made his way up the stairs I followed.
"No he would not give me it."
"Useless bastards both of you, now I‟ll have to go over to see the little toad." He made his way into the kitchen and put the kettle on. I noticed that Denise had left her scarf on the arm of the sofa and quickly folded it up and took it into the bedroom.
Johnny shouted above the din of the kettle beginning to boil "Do you have a motorbike licence?"
"No, but I‟ve got a provisional." I carried on dressing.
"Have you ridden a motorbike?" I had but my road sense was not very good, I keep forgetting to look behind and had quite a few near misses.
"Well my Dad thinks we need to follow the wage run on a bike, he says it would be nippier in traffic and less likely to be spotted." Johnny had finished making the tea and we sat in the living room.
"Okay we‟ll get a bike, we‟ll get something fast." I started to think this would be a good idea for getting around for other jobs. The army don‟t pull motorbikes over to look for bombs and we could carry the rifle in the duffle bag with the badminton racquets sticking out.
We carried on drinking the tea and discussing the merits of buying a bike and having insurance so if we did get stopped we would have one less thing to worry about.
We finished the tea off and went off into the street to get a bus over the river. Jonass took for ever to answer the door.
"Why didn‟t you give him the money?" Johnny was confrontational right from the start.
"You muss come for your own money." Jonass was defiant, but he had the money rolled up ready and Johnny calmed down after Jonass handed it over.
We wanted to get out as quick as possible, the place stunk of beer and dirt.
"We‟re working for my Dad for two weeks so we‟ll come and see you - two Mondays from now." Jonass lifted his bottle of beer to his mouth and took a long swig.
"Yus dats fine." We made our way out.
There were two motor bike shops down on Castlereagh Road so we jumped a bus back over the bridge and made our way to the first motor bike shop. They sold all sorts of second hand cars, bikes and lawn mowers, anything which had an engine. The second motor bike shop had a good selection of new and second hand bikes. Mostly scooters but over at the back of the showroom was a Honda 175, which was a light weight two seater with a price tag of £65 and it had three months road tax. It would be fast enough for the two of us. With two secondhand and open faced helmets, a light weight pair of gauntlets and twelve months insurance we were on the road for £74.
I jumped on the front with the documents in my back pocket while the salesman explained the gears. Johnny sat on the wall while I disappeared down the road. My face went red when I stalled the bike at the first junction, and nearly dropped the bike in my hurry to get the thing going. I went down a quite street just off Castlereagh Road and stopped and started it a few times. I quickly got a used to the clutch.
I now felt I could ride with a pillion passanger and went back for Johnny.
"Where the fuck have you been?" He was always impatient.
"Just get on." He jumped on the back and we headed out of town, I jumped a red light but we made it safely on to the open road. We just drove. I started to make my way back to Belfast and filled her up at Newtownards and up to Bangor then left back to Belfast passing Holywood Barrack on the way.
We dismounted outside my flat.
"There you go, I enjoyed that," Johnny‟s face was beaming, "but I want some gloves as well, the wind gets in every corner." He was rubbing his hands. We went round to Johnny‟s house to show his father and mother, she was not pleased.
"Oh shut up mother, we‟ll be alright." Tommy walked round and poked and kicked the bike as though he knew what he was looking for, but it only had four thousand miles on the clock and the tyres looked brand new.
"Do we have any gloves?" Johnny was looking at his dad.
"No but that Steele boy sells all sorts of things, he‟s always peddling things like that." Johnny ran off and came back with a pair of black leather gauntlets which came almost up to his elbow.
"I told him I‟d buy him a pint when I saw him in the club." Johnny would not pay for anything he did not have to.
For the rest of the day we rode around, dropping in on Kathleen Kerry just to give her the storage money for keeping the gun and dropping in on one of Johnny‟s cousins who he had not seen for quite a while, just because we could. At the end of the day we had used nearly a full tank of petrol.
"We could park it opposite the police station, nobody will try to pinch it right outside a cop shop with twenty four hour a day surveillance." I had been wondering where we would park it, but Johnny was right. We were nearly legal, so why not get the benefit of the Sangers. The next day we spent the whole day riding around, first of all checking out the routes that the wage collection van might take but after that going for a ride round the coast and crossing over into Ireland from Ulster and eventually getting back in time for the midweek pool match. We played badly, but neither of us seemed to care.
Chapter 26.
Thursday 6
th July 1972. I arrived at the O‟Neil‟s house at eight sharp. Tommy let me in, I followed him into the kitchen but as he got to the bottom of the stairs he shouted up.
"Hey, get your arse out of bed we‟ve work to do."
Mrs O‟Neil was making toast and had two large kippers in a frying pan. She quickly buttered four more slices of toast and put the plate loaded to the point of falling over, on the kitchen table. The kippers were placed on plates and one was put before Tommy and she sat down and started to tuck into the other fish.
"Dip some toast in the frying pan, the juice is lovely on bread." Mrs O‟Neil pointed to the pan. I grabbed a couple of slices of toast and began to mop up the oils in the frying pan. Johnny came into the kitchen just as I wiped the last of the fat up and Tommy picked up the last bit of toast.
"Greedy gits." Tommy looked up at his son and before he finished off the last bit of bread.
"You could get your self up in time. You‟ll expect your mother to make you some now." But his mother was enjoying her kipper and had no intention of getting up. I had my cup of tea and last bit of toast so leaned there against the cupboard and enjoyed the scene.
After breakfast we discussed where we were going to watch the money being loaded.
Tommy wanted us to follow the minibus from the docks to the bank. He would stand in the High Street at a bus stop and watch from there. Cuthbert had told us what time the bus left and what time it arrived back so we knew that they must go more or less direct to and from the bank.
Tommy made his own way into town and we made our way out to the docks. It was not long before the minibus passed us. It only had the driver, and five men sat in the back relaxed and smoking. We stayed one or two cars behind and easily kept up, not losing sight of the minibus.
They went the most direct route and were soon stopped outside the bank on double yellow lines. Two men went into the bank and after no more than two minutes the other men jumped out of the bus with their pick axe handles. The two men came out carrying four big black cases, one in each hand and threw them into the bus, everyone then jumped back in the bus and they were off. The whole thing had taken about three minutes, maybe less. We followed to the end of Donegal Quay and turn right and straight over the Queen Elisabeth Bridge. They were back in Thompson & Jackson‟s ten minutes after leaving the bank.
We made our way back to Johnny‟s house and Tommy was sitting in the kitchen doing some union paperwork, it was strange that he led this double life, but in his mind he believed that he was looking after his people.
We told Tommy what he already suspected, which was that the bus just went straight back to the docks and into Thompson & Jackson‟s.
They obviously had become used to having no thought of wage snatches, no thought of security, they had been doing it for years.
We did not have much to do till next week and Tommy wanted us out. He had lots to organise, so we went for a bike ride, our new passion.
That night Johnny and I went into Belfast and ended up in a pub over in the Market area. I had the feeling that people were starting to talk about us both because we never had to put our hands in our pockets all night.
I did overhear someone in the corridor going to the toilet say, "Couple of hit men, that‟s what I‟ve heard."
"No, No put your money away, this one's on me." All night, old men were patting us on the back, "there you go son."
My biggest problem was getting rid of the stuff. Not being much of a drinker meant I still could not hold much and even with my best efforts I was very quickly falling over drunk. I don‟t remember getting home, I don‟t remember anything really.
I stayed in bed for most of the next day and apart from a short report to Simon on the land line it was just a wasted day.
That night I made my way to see Denise at the Blue Bell. I was off form and not very good company. We went back to number 37 early and after an hour in bed
I walked her round to the taxi office and agreed to meet her during the next Saturday.
Johnny and I went for bike rides, we even had a day in Dublin. We did not stay all that long it was more about the bike ride. The week passed slowly and apart from losing again at pool on the Wednesday night match, not much happened. At the back of our minds was what would happen on the Friday morning.
