UK defence ministry obliged to preserve records relating to Troubles for next 10 years
The UK ministry of defence has been obliged to preserve records relating to the Troubles for the next 10 years.
It is believed to cover some 50,000 documents relating to Operation Banner, and comes after a request by lawyers for the family of a teenage girl killed in Derry in 1971.
Advertisement
Annette McGavigan (14) was killed during unrest in Derry on September 6th. She was said to have been playing with a friend when she was shot dead.
Her family has been campaigning for decades for answers and justice. There is a mural in her memory in the Bogside area of the city.
Martin McGavigan and his daughter Maria McGavigan have been campaigning for answers around the death of Annette McGavigan in 1971. Photo: Ashlee Ruggels/PA
Last year, the North's Attorney General Brenda King granted a fresh inquest into Miss McGavigan's death, but that came just before the former British government's Legacy Act deadline which halted all inquests which had not reached their final stages.
It also followed a decision by the UK Public Prosecution Service not to prosecute a former British soldier in relation to the teenager's death.
Advertisement
Miss McGavigan's family has expressed hope that the current Labour government in the UK will honour the fresh inquests directed by the Attorney General before the cut-off date in April 2024.
It is understood that there are some 22 inquests relating to more than 40 deaths in the North still outstanding, with some other previously unallocated legacy inquests also due to be honoured.
Patricia Coyle, solicitor for Miss McGavigan's family, said they have secured a Preservation Order for the MoD documents for a further period of 10 years to 2035.
They wrote to the MoD and the UK secretary of state for culture, media and sport (SSCMS) in April to request an extension of an existing Preservation Order for all MoD Operation Banner documents dating from August 1969 to July 2007.
Advertisement
The 2014 order listed the documents to be preserved as including 'operational briefs and summaries, log sheets, patrol and incident reports from Operation Banner in Northern Ireland'.
Miss Gavigan's family said they want to ensure that the MoD continues to preserve all British army documents relating to Operation Banner for the period 1969 to 2007 so that they, and other families seeking information in legacy cases, can access relevant state materials for the purposes of future legacy inquests, civil actions and public inquiries.
Ms Coyle said the Preservation Order is of the utmost importance to all families seeking answers over incidents involving the Army during the Troubles.
'In 2015, my clients sought the preservation of all relevant MoD documents relating to British Army's activities in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007,' she said.
Advertisement
'In particular they wished to secure the preservation of all Army documents relating to the killing of their 14-year-old sister Annette on September 6th, 1971 in Derry so these are available for the fresh inquest they achieved last year.'
She said the first Preservation Order for these documents was granted in December 2014 for 10 years.
Ireland
Nine people charged following disorder in Derry
Read More
'The legal obligation to preserve 50,000 Army records relating to Northern Ireland was transferred from the Lord Chancellor to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport (SSCMS) in 2015,' she said.
'In April, this year our clients sought a further Preservation Order from the MoD, Lord Chancellor and SSCMS. Lawyers acting on behalf of the Ministry of Defence have now confirmed that a further 10-year Preservation Order was signed by SSCMS on May 6 2025.
Advertisement
'The preservation of these records is of paramount importance for all families in Northern Ireland who seek access to information and truth about the killing of their loved ones in cases involving the Army.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The truth behind Shaughna Phillips' second pregnancy REVEALED after Love Island star continues romance with drug dealer boyfriend despite prison sentence
Shaughna Phillips shocked fans over the weekend after she revealed she is pregnant with her second child. Taking to Instagram to share the news the Love Island star, 31, posted a video of herself taking a pregnancy test, but did not reveal who the father of her baby is as she wrote: 'Adding a little more love to our family…' And now The Sun has revealed that Shaughna is once again preparing to welcome a child with Billy Webb, who is also the father of her first child. Following the birth of their daughter Lucia in April 2023, Billy, 29, was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply 4.5kg of cocaine worth at least £360,000. However Shaughna and Billy have been enjoying family days out over the past seven months while he has been on day release from an open prison. An insider said: 'Billy has been in a Category D prison, which means he has been able to spend a fair bit of time with Shaughna. 