1 00:00:03,300 --> 00:00:06,940 I remember sitting on the rocks down at the beach, 2 00:00:06,940 --> 00:00:08,980 in my mind going over August 27th, 3 00:00:08,980 --> 00:00:11,100 August 27th, and I kept saying 1979, 4 00:00:11,100 --> 00:00:13,900 I'll never forget this date, and I don't. 5 00:00:13,900 --> 00:00:18,500 Every year, that date comes round and we remember it. 6 00:00:18,500 --> 00:00:21,300 40 years ago, Lord Mountbatten, 7 00:00:21,300 --> 00:00:24,220 the great-uncle of Prince Charles, 8 00:00:24,220 --> 00:00:26,380 was blown up at sea by the IRA 9 00:00:26,380 --> 00:00:28,020 at Mullaghmore, 10 00:00:28,020 --> 00:00:30,200 off the west coast of Ireland. 11 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,300 By killing Mountbatten, 12 00:00:32,300 --> 00:00:34,900 you sent ripples around the world, 13 00:00:34,900 --> 00:00:39,380 in a way in which no other assassination could have achieved. 14 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,300 No member of the British royal family 15 00:00:42,300 --> 00:00:44,500 had been murdered 16 00:00:44,500 --> 00:00:48,100 by terrorists, within living memory. 17 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,180 At the time, I could not imagine how 18 00:00:52,180 --> 00:00:54,740 we would come to terms with the anguish 19 00:00:54,740 --> 00:00:57,740 of such a deep loss. 20 00:00:57,740 --> 00:01:03,340 Three others were killed on the boat, including two teenage boys. 21 00:01:03,340 --> 00:01:05,780 There was an almighty bang, 22 00:01:05,780 --> 00:01:07,820 a huge crack like thunder, 23 00:01:07,820 --> 00:01:10,740 and I immediately said... 24 00:01:10,740 --> 00:01:13,100 "Paul is dead." 25 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:15,380 The day was marked not just by 26 00:01:15,380 --> 00:01:17,220 the Mountbatten bomb, 27 00:01:17,220 --> 00:01:19,340 but by a second IRA attack 28 00:01:19,340 --> 00:01:21,940 that killed 18 British soldiers 29 00:01:21,940 --> 00:01:24,140 at Warrenpoint, across the border 30 00:01:24,140 --> 00:01:26,100 in Northern Ireland. 31 00:01:26,100 --> 00:01:28,100 The IRA couldn't believe their luck. 32 00:01:28,100 --> 00:01:29,900 For the nationalist population, 33 00:01:29,900 --> 00:01:31,460 we were monsters. 34 00:01:35,860 --> 00:01:38,180 This is the story of that day... 35 00:01:39,340 --> 00:01:41,900 ..told by those directly affected by it. 36 00:01:43,580 --> 00:01:48,020 It is hard, when you see the wounds 37 00:01:48,020 --> 00:01:50,860 that never really got sewn up, 38 00:01:50,860 --> 00:01:53,620 from that day and that tragedy, 39 00:01:53,620 --> 00:01:56,020 and that is hard. 40 00:01:58,180 --> 00:02:05,300 This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting 41 00:02:09,580 --> 00:02:13,380 MUSIC: This Is Your Life theme tune 42 00:02:15,380 --> 00:02:16,580 In a few minutes from now, 43 00:02:16,580 --> 00:02:20,340 I'll know whether or not we're going to succeed in telling 44 00:02:20,340 --> 00:02:23,980 the exciting story of a man whose courage and daring in the war 45 00:02:23,980 --> 00:02:26,820 and far-ranging influence on peace 46 00:02:26,820 --> 00:02:28,660 have significantly contributed to 47 00:02:28,660 --> 00:02:31,180 the shaping of this century's history. 48 00:02:31,180 --> 00:02:33,660 The man I'm after has no idea that I'm going to be there... 49 00:02:33,660 --> 00:02:35,060 I remember going to the studio 50 00:02:35,060 --> 00:02:37,100 and I remember the dress, I had to wear my sister's 51 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:39,820 hand-me-down dress, always a hand-me-down dress. 52 00:02:39,820 --> 00:02:42,260 And my thanks to Lord Brabourne, John Barrett... 53 00:02:42,260 --> 00:02:44,900 We even had Princess Anne's underwear, I remember one year 54 00:02:44,900 --> 00:02:46,500 was handed all the way down to us. 55 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:49,460 Admiral of the Fleet, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, 56 00:02:49,460 --> 00:02:51,380 tonight, this is your life. 57 00:02:51,380 --> 00:02:52,820 What do you mean? 58 00:02:52,820 --> 00:02:56,900 LAUGHTER 59 00:02:56,900 --> 00:02:58,700 I don't know what you mean! 60 00:02:58,700 --> 00:03:01,860 Inside here, we have a whole host of surprises for you... 61 00:03:01,860 --> 00:03:04,220 Amazing that they managed to pull that off. 62 00:03:04,220 --> 00:03:07,420 APPLAUSE 63 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:11,300 Now, India, that's an unusual name, 64 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:13,140 isn't it? How did you get that? 65 00:03:13,140 --> 00:03:15,180 Because my grandfather was the last 66 00:03:15,180 --> 00:03:18,420 Viceroy of India. LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE 67 00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:20,660 Because my grandfather was the last Viceroy of India! 68 00:03:22,900 --> 00:03:26,060 Of course, nowadays, people say, what's a Viceroy? 69 00:03:27,980 --> 00:03:29,940 As Viceroy, he was the last 70 00:03:29,940 --> 00:03:32,180 colonial ruler of India. 71 00:03:33,820 --> 00:03:36,980 He was also Admiral of the Fleet, 72 00:03:36,980 --> 00:03:39,300 second cousin of the Queen, 73 00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:41,780 and mentor to the Prince of Wales. 74 00:03:43,980 --> 00:03:45,820 The Earl Mountbatten of Burma 75 00:03:45,820 --> 00:03:48,100 was, for half a century, one of 76 00:03:48,100 --> 00:03:50,660 Britain's leading public figures. 77 00:03:52,340 --> 00:03:54,100 Can you bear having hot milk in it, 78 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:56,180 or would you rather not have milk in it? 79 00:03:56,180 --> 00:03:57,460 In retirement, he spent 80 00:03:57,460 --> 00:04:00,020 more time with his family, 81 00:04:00,020 --> 00:04:02,860 but he still enjoyed the public spotlight so much 82 00:04:02,860 --> 00:04:04,540 that he allowed an ITV crew 83 00:04:04,540 --> 00:04:07,340 to record his annual summer holiday in Ireland, 84 00:04:07,340 --> 00:04:10,860 even if it meant compromising the family's privacy. 85 00:04:10,860 --> 00:04:12,220 I've found some more milk... 86 00:04:12,220 --> 00:04:13,500 Every Easter, every summer, 87 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:15,860 every Christmas, every single holiday, 88 00:04:15,860 --> 00:04:17,820 we were together with our cousins. 89 00:04:17,820 --> 00:04:19,140 One, two, three... Whoopsie! 90 00:04:19,140 --> 00:04:22,380 Classiebawn was always in the summer, a month in August. 91 00:04:22,380 --> 00:04:24,420 The twins, where are the twins? 92 00:04:24,420 --> 00:04:28,500 For all of the fact that it was called Classiebawn Castle, 93 00:04:28,500 --> 00:04:31,700 essentially, it wasn't. It was a Victorian mansion, with some turret 94 00:04:31,700 --> 00:04:33,340 built onto the end of it. 95 00:04:34,420 --> 00:04:38,860 Lord Mountbatten inherited Classiebawn Castle from his wife, 96 00:04:38,860 --> 00:04:41,700 Lady Edwina, who died in 1960. 97 00:04:42,940 --> 00:04:45,540 There were so many wonderful traditions. 