‘C’ Company 1969
The Irish troubles recommenced in August 1969 for the British Army. The one remaining company in Catterick was ‘C’ Company and they together with the drums platoon were ordered to Londonderry at short notice to reinforce the 1st Battalion Queens Regiment. The tour was to last for four months.
They were based at the Duncreggan Territorial Army centre and started working to a nine days out and three days in rota. Initially the situation was grim with soldiers sometimes sleeping in the streets.
The company was involved in all forms of urban internal security duties and in particular in manning check-points and carrying out foot patrols. They took part in a number of crowd dispersal operations, which included several major riots in the Diamond area of the old city.
‘B’ Company 1970.
In June 1970 ‘B’ Company and the Drums together with a troop from 14th Light Regiment, Royal Artillery, were dispatched at short notice to Belfast to reinforce the Royal Scots.
The company commander, Maj. Godwin-Austen, later remembered 'On the morning of the 3rd July we conducted Lord Balniel, the Defence Minister, around our company area in an atmosphere of relaxed euphoria and bonhomie.
Friendly Irish neighbours gave our patrols tea and sandwiches. By nightfall we were locked in a gun battle with snipers in which at least five civilians were killed and nearly 800 rounds of 7.62 ammunition were fired by British troops.
The violent situation started after a search of a house in Balken Street for arms and ammunition by the Royal Scots and RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) in which fifteen pistols, one rifle, a Schmeisser sub-machine gun and a quantity of ammunition and explosives were found. This find sparked off some of the bloodiest rioting that the Province had seen to date. By the end eighteen soldiers were suffering from gunshot and grenade splinter wounds, five civilians died and 300 people were detained, and for the first time an area of Belfast had been placed under military curfew.
‘B’ Company was involved in serious rioting in the Falls Road area of Belfast, in the course of which several men were injured by gelignite bombs. In the operations that followed an officer and two soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment were shot and wounded.
During this period ‘B’ Coy expended 488 CS cartridges, 64 CS Grenades and several rounds of 7.62mm ball ammunition. Suddenly at the far end of the street a double decker bus appeared.
The rioters commandeered it, drove it towards the company and finally placed it across the road about 30 yards in front of them. There was a pause during which they prepared to move forward to the area of the bus. Suddenly without warning, there were a series of shattering bangs in and around them. Soldiers were blown backwards, and they thought they were being grenaded – and they were! All together they had seven bombs thrown at them. With this new development the platoons scattered to a tactical deployment against the walls of buildings.
Eight members of 5 Platoon were injured, three having been dragged from the ranks giving a clear indication of the scale of the ferocity. The two most badly injured were Sergeant Potter (later mentioned in dispatches) and Private Fern'.
1st Battalion 1971
In 1971 the battalion was the 'spearhead' battalion and on stand-by for deployment anywhere in the world to protect British interests. On 22 April that year the battalion was dispatched to Londonderry, remaining until 28 May.
They were based in an empty factory in Drumahoe just outside Londonderry. During the short deployment the battalion conducted operations in Tyrone, Fermanagh and Antrim, with ‘C’ Company detached for a brief period in the city of Londonderry under the command of the 2nd Parachute battalion.
This tour was relatively peaceful with a few minor finds to their credit. On the 28th May the battalion returned to Catterick to prepare for its move to Berlin.
Thus the battalion had an involvement in ‘The Troubles’ from the outset. It was not to be their last. They returned to Catterick on the 28th May , barely two weeks before the first advance party was due to leave for Berlin. The battalion reformed in Berlin between the 12th – 16th July.