'He even managed to be home over Christmas, which meant a lot to her and, of course, Lucia. He hasn't been released as many people thought, but he has a lot of privileges.' In Category D prisons inmates have minimal security and those deemed 'low risk' inmates are allowed to leave the site to work, 'resettle' or attend education during the day. MailOnline have contacted Shaughna's representatives for comment. Shaughna revealed the couple had spent Christmas together in December after the family reunited to enjoy a Christmas grotto together. Sharing an adorable video to her Instagram, the reality star revealed that she and her partner had taken Lucia to see Santa and added she never thought this day would come. She captioned the clip: 'If you had told me this time last year, that me and Billy would be taking Lucia to see Santa next Christmas, I probably wouldn't have let myself believe you 'The best couple of days, this Christmas is going to be so special'. The blonde bombshell has been very open with her fans throughout the ordeal and previously revealed on her podcast Oh, Baby with Shaughna and Holly that she had struggled to come to terms with the situation. Taking to Instagram to share the news she posted a video of herself taking a pregnancy test, but did not reveal who the father of her baby is She also shared a sweet video of her daughter Lucia, two, wearing a t-shirt saying 'Big Sis' and 'In my big sister era' to go with the announcement She said: 'It's the most gut-wrenching position to be in. 'And, I mean, before I even answer this question, I want to just put it out there that you can judge me all you want, but please don't let me know, because I feel like unless you've been in this position you can't really have an opinion on it. 'Because before I was in this position, before I had a baby, if you had asked me would I ever, ever take my child into a prison, the answer would be absolutely not. Anyone that does that is crazy. 'And then, lo and behold, I'm now in this position. And I think the thing is, we're always going to be co-parents. 'And I know that me and my dad had the best relationship ever, and to me, my dad is the best person in the world. 'And I don't want Lucia to think differently of her father. I would never, ever stop him from seeing her, ever.'
Daily Mail
44 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
From saluting SS camps to playing with Goering's model trains - new podcast reveals how Hitler manipulated a 'deluded' Edward VIII into becoming a 'Nazi puppet'
On the final instalment of the Mail's three-part podcast miniseries examining Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams examine how deeply the exiled couple became entangled with Nazi Germany. After abdicating in December 1936, Edward and his twice-divorced wife Wallis found themselves seeking new allies, having been effectively ostracised by the British establishment and denied the full privileges of royalty. Buoyed by the propaganda triumph of that summer's Berlin Olympics, Hitler saw in the royal couple an opportunity to lend his regime further international legitimacy. Wanting to still appear a statesman, Edward accepted an invitation to visit Nazi Germany in 1937, a decision that prompted his brother King George VI to write to Edward's political advisor Walter Monckton that the plan was 'a bombshell, and a bad one'. By 1937, Europe was well aware of Nazi Germany's dismantling of democracy, persecution of Jews through the Nuremberg Laws, illegal rearmament, and aggressive territorial ambitions, making Edward's visit a highly controversial legitimisation of an openly authoritarian regime. The photographs from the visit and the rumours it generated would forever tarnish the former King's reputation. This episode of Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things explores what the couple did in Germany and investigates whether Edward was truly willing to collaborate with the Nazis should they occupy Britain. Edward and Wallis's 1937 Tour of Nazi Germany Beyond mere self-aggrandisement, royal biographer Robert Hardman believes Edward and Wallis agreed to the tour because they harboured fascist sympathies. In the late 1930s, this was seen as problematic but not entirely unusual among the British upper classes. Across Europe, many aristocrats viewed fascism as a bulwark against the spread of communism. 'Throughout the story of Edward and Wallis Simpson, there is a swastika', Hardman said. 'There was Nazi influence all the way through. In the run up the abdication, Hitler was issuing instructions to his diplomats in London to try and stop it. Hitler believed Edward was on his side. 'There are well documented stories Simpson's links to Nazi politicians and diplomats in London. 'It was clear by 1937, that Edward VIII would, in any given situation, lean towards the Nazi side.' Upon arrival in Germany, Edward foolishly sees himself as a 'peacemaker', as Kate Williams told the podcast. 'That vision he had of himself was hopelessly naive', Williams described. 'Because for Nazi Germany, the former King turning up and having the red carpet laid out for them is giving consent to the regime. 'It's treated like a Royal progress – crowds' wave away. The couple are greeted by the British national anthem accompanied by Nazi salutes. They dine with high-ranking Nazis including Goering, Goebbels, Ribbentrop and Speer. 