98 00:04:50,420 --> 00:04:52,340 The heart of the holiday was 99 00:04:52,340 --> 00:04:53,660 going out on the boat. 100 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:55,100 I would go a lot on the boat, 101 00:04:55,100 --> 00:04:56,820 we all did. 102 00:04:58,460 --> 00:04:59,980 India, come on... 103 00:04:59,980 --> 00:05:02,420 The building of the dams, that was absolutely a tradition, 104 00:05:02,420 --> 00:05:04,260 and taken very seriously. 105 00:05:04,260 --> 00:05:05,900 Everybody knew what they had to do. 106 00:05:05,900 --> 00:05:08,900 LORD MOUNTBATTEN: Give it to me, I'll show you. Make the hole here. 107 00:05:08,900 --> 00:05:11,100 There it is, see? From here, 108 00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:12,580 then you start doing the dam. 109 00:05:12,580 --> 00:05:14,220 Yeah. Out of the way... 110 00:05:14,220 --> 00:05:18,220 You see, he was, um, admiralling, wasn't he? 111 00:05:18,220 --> 00:05:19,500 No, put it this way. 112 00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:20,900 Go on, do as you're told. 113 00:05:20,900 --> 00:05:22,100 Do as you're told. 114 00:05:22,100 --> 00:05:23,700 That'll do it. 115 00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:25,420 There we are. There you are... 116 00:05:25,420 --> 00:05:27,020 It would be hard to be 117 00:05:27,020 --> 00:05:29,460 Chief of Combined Operations and then not be in charge of 118 00:05:29,460 --> 00:05:31,900 the family dam, let's face it. 119 00:05:33,500 --> 00:05:35,420 That way... 120 00:05:35,420 --> 00:05:40,380 The Mountbattens were generally viewed by the locals as benevolent, 121 00:05:40,380 --> 00:05:44,300 well-meaning, helpful people, who it was nice to have around. 122 00:05:44,300 --> 00:05:47,500 The neighbourhood benefited as a result of their presence. 123 00:05:50,020 --> 00:05:53,180 Each summer, the Mountbattens would take up residence 124 00:05:53,180 --> 00:05:54,660 at Classiebawn Castle, 125 00:05:54,660 --> 00:05:58,300 overlooking the pretty fishing village of Mullaghmore. 126 00:05:59,900 --> 00:06:03,100 The family's visits brought a touch of glamour, 127 00:06:03,100 --> 00:06:05,620 and jobs for the locals. 128 00:06:06,620 --> 00:06:08,460 This photograph, here, 129 00:06:08,460 --> 00:06:10,860 was in the dining room of Classiebawn. 130 00:06:10,860 --> 00:06:15,140 It's a dinner. That is me there. 131 00:06:17,780 --> 00:06:19,820 When you look back, so many years ago, 132 00:06:19,820 --> 00:06:21,860 it's now 40 years, you can always say, 133 00:06:21,860 --> 00:06:26,260 the memories of them are happy ones, 134 00:06:26,260 --> 00:06:28,940 and that's the most important thing of all. 135 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:31,180 Do you remember this, Mother? 136 00:06:31,180 --> 00:06:34,460 Louis gave you this book. Yeah. 137 00:06:34,460 --> 00:06:36,540 "To Mrs Barry, with grateful appreciation, 138 00:06:36,540 --> 00:06:41,540 "Mountbatten of Burma, Classiebawn Castle. August, 1978." 139 00:06:41,540 --> 00:06:44,980 And it was Barbara Cartland's Book of Useless Information. 140 00:06:44,980 --> 00:06:47,700 So, my mother treasured that very much. 141 00:06:47,700 --> 00:06:50,060 I think that's the last thing he gave to her. 142 00:07:03,100 --> 00:07:06,100 The Mountbattens were not alone in their attachment 143 00:07:06,100 --> 00:07:08,460 to Mullaghmore. 144 00:07:08,460 --> 00:07:10,540 There are my three children at Mullaghmore. 145 00:07:10,540 --> 00:07:14,500 That was Paul and his two sisters. 146 00:07:16,500 --> 00:07:19,140 Mullaghmore was a popular holiday destination 147 00:07:19,140 --> 00:07:21,780 for families from Northern Ireland, 148 00:07:21,780 --> 00:07:23,140 as well as the South, 149 00:07:23,140 --> 00:07:25,540 and the Maxwells, from Enniskillen, 150 00:07:25,540 --> 00:07:27,460 had their own cottage there. 151 00:07:27,460 --> 00:07:31,340 We went down there during summer holidays for two months 152 00:07:31,340 --> 00:07:36,060 every year, and the children enjoyed it immensely. 153 00:07:36,060 --> 00:07:37,940 I particularly like this... 154 00:07:37,940 --> 00:07:39,580 this one of Paul. 155 00:07:41,060 --> 00:07:44,060 That summer, 15-year-old Paul Maxwell 156 00:07:44,060 --> 00:07:46,300 landed his dream job - looking after 157 00:07:46,300 --> 00:07:49,780 Lord Mountbatten's boat, Shadow V. 158 00:07:49,780 --> 00:07:52,460 I think they had a nice relationship. 159 00:07:52,460 --> 00:07:54,900 Paul would sometimes 160 00:07:54,900 --> 00:07:57,300 stay on the boat afterwards with 161 00:07:57,300 --> 00:08:00,380 Mountbatten and they would talk. 162 00:08:00,380 --> 00:08:05,860 And he told Paul about going into the Navy. And he said, 163 00:08:05,860 --> 00:08:10,300 "You know, I went into the Navy when I was 12 years old, 164 00:08:10,300 --> 00:08:14,220 "and I saw active service when I was 16." 165 00:08:14,220 --> 00:08:19,260 And Paul said to him, "Were you not frightened, My Lord?" 166 00:08:19,260 --> 00:08:22,500 And he said, "Yes, but you didn't show it." 167 00:08:22,500 --> 00:08:24,260 And you can see... 168 00:08:24,260 --> 00:08:27,780 Classiebawn in the background there, 169 00:08:27,780 --> 00:08:29,180 in the distance. 170 00:08:32,500 --> 00:08:36,980 Classiebawn itself had been a fairly early example of what you might call 171 00:08:36,980 --> 00:08:38,980 English colonisation, 172 00:08:38,980 --> 00:08:43,220 in a sense that, quite clearly, they were intruders. 173 00:08:43,220 --> 00:08:49,260 The Irish obviously resented Britain, as such, and wanted us out. 174 00:08:50,900 --> 00:08:53,220 The Mountbattens' summer retreat 175 00:08:53,220 --> 00:08:55,180 was in County Sligo, 176 00:08:55,180 --> 00:08:57,660 in the Republic of Ireland. 177 00:08:57,660 --> 00:08:59,460 Mullaghmore was only 13 miles 178 00:08:59,460 --> 00:09:01,700 from the border with Northern Ireland 179 00:09:01,700 --> 00:09:03,300 where, in 1969, 180 00:09:03,300 --> 00:09:06,020 a bloody conflict broke out. 181 00:09:06,020 --> 00:09:07,980 EXPLOSION 182 00:09:10,860 --> 00:09:12,100 Catholics in Northern Ireland 183 00:09:12,100 --> 00:09:14,100 resented being treated as 184 00:09:14,100 --> 00:09:16,940 what they saw as second-class citizens, 185 00:09:16,940 --> 00:09:21,420 and the IRA took up arms against the British state. 186 00:09:22,580 --> 00:09:24,260 Despite the nearby Troubles, 187 00:09:24,260 --> 00:09:26,700 the Mountbattens kept coming 188 00:09:26,700 --> 00:09:28,100 to Classiebawn. 189 00:09:28,100 --> 00:09:30,740 They enjoyed protection from the local police, 190 00:09:30,740 --> 00:09:32,980 the Garda, but it was all kept 191 00:09:32,980 --> 00:09:34,420 very low-key. 192 00:09:36,860 --> 00:09:38,860 The families themselves were 193 00:09:38,860 --> 00:09:40,660 very rarely targeted at all 194 00:09:40,660 --> 00:09:44,740 and there was very little personal animosity. 195 00:09:45,780 --> 00:09:47,460 I don't believe the Garda, 196 00:09:47,460 --> 00:09:49,380 more than anybody else, believed 197 00:09:49,380 --> 00:09:51,500 that actually, there was a serious threat. 