Tommy had been working hard on the logistics of the wage snatch, telling as few people as possible, but raising the right sort of muscle.
On the Thursday, Tommy told us to be upstairs in Jenson‟s and we were not to drink.
I followed Johnny up the stairs into a function room. It was dark and musky and obviously had not been used as a function room for quite a while. We were there first to arrive and sat near Tommy. Then in one‟s and two‟s the men came in and found themselves a seat.
I looked at the men assembled. Each and every one of them should have come with a health warning. It was like a 'who‟s who' of the hard men, I logged each and every one listening very carefully for their names in the cases where they did not appear in the mug shot book.
"Okay," Tommy started the meeting, "Jacky, have you got the wagons sorted?" Jacky Woods nodded.
"Yup, they‟ll stop anything believe me" he replied.
Tommy ticked it off on his bit of paper.
"Seamus, have you got the guns?" He looked at Seamus.
"I‟ve got three sawn off shot guns, a Thompson machine with a full mag that sometimes jams, and five hand pistols plus five pick axe handles." Seamus smiled nervously, he never wanted to let Tommy down, he knew the consequences. Tommy smiled.
"Okay, listen in carefully," Tommy told each man what his job would be, and gave them instructions if something else happened.
We would be hitting them just after they came over the Queens Bridge where the road narrowed, the big wagon would ram them head on. Another wagon
would ram them from behind. Anyone who offered any resistance would be very quickly overpowered. Then, making sure that any one of us who may be injured, had to be lifted from the raid.
"We leave nothing behind, fire the wagons, lift any one who‟s hurt," Tommy leaned forward and lowered his voice, "and I‟ll tell you this," the menace in his voice was chilling, "if anyone breathes a word, a hint." He drew his hand across his neck, it was enough. Most men there knew the score, but Tommy just wanted them to know just a bit more. They knew.
My heart was pounding as we made our way out, but others were laughing and joking, probably to easy their own worries or maybe they were not worried, I worried about this as well.
Johnny and I went down stairs and had a couple of games of pool, which meant we had a couple of pints as well.
My mind was not on the game, my mind was how much should I tell Simon. If the army decided to stop the raid there would be blood spilt, and it could be my blood. I could have decided not to tell Simon the time of the raid, then there would may be hell to pay. I could tell them later that I had been kept in the dark. I could tell them that I had not been part of the raid. I was worried.
"Hey, it‟s your shot." I came back to earth with Johnny nudging me with his cue.
"Okay,okay." I took a slug of my beer just to show him that I was not in a hurry. I missed an easy shot.
I could go missing and not go on the raid, I almost certainly would wake up dead one morning, or at least have my knee caps drilled with a Black and Decker. No, my mind was not on the game of pool.
"Make that your last you two." Tommy warned us as he left.
I walked home with Johnny and his mother made sandwiches in the back kitchen.
"Fancy a quick bike ride?" I needed to get some fresh air.
"Not me." Johnny shook his head. I jumped up and left before Johnny changed his mind. I needed to go for a long bike ride to clear my head.
I stopped on the way out of Belfast to fill up and then just followed my nose, not really caring where I was going. After about an hour and a half I found myself coming back into Belfast through Holywood, I wondered if I should go in and see Simon?
I pulled into the main gate and the Para came from behind his sandbag wall, I pulled the helmet off so he could see my full head.
"I‟m here to see Lt. Adder, Intelligence, or Major Ellis." I handed him my driving licence and he disappeared into the gatehouse, and after a while came back and handed my licence and lifted the gate.
Simon met me downstairs, and we stayed outside, I was still very wound up and felt better outside.
Simon listened to what I had to say, I told him of all my fears, we sat down on one of the walls.
"Listen, Billy - this has gone right to the top, The Secretary of State and all the top brass are following this. And it‟s come down we need you where you are at present, we are watching all the ports, we are aware that there is a big load of something coming in from somewhere in the Middle East." Simon took his cigarettes out and offered me one, "the money the IRA get tomorrow will fund more action, but it's small bier. It costs the Government seven million pounds a week to keep the army here, then there‟s the cost in lives lost, we‟re losing lads every day, civilians killed and maimed." He sat quietly for a while and let me digest this information, " If we could shorten this conflict by a week, a month, maybe a year think of that?" I sat there taking all this in. He now needed to build me back up, "I‟m sure there‟s a medal in this for you." I kept eye contact with him trying to evaluate what he was saying. "They know what you‟re doing, they know what you‟re going through." he was silenced again for a short while, "If it all goes tits up remember this - you are only following orders, you‟ll be out of there so quickly. Your tracks will be covered, you‟ll be the hero. One last thing, how many men would we have had to put in to get someone in as far as you?" I took the last drag out of my cigarette and threw it to the ground.
"Okay I‟m needing a good night‟s sleep." Simon patted me on the back, which is as much as he could do.
I wandered down to the food hall and filled my plate and ignored the four Paras giving me grief and making remarks about the length of my hair. I never finished the meal.
On the way back I filled the bike to the top with petrol, I did not want to run out tomorrow. Although I was in bed by ten I did not fall asleep until well after two.
Friday 7
th July1972. The next morning I was wide awake at five thirty and I lay there for a few minutes but started to fret, so I got up and had a bath. Smoking and eating is not the best thing, but I had a fag going most of the time and could not finish the toast. I rode round to the O‟Neil‟s house and stood the bike outside, with my pistol in my pocket. The front door was open, the kitchen was full, and I stood in the corner while Tommy gave last orders.
"Then on Sunday morning we all meet upstairs in Jenson‟s and I‟ll have your shares, it‟s a thousand for soldiers and two thousand for commanders and that‟s the way it is."
Tommy looked round to see if anyone was going to disagree. No one said anything a thousand pounds was more than they could ever save. Johnny climbed onto the back of the bike, the rest got into the back of a removal van to be dropped off at their respective places. Tommy‟s job was now done and he made his way to the bus depot, he had a meeting with the bus management. He would have an alibi.
As we rode to the docks, our job was to find out which vehicle they were using and run round and tell the blocking truck. We put our scarves around our faces as we stood on the side of the road waiting. Every minute felt like an hour, but eventually the short bus came along, the same one they used last week. We let them pass and made our way to where the ram vehicle was sitting and told Jacky Woods what they were driving. He gave Johnny the thumbs up out of his cab. I wondered what people thought of a driver sat high up in a earth moving truck wearing a helmet. We then drove on and told the next lorry, which was a flat - back, still with all its load of coal - it had just been stolen that morning. We then made our way to the bank on the High Street they had just loaded up the money, we rode past and turned right at the end, the others followed. I was trying to stay just far enough ahead so I could keep an eye on everything. Yes,
they turned off exactly as we had predicted, I raced ahead even more. As I passed the coal lorry I beeped the horn, then under the bridge and beeped Jacky Woods.
I pulled over to the side of the road, Johnny leapt off and I stood the bike on its stand.
As the bus came down the road it moved out to pass a car parked under the bridge, Jacky pulled out and drove right into the bus full on, the bus had nowhere to go. The back of the bus lifted up, the driver shot halfway through the windscreen.
That would have been enough but the coal lorry sped up behind and rammed into the back of it, surely anyone in that bus would have had all the fight knocked out of them. I followed Johnny under the bridge. All the windows in the bus were out, steam pouring out of the front, the driver half in half out covered in blood. Four of the men, who until now had been sitting in the back of the removal lorry now ran over. One was carrying the old Tommy gun and the rest had sawn off shot guns or pistols.
One of the men in the bus had started to get up he would have been better off staying down. The first man on to the bus, who was carrying a shot gun just fired straight at the head of the stunned guard. He then shouted, "stay down" bits of the guards head had gone out of the smashed window. Nobody else moved but I didn‟t think they could have anyway. They would have been in shock at all of this action.
