Operation Motorman
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Operation Motorman was an operation carried out by British Army forces in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. The operation started at 4:00 31 July 1972 to retake the No-go areas (i.e., areas controlled by the Provisional Irish Republican Army) established in Belfast and Derry in the aftermath of internment the previous year.
The Provisional IRA did not attempt to hold their ground, as they lacked the necessary armaments and numbers for a direct confrontation with the Army. The British Army employed an overwhelming force of 21,000 troops (roughly 4% of the whole British Army). By the end of the day there were no more no-go areas in Northern Ireland, but the British Army remained cautious when operating in areas such as west Belfast (which they nicknamed the Wild West), the Bogside in Derry and the New Lodge in Belfast. In Derry the gable end of a demolished house still bears the legend "YOU ARE NOW ENTERING FREE DERRY" as a testament to those times.
It was during Operation Motorman that 15-year-old Daniel Hegarty was shot dead by the British Army, along with his two cousins were also shot and wounded. Derry human rights group the Pat Finucane Centre did a reconstruction of the scene and allege information given to the coroner was in error [citation needed]. The police map shows Daniel was shot 70ft away from where he actually was shot [citation needed]. Known IRA member Seamus Bradley, 19, was also shot dead shortly after this incident on the same estate.
A few hours after the success of Operation Motorman, the Claudy bombings occurred, a massive co-ordinated car bomb attack on the centre of the village of Claudy, County Londonderry, which killed nine people. Five of the victims were Catholic, and four were Protestant.