198 00:09:53,420 --> 00:09:57,340 Judging the appropriate level of security for the Mountbattens 199 00:09:57,340 --> 00:09:59,180 was a tough call. 200 00:09:59,180 --> 00:10:02,820 My grandfather was very keen not to have the intrusion of 201 00:10:02,820 --> 00:10:05,140 an overly protective force around, 202 00:10:05,140 --> 00:10:07,100 which is funny when you think that 203 00:10:07,100 --> 00:10:11,180 on the mountainside, there was a big painted sign, "Brits go home". 204 00:10:11,180 --> 00:10:14,900 You arrived for your summer holiday and that's the welcome. 205 00:10:19,540 --> 00:10:21,580 A reminder that while the fishing village 206 00:10:21,580 --> 00:10:24,980 of Mullaghmore itself may have welcomed the Mountbattens, 207 00:10:24,980 --> 00:10:27,660 County Sligo had deep roots in 208 00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:30,420 the Republican movement. 209 00:10:30,420 --> 00:10:33,740 Mountbatten would have been seen by 210 00:10:33,740 --> 00:10:37,140 people in the IRA leadership as a... 211 00:10:37,140 --> 00:10:40,420 cultural icon of the British establishment. 212 00:10:41,860 --> 00:10:46,900 Anthony McIntyre joined the IRA in Belfast in 1973. 213 00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:49,540 He wanted to get the Brits out 214 00:10:49,540 --> 00:10:52,420 and create a united Ireland. 215 00:10:52,420 --> 00:10:54,980 Although he later fell out with the IRA, 216 00:10:54,980 --> 00:10:57,500 he understood their mind-set at the time. 217 00:10:57,500 --> 00:10:59,260 BAND PLAYS 218 00:10:59,260 --> 00:11:01,060 He would have been targeted, 219 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:05,260 and his targeting justified 220 00:11:05,260 --> 00:11:09,420 on the grounds that by taking him out, 221 00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:13,620 there was a blow being administered 222 00:11:13,620 --> 00:11:17,820 to the very heart of the British establishment. 223 00:11:17,820 --> 00:11:19,420 HE SHOUTS COMMAND 224 00:11:20,940 --> 00:11:24,700 It turns out that throughout the 1970s, Lord Mountbatten 225 00:11:24,700 --> 00:11:28,060 had been a potential target for the IRA. 226 00:11:30,580 --> 00:11:34,860 Kieran Conway had risen through the IRA's ranks to become 227 00:11:34,860 --> 00:11:37,660 its Director of Intelligence by 1975. 228 00:11:38,940 --> 00:11:42,980 He reveals, for the first time, that an attempt on Mountbatten's life 229 00:11:42,980 --> 00:11:46,340 had been actively considered four years before 230 00:11:46,340 --> 00:11:48,420 the successful assassination. 231 00:11:48,420 --> 00:11:49,940 In the mid-Seventies, 232 00:11:49,940 --> 00:11:53,020 there was an operation cleared to kill Mountbatten. 233 00:11:54,660 --> 00:11:58,260 He was to be ambushed either exiting or entering his castle. 234 00:11:59,940 --> 00:12:01,420 Four or five men, 235 00:12:01,420 --> 00:12:04,740 a spotter car somewhere distant, 236 00:12:04,740 --> 00:12:07,740 then walkie-talkie communication between the people with the guns 237 00:12:07,740 --> 00:12:10,580 and the car to say he's on his way. 238 00:12:11,660 --> 00:12:13,700 You'd know roughly how long it was going to take, 239 00:12:13,700 --> 00:12:17,340 and, er, then open up on the car. 240 00:12:20,780 --> 00:12:23,060 The mind-set in '74-'75, the early '70s, 241 00:12:23,060 --> 00:12:27,260 would have been operational, you know? Like, kill them. Ha! 242 00:12:27,260 --> 00:12:29,500 Without too much reflection. 243 00:12:32,340 --> 00:12:37,380 I think he would have been astonished if told that there were 244 00:12:37,380 --> 00:12:41,300 IRA members in Ireland who were interested in his existence, 245 00:12:41,300 --> 00:12:43,180 let alone wanting to murder him. 246 00:12:43,180 --> 00:12:47,460 The 1975 plot did not get the go-ahead from 247 00:12:47,460 --> 00:12:50,100 the IRA's Army Council, 248 00:12:50,100 --> 00:12:54,340 and Kieran Conway temporarily left the IRA later that year. 249 00:12:55,380 --> 00:12:57,540 EXPLOSION 250 00:12:57,540 --> 00:12:59,380 But the military campaign against 251 00:12:59,380 --> 00:13:01,820 the British security forces 252 00:13:01,820 --> 00:13:03,220 did not let up. 253 00:13:03,220 --> 00:13:07,100 In Crossmaglen, it takes all the professional skills of the Army 254 00:13:07,100 --> 00:13:09,300 to make it safe enough for the Royal Ulster Constabulary 255 00:13:09,300 --> 00:13:11,140 to walk around the town where 256 00:13:11,140 --> 00:13:13,620 they're charged with maintaining law and order. 257 00:13:13,620 --> 00:13:15,700 Two of them have been gunned down here. 258 00:13:16,940 --> 00:13:20,940 By 1979, the British Army had been in Northern Ireland 259 00:13:20,940 --> 00:13:22,740 for ten years. 260 00:13:22,740 --> 00:13:25,060 Around 30,000 troops were lined up against 261 00:13:25,060 --> 00:13:30,060 an estimated 500 IRA volunteers, 262 00:13:30,060 --> 00:13:34,100 yet 324 soldiers had already been killed. 263 00:13:35,940 --> 00:13:39,180 And things were particularly dangerous in South Armagh, 264 00:13:39,180 --> 00:13:42,420 which runs along the Irish border. 265 00:13:42,420 --> 00:13:44,260 Bombings and shootings. 266 00:13:46,860 --> 00:13:51,940 South Armagh had a fairly notorious reputation as being dangerous. 267 00:13:53,300 --> 00:13:55,020 More dangerous, perhaps, 268 00:13:55,020 --> 00:13:58,460 than any other battalion area. 269 00:13:58,460 --> 00:14:01,940 Of course, South Armagh adjoins the Republic... 270 00:14:02,980 --> 00:14:05,420 ..so life on the border was, um... 271 00:14:06,620 --> 00:14:08,260 ..er, challenging. 272 00:14:11,700 --> 00:14:14,740 The South Armagh Brigade was, er, beyond belief. 273 00:14:15,900 --> 00:14:18,580 Just its ability, their operational efficiency. 274 00:14:18,580 --> 00:14:21,180 They were, erm, visibly beating the British. 275 00:14:26,380 --> 00:14:28,220 In the summer of 1979, 276 00:14:28,220 --> 00:14:30,540 the South Armagh Brigade 277 00:14:30,540 --> 00:14:31,980 was plotting two of the most 278 00:14:31,980 --> 00:14:33,220 ambitious attacks of 279 00:14:33,220 --> 00:14:36,220 the IRA's campaign so far. 280 00:14:36,220 --> 00:14:37,980 One in Warrenpoint, 281 00:14:37,980 --> 00:14:40,540 the other just south of 282 00:14:40,540 --> 00:14:42,340 the border, in Mullaghmore. 283 00:14:44,980 --> 00:14:47,820 There, during the night of the 26th of August, 284 00:14:47,820 --> 00:14:50,260 the IRA planted a remote-controlled 285 00:14:50,260 --> 00:14:51,700 50-pound bomb on 286 00:14:51,700 --> 00:14:55,460 Lord Mountbatten's boat, Shadow V, 287 00:14:55,460 --> 00:14:58,780 sitting unguarded in the harbour. 288 00:15:17,740 --> 00:15:19,940 I went on duty at 6am... 289 00:15:21,660 --> 00:15:23,340 ..up at the castle here. 290 00:15:25,420 --> 00:15:28,420 9:00-9:30, Lord Mountbatten 291 00:15:28,420 --> 00:15:31,220 and his family 292 00:15:31,220 --> 00:15:34,460 came out from the castle and informed us that they were 293 00:15:34,460 --> 00:15:36,460 going down to the pier. 294 00:15:36,460 --> 00:15:38,420 So, we got into a patrol car 295 00:15:38,420 --> 00:15:40,500 and we escorted them. 296 00:15:44,060 --> 00:15:45,900 In this unique photograph, 297 00:15:45,900 --> 00:15:48,180 taken just 24 hours earlier, 298 00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:50,140 showing the family and staff 299 00:15:50,140 --> 00:15:51,660 outside Classiebawn, 300 00:15:51,660 --> 00:15:53,060 all the members of 301 00:15:53,060 --> 00:15:55,860 Lord Mountbatten's boat party are present. 