There were four big heavy black boxes which were padlocked. They were quickly moved over to the removal lorry and lifted on. Then every one jumped in the back of the lorry, including Johnny which took me by surprise.
I was not escaping in the same way, my bike was still on the other side of the bridge, that bike was registered to me at my address and had only covered up the number plate with a piece of cardboard and black sticky tape. I turned and ran back past the carnage under the bridge. People were starting to come out of near by businesses. I still had my scarf on my face and still wore my helmet
I jumped onto my bike and rode. I did not want to ride through the bridge, the gap was too small and I would be vulnerable to someone stopping and pulling me off the bike. I knew the area well and decided to go the opposite way down into the dock area. I left the docks by the Dee Street exit.
I now needed to get rid of the bike.
There was a ping, as I opened the door of the shop.
"Hello my friend." Sid the shop owner was behind the till as usual. I was good business to him, I paid good rent and kept quiet and did not cause him too much trouble with the flat.
"Hi Sid," I closed the door "Could I put my motor bike in your back yard, I am worried that someone will try to pinch it."
"Sure, sure. Anything to help I‟ll open the back door now."
He yelled through to his wife, "Mallika come and watch the shop." His wife came out smiling and Sid went through the back.
I had to rev the bike quite hard to mount the back step and the exhaust made a scraping sound on the step as I pushed it hard to get it over the sill. Sid had to move his dustbin and I nearly dropped the bike but we managed to get the bike in. Sid did not say anything when he watched me remove the cardboard off the number plate.
"I don‟t use it that much, so it may be here for a while." Sid closed the back door and bolted it. I never saw that bike again.
I let myself in to the flat and hid the gun under the floorboards beside the phone. I then stripped all my clothes off and got dressed with a fresh set. Now to get rid of the clothes, I went under the kitchen sink and found a brown paper carrier bag which was big enough for the helmet and the clothes.
I left the flat and went down the back lane, there were dustbins outside most back gates but I choose to go a bit further and crossed over the street into the next alley. The first couple of dustbins were full but the third one had loads of room. When I got back to number 37 I put the kettle on and scrubbed my hands making sure I got under the nails, I did not want any trace of gun oil.
It was still only twelve fifteen. I put the radio on and sat on the sofa, waiting for the twelve thirty news. There was a quick mention on the news that a man had been shot in the dockland part of Belfast but no mention of the wage snatch.
I sat around till half past two and decided to go to Johnny‟s house. There was no answer so I wandered around to the bus stop and caught the bus to Holywood.
Ellis and Simon listened carefully, making notes of who was on the raid and asking questions every now and again. To talk it through did help me come to terms with was I had been involved in, and also somehow getting the nod of approval.
I did not stay for long, I would be missed. If Johnny came by I would not have an excuse so after the meeting I left and went back to number 37.
Just before the six o‟clock news there was a knock on the door and a quick look out of the top window told me it was Johnny. He followed me up the stairs.
"Where the fuck did you go to." He did not sound too angry.
"I was not leaving the bike there, I had to get rid of it, and you fugging left me on my own," I sat down in the lounge, and Johnny threw a brown paper bag on the table, he was smiling from ear to ear.
"Well I was not letting that money go off with them thieving bastards." He pointed to the bag. "Go on have a look," I had not really taken much notice of the bag, "go on." he persisted.
I opened the bag it was half full of pound notes, still with the bands from the around each bundle. I looked at Johnny, he grinned and nodded.
"Six grand each." He took the bag off me and poured the money over my head.
"Six fucking grand." I sat there amazed, "There was nearly a quarter of a million pounds in them boxes, a quarter of a million" and while I sat there in a puddle of money Johnny told me what had happened while I had been busy disposing of the bike.
" After the lorry was torched and them lot disappeared. Seamus Docherty and me took the boxes back to his house and counted the money." He beamed at me, "we could not believe how much money was there, and guess who turned up," I just sat there and looked, how could I know? "Noel Douglas himself." he announced.
"I‟d fucking turn up as well if you were giving me sacks full of money." This went over Johnny‟s head either that, or he just chose to ignore it.
Johnny said , "Well I‟m happy with six fucking grand for less than two days work." I looked at Johnny, he was pleased but I‟m not sure he had thought of the consequences if we got caught.
"Let‟s just hope no one talks." I was stacking the packages of money in nice neat piles. "Every one of those men will be dying to tell someone about today, and when they do the other person will tell some else and the next thing you know we‟ll all be banged up."
Johnny started to see where I was coming from.
"They won‟t talk, no." He thought about it a bit longer, "No, they won‟t talk, my Dad will see to that." but Johnny still had a worried look on his face.
I wanted to get out. "Come on let‟s go into town and have a ball." I looked at Johnny, he thought about it for a few seconds then his face broke out into a smile.
"Why not?." He jumped up, "I‟ll go and get ready."
He disappeared down the stairs and I looked round for somewhere to hide the cash. Eventually I just put it under the floorboards with the direct phone line.
If someone was looking that hard I was in big trouble anyway, but just in case, I left ten pounds on the table in the lounge. If anyone did burgle the flat they may be happy with what amounted to half a week‟s wage.
I jumped in the bath and afterwards made my way to Johnny‟s house. I was surprised to find him ready, not that he done much just changed his jeans and washed his face.
We walked over the Albert Bridge, being careful. You always had to be careful in places that Catholics and Protestants both used. It was a way of life even before the troubles.
I don‟t remember getting home, what I do remember is saying , "never again."
My big problem was - had I say anything stupid?
Chapter 27.
Saturday 8
th July 1972. I met Denise on following the Saturday night and we fell into the pattern of a few drinks and back to my place early. I think we were starting to fall in love at this point. I loved her easy smile and lovely white skin and the passion. We lay in bed until just after eleven and then walked round to the taxi office. The taxi came too soon for me, but she had to be home. I gave her two pounds to cover the taxi fare and kissed good bye.
"I‟ll see you on Thursday."
The taxi roared off and I was left there watching it go.
On Sunday morning Johnny knocked on the door, I almost jumped through the roof even though I was expecting a knock.
"Are you not ready yet?" Johnny was carrying a small cheap suitcase.
"What‟s in the bag?" I pointed at the case.
"It‟s the boy‟s money." He held it up, "My Dad did not want to be carrying it so we‟re taking it, so you better hurry up." He made a sign that I should get ready.
We entered the upstairs of Jenson‟s and there was a little cheer. Tommy was over on the back wall. Johnny walked over and handed the suitcase to him.
Tommy stood up, "Before I give out the money I want to reiterate," he leaned on the suitcase, everyone eyes were on the suitcase "I don‟t want to hear of people throwing money around, shooting their mouths off, or any boasting. Remember if the boys," he nodded in the direction of the police station, "get to hear of this, we could all go down for a long time." He sat down and opened the suitcase. Inside were brown paper bags with names on them.
"There‟s a bit of a bonus in each one, Jacky." Jacky went over and collected his parcel.
"Jed." And one by one they collected their money, most quickly looking inside and closing the bag to be counted in private.
The atmosphere in the room was good, laughing and joking and everyone drifted down stairs to have a pint. Some slipped off.
"Come on, anyone. Play for a tenner?" Johnny was up for some real pool, to the death.
For most of the afternoon we played pool.
"Double or nothing." We did not care, at first it was just for ten pounds but we had won a couple with double or nothing and soon playing for eighty pounds.
The drink began to kick in, we had been there for over four hours and the pub was full of regular Sunday afternoon drinkers.
Over in the corner a couple of friends of Danny Steele were watching, we did not have a game with them.
A hundred and sixty pounds sat on the table, the money always had to be on the table. It was part of the game, if it was for a pint or ten bob, it had to sit there as a reward.