'All of the Nazi charm is brought out to bear on Edward and Wallis, and they are there with their eyes closed to the reality of the situation.' During the tour, Edward is taken to munitions factories, SS training camps and Hitler's Salzburg Mountain retreat, the Berghof. An SS trooper would later recount how Edward relished in saluting the soldiers and declaring the shared racial ties between the British and German peoples. Visiting Berchtesgraden for a private meeting with Hitler, Edward reportedly killed time waiting for the Fuhrer by viewing Goering's prized model train set. Hardman explained: 'There's a hilarious lunch where Goering entertains the couple: he lays on this chorus of mountain huntsman with these horns to serenade them Get your weekly dose of Royal scandals and palace intrigue on this Mail podcast Hosted by Royal Historians Robert Hardman and Professor Kate Williams, Queens, Kings, and Dastardly Things looks at the Royal Family - the secrets, the palace intrigues, and the Crown's bloodiest moments. Listen wherever you get your podcasts now. 'Of course, they feel terribly important. At last, Edward thinks, I am being treated like the King I once was, and my wife, the Queen she should have been. 'After lunch, Goering shows them his model railway set, and they're utterly charmed by this. You get these amazing glimpses into what a bunch of crackpots these guys all were.' Exactly what the former King and Hitler discussed in their private meeting remains unknown to this day. According to his advisor Dudley Forwood, Edward told the dictator that the 'British and German races are one and they should always remain one.' In 1966, Edward told a reporter that he and Hitler had discussed the need to destroy communist Russia. Williams said: 'The King later says of the meeting that Hitler made him realise Red Russia was the true enemy. 'He convinced him that Great Britain and Europe should encourage Germany to march East and crush communism once and for all. 'The Duke of Windsor becomes obsessed with the idea that he and the Nazis can be best friends – he's impossibly naive about the realities of the regime.' Following their meeting, rumours would dog Edward that he had tacitly agreed to replace his brother as King in the event of a Nazi occupation of Great Britain. Addressing the veracity of these rumours, Hardman said: 'I do think Edward was deluded – his sympathies did lie strongly with the Nazi cause. 'But it's probably pushing it too far to suggest that there was a plot to put the Duke of Windsor on the throne. 'What is true is that when asked whether he would ever come back to Britain to be President if we ever became a republic – he said yes. 'He was happy to countenance the fall of the monarchy and taking over some sort of head of state role. 'Whether he would be willing to do that under the aegis of Nazi Germany is a deeper question.' To hear about the political fallout of the visit and how Edward and Wallis spent the war, search for Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Daily Mail
44 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
ROBERT HARDMAN: A night raid on a police station using the IRA's most deadly gun, an SAS team facing mortal danger - and 30 years on, a monstrous threat to haul them to court
For more than three hours, on a freezing February night, the 12 men from the Special Air Service had been lying behind a low, threadbare bit of hedge on the edge of a rural chapel car park near the Northern Irish village of Clonoe. According to intelligence reports, this was where the East Tyrone Brigade of the Irish Republican Army were going to assemble the largest and deadliest weapon in the IRA's very considerable armoury and mount it on the back of an open lorry. At which point, the SAS would jump out and apprehend the gun and the terrorists red-handed before they could set off to reduce their intended target – the local police station – to Swiss cheese. For this was not just any old machine gun. Firing more than 600 armour-piercing 12.7mm rounds per minute, the Russian-made DshK (known as the 'Dushka') can stop a plane or armoured vehicle at a range of more than a mile. Just one problem. At 10.40pm, the SAS realised that the intelligence they had received was not entirely accurate. Yes, the target was Coalisland police station. But as the distant sound of heavy gunfire made clear, the gun was already in full working order and battering the building (its occupants, forewarned, were down in the basement). It seemed likely, therefore, that the chapel car park was now the place where the IRA would come to dismantle the 'Dushka' rather than put it together. The 12 soldiers steeled themselves for the arrival of this horrific killing machine. A few minutes later, the soldiers could see headlights coming up the lane next to Clonoe chapel. A Vauxhall Cavalier was leading the lorry at great speed and both came careering into the car park – with three gunmen plus the Dushka clearly on the back of the lorry – followed by two more cars. Suddenly, the Vauxhall's headlights were illuminating the hedge. Had the SAS been spotted? If so, they were dead unless they reacted instantly. Jumping to their feet and opening fire, the soldiers ran forward and all hell broke loose. Moments later, four terrorists lay dead, a wounded gang member was captured and another three escaped in the other vehicles, one of which was found abandoned and ablaze at a nearby sports ground. The only SAS casualty was one walking wounded. A soldier had been shot in the face but the bullet had passed through his cheek and out again. The Dushka would never fire another shot in anger, with an untold number of lives saved as a result. It was a major defeat for the East Tyrone Brigade but due process then kicked in. The Royal Ulster Constabulary conducted an eight-month investigation in to the deaths, and the Director of Public Prosecutions summoned the SAS commanding officer for interview. After statements were taken from all the soldiers, the