302 00:15:55,860 --> 00:15:57,980 His son-in-law, Lord Brabourne, 303 00:15:57,980 --> 00:16:00,340 and his daughter, Patricia, 304 00:16:00,340 --> 00:16:01,980 their 14-year-old twin sons, 305 00:16:01,980 --> 00:16:04,300 Timothy and Nicholas Knatchbull, 306 00:16:04,300 --> 00:16:08,660 and their 83-year-old grandmother, Doreen, the Lady Dowager. 307 00:16:08,660 --> 00:16:10,340 The only non-family member on board 308 00:16:10,340 --> 00:16:15,140 was the 15-year-old Northern Irish boat boy, Paul Maxwell. 309 00:16:19,020 --> 00:16:22,740 The day itself comes to me in flashes, 310 00:16:22,740 --> 00:16:24,300 rather like small explosions. 311 00:16:26,060 --> 00:16:30,260 I remember distinctly sitting in the library with my brother. 312 00:16:30,260 --> 00:16:33,660 My grandfather and the others had gone out on the boat, 313 00:16:33,660 --> 00:16:36,500 and Ash and I were watching - on this crackly, fuzzy 314 00:16:36,500 --> 00:16:38,540 television screen - Laurel and Hardy. 315 00:16:40,980 --> 00:16:45,540 On that day, August 27th, 1979, 316 00:16:45,540 --> 00:16:49,900 I was sitting on the back patio, with 317 00:16:49,900 --> 00:16:53,180 Paul's father and Lisa. 318 00:16:53,180 --> 00:16:57,420 Paul said, "Goodbye, Mum, see you in the evening." 319 00:16:59,180 --> 00:17:04,540 I didn't think that was the last time I would ever see him alive. 320 00:17:11,860 --> 00:17:13,700 Beautiful morning, it was. 321 00:17:13,700 --> 00:17:16,100 The sun was shining. 322 00:17:16,100 --> 00:17:18,740 They left Mullaghmore Pier and 323 00:17:18,740 --> 00:17:20,180 travelled out to 324 00:17:20,180 --> 00:17:22,100 where they had some lobster pots. 325 00:17:41,660 --> 00:17:43,340 This is where we were. 326 00:17:43,340 --> 00:17:46,020 Yes, looking out here. Because... 327 00:17:46,020 --> 00:17:48,340 you can see the boat as it came along. 328 00:17:52,980 --> 00:17:56,140 Dennis Devlin was a 15-year-old, 329 00:17:56,140 --> 00:17:58,780 whose family came to Mullaghmore every summer. 330 00:17:58,780 --> 00:18:00,380 Their caravan was parked 331 00:18:00,380 --> 00:18:02,100 just off the coastal road. 332 00:18:12,820 --> 00:18:15,180 As they came in, I could hear them talking. 333 00:18:16,860 --> 00:18:18,780 Talking among themselves. 334 00:18:22,300 --> 00:18:23,580 As the boat pulled up, 335 00:18:23,580 --> 00:18:26,340 I remember the young fella over the side of the boat 336 00:18:26,340 --> 00:18:29,180 pulling in the lobster pot, and slowly pulled it in. 337 00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:49,540 Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a loud bang. 338 00:18:49,540 --> 00:18:52,020 You could see the boat had just disintegrated. 339 00:18:52,020 --> 00:18:55,260 It was obvious that a bomb had gone off. 340 00:18:58,540 --> 00:19:01,340 There was an almighty bang. 341 00:19:01,340 --> 00:19:04,460 A huge crack, like thunder. 342 00:19:06,540 --> 00:19:09,620 And I immediately said, 343 00:19:09,620 --> 00:19:11,340 "Paul is dead." 344 00:19:13,940 --> 00:19:20,860 And I knew he was dead because I felt a part of me go. 345 00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:28,740 My brother, sister and I were taken 346 00:19:28,740 --> 00:19:31,380 into the study and, before anything, 347 00:19:31,380 --> 00:19:33,620 we were asked to take these pills, with a glass of water. 348 00:19:33,620 --> 00:19:35,460 I'd never taken a pill in my life before. 349 00:19:35,460 --> 00:19:41,500 And that, to me, was more surprising than anything of that day. 350 00:19:41,500 --> 00:19:44,220 I couldn't understand why I was being made to take a pill. 351 00:19:44,220 --> 00:19:46,980 Again, I think it's so reflective of the era that they were in, 352 00:19:46,980 --> 00:19:49,700 in the 1970s, that someone would have had Valium on them, 353 00:19:49,700 --> 00:19:52,540 for God's sakes, and said, let's give it to the children. 354 00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:54,780 I mean, dear God, would you give an 11-year-old a Valium?! 355 00:19:56,140 --> 00:19:59,380 I, for some reason, left the castle 356 00:19:59,380 --> 00:20:01,220 and ran down to the beach, 357 00:20:01,220 --> 00:20:03,500 which wasn't helpful at all, 358 00:20:03,500 --> 00:20:06,140 and incredibly inconsiderate of me, now I look back. 359 00:20:06,140 --> 00:20:08,620 I remember sitting on the rocks 360 00:20:08,620 --> 00:20:10,620 down at the beach, in my mind, 361 00:20:10,620 --> 00:20:13,260 going over - 27th of August, 27th of August. 362 00:20:13,260 --> 00:20:15,740 And I kept saying, 1979, I'll never forget this date. 363 00:20:15,740 --> 00:20:18,060 And I don't. I don't. 364 00:20:18,060 --> 00:20:21,780 VOICE BREAKING: Every year, that date comes round and we remember it. 365 00:20:21,780 --> 00:20:25,820 Um... And, erm... And, er... 366 00:20:25,820 --> 00:20:29,660 And it was just such an incredibly beautiful day. 367 00:20:29,660 --> 00:20:33,140 And on the rocks, this incredible view. 368 00:20:33,140 --> 00:20:36,220 And yet, you know, destruction. 369 00:20:36,220 --> 00:20:37,820 I'm so sorry, I don't... 370 00:20:37,820 --> 00:20:39,940 I don't normally get upset. 371 00:20:41,060 --> 00:20:42,580 SHE CHUCKLES 372 00:20:47,940 --> 00:20:49,660 I remember it very vividly, 373 00:20:49,660 --> 00:20:51,180 every moment of it, really. 374 00:20:51,180 --> 00:20:52,660 From the very start 375 00:20:52,660 --> 00:20:55,620 to the very end of the day. And I think I'll always remember it. 376 00:20:59,460 --> 00:21:02,180 Lord Mountbatten's boat had exploded. 377 00:21:02,180 --> 00:21:05,260 So, immediately, I got two friends 378 00:21:05,260 --> 00:21:08,500 and we went out on the boat to see what we could do. 379 00:21:08,500 --> 00:21:12,060 And, erm, we arrived there and there was other boats 380 00:21:12,060 --> 00:21:14,620 that were in the near vicinity, they were already... 381 00:21:14,620 --> 00:21:16,180 lifting the survivors. 382 00:21:24,660 --> 00:21:27,900 I think when we actually took him from the boat 383 00:21:27,900 --> 00:21:31,260 that he'd been brought ashore in and brought him to the ambulance. 384 00:21:31,260 --> 00:21:33,500 That's the first that I realised that 385 00:21:33,500 --> 00:21:37,140 he had actually been one of the fatalities. He was one of the first 386 00:21:37,140 --> 00:21:38,780 that was actually taken ashore. 387 00:21:44,580 --> 00:21:47,500 It was a perfectly ordinary day, that August Bank Holiday. 388 00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:48,940 I was helping to put together 389 00:21:48,940 --> 00:21:51,180 the lunchtime bulletin for Radio Ulster. 390 00:21:51,180 --> 00:21:54,980 Nicholas Witchell was a trainee reporter at the time, 391 00:21:54,980 --> 00:21:58,060 in the BBC newsroom in Belfast. 