The game was cagey, safe from the start. Pocket blocking, leaving the man up on the top cushion, it was part of the game. It was also much harder because everyone was watching, everyone knew that a month‟s wages sat on the table and ego‟s were going to be damaged.
Every shot was discussed options, options, and options.
Old men who played dominoes for two pence a point started to go quiet, top pool players who played for clubs or pubs through the whole of Belfast sat and watched.
"Just lay that ball over the pocket." Johnny whispered in my ear.
The beer was clouding my judgment, "But I could wrap this up if I run down there and pot that and then I‟ll be on the black."
"No, lay up." Johnny insisted, and my hands were sweating. The pub had gone very quiet.
"Where the fuck has this sort of money come from?" the pub was so quiet every one heard it.
"It‟s the wage snatch money." A voice in the corner.
Johnny, like a viper was over and punched the man, one blow and he went down, he was wise to go down. I would have gone down just as easily because everyone knew who his Dad was. Everyone knew it was not worth standing up to Johnny, the price was too high.
"Come on play." Johnny pointed at Jed and his pal.
But it was not the game that was important now. No, what was important now was everyone knew where the money had come from.
Anyone who would like to stitch Johnny, or his father and a few others, including me, now had that little bit of information they needed.
We played out the game and we won, but we had lost.
Johnny collected up the pile of pound notes, his hands were trembling and we were out of there.
It was drizzling as we left.
I said, "Maybe we should tell your Dad." Johnny spun on his heels.
"What? That we just won at pool, don‟t be daft."
"No, what really happened." We stood head to head.
Johnny knew that we had done wrong. Johnny knew that apart from putting an advert on page one of the Belfast Gazette we could not have done much worse. We walked back to his house in silence.
"I think your dad has to know." I tried again.
"No, it‟s nowt to do with him." Johnny was getting mad, his quick temper ready to blow.
"When do we go and see Jonass then?" Johnny did not want to think about this either, I could see him building up a head of steam.
"Look we‟ll talk about this tomorrow." I patted him on the shoulder. He was happy to leave things for a while.
"Aye, see you tomorrow." He went through the door.
I made my way back to number 37 and on the way back made my mind up that I was not stopping in that house tonight.
I quickly lifted the carpet.
"Simon Adder please." I waited, it seemed like forever.
"What‟s up?" It was Simon. I quickly told him what had happened in Jenson‟s. About the pool game and the remarks and Johnny punching someone.
"So?" Simon wanted to find out what I felt about it.
"Well, I think people will be talking." I made it a bit clearer, "I think people will be talking to the police or someone who may want a piece of all this money." There was one of Simon's little silences.
"The RUC are involved in this and you won‟t be able to save me from them." silence again, "I need to know if you‟ve heard anything from the police?"
"Just the normal intelligence coming in," Simon was being guarded, "but I‟m monitoring it all and they don‟t seem to be getting anywhere." I heard Simon shuffling some papers, "They have got a lot of men on the job. What do you expect?"
I had heard enough, "Okay, But I want you to come and get me if things turn sour, I‟m not sitting in jail for years while you lot try and get me out."
"All right, phone in later today I‟ll have a full update."
I put the phone down and took out all of the money and the pistol from the hole in the floorboards. I then got my suitcase from off the top of the wardrobe and quickly packed the few clothes I had. I threw all the money and the pistol into the suitcase as well.
It was still only five thirty in the evening as I strolled along to the taxi office.
"Hi, I‟m going to Newtownards, my Gran is ill. But I don‟t want to stay at her house it stinks so I was wondering if you knew any bed and breakfast places there?"
The taxi driver smiled, "Sure I know few from there, I used to live there." He set off.
"So what‟s wrong with her?" the taxi driver was trying to be friendly.
"I think it‟s a heart attack, but I‟m not sure. It sounds like she may not last long." It took twenty five minutes but eventually we pulled up front of a pub and the driver jumped out and disappeared. I just sat there.
"Come in kid." The driver was knocking on the door, I followed him inside. There was a strong smell of beer and dust, with men sitting quietly nursing their drink. The landlady was behind the bar.
"It‟s thirteen shillings a night."
"That‟s fine." What else could I say?
"And one and six for breakfast." She was trying to earn a bit more once she had seen how easily I had taken the price.
"Fine." I started to get some money out.
"And if you want the room to yourself its another two bob." She was on a roll, a little bonus.
"Fine." The taxi driver was beaming and the landlady smiled.
I paid her for three nights.
She looked at the taxi driver "What you having Billy?"
"Just a double." She looked at Billy, just one of those looks but she gave him a double of the cheap whiskeys.
As she lead the way up the back stairs I used the story about my ran to explain myself.
"So I don‟t think she‟ll last long, the dear old thing." she showed me the room. It had two beds. A double and a single, with a wardrobe half covering the window.
"You must be in by closing time, breakfast is not till nine, we don‟t get up early and no ladies." She stood there watching to see if I would take these late instructions.
We both went down stairs and Billy was just finishing his whiskey. I gave him a ten bob tip.
"Do you want another?" I offered Billy a drink.
"No, no, Okay then just a double." I also bought the landlady one and got myself a pint of shandy. They exchanged glances at my choice of drinks.
Billy had one more before he left explaining that, "It‟ll be a long day."
I sat in the early evening, reading the local paper and finished my drink off. Later I went upstairs and had a look round. I needed somewhere to hide the money and the gun. The wardrobe looked the best at first glance. It was full to the brim with someone else‟s clothes, sheets and blankets.
The under side of the bed was full of dust and fishing tackle, which told me that no one went there very often, the single divan had two drawers built in the bottom, Wellingtons, waterproofs, long johns and fishing reels. I eventually plumbed for under the mattress of the double bed.
Well if they were looking they would find it anyway, so the money and the gun were laid flat as possible under the far corner. I had a little lie down and fell asleep.
I awoke feeling not very refreshed, groggy really but I had a quick face wash in the tiny sink. Then I placed the suitcase on the double bed so it would be the first thing seen as you came in the room, and took a matchstick and put it in the fold of the lid. If anyone opened the suitcase the match would fall to the bed and I would know. I left a five pound note on the top of the suitcase in an exact position, just one more sign. I then had one look round the room, just to see how everything was placed.
I went down stairs and the bar was busy. There were people playing all sorts of instruments, banjo, fiddle, guitar and whistles and singing. I bought myself a pint and managed to find a seat. The night rolled on and the singing got louder and the songs became more rebellious. Last orders came and went the beer was being pulled, the songs got louder, it was a great night. After a good night I made my way upstairs, as soon as I entered the room I knew someone had been in. The fiver was still there but was nowhere near where I had placed it. The match stick had fallen out and was lying on the bed. Someone had been in the suitcase. I quickly lifted the mattress up and saw the money and pistol were still in the same place. I now looked round the bedroom, most things had moved, just a little bit here and a little bit there, but someone had been through this room. I sat and considered the implications, should I carry the money with me, which was fairly bulky or leave it where it was. I fell asleep still not sure.
The next morning I awoke, it was still too early to get breakfast. It was a nice lie-in. I put the radio on and listened to the morning news.
BBC, Radio Ulster.
Over twenty men have been arrested in dawn raids throughout the province, the RUC stated that most or all the men involved in the wage snatch, which is believed to have netted the raiders over half a million pounds have now been rounded up. The raids started at four in the morning and have been going on all morning. Chief Inspector Thompson of the RUC went on to say......... I jumped out of bed, my heart went into overdrive. I leapt out of bed and got dressed. There was no sound of the landlady or anyone else being up. I made the bed I did not want anyone else touching the bed. I made my way down the stairs I needed to get out but the front door was bolted and a strong iron bar across the door with a big brass padlock. I stuck my head into the bar and a strong smell of stale beer hit me. As I made my way back up stairs the landlady came out of one of the rooms wearing a dirty old dressing gown.
