It was 50 years ago today that British paratroopers fired upon protesters in Derry, killing 13 and wounding as many as well, all unarmed.
The protestors had been marching to oppose the new British policy of imprisoning people without a hearing.
The Northern Irish conflict stemmed from a peace treaty signed in 1923 after Ireland's war for independence from Britain. The treaty partitioned Ireland, designating the largely Catholic south as an independent nation, while leaving six counties of Northern Ireland, which had a Protestant majority, as part of the United Kingdom.
Later that year in 1972 Queen Elizabeth II awarded an OBE to the unit's commander, Derek Wilford.
All of the soldiers responsible insisted that they had shot at, and hit, gunmen or bomb-throwers. No soldier said he missed his target and hit someone else by mistake. The Saville Report concluded that all of those shot were unarmed and that none were posing a serious threat. It also concluded that none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks, or threatened attacks, by gunmen or bomb-throwers. No warnings were given before soldiers opened fire.
Americans of my generation may only know of this episode from the U2 song Sunday Bloody Sunday but immediately after the incident Paul McCartney and Wings recorded "Give Ireland Back To The Irish", which was banned from the BBC, and John Lennon included "The Luck Of The Irish" on his album Some Time In New York City.