392 00:21:58,060 --> 00:22:00,500 We received a tip-off from somebody we knew, 393 00:22:00,500 --> 00:22:02,180 suggesting that there had been 394 00:22:02,180 --> 00:22:04,580 an explosion reported at Mullaghmore, 395 00:22:04,580 --> 00:22:06,620 in the Republic of Ireland. 396 00:22:06,620 --> 00:22:11,140 I do remember forming the words on my pad, "Mountbatten, dead". 397 00:22:14,700 --> 00:22:18,380 By now, all but one of the bodies of the boat party 398 00:22:18,380 --> 00:22:20,020 had been recovered. 399 00:22:20,020 --> 00:22:22,820 Lord Mountbatten and Paul Maxwell 400 00:22:22,820 --> 00:22:24,860 had been killed instantly. 401 00:22:24,860 --> 00:22:28,740 The 83-year-old dowager, fatally injured. 402 00:22:28,740 --> 00:22:32,620 The parents of the twins were also seriously wounded, 403 00:22:32,620 --> 00:22:35,860 as was 14-year-old Timothy. 404 00:22:35,860 --> 00:22:38,900 His twin brother, Nicholas, was still missing. 405 00:22:44,980 --> 00:22:47,060 You could see this beautiful 406 00:22:47,060 --> 00:22:48,860 blue azure sea, just off to 407 00:22:48,860 --> 00:22:53,140 the north end of the little peninsula which Mullaghmore is. 408 00:22:54,780 --> 00:22:58,060 We could see a lot of debris. 409 00:22:58,060 --> 00:23:00,900 Splinters of wood. It was fine debris. 410 00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:02,620 Quite fine debris, it was. 411 00:23:07,740 --> 00:23:10,220 I was winched from the rescue helicopter... 412 00:23:12,580 --> 00:23:14,660 ..and I was placed into the water, 413 00:23:14,660 --> 00:23:18,100 beside what looked like the bubble of an anorak. 414 00:23:20,740 --> 00:23:23,380 I placed my hand and pulled it, 415 00:23:23,380 --> 00:23:25,580 and it didn't yield very easily. 416 00:23:25,580 --> 00:23:27,220 And I pulled it a second time, 417 00:23:27,220 --> 00:23:30,900 and it was then the head came up with the jacket as I pulled, 418 00:23:30,900 --> 00:23:33,180 and I realised it was a child. 419 00:23:36,460 --> 00:23:38,220 Imagine what those 420 00:23:38,220 --> 00:23:41,100 thick Aran sweaters must have felt like, 421 00:23:41,100 --> 00:23:46,540 clogged with oil and water, being lifted out of the ocean. 422 00:23:46,540 --> 00:23:51,700 You know, how long had Nick been floating in the water, you know? 423 00:23:53,460 --> 00:23:55,260 It was the first child 424 00:23:55,260 --> 00:23:57,500 that I handled in death. 425 00:23:57,500 --> 00:24:00,100 It came as a terrible shock to me, I can tell you, 426 00:24:00,100 --> 00:24:02,340 but I'm in rescue mode. 427 00:24:02,340 --> 00:24:04,420 I need to get him out of that water. 428 00:24:04,420 --> 00:24:07,460 I need to give him over to his family. 429 00:24:08,620 --> 00:24:11,300 14-year-old Nicholas Knatchbull's body 430 00:24:11,300 --> 00:24:13,820 was returned to Mullaghmore Harbour. 431 00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:19,100 It's the last photograph we have of Paul. 432 00:24:19,100 --> 00:24:20,460 That's Paul. 433 00:24:21,460 --> 00:24:23,500 And that is... 434 00:24:23,500 --> 00:24:27,100 Nicky and Timmy. 435 00:24:27,100 --> 00:24:28,500 So, one boy survived, 436 00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:30,220 and the other two were killed? 437 00:24:30,220 --> 00:24:35,060 He survived because he was up on the roof. 438 00:24:36,740 --> 00:24:40,580 Mountbatten was in the middle, between 439 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:43,820 Paul and Nicky. 440 00:24:43,820 --> 00:24:46,660 And so, they got the full blast. 441 00:24:55,820 --> 00:24:58,460 Later that afternoon, I had a phone call from 442 00:24:58,460 --> 00:24:59,940 a contact I knew within 443 00:24:59,940 --> 00:25:02,380 the Republican movement, who asked, 444 00:25:02,380 --> 00:25:06,980 most unusually, to drive up to the Falls Road to meet him. 445 00:25:06,980 --> 00:25:09,940 Opened the door, he got into the car, 446 00:25:09,940 --> 00:25:12,060 sat down beside me, we drove on. 447 00:25:12,060 --> 00:25:14,220 Then he reached into his mouth... 448 00:25:15,100 --> 00:25:16,500 ..like that, 449 00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:19,340 and drew out a small scrap of paper, 450 00:25:19,340 --> 00:25:23,260 which was wrapped up in clingfilm, 451 00:25:23,260 --> 00:25:25,860 unwrapped it, and this was the... 452 00:25:25,860 --> 00:25:28,540 a telexed message which contained 453 00:25:28,540 --> 00:25:31,300 the IRA claim of responsibility for, as they put it, 454 00:25:31,300 --> 00:25:33,980 the execution of Lord Mountbatten. 455 00:25:38,660 --> 00:25:40,900 The choice of the word "execution" is very deliberate. 456 00:25:42,260 --> 00:25:45,180 It is an attempt to imply that there was some kind of a justification. 457 00:25:45,180 --> 00:25:48,620 I mean, execution implies a judicial process. 458 00:25:48,620 --> 00:25:50,860 Clearly, you know, absolutely inappropriate. 459 00:25:50,860 --> 00:25:55,100 By killing Mountbatten, you sent ripples 460 00:25:55,100 --> 00:25:58,020 around the world, in a way which probably, 461 00:25:58,020 --> 00:26:02,020 no other assassination could have achieved. 462 00:26:04,140 --> 00:26:06,580 While people were still reeling from the news that 463 00:26:06,580 --> 00:26:07,820 a member of the royal family 464 00:26:07,820 --> 00:26:09,540 had been killed at Mullaghmore, 465 00:26:09,540 --> 00:26:14,740 the IRA's operations that day were not yet over. 466 00:26:16,260 --> 00:26:19,260 Now, the British Army was in their sights. 467 00:26:20,700 --> 00:26:22,420 Later that afternoon, 468 00:26:22,420 --> 00:26:24,540 over 100 miles away, members from 469 00:26:24,540 --> 00:26:26,820 another South Armagh unit were 470 00:26:26,820 --> 00:26:29,220 lying in wait by the Newry River, 471 00:26:29,220 --> 00:26:30,660 on the southern side of 472 00:26:30,660 --> 00:26:33,100 the Irish border. They were hoping 473 00:26:33,100 --> 00:26:35,300 to blow up a British Army convoy, 474 00:26:35,300 --> 00:26:36,940 travelling along the road from 475 00:26:36,940 --> 00:26:38,780 Warrenpoint, across the river, 476 00:26:38,780 --> 00:26:41,060 in Northern Ireland, by detonating 477 00:26:41,060 --> 00:26:42,940 two radio-controlled bombs 478 00:26:42,940 --> 00:26:45,100 that they'd planted earlier. 479 00:26:45,100 --> 00:26:47,380 One - a 700-pound device hidden 480 00:26:47,380 --> 00:26:49,980 in a lorry piled high with straw - 481 00:26:49,980 --> 00:26:52,660 was parked in a lay-by. The other - 482 00:26:52,660 --> 00:26:55,020 £1,000-worth of explosive - 483 00:26:55,020 --> 00:26:57,260 hidden in a nearby gate lodge. 484 00:27:02,340 --> 00:27:04,180 So, I went down. I remember 485 00:27:04,180 --> 00:27:07,020 messing about with a car behind us. 486 00:27:07,020 --> 00:27:10,860 Tom Caughey was a local boy from Newtownards, 487 00:27:10,860 --> 00:27:13,940 who had joined the Parachute Regiment at 18, 488 00:27:13,940 --> 00:27:16,300 as his father had before him. 489 00:27:16,300 --> 00:27:18,220 That day, he was a passenger 490 00:27:18,220 --> 00:27:21,020 in the lead vehicle of the two-truck convoy. 