"It‟s too early for breakfast." She looked at me.
"No, it‟s okay, but I need to get to the hospital to see if my Grandmother is alright.
She padded down in front of me carrying a large bunch of keys.
"Well, breakfast will be over before you come back."
"I‟ll be okay, I may be late anyway." She slammed the door behind me. I made my way down to John Street and waited for the bus back to Belfast.
The bus seemed to take forever. I got off a stop before my normal stop so I could come in along Madrid Street. It gave me the longest view of my front door. I walked straight past on the other side of the road, it seemed normal and my drop trigger was still in place.
I made my way round to Johnny‟s house I knocked on the door.
Mrs O‟Neil opened the door and she had obviously been crying. I could see the door had been smashed in.
"They‟ve taken Tommy and Johnny." I followed her into the kitchen.
"When did this happen?"
"Four o‟clock this morning." She started to weep again, I waited for her to calm down.
"They searched the house, they‟ve turned the place upside down, all of Tommy union papers have been taken. They even turned the bed right over." There was a bit more sobbing, "I think they broke Johnny‟s arm."
I put the kettle on and listened has she told the story.
The house full of dirty army bastards, beating her family half to death and dragging them off to God know where.
"Have they not been to your place?" Her eyes narrowed.
"I don‟t know, I stayed at my Grandmothers house last night, I slept on the couch." It was the first thing that came into my head, "I may not go home now I may just stay with Gran for a while." I tried to be positive, "They may let them go, they‟ve no proof."
"They don‟t need proof they‟ll be locked up in Long Kesh. I‟ll never see them again." She started to cry again, I touched her shoulder she shrugged me off.
I needed to get out of there. I needed to talk to Simon. I was not too sure that Simon was telling me the truth or that I had the protection that he claimed.
"Well I‟m off now and I‟ll try and find out what I can."
She did not look up and the front door did not close properly.
I decided to go over and see Jonass, and on the way phone Simon. He did not know where I was at this time and would be worried. There was a line of four telephone boxes on Chichester Street and I had three two bob pieces in my pocket.
"Hello." The pips went and I pushed the money in.
"Hello, Holywood Barracks." A young girl answered.
"Hello, could you please put me through to Intelligence on extension 3232?"
"Who‟s calling?"
"Billy Deery."
"One moment please." She pressed some buttons.
"Hello, Intel." Someone was obviously eating a sandwich.
"It‟s Billy Deery, can you get me Simon Adder."
I could hear the buzz of the office, "Lt. Adder, it‟s Deery, he‟s in a pay box."
"Where are you?" Simon sounded a bit flustered.
"I‟m in the middle of Belfast, I stayed out last night." I looked round to make sure no one was listening, "look have they done my place?"
"No I called them off."
"What, are you mad? If I don‟t get lifted I‟m a goner. You either pull me out or you lift me." I was fuming. Simon was now realising his mistake.
"I‟ve got a few things to do, but I‟ll be back at the flat in four or five hours. You either pull me or lift me."
"Fine, be careful." I hung up.
I made my way to Divis Flats and knocked on Jonas‟s door. He was drunk.
"Everyone‟s been lifted." I explained. He was unconcerned, his wages came from another source and he could have another team set up in a few days.
"Did you get followed here?"
"No, do you think I‟m stupid?" I had not even bothered to look once, so I lied.
"They want us to do a bomb disposal shooting, double money." He watched my face. It was all about money with Jonass.
He looked at me and said , "I need the gun." He took another pull of the bottle of beer.
"No way, we‟ll be ready in two days, then we‟ll be up and running as a team." I looked at him defiantly.
"Okay two days, then I go for the gun myself." I was out of there as quickly as possible. I made my way back into the bus station and got the seven past to Newtownards.
"How‟s your Gran?" The landlady said as I walked in.
"Not to good, I‟ve been with her all day and she wants me to go back to Belfast and not hang around." I watched to see how this went down.
"Well I can‟t give you a refund." She pointed to the beer pump and I shook my head.
"No thanks, I think I‟ll just pack up and go." I shot upstairs and into my room, the triggers were still in place, so the first look round last night was enough.
I peeled back the mattress and the money and gun were still there.
I just caught the bus and I had the suitcase under my seat. I needed a safe place for the money. Could I trust Sid the shop keeper? No. I could not take it home they will search that place in a few hours. I got off the bus in the town centre still not sure what to do with the money. Eventually I decided that the warehouse where Jonass had left the gun on that very first day was as good as any place I strolled round and before I went through the fence had a good look round, no one was watching.
The window had been boarded up again but it soon came off and I clambered in. The rickety old step ladders were still at the far end of the warehouse, there was one more rung missing but it did the job. I hid the money and the gun and made my way back to number 37.
I lifted the carpet, "Tell Simon I‟m back." I put the phone away.
I made a cup of tea and watched the news on the television. Then as a last resort started to think of the things that I did not want them to find, so hid the mugshot book under the floorboards and poured the milk away, I did not want the to be off when I came back. I made two slices of toast with the last of the bread.
Eventually I went to bed but kept my clothes on. I did not want to be dragged out in the buff.
When they did arrive it was just after three in the morning and as I was led out the vigilantes were there to see it. Women came out onto the streets and banged anything that would make a noise, dust bin lids, pots and pans.
"Leave the lad alone, he‟s not done anything. " They put on a good show, but they always did.
I was taken out in hand cuffs and stuffed into the back of a grey Land Rover, soldiers stood around at the ready.
Chapter 28.
Sunday 8th July 1972. They took me to Crumlin Road jail. The corridors were half lit and no one was there to see me being signed in. Eventually I was placed in a cell on the second floor of „B‟ wing.
Simon came in the room with two cups of tea and sat on the edge of my bed.
Simon handed me a cigarette and said, "So what happens now?" I lit the cigarette and stood leaning against the wall.
"Well what have you done with all the others?" I wanted to know how near any trouble may be.
Simon thought about it for a while, "They‟re spread all over the province in police stations, some in Long Kesh and one in Holywood Barracks." I thought for a minute.
"Has any one been released?"
"Yes, most of them, because the RUC just lifted anyone who could have been involved and they all had alibis."
"So in theory you could just question me for a day and release me?" I did not want to be here, it‟s not what I was sent in to do.
"Yes, you‟re calling the shots. We have released Tommy O‟Neil already. He had an alibi, but we still have Johnny."
I looked quizzically, "Why?"
"He had three hundred pounds in his pocket and no way of explaining it." We both went silent.
I threw my cigarette into the bucket in the corner, "Ok, leave me in here for a day then release me, I‟ll make the rest up."
Simon stood up, we had a plan and he was happy. I sat in the cell all the next day and was only let out for meals.
I was taken into the mess hall when all the other inmates were coming out. This was so I could not communicate with any one. But it did make sure I was seen.
Monday 10
th July 1972. The next morning I was released. I made my way round to see Jonass.
I told Jonass why I had not been to collect the gun.
"We must work, we have a job." He kept looking at his watch, he was in a hurry.
"Okay, just tell me where and when." I needed to stay in the loop.
"It vill be more difficult, they want a bomb disposal, that‟s what they want." He shrugged and nodded his head.
This was something I was not happy with, it made it to personal, too selective and it made me realise I had had enough.
"Can you have the gun tomorrow?" Jonass looked at me.
"Of course."
"We set it for tomorrow, a package, a phone call." Jonass made a pistol with his hand "Poof."
I kept a straight face, this was not the time or the place, but it was soon approaching.
I walked home, it just one of those things, walking helps you think.
By the time I found my front door which had been repaired, another new lock. The key did not work. I went round to see Sid.
TING, the shop bell announced that I was back.
"Hi Sid, my key does not work." He finished giving change to an old lady, a regular.
He opened the till and took out a key "this is the second time my friend are you a bad lad?‟
"No, No, someone just looks like me and they keep lifting me." I put my best innocent look on, "Any way, how much did it cost? I‟ll pay you."