DPP issued a direction that there would be no prosecutions. That was October 1992 and the matter was closed. Or at least it was until 2024 when the soldiers were ordered to give evidence to a 'legacy inquest' into the four deaths. The SAS veterans exercised their right to silence, leaving the coroner with their signed statements from three decades earlier. The men then waited another year for the coroner, a senior Northern Irish judge called Sir Michael Humphreys, to produce his findings. He ruled that the shooting of the terrorists was 'not justified' thanks to Article 2 of the European Court of Human Rights whereby the state has 'a positive duty to protect life'. He ruled that 'the soldiers did not have an honest belief that it was necessary in order to prevent loss of life' and that the SAS's use of lethal force was, therefore, 'not reasonable'. The soldiers, he declared, could have waited until the IRA had started dismantling the gun and then informed them that they were under arrest. However, because they stood up and opened fire on the terrorists, he refused to believe that this was an arrest mission at all. He made great play of the fact that, during the original investigation, the soldiers had referred to the operation as an 'ambush'. Because they may, therefore, have committed a criminal offence – up to and including murder – Sir Michael was handing the case over to the DPP. The 12 soldiers, now all veterans, some of them in their seventies, must wait to hear if they are to be arrested and charged. 'It is, simply, beyond belief,' says George Simm, Regimental Sergeant-Major of the SAS at the time of the operation. 'There was no new evidence, none, And here we have a judge who presumes to know what to do in that split second when your men might be about to be killed.' That is why Mr Simm (a holder of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, which sits just one rung below the Victora Cross) is talking to me over a cup of coffee in a London café. A year ago that would have been beyond belief, too. After 25 years in the SAS, he is marinaded in its codes of discretion and loyalty. He was a rigorous enforcer of regimental codes, once expelling a retired general from a funeral wake at the SAS barracks in Hereford. Top brass he might have been, but the general had broken the code by including clandestine SAS operations in his memoirs. Last year, however, the advent of the 'legacy inquest' prompted Mr Simm to put his name to a letter in the Times attacking the 'incremental supremacy' of the ECHR and the way in which successive governments have given Legal Aid to fund 'vexatious compensation cases' against British troops. Now, the naivety of the Clonoe verdict has led Mr Simm – and others – to step out into the open on behalf of those comrades who face a potential prosecution. 'The Government need to know that if this legal madness is allowed to continue unchecked, beyond the reach of Parliament, then this will defenestrate any security process in this country,' he says. 'Because human rights law, as it stands, now supercedes the rights of the security operator to do his job.' Meanwhile, as Labour dismantles a law which was supposed to give veterans some sort of historic protection, more of these cases seem inevitable. For many like Mr Simm, the Clonoe result is, therefore, a tipping point, a fork in the road, call it what you will. And not just for past and present members of the SAS. It threatens all those units involved in the very dangerous, thankless and yet vital covert operations combatting Northern Irish terrorism over three decades. It is why both the veterans and the Ministry of Defence are seeking a judicial review to overturn the Humphreys ruling. It is why the Conservative MP and ex-SAS reservist Sir David Davis is now leading a parliamentary campaign to bring in new legal protections which stop old soldiers from being dragged out of their retirement to be investigated under laws which did not even exist at the time and which were not passed by the UK Parliament in the first place. And it is why today the Daily Mail is proudly launching a new campaign with two overarching aims: protect the Special Forces veterans and stop rewriting history. For make no mistake. This is not just about compensation-chasing, publicly-funded lawyers running rings round a weak Northern Irish government, led, for the first time, by a Sinn Fein politician, and propped up by a seemingly bottomless Legal Aid budget. According to its own data, handling 'legacy' issues has cost the police £126million over the last seven years while £18million has been handed to lawyers – versus just £7million to victims. The bill for the Clonoe hearing currently stands at £1.3million, according to the court, and that does not include the cost of police time. This is also a case of hardline nationalists painting every IRA defeat and humiliation as a British crime. And that has dire implications for our future national security. 