491 00:27:22,980 --> 00:27:24,700 We had a packed lunch, 492 00:27:24,700 --> 00:27:27,580 and we'd oranges, and we made little teeth out of the orange, you know. 493 00:27:27,580 --> 00:27:29,740 And there was a car with... 494 00:27:29,740 --> 00:27:31,580 a lady and kids in it. 495 00:27:32,620 --> 00:27:36,140 We were smiling at them, you know, that type of banter. 496 00:27:37,140 --> 00:27:38,700 Ten minutes later, we were blown up. 497 00:27:38,700 --> 00:27:40,540 EXPLOSION 498 00:27:40,540 --> 00:27:44,380 BLEEPING 499 00:27:44,380 --> 00:27:46,220 Not a bang, just a rumble. 500 00:27:46,220 --> 00:27:49,460 And I had the sensation of flying. 501 00:27:51,140 --> 00:27:54,940 Coming... Not even coming to, just... 502 00:27:54,940 --> 00:27:58,780 looking about, sitting there, and everything's just a mess. 503 00:28:02,260 --> 00:28:04,700 I came into the roundabout 504 00:28:04,700 --> 00:28:07,460 and you couldn't see past the roundabout. 505 00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:09,220 Totally obscured with smoke. 506 00:28:10,620 --> 00:28:14,020 Peter Maloy was a freelance photographer at the time, 507 00:28:14,020 --> 00:28:17,460 who just happened to be passing. 508 00:28:17,460 --> 00:28:20,740 I got out, grabbed the cameras, 509 00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:23,580 and just as I'm going into it, a policeman's coming running out 510 00:28:23,580 --> 00:28:26,860 and he's screaming. He says, 511 00:28:26,860 --> 00:28:28,940 "Don't go in there, they're all dead." 512 00:28:28,940 --> 00:28:32,140 I just put the camera into autofocus 513 00:28:32,140 --> 00:28:35,060 and I just shot generally. 514 00:28:38,780 --> 00:28:42,500 The first thing I saw was a long wheelbased jeep, 515 00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:45,020 and there were soldiers in that, and... 516 00:28:45,020 --> 00:28:49,500 one look told you they were obviously dead. And the heat, 517 00:28:49,500 --> 00:28:51,860 you couldn't really go too close to it. 518 00:28:53,220 --> 00:28:54,700 Everything was burning. 519 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:56,820 And my legs were on fire. 520 00:28:56,820 --> 00:28:58,700 No, I couldn't move. 521 00:28:58,700 --> 00:28:59,940 And the next thing, 522 00:28:59,940 --> 00:29:01,780 the guys were on me. 523 00:29:01,780 --> 00:29:05,060 They were pouring water, you know, trying to put me out. 524 00:29:05,060 --> 00:29:08,300 And one of the guys, er, 525 00:29:08,300 --> 00:29:11,980 give me his red beret to put over my face, 526 00:29:11,980 --> 00:29:14,180 to keep the sun off it. 527 00:29:14,180 --> 00:29:17,620 And I can remember lying there and... 528 00:29:17,620 --> 00:29:19,060 voices... 529 00:29:20,260 --> 00:29:23,500 Dead. He's dead. He's dead. They're dead, they're dead, they're dead. 530 00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:26,340 And voices getting closer to me. 531 00:29:26,340 --> 00:29:29,940 And whether I imagined this, I don't know, 532 00:29:29,940 --> 00:29:35,140 but I vividly remember it. I remember saying, "I'm not dead." 533 00:29:35,140 --> 00:29:37,540 You know, and taking the beret off, you know? 534 00:29:37,540 --> 00:29:39,180 It was like a roll call of the dead. 535 00:29:43,220 --> 00:29:46,060 Seven of the nine Paras travelling 536 00:29:46,060 --> 00:29:48,500 in the first truck had been killed. 537 00:29:48,500 --> 00:29:51,540 Tom Caughey, along with his friend, 538 00:29:51,540 --> 00:29:53,740 Paul Burns, were the only survivors. 539 00:29:53,740 --> 00:29:57,220 But the carnage didn't end there. 540 00:30:00,860 --> 00:30:03,380 A very fine English voice shouted, 541 00:30:03,380 --> 00:30:06,860 "There could be a second bomb! Take hard cover!" 542 00:30:08,820 --> 00:30:11,780 And they all went over 543 00:30:11,780 --> 00:30:13,740 towards the gate lodge. 544 00:30:13,740 --> 00:30:16,700 Across the river, the IRA bombers 545 00:30:16,700 --> 00:30:18,380 were lying in wait, 546 00:30:18,380 --> 00:30:21,420 ready to detonate the second bomb. 547 00:30:21,420 --> 00:30:23,060 They'd predicted correctly 548 00:30:23,060 --> 00:30:24,740 where the surviving British troops 549 00:30:24,740 --> 00:30:26,700 were likely to regroup. 550 00:30:27,980 --> 00:30:29,540 I remember getting put in a chopper, 551 00:30:29,540 --> 00:30:32,980 and Paul Burns being put in. 552 00:30:32,980 --> 00:30:34,860 I remember the look on his face, and he was like 553 00:30:34,860 --> 00:30:36,980 something out of Tom and Jerry. 554 00:30:36,980 --> 00:30:40,540 When the cigar goes off in your mouth and your face is black. 555 00:30:40,540 --> 00:30:43,300 And we'd all little... 556 00:30:43,300 --> 00:30:45,780 He was like a strawman. You know... 557 00:30:45,780 --> 00:30:48,540 Bits of straw stuck in his face. 558 00:30:48,540 --> 00:30:50,220 And then... 559 00:30:50,220 --> 00:30:52,980 Boof! Bang, it goes again. 560 00:30:52,980 --> 00:30:54,420 Boom! 561 00:31:00,300 --> 00:31:01,820 I was thrown back 562 00:31:01,820 --> 00:31:05,660 and I got up again 563 00:31:05,660 --> 00:31:08,100 and it was over. 564 00:31:08,100 --> 00:31:09,500 Basically, it was over. 565 00:31:14,020 --> 00:31:18,660 August 27th had started badly for Mike Jackson. 566 00:31:19,980 --> 00:31:22,180 The news came through of 567 00:31:22,180 --> 00:31:24,620 the Mullaghmore bombing 568 00:31:24,620 --> 00:31:29,340 and the death of Earl Mountbatten, amongst others, 569 00:31:29,340 --> 00:31:31,660 which was obviously very shocking. 570 00:31:32,740 --> 00:31:36,380 Now, as the news broke that his fellow Paras had been ambushed 571 00:31:36,380 --> 00:31:38,180 at Warrenpoint, Jackson himself 572 00:31:38,180 --> 00:31:41,020 was called into action. 573 00:31:42,660 --> 00:31:45,780 The Brigade Commander looked at me and said, 574 00:31:45,780 --> 00:31:47,380 "Mike, what are you doing here? 575 00:31:47,380 --> 00:31:50,020 You go down to the site and secure it, 576 00:31:50,020 --> 00:31:52,860 and take on all the aftermath." 577 00:31:52,860 --> 00:31:55,220 So, I gave out some rapid orders, 578 00:31:55,220 --> 00:31:57,580 um, and... 579 00:31:57,580 --> 00:31:59,700 got on the first light helicopter 580 00:31:59,700 --> 00:32:01,140 I could. 581 00:32:02,820 --> 00:32:04,380 There's no communication, 582 00:32:04,380 --> 00:32:06,020 all telephones are cut off, 583 00:32:06,020 --> 00:32:10,500 so you're waiting for word to come back from your own... 584 00:32:10,500 --> 00:32:14,140 from your own lads to what actually is going on. 585 00:32:14,140 --> 00:32:18,020 Is there a bit of you thinking, that's my mates? Yes. 586 00:32:18,020 --> 00:32:21,100 Absolutely. And you want to know who it was, because you know that 587 00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:23,100 some of your mates were being killed, were killed. 588 00:32:23,100 --> 00:32:24,980 So, yes, you did want to know. 589 00:32:24,980 --> 00:32:31,060 Dead. 590 00:32:31,060 --> 00:32:33,860 Dead. Dead. Dead. 591 00:32:38,460 --> 00:32:40,540 A further 11 British soldiers 592 00:32:40,540 --> 00:32:41,780 had been killed in 593 00:32:41,780 --> 00:32:43,180 the second explosion. 