The receipt was right in front of him. He picked it up and showed me. It was almost half a weeks rent. I got a pint of milk out of the crate and picked up a loaf.
"What‟s the damage altogether?"
He nodded his head as he added it up. "Two pounds twenty one."
"Ta." He smiled, we were friends again.
The lock had been put on badly and was stiff. I made my way upstairs to see how much damage had been done. All the doors were open to cupboards and the cushions were off the sofa but they had not really done much and the carpet was still down in the bedroom. I made a cup of tea and lifted the carpet. "Simon please."
"It‟s me." Simon had been waiting.
"I‟ve been to see Jonass and we start work again tomorrow. Simon he wants to shoot a bomb disposal, it‟s all planned and I‟m not happy. I can‟t justify this, we have to stop this now. I think we should just lift the man. Cut and run."
Simon took his time answering me, "Those higher up the ladder decide. They know what‟s going on right up to the Secretary for State, this is big bier. I would not be surprised if the Prime Minister did not know that this was going on."
I was starting to feel trapped. I was never in control of what was happening but a least until this point I felt I had a get out clause. My batteries had just run out.
"Alright, alright I get the message." I hung up without saying good bye. The phone was a one way line, without a ring for me to hear.. so Simon could not ring me back.
I quickly tidied the flat and went round to the chip shop.
On the way back I called at Johnny‟s house. I did not go in. Johnny was still banged up and Tommy was at a meeting.
"Well I thought I‟d just let you know that I was out, no evidence against me and my Gran covered my arse with a few lies about me cutting the grass all day."
The next morning I knocked on Jonass‟s door bright and early. He just opened the door and walked back up the small passage into his living room I followed.
He was dressed and ready to go and he seemed sober. He made two cups of tea and I looked out of his window, which overlooked and small army station across the road. They had taken over an old builder‟s yard which had an arch door entrance and on each side of the gate they had big steel Sangers with camouflage netting strewn over.
Here, Jonass handed me my tea. "So where is Johnny?"
"Still inside I think, he had money on him when they called." I took a slug of my tea, it was still very hot. "My grandmother gave me an alibi, she said I was cutting her grass all day." I looked at him to see id he accepted my explanation.
"Well we don‟t have time to get someone else in. Will you be able to get the gun on your own?"
"Sure." I wondered if Kathleen Kerry would be in, but if she was I could carry the gun on my own.
As we finished our tea Jonass went over the plan.
He was to meet me on the junction where the attack would be. I had to have the gun and be there no later than two thirty.
I looked at his wall clock and I left. I had quite a few things to do before two thirty. Firstly I went round to Kathleen‟s house.
As she answered the door, "where‟s Johnny?" she popped her head out of the door and looked both ways.
"He‟s in nick, he got lifted." I went through to the kitchen.
"Do you want a cuppa?" she started to put the big kettle on the stove.
"No I‟ve just had one, but I need the gun." I made my way into the cupboard and lifted the floorboards. The bag was damp.
"Go on then I‟ll have one." The gun metal was showing a little rust and if Jonass saw that he would go mad.
Kathleen made a cup of tea while I told her of the hold up and how we had been arrested. All the while I cleaned the gun and oiled it and when I thought it was good enough for the Sergeant Major to inspect it I split it into two and packed it away carefully placing the two badminton racquets on top. I finished my tea.
"I‟d better be going, time's a bit short." I gave Kathleen a peck on the cheek. I had never done this before but I knew I would never see her again.
It was one of those situations where you just had to take big risks, I just had to carry everything today and I had to take the risks.
I jumped a number seven bus. It was only three stops but I was in a hurry. Four pence well spent. From there I walked over the Albert Bridge and made my way to where the money and pistol were stored.
The duffle bag was quite full with the money rammed in as well as the gun and racquets with my tee shirt and shorts on top. I threw away my old towel. I checked the pistol. It was a little dry so I gave it quick oil. I decided to leave over the top wall. It was further away from prying eyes and walked over The Queen Elisabeth Bridge.
My throat was feeling very dry so I made my way to Victoria Square and had a coffee in the Wimpey Bar on the corner. I started to think of Denise. Should I call her?
I quickly drank off the coffee and walked to the bus station.
I could just do a runner. I could be in Liverpool before anyone realised that I was gone. Or I get myself into Ireland and hole up somewhere in the south? But could I leave Jonass doing his dirty work?
I still had an hour. I still had an hour to disappear. I was wet through with sweat, I took my jacket off.
The number fourteen to Lisburn and Omagh pulled onto the stand, it was the bus I needed to get out to where Jonass would be waiting. I decided to walk, to give me more time to think.
Jonass was where he said he would be, standing at the bus stop. Nobody would look twice at someone at a bus stop. I walked passed him and he followed me.
"Pisstt. Hey." I looked round he was in the doorway of some shops that had been closed down and boarded up. He pushed the door and we went in. It was dark and damp. We carried on through the building past some old shelves that had fallen down. The back door had already been broken open, and into the back yard. There was barbed wire on angle iron on the top of the back wall with a set of wooden ladders leaning against the wall. I climbed up the ladders with the duffle bag still on my shoulder. I could see that the back wall was only a yard and a half away from another wall and from there was waste land open at the far end. The barbed wire had been cut and hung down on both sides of the wall. We went back into the shop and made our way upstairs. Littler and debris lay all over the place making it hard to walk. The stairs were quiet clear.
"The car bomb will be planted in half an hour" he pointed over the road, "then a phone call" he made a phone out of his fingers "Mit the code word."
I got the gun out making sure that Jonass did not see what else was in the bag. Jonass inspected the gun and gave it a clean and oil, I busied myself with making sure nothing got in our way if we had to move fast.
Jonass then went on to make his platform for the gun. There was no furniture but plenty of scraps of wood. Using a piece of twine he made a tepee shaped out of four lengths of wood and stood them near the window and then carefully tied the gun to one of the bits of wood. He then went into his hand washing mode. I was trying to keep myself busy, checking the exit, looking over the wall again and removing anything in the way. We settled down, me with the bag close to me, smoking virtually all the time. Jonass was just watching.
"Look." Jonass tensed up and I jumped up and looked through the dirty glass.
About two hundred and fifty yards up the road an old van had been parked, and a man was walking away.
"It‟s a long way." I was looking for reasons for Jonass to fail.
"Not for me." He smiled, his teeth were black and some of them were missing.
Jonass now had his angle, he picked up an old shoe lying on the floor and pressed it against the small window which would be directly in line to the van. It gave way after on the second attempt, now he had a clear line of sight. I went back and sat down.
Why did I let Simon push me into this? I could have just done my duty on the buses. Put my reports in, found myself a girl, had a good time. Why didn‟t we just lift Jonass when we found him, job done, pin the medal on me and move on? How did I let them push me into all sorts of things I did not want to be doing? Why don‟t I just stand up and leave, I had money. I did not want to be here.
Jonass suddenly stiffened I stood up. I looked over his shoulder, the Army had arrived. One of the pigs had blocked the road no further than fifty yards from us, soldiers deploying, guns pointing. At the far end I could see the blue flashing light of the bomb disposal Land Rover. The officer was putting on his body armour and face mask. I stood behind Jonass, my heart was thumping, and I was nearly passing out with the amount of adrenalin running through my veins.
Slowly the officer moved forward towards the van. Jonass was watching it all through the telescopic sights.
The officer spoke into to a recording device, bending down to look under the van.
A shot rang out.
Suddenly Jonass slumped to the floor. The top part of his head was missing. I still had my jacket wrapped round my pistol. I turned away and nearly fainted. Then my breakfast and the coffee I had just drunk shot out of my mouth. I fell on to the floor I could hardly breathe.
I waited, sure that the army would crash through the door and run up the stairs. No sound, nothing.