'Clonoe was a great defeat for the IRA and Sinn Fein want to rewrite history and turn that defeat into a black operation,' says Sir David Davis. A senior Royal Ulster Constabulary veteran from the Clonoe era puts it to me: 'The IRA can never look good. They shot people in their beds. But if they can make the SAS and the RUC look as bad as them, then they can justify their use of the bomb and the bullet.' Having wearily dismissed television dramas like 'SAS Rogue Heroes', the veterans are now determined to correct the impression of fearless brigands tumbling out of the pub in search of a battle. As all the Special Forces veterans I have spoken to in recent days point out, their activities were the most rigorously scrutinised in Northern Ireland, with every proposed operation pushed right up the chain of command and signed off at the highest level – even by the Secretary of State. Recent allegations by the BBC's Panorama about possible war crimes committed by British Special Forces in Afghanistan have only added to something of a siege mentality among SAS men past and present. The SAS can cope with abuse, of course – and they are famously good at sieges. What is far more damaging is the corrosive effect on morale and reputation. 'Right now, the chief topic of conversation in every mess in Hereford is: where does this go next?' says Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, a former SAS squadron commander at the time of Clonoe and former private secretary to Princes William and Harry. Like Mr Simm, he is another who is prepared to break cover and speak out for the good of the regiment. 'Soldiers forfeit their rights to employment law, freedom of speech and all those other things we take for granted as long as they know that someone is watching their back. But who is watching it now?' Mr Simm finds himself uttering words which he could never imagine saying before and which pain him greatly. When I ask him what a parent should tell a son (it remains an all-male unit) who might be thinking of joining the regiment, he grimaces. 'I'd say to him: 'Hell, no'.' [His words are rather stronger than that]. Because it's not the enemy you need to worry about now. It's the lawyers.' He points to the way that the last Tory government tried to halt the judicial over-reach of the lawyers and the ECHR with its Legacy Act to protect veterans. However, the courts have ruled that this Legacy Act is, guess what, in breach of the ECHR. The Labour government agrees and so Sir Keir Starmer and his Northern Ireland Secretary, Hilary Benn, have pledged to repeal the Act. Meanwhile, the number of Troubles-related civil cases has shot up from 150 ten years ago to a current backlog of 1,100 – and rising. It helps explain the phenomenal response to the recent petition on the parliamentary website under the heading 'Protect Northern Ireland Veterans from Prosecutions'. Submitted in response to the Clonoe ruling, it demands 'that the Government should not make any changes to legislation that would allow Northern Ireland Veterans to be prosecuted for doing their duty in combating terrorism as part of 'Operation Banner'. (1969-2007)'. If a petition receives 10,000 online signatures, the Government has to respond. After 100,000 it is supposed to be debated at Westminster. This petition sailed past both criteria in a week and a debate has been fixed for July 14. The more people who click on the petition, however, the harder it will be for the Government to bat away so many awkward questions. In his current response to the petition, Mr Benn says meekly that the Legacy Act 'has been found to be unlawful' and 'any Government would have to repeal unlawful legislation'. 'Do they think we're children?' asks Mr Simm. 'It's only unlawful because a law passed by the UK Parliament has been declared unlawful by a law in Europe. I don't want this to become a debate about leaving the ECHR but for God's sake...' A few days after my coffee with Mr Simm, I meet him again in London at what feels like a council of war. We are in a flat near Victoria Station where four very senior and experienced SAS veterans are discussing the best way to ensure the public understand the regiment's case. 'Any secret organisation has to have 'omerta' or discretion,' , says Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Williams, a Military Cross-holder who commanded the regiment in Iraq. 'You have to have discretion. The ethos in the regiment has always been humility and humour. It's quite an awkward thing if you've been in special forces being asked to talk about everything you've done. It's not good for teamwork. But if there isn't any presentation of our point of view in the public domain, those who have got the critical view of us will be the only one that fills the space. And that's very, very dangerous.' So the old soldiers who are now speaking out under the banner of ' are also taking great care to liaise with the regimental association, which represents all SAS veterans. For many, one of the most irksome elements of inquests like Clonoe is the way in which so many regimental secrets have been dragged into the public domain through compulsory legal disclosure. There is nothing questionable about their tactics but it pains them greatly to have to place closely-guarded details about operational procedures into the public domain – and thus available to future foes. 'An inquest is supposed to establish who has died and ask when, where and how,' says Aldwin Wight, former SAS commanding officer (who won the Military Cross in the Falklands). 'But now under Article 2 it has widened out massively into 'who planned it', 'what was their state of mind' and so on and you've got judges being tactical commanders.' I hear the same despair among RUC veterans who worked right alongside the SAS. Visiting Northern Ireland last week, I heard time and again how blundering officials and politicians have risked lives with careless talk. One former senior RUC officer still winces at the memory of former Northern Ireland
