• UDR members involved while MoD intelligence documents suggest Robert Nairac present
The British army initially claimed it was not involved in the Miami Showband massacre despite two of the killers being members of the UDR and later claims that Captain Robert Nairac was present.
Details are contained in released military logs that include details of the incident and the intelligence the British army had access to in real time.
Three members of the showband were killed when their minibus was stopped at a bogus UDR check point near Banbridge in Co Down on July 31,1975.
Survivors and friends gathered at the ambush site last week to remember singer Fran O’Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy.
The three band members were murdered as they travelled home to Dublin after a gig in Banbridge.
The attack was carried out by members the Glenanne Gang, which included RUC, UDR and UVF personnel.
Two loyalists, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, who were members of the UDR, also died when the bomb they were planting on the band’s minibus exploded prematurely.
Two UDR members were convicted for their part in the attack, while former British soldier and suspected state agent Robin ‘The Jackal’ Jackson, has been linked to the incident.
In 2020, the Irish News revealed that previously unseen British army intelligence documents linked undercover soldier Captain Robert Nairac to the showband massacre.
Mr Nairac was abducted and killed by the IRA in 1977 and his body has never been found.
The redacted intelligence papers, disclosed as part of legal proceedings several years ago, contain suggestions that Mr Nairac obtained equipment and uniforms for the killers.
The file also claims the British solider was responsible for the planning and execution of the attack.
Miami Showband survivor Des Lee has said he has ‘no doubt’ Mr Nairac was involved in organising the massacre.
While the British army, unionist politicians and loyalists insist Mr Nairac was not present, no explanation has been provided for the intelligence document.
New military logs now published by research charity Paper Trail reveal that the British army initially denied involvement in the Miami massacre.
One entry a short time after the explosion includes the words “Bomb-five dead-SFNI”.
It is understood SFNI means ‘Security Forces Not Involved’.
The log later states that “preliminary investigation at the scene reveals that two of the bodies have UVF tattoos”.
The record lists members of the showband and suggests “the other two dead are unknown and maybe members of the group that committed the murders” – a reference to Boyle and Somerville.
“This is supported by the finding of an SMG (Sub-machine gun) and a handgun at the scene,” the log states.
The document goes on to say that “Newry RUC now say it appears that 4 or 5 ‘soldiers’ flagged down the minibus.
“The men killed by the bomb are unrecognisable,” the report adds.
Paper Trail’s Ciarán MacAirt said “British ‘security forces’ were indeed involved” in the massacre.
“The killer gang included members of the British Army’s Ulster Defence Regiment.
“Two UDR and one former UDR served time for the massacre.
“The gang was also led by a British state agent who was a member of the UDR when RUC arrested him for a murder in 1973 and employed him as an agent thereafter.
“Robin Jackson would go on to become one of the most prolific sectarian killers for the statelet in its history.”
In a 2015 book, Alistair Kerr claimed Mr Nairac went on leave to Scotland on the same day as the Miami massacre.
A spokesman for the MoD said “we continue to deny any involvement from Captain Nairac in the Miami Showband incident”.
The spokesman added that the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR), which looks for the remains of people killed and secretly buried during the Troubles “has researched Captain Nairac’s background extensively.
The spokesman added the ICLVR “has also stated there was no evidence linking him to the attack”.
by Jeffreys_therapist
10 comments
On brand.
And people question why people get wound up by poppies.
how did they get british military uniforms? why was someone with a thick english accent heard at the scene by one of the survivors? so many questions to which there’s only one answer.
and theres still people on here who deny collusion
John Somerville shot Fran O’Toole in the face 22 times. He and his brother Wesley Somerville (along with others) were already notorious loyalist killers well known to police before the Miami attack.
It’s likely they involved in the murders of Bernadette and Francie Mullan; two completely innocent Catholics brutally murdered by the Glenanne Gang for the crime of being well liked in their local area. Bernadette Mullan had been shot over 20 times. Francis Mullan was shot 6 times, again in the face. Their two year old son was shot in the legs 4 times.
Later John and Wesley Somerville were part of a loyalist gang who kidnapped two men driving a bread van, loaded with explosives and drove it into a Catholic estate where it exploded injuring 13 people, 4 seriously including a 5 week old baby.
Charges against the brothers mysteriously evaporated, leaving them free to take part in the Miami Showband Massacre.
After the massacre, and despite John Somerville’s confession to police, RUC Detectives refused to charge him. Instead they offered to make the charges against him disappear in exchange for him becoming an RUC informant (as opposed to a British agent).
John Somerville became a born again Christian and was a pastor after his release under the GFA.
No surprise at all. Would be incredibly embarrassing considering we know the RUC, UDR, British army, MI5, FRU, MRF and the british government themselves were working in hand with UVF, UDA, etc to purposely oppress and murder civilians
This article seems to skirt around the most interesting part – what exactly did the released intelligence document say about Nairac?
All I can gather is that it ‘contains suggestions’ that Nairac was involved. What sort of suggestions? Internal British Army information? Just hearsay gathered from talking to punters in the streets or barracks gossip? Repeating allegations found in An Phoblacht?
It does claim that some organization called Paper Trail released the document, and that does seem to be what Paper Trail does, but I can’t find it on their [badly made website](https://www.papertrail.pro/).
While googling for some enlightenment, I found that [Anthony MacIntyre](https://thebrokenelbow.com/2020/01/24/the-irish-news-and-robert-nairac-wheres-the-beef/) had similar issues.
Hasn’t this been debunked as a conspiracy theory pushed by Republicans to justify Nairac’s murder?
“and secretly buried during the troubles.”
More Chance of finding Nairac up a dog’s hole.
It’s mad to see people jumping on here just to show disinterest that there is actual evidence that RUC/police were actively involved in murder.
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