Somehow I managed to pull myself to my feet and through my jacket over the head of Jonass. There was blood all over the wall and window. Through the hole in the pain of glass I could see the army were still facing the bomb. They had heard nothing and were completely unaware of the scene happening right beside them.
I untied the rifle from the makeshift tripod and split in two and rammed it into the duffle bag and put the pistol on top, easier to get at in a hurry. Then, slowly and carefully I picked my way to the ladders in the back yard.
The jump from one wall to another was a bit tricky. Falling now would be bad news. I threw the bag down and dropped myself to the ground and lit a cigarette as I walk across the waste ground to the road.
There was no going back now but I did not care. I just had a feeling of release. A massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders, I had done my bit and I was off. But would Denise come?
I carried on down the road just trying to put as much distance between me and Jonass‟s dead body.
Slowly I formulated a plan. No one at this time would be looking for me, even if they found the body it would take a long time to find out who he was.
It was now ten minutes to four and Denise would be finishing work at five thirty I had to get a move on.
"Could I have a taxi please?" I had found a telephone that worked, but most of the small windows had been kicked out and it stunk of piss, "yes I‟m on the junction of Ethel Street and Lisburn Road and I‟m a bit late for badminton……ta, I‟ve got a duffle bag." He must have been close because I had only just lit another cigarette when he arrived.
I jumped in, "Hi, I‟m late for team practice," I pointed at the bag on the back seat " could you just drop me near the Ballygowan Road motor bike shops, the court is just round the back." The fare was sixty five pence I gave him eighty pence and waited for my twenty pence change. I did not want to attract attention by giving big tips.
I knew as soon as I walked in the bike shop which bike I wanted, it had to be middle sized and had to have a rack on the back to carry any bags.
"Can I help you?" I liked him, no shirt and tie here. He was just wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater.
"Yes I‟ve been saving up for a year now and saw this bike last week." I pointed at a BSA.
"Ah the Roadster a lovely bike, it‟s in perfect nick with only one old gentleman owner." He pointed a few things out to me but I was not interested.
"How quickly could I have the bike on the road?" I tried not to look at my watch.
"I think I could have it ready by tomorrow."
"I‟ll give you an extra two quid if you had it all done by five fifteen." I held his gaze.
"Fifty one pounds have you got that?" He looked me up and down.
"Sure cash, get the bike ready and do the paperwork." I started to get the money out.
"And do you want a helmet, it‟s better to have a helmet." he lifted the bike off the stand and we pushed it over to the door of the office.
„No but I‟ll take a jacket."
I tried a few jackets on while he filled in the paperwork and found the keys, "I‟ll have these gloves and this scarf and this jacket."
"Okay that‟s fifty six pounds and ninety five pence." he beamed at me, it had made his week.
He gave me a rubber bungee and we fixed the duffle bag on to the panniers. I could see the handle of the pistol in the top of the bag but he never looked as if he saw it.
I stalled it twice before I got the bike going. I knew I did not have much time so made my way round to where Denise would be coming out of work. I looked over the bike while I waited. It still had half a tank of petrol.
"Hi," she did not hear, "HEY, Denise." She looked round and her eyes focused on me and she ran across the road.
"Come on I‟ll give you a lift home." I beamed.
"When did you get this?" She looked at the bike.
I avoided the question by saying , "I got it with my last pay, come on get on I‟ll go slowly." I sat on the bike and she had quite a hard time getting on with high heels and a short skirt. Flashing her stocking tops to anyone who was looking.
I took the long way to her house, and a few times she tried to talk to me but I needed to keep my eyes on the road.
Eventually I stopped in a lay-by. I stopped the bike and she got off then I stood the bike in the stand and put my arms around her. After a quick kiss I pulled back.
"I‟m leaving, I‟ve have got to get out of here." I watched her face, she was a bit confused.
"Where are you going?" She looked hurt.
"I‟m going to England, anywhere really I just have to get away from here." tears was welling up in her eyes.
"I want you to come, but I‟m leaving tonight. You can come later or you can come now. I‟ve got money, plenty of money but I‟ve lost my job and I want out of this place, so I‟m off." I gave her time to think, my heart was pounding.
"I‟ll go and pack." I nearly did a somersault. I kissed her on the lips.
"Don‟t bring too much we have to travel light. I‟ll meet you here in one hour." I kissed her again. She walked off in the direction off her house and as I passed her I shouted "Wear jeans and some warm clothes." and then sped off.
I still had one more thing to do.
I made my way round to The Divis Flats and parked the bike right outside the army depot. My thinking was no one would touch a bike right in front of the army Sangers. From there I went up to Jonass‟s front door. I did not know if he had strong locks or any other nasty surprise waiting. I launched myself at the door, It went with just one bang. The door flew and I quickly closed the door behind me. I could smell the dirt and stale beer.
I took the pistol out of the duffle bag and stuffed it into my belt and started to search the flat but it did not take long. In the back of his dirty mattress there was a slit.
I was so pumped up it ripped open easily to reveal rolls of pound notes each with an elastic band round some of them were rolls of fivers. There were some rolls of foreign money which I threw to the ground. I now had to get rid of some of the things in the small duffle bag to make room for the notes.
Nobody was around as I made my way back down to the bike.
I pulled in to the lay-by, she was already standing there. It was me who was late. Her small brown case went on to the rack and held fast with the bungee, and the duffle bag was hung over her shoulder.
I just followed my nose, why should I worry. I had my girl, I had two years or more on cash and I had my life.
Chapter 29.
10
th July 1972. BBC Radio 4……The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mr William Whitelaw has been in secret talks with the IRA, he announced today in Parliament……… The evening, Tuesday 11th July 1972. Let the Devil take tomorrow, but right now I did not care.
I rode out of hell that night and we found ourselves going south towards the border. I was making my way to Dublin. I was heading for the ferry to Holyhead.
We went over the border at about eight thirty and filled up the tank at Dundalk, it was time to start looking for a bed. We stayed on the Dublin Road for another twenty minutes and pulled in to Dunleer and on the main road was a pub. I parked around the back and we went in.
It was a typical local pub which was quite full and everyone in there watched as we put down our bags.
"Can I have a pint of that?" I pointed at one of the pumps, "and a gin and tonic please?"
"Is she old enough?" The grumpy barmaid said nodding towards Denise.
Denise was quick to answer herself, "I‟m nineteen." I wanted a bed and kept my head down.
She pulled the pint and poured the drink, "that‟s forty seven pence."
"Get yourself one." I smiled weakly.
"Sixty seven pence, please." I think that helped.
We sat down and I made sure they could see the badminton rackets sticking out of the duffle bag. Anyone carrying badminton rackets can‟t be all that bad, and anyone using a duffle bag in this day and age must be old school. I don‟t know
what they would think if they knew it contained a snipers rifle, a pistol and a small fortune in cash.
We kept ourselves to ourselves for the first drink, just letting people see we were no threat. I let Denise go up for the next drinks. Women in this part of the world did not do that unless they had no man to get them one.
I overheard Denise charming the man behind the bar, "Yes Billy is playing for Ulster in Dublin tomorrow afternoon, but he‟s up against one of your best players." She handed over the pound note, "and get your self one, and your wife." He smiled at her, "we need two rooms for tonight do you know anywhere?"
I think because we had asked for two rooms, which meant there was going to be no funny business and twice the profit- the woman jumped in.
"We have rooms, one pound per room and that includes breakfast." Denise looked round to me and I nodded.
"Well that would be great, such a nice pub." She played it to perfection.
We took our bags up stairs and were shown to our rooms.
I pulled my bed from the wall to reveal a small cupboard built in to the wall. I opened the door which was stuck with paint, which suited me, it meant that it had not been opened many times in the last year or so. Inside the cupboard were old news papers and a great deal of dust, perfect.