594 00:32:48,500 --> 00:32:51,140 I get to Warrenpoint 595 00:32:51,140 --> 00:32:54,380 and, um, it's a pretty grim site, 596 00:32:54,380 --> 00:32:55,980 as you can imagine. 597 00:32:59,420 --> 00:33:01,060 There were body parts, um, 598 00:33:01,060 --> 00:33:03,580 pretty much everywhere. 599 00:33:03,580 --> 00:33:05,980 In the trees, everywhere. 600 00:33:05,980 --> 00:33:09,380 Um, and, er... 601 00:33:09,380 --> 00:33:12,100 those who had survived, 602 00:33:12,100 --> 00:33:14,460 um, were in shock. 603 00:33:19,620 --> 00:33:21,460 It was absolutely obvious, 604 00:33:21,460 --> 00:33:23,780 right from the earliest point, 605 00:33:23,780 --> 00:33:25,220 that this was 606 00:33:25,220 --> 00:33:28,820 a death toll on an exceptional scale. 607 00:33:30,140 --> 00:33:32,420 It transpired, of course, that 18 soldiers 608 00:33:32,420 --> 00:33:34,980 had lost their lives - the greatest single loss of life 609 00:33:34,980 --> 00:33:37,180 that the British Army had suffered 610 00:33:37,180 --> 00:33:38,340 in Northern Ireland. 611 00:33:48,540 --> 00:33:50,820 Theirs were not the only lives lost 612 00:33:50,820 --> 00:33:53,140 that afternoon at Warrenpoint. 613 00:33:53,140 --> 00:33:55,900 Barry Hudson had been getting ready to go to work 614 00:33:55,900 --> 00:33:59,140 at the family's funfair business in Omeath, 615 00:33:59,140 --> 00:34:01,820 on the southern side of the border. 616 00:34:01,820 --> 00:34:03,980 He had been joined that summer 617 00:34:03,980 --> 00:34:07,100 by his 29-year-old cousin from England, Bill. 618 00:34:08,340 --> 00:34:10,860 All of a sudden, we heard this... 619 00:34:10,860 --> 00:34:18,100 thump, right? And, erm, I remember Bill saying, "Oh, what was that?" 620 00:34:18,100 --> 00:34:20,300 And I said, "It sounded like a bomb." 621 00:34:20,300 --> 00:34:23,460 He said to me, "Could you bring me down? Let me have a look." 622 00:34:26,980 --> 00:34:30,260 In the mayhem following the two bomb blasts, 623 00:34:30,260 --> 00:34:33,020 the surviving Paras spotted the figures of Barry 624 00:34:33,020 --> 00:34:36,580 and his cousin, Bill, on the other side of the river, 625 00:34:36,580 --> 00:34:39,580 and wrongly imagined them to be 626 00:34:39,580 --> 00:34:40,980 the IRA bombers. 627 00:34:48,140 --> 00:34:50,300 For a time, we could see the soldiers coming in, 628 00:34:50,300 --> 00:34:54,220 along the road there, in the jeeps. 629 00:34:54,220 --> 00:34:57,460 We could see their red berets and that, you know? And... 630 00:34:59,460 --> 00:35:02,700 I heard the ground being struck. 631 00:35:02,700 --> 00:35:06,020 And then I felt my arm, like a stone hitting it. 632 00:35:06,020 --> 00:35:09,020 I thought it was something, a stone maybe, or whatever. 633 00:35:09,020 --> 00:35:11,500 And it was bleeding. 634 00:35:11,500 --> 00:35:13,180 And then, there was more. 635 00:35:14,140 --> 00:35:16,740 So... That's why I turned, 636 00:35:16,740 --> 00:35:19,900 and Bill was standing over there, 637 00:35:19,900 --> 00:35:21,700 the car was just parked up there 638 00:35:21,700 --> 00:35:24,900 and he was standing to the right, we'll say. 639 00:35:24,900 --> 00:35:29,340 And I shouted at him then to get down. 640 00:35:29,340 --> 00:35:34,300 And then you could hear more guns and branches cracking and that. 641 00:35:34,300 --> 00:35:36,140 So, I ran...ran like hell... 642 00:35:36,140 --> 00:35:38,380 HE CLEARS HIS THROAT 643 00:35:38,380 --> 00:35:41,020 ..and zigzagged up that lane. 644 00:35:42,860 --> 00:35:44,220 I've seen it in war films. 645 00:35:44,220 --> 00:35:47,220 I always thought it was a load of baloney, really, 646 00:35:47,220 --> 00:35:49,460 because you couldn't escape death, 647 00:35:49,460 --> 00:35:51,500 but I did. 648 00:35:55,780 --> 00:35:58,780 Then it all stopped. Dead quiet. 649 00:36:03,980 --> 00:36:05,980 So, after about a minute or two, 650 00:36:05,980 --> 00:36:09,300 I thought my cousin should be coming up now. 651 00:36:09,300 --> 00:36:11,220 I just thought he'd get up 652 00:36:11,220 --> 00:36:13,020 and come back up. 653 00:36:13,020 --> 00:36:17,820 I looked around the corner and, um, 654 00:36:17,820 --> 00:36:20,860 well, I've seen him lying on his back... 655 00:36:22,060 --> 00:36:24,620 ..and, er... 656 00:36:24,620 --> 00:36:30,060 blood, a lot of blood. And, erm... 657 00:36:31,700 --> 00:36:33,940 ..I, er... 658 00:36:33,940 --> 00:36:35,780 I ran down to the car. 659 00:36:38,580 --> 00:36:40,780 I knew when I'd seen him, 660 00:36:40,780 --> 00:36:44,500 there's nothing anyone can do for him. 661 00:36:46,500 --> 00:36:48,180 The lad that pulled the trigger, 662 00:36:48,180 --> 00:36:52,860 I'm sure he was shell-shocked. It didn't enter his head, 663 00:36:52,860 --> 00:36:56,540 for one instant, you know, not to pull that trigger. 664 00:36:56,540 --> 00:37:00,140 And, er, I think we would all have done the exact same thing 665 00:37:00,140 --> 00:37:02,140 in that situation. 666 00:37:03,700 --> 00:37:06,140 It was left to Barry to report 667 00:37:06,140 --> 00:37:09,180 the tragic news to Bill's father. 668 00:37:09,180 --> 00:37:12,100 Ironically, Bill Senior worked in Buckingham Palace, 669 00:37:12,100 --> 00:37:15,820 as one of the Queen's coachmen. 670 00:37:15,820 --> 00:37:17,820 I said, "I've terrible news, Uncle." 671 00:37:17,820 --> 00:37:20,500 I said, "Bill's dead." 672 00:37:20,500 --> 00:37:23,500 "Oh, dead? What happened? How is he dead?" 673 00:37:23,500 --> 00:37:25,820 And I said, "He got shot." 674 00:37:25,820 --> 00:37:28,020 He said, "How did he get shot?" 675 00:37:29,660 --> 00:37:32,420 Terrible. Terrible, just... 676 00:37:34,300 --> 00:37:37,940 One of the worst moments in my life, actually. 677 00:37:37,940 --> 00:37:41,260 Something I wouldn't want anyone to have to do. 678 00:37:44,900 --> 00:37:46,860 The Army later acknowledged 679 00:37:46,860 --> 00:37:51,580 that Bill Hudson was an innocent civilian, mistakenly killed. 680 00:37:57,020 --> 00:37:59,580 This multiple killing, the worst the security forces 681 00:37:59,580 --> 00:38:01,740 have ever suffered in Northern Ireland, 682 00:38:01,740 --> 00:38:04,180 coming as it does after the Mountbatten tragedy, 683 00:38:04,180 --> 00:38:07,980 must serve to only further heighten tensions in Northern Ireland. 684 00:38:10,060 --> 00:38:13,300 Word quickly spread of how meticulously planned 685 00:38:13,300 --> 00:38:17,420 the IRA operation at Warrenpoint had been. 686 00:38:17,420 --> 00:38:21,340 Anthony McIntyre was an IRA volunteer, locked up in 687 00:38:21,340 --> 00:38:23,780 the Maze Prison at the time. 688 00:38:23,780 --> 00:38:25,260 I thought it was impressive. 689 00:38:25,260 --> 00:38:27,300 I thought it was ingenious. 