I stacked the rolls and bundles of money and lay the two parts of the rifle just inside the door on the floor and closed it. I then pushed the bed back into the original place. I then placed the duffle bag on the bed with just a bit of the pillow on the string handle, anyone lifting the bag would not be able to put it exactly in the same position.
Denise tapped on my door and we went down stairs for a few pints.
That night a few musicians played in the corner and the pub was full. We went to bed after last orders. The Landlady knocked on my door to say goodnight.
"Goodnight." I was just dropping off. I heard her knock on Denise‟s door. The Landlady went to bed happy.
We ate breakfast at one of the tables in the pub and I left the black pudding but Denise ate the lot. It had a smell of stale beer and dust in the air.
I slipped the landlady a ten bob note on the way out and told her if we played in the South again I would drop in.
We took the Dublin Road and meandered our way to the city centre stopping off in lay-bys for a quick cigarette. I did not really give much thought to the mess I had left behind.
We made our way to Dublin centre and easily found a parking space down a side street off O‟Connell St. I went and bought a full set of clothes and some towels and washing gear. Then we went to Woolworth's and bought a small suitcase, just big enough to fit the rifle in diagonally. I enjoyed putting my old Donkey jacket in the bin. After lunch in a café overlooking the Liffey we boarded the bike and made our way down to the docks.
I learned that there were four sailings a day and quickly booked our tickets for two and a bike.
The sun was shining as we sat on the pier watching the ferry unload. Getting the bike up the ramp was a bit tricky, but I soon had it tied to a stanchion with the ropes provided.
We had a holiday feeling and the crossing was calm. I had deliberately booked to Holyhead rather than Liverpool. It would have been too hard not to call in on my mother if I had booked to Liverpool. I did not know if the Army would be looking for me. and one of the first places the army would look would be my mothers.
It was getting dusk as we offloaded and I stayed at the back not wanting to be caught in the rush. We still did not have a plan. We just knew we wanted to get away from Belfast.
The A55 was the easiest way out and we just followed our noses until we passed a sign „Rhyl 3 miles‟. It was a holiday town with hundreds of bed and breakfasts.
That night we stayed in a small bed and breakfast and had a lie-in and over the greasy eggs and cheap bacon we talked about what we wanted to do. At this
point Denise did not know what I was running away from. She must have thought I just wanted to be out of the troubles.
"Do you know anyone we could stay with?" She asked. I did have my mother, but I knew we would not be welcome there, well not for more than a cup of tea.
"I don‟t fancy my mothers house." I shook my head and looked into the middle distance as I thought where I wanted to go.
"Why don‟t we just look at a map and pick somewhere random. Because we could lose ourselves in London or just find ourselves in a small sleepy town, I don‟t really mind myself."
While she thought about this I pondered about telling her who I was. I could go back to my own accent, not that I knew what my real accent was now. I had been talking with an Ulster twang for so long I may never get rid of it.
"I once saw pictures in a magazine of Cornwall, lovely seaside pictures." Her eyes glazed over as she spoke of sunny coastal towns nestling at the end of rivers.
"Okay, that will do me, we can get jobs, find a place to live and settle down." She grabbed my hand over the table and held it tight. "Oh can we?" A small tear ran down her face which she quickly rubbed away leaving a smear in her makeup.
We left the rest of the breakfast and packed up the bike. It rained most of the day so we only got as far as Bristol. We stopped at a small hotel and carried on the next day. The weather was much better but the roads to Cornwall were hard work.
It did not take us long to get settled. We had ended up in a fishing town called Looe.
Denise got a job on the second week. She just happened to be in the right place at the right time and the dentist was a randy old sod. He knew the value of a nice looking girl who would be there passing the tools over.
We rented an attic room with its own cooker and sink, but shared bathroom. I was used to sharing coming from the army but Denise always felt as though she was being watched.
I eventually got a job on the Quayside, lifting fish and labouring. Strange thing, I used my own national insurance number and no one ever came looking for me.
Denise left me in the February, it was nice for the first few months but we started arguing about little things and then she just upped and left. I came back from work on a bitterly cold day and found her stuff gone. I was relieved.
I carried on working at the quay for a few months, drinking heavily and generally making a fool of myself. It was time to go back.
Chapter 30.
Spring 1973.
I packed away most of the little things you buy to make life easier for yourself. An electric toaster, towels, a rug for in front of the bed and took it down to my landlady. I paid my rent for the next month in lieu of notice and gave her the box of household goods.
"Yes I need to travel light." And on a damp cold day I loaded up the bike.
I had over the first few months paid all the cash into the bank. I always got strange looks paying in thousands of pounds in Ulster pound notes, but I always went to different branches, sometimes driving all day to make sure it was never the same place. And I always gave the same excuse to the till clerk.
"Yes, my Granny died and this is what she left me." The bank clerks would always say something like, "Well invest it wisely and don‟t go spending it willy- nilly." A nice smile and I was gone.
"Well, I‟ll be sad to see you go." My boss an old sea dog who had been good to me, always cutting me some slack when I had slept in and gave a little cash bonus when things were going well.
I jumped on the bike with my suitcase strapped to the back and made my way up to Wales.
I had been planning it for a while so I knew where I was going and late that evening I knocked on the front door of Jerry Mackie‟s house. His wife opened the door and a strong smell of kippers wafted out.
"Oh it‟s you, you‟d better come in." I lugged the case into the hall and waited. Jerry came out of the kitchen wiping his mouth on a tea towel.
"Good to see you boy." He pointed to the living room and we sat down.
We sat just looking at one another for a while, the clock ticking on the wall.
"How‟s it been?" He understood the pressures. I just burst out crying. He sat and waited. I tried to talk but went into another round of sobbing.
"Here." He handed me a shot of whiskey and sat down and waited some more.
"I couldn‟t take any more." More whiskey, more crying.
"I‟ve read the reports son and you did well, very well." He let that sink in, it made me feel better.
I lit a cigarette and told him the story and he sat there listening and nodding, filling my glass up as the story unfolded.
I finished up by telling him that the rifle and pistol were in the bags in the hall. We got it out and he inspected it with a soldier‟s eye. Balance, weight and the telescopic sight he nodded.
It does the job." He lay the gun on the floor, "I‟m going to have to tell the authorities son." I knew, that‟s why I came here.
"Could I stay here tonight? Then you can hand me in." I was tired and I did not fancy a night in the cells after the long ride up. He considered it for a while and called through to his wife.
"Jenny, could you make the back bedroom up?" Jenny came through wiping her hands.
"Yes dear." Off she went and made the bed up.
Mack hid the guns. I did not care about them. They were a burden, a memory, a memory that I did not need.
That night we went down into Chepstow and had a few drinks, it seemed like an age since we did this before embarkation.
One month later.
The Army can be very funny with their justice. I was sent back to Germany and made to stand trial. A general court-martial, I had my civvy brief. He was young lawyer, fresh from the bar. Sent out to practice, and he was just practicing. Not that it would have made much difference.
I pleaded guilty to absent without leave.
Not a mention of anything else.
He made a good job of mitigation, I almost believed him myself.
One hundred and eighty six days, I don‟t know how they came up with this figure. Six months but I was out after a hundred and twenty four. It was a piece of cake.
I went back to building bridges and digging mines up, that‟s what I do. But everyone who knows you‟ve done a bit in Colly, they give you a bit of respect.
It took me years to keep the same accent. It would suddenly switch from Ulster to Liverpool and back. I stick with my Liverpool accent now. When men started reminiscing about Northern Ireland I always just listened.
I never got my tour medal, and I never asked for it.
BBC news Ulster.
There have been two explosions in London today and the body of a decomposing man was found in a fire today in West Belfast. The Chief Fire Officer Ken Oldham said ‘It’s very unlikely we will ever know his identity. He could have been lying there for up to a year…………...