690 00:38:27,300 --> 00:38:30,700 Because not only did they detonate the first device, 691 00:38:30,700 --> 00:38:34,020 they had to wait until the British Army back-up arrived 692 00:38:34,020 --> 00:38:36,060 and position themselves behind the gateposts, 693 00:38:36,060 --> 00:38:37,660 and then detonate the second one. 694 00:38:37,660 --> 00:38:39,660 So, it took nerves of steel for the volunteers 695 00:38:39,660 --> 00:38:41,620 to sit there and do that. 696 00:38:43,500 --> 00:38:46,420 It was absolutely militarily fantastic, brilliant, 697 00:38:46,420 --> 00:38:48,620 I don't want to say the word fantastic but, 698 00:38:48,620 --> 00:38:51,460 you know... But the big bonus that they had 699 00:38:51,460 --> 00:38:53,500 that they didn't normally have was... 700 00:38:53,500 --> 00:38:56,860 they were in a different country. They'd no need to run away. 701 00:38:56,860 --> 00:38:58,980 Yeah. They were in the South. They were in the South. 702 00:38:58,980 --> 00:39:01,540 And that's why they could take their time. 703 00:39:02,660 --> 00:39:05,140 You take advantage when you can, and they did. 704 00:39:14,020 --> 00:39:16,460 Will you please stand still? 705 00:39:16,460 --> 00:39:18,660 And I will move. 706 00:39:18,660 --> 00:39:20,620 The attacks on Lord Mountbatten 707 00:39:20,620 --> 00:39:24,780 and the British soldiers made a deep impression on Mrs Thatcher, 708 00:39:24,780 --> 00:39:27,060 who had been Prime Minister for only four months. 709 00:39:28,580 --> 00:39:31,660 Within 36 hours, she landed in Northern Ireland 710 00:39:31,660 --> 00:39:33,660 on an unscheduled visit, 711 00:39:33,660 --> 00:39:35,740 to investigate what had happened 712 00:39:35,740 --> 00:39:37,980 and to offer her reassurance. 713 00:39:37,980 --> 00:39:39,820 When she went to Northern Ireland, 714 00:39:39,820 --> 00:39:41,820 I remember the walkabout 715 00:39:41,820 --> 00:39:44,900 in the shopping mall, 716 00:39:44,900 --> 00:39:48,620 erm, which I thought was an extremely brave thing to do, 717 00:39:48,620 --> 00:39:51,700 not because there was much risk of being shot in that environment, 718 00:39:51,700 --> 00:39:54,460 but simply because there would be a lot of people 719 00:39:54,460 --> 00:39:56,860 in the shopping mall who didn't like her very much. 720 00:40:04,380 --> 00:40:07,060 She was a very feminine person. 721 00:40:07,060 --> 00:40:10,580 And it was like for a while, you just fell? Yes, basically... 722 00:40:10,580 --> 00:40:12,700 She was profoundly moved. 723 00:40:12,700 --> 00:40:14,500 I broke my leg... 724 00:40:14,500 --> 00:40:18,820 She didn't blub, but tears came to her eyes. 725 00:40:18,820 --> 00:40:21,140 It could have been a lot worse... 726 00:40:21,140 --> 00:40:23,060 She only very rarely wept, 727 00:40:23,060 --> 00:40:26,140 erm, to my knowledge, anyway. 728 00:40:26,140 --> 00:40:30,660 And when she did, there was good reason for it. 729 00:40:32,900 --> 00:40:35,260 She's not everybody's cup of tea, I know that, 730 00:40:35,260 --> 00:40:40,340 but she was able to relate, and they to her, to the soldiers. 731 00:40:42,180 --> 00:40:46,420 Boadicea. A very doughty lady. 732 00:40:51,500 --> 00:40:53,340 I think in terms of significance 733 00:40:53,340 --> 00:40:55,380 for Margaret Thatcher, 734 00:40:55,380 --> 00:40:59,660 knowing as we do what we do about her personality, 735 00:40:59,660 --> 00:41:04,220 I'm sure that it actually made her even more determined to resist. 736 00:41:09,780 --> 00:41:11,420 Mrs Thatcher's flying visit 737 00:41:11,420 --> 00:41:13,300 did not extend to the scene of 738 00:41:13,300 --> 00:41:16,100 the Mountbatten bombing, over the border, 739 00:41:16,100 --> 00:41:18,940 in the Republic of Ireland. 740 00:41:18,940 --> 00:41:23,220 Here, too, the events of that day had made a huge impact. 741 00:41:23,220 --> 00:41:25,380 While it was recognised that the IRA 742 00:41:25,380 --> 00:41:29,700 had pulled off two audacious military operations, 743 00:41:29,700 --> 00:41:33,700 in PR terms, opinion was divided. 744 00:41:35,380 --> 00:41:38,300 Almost everybody spoke with regret 745 00:41:38,300 --> 00:41:40,020 and shame about what had happened 746 00:41:40,020 --> 00:41:42,300 to Mountbatten. And that sense, 747 00:41:42,300 --> 00:41:45,700 this is our territory, how dare they do this on our territory?! 748 00:41:47,980 --> 00:41:49,820 But there were a number of people, 749 00:41:49,820 --> 00:41:52,860 I won't say a majority, but there were a number of people 750 00:41:52,860 --> 00:41:55,460 who said what happened to Mountbatten was wrong but, 751 00:41:55,460 --> 00:41:59,180 as far as the British soldiers are concerned, listen, 752 00:41:59,180 --> 00:42:02,460 those that live by the sword die by the sword. 753 00:42:05,780 --> 00:42:10,060 This feeling was reinforced by the fact that 16 of the 18 754 00:42:10,060 --> 00:42:15,220 British soldiers killed at Warrenpoint were from the Paratroop Regiment. 755 00:42:15,220 --> 00:42:19,540 The Paras were deeply unpopular on both sides of the Irish border 756 00:42:19,540 --> 00:42:22,580 thanks to an infamous incident that had taken place 757 00:42:22,580 --> 00:42:24,940 seven years earlier. 758 00:42:24,940 --> 00:42:26,900 THEY SHOUT 759 00:42:28,420 --> 00:42:33,820 There is no other single incident in Northern Ireland that unites 760 00:42:33,820 --> 00:42:38,060 nationalists of all colour, north and south, like Bloody Sunday does. 761 00:42:38,060 --> 00:42:40,220 GUNSHOT 762 00:42:40,220 --> 00:42:44,860 Because, to us, it was the deliberate killing 763 00:42:44,860 --> 00:42:48,100 of peaceful protesters on a march in Derry. 764 00:42:48,100 --> 00:42:49,940 SCREAMS 765 00:42:51,380 --> 00:42:53,860 13 civil rights protesters were killed 766 00:42:53,860 --> 00:42:56,580 in what came to be known as Bloody Sunday. 767 00:42:56,580 --> 00:42:58,780 GUNSHOT 768 00:42:58,780 --> 00:43:05,220 Here was the British Army turning its guns 769 00:43:05,220 --> 00:43:08,420 on the people it called its own citizens. 770 00:43:13,020 --> 00:43:15,500 And the soldiers responsible for Bloody Sunday... 771 00:43:15,500 --> 00:43:18,060 Were the Paratroopers. 772 00:43:20,700 --> 00:43:26,940 So, there was a particular feeling of general dislike 773 00:43:26,940 --> 00:43:29,020 towards the Paratroopers. 774 00:43:30,380 --> 00:43:35,140 This dislike was felt particularly strongly by the IRA volunteers 775 00:43:35,140 --> 00:43:38,100 locked up in the Maze Prison at the time. 776 00:43:39,300 --> 00:43:42,380 And how do you characterise the reaction of you and your fellow 777 00:43:42,380 --> 00:43:45,380 prisoners to hearing about the Warrenpoint news? 778 00:43:45,380 --> 00:43:48,420 Exuberance, exhilaration. 779 00:43:48,420 --> 00:43:50,900 All our Christmases had come at once and come early. 780 00:43:52,300 --> 00:43:54,380 The IRA couldn't believe their luck. 781 00:43:54,380 --> 00:43:57,900 For the nationalist population, we were monsters. 782 00:44:00,420 --> 00:44:04,860 We were quite ruthless, quite callous, quite indifferent 783 00:44:04,860 --> 00:44:10,540 to the suffering of the relatives and found the Parachute Regiment, 784 00:44:10,540 --> 00:44:12,900 absolutely anathema. 785 00:44:12,900 --> 00:44:16,660 They were celebrating - of course they were. You know... 786 00:44:18,300 --> 00:44:21,180 They had a good day. 787 00:44:21,180 --> 00:44:25,220 And doubly good in a sense with the memory for them, the memory of... 788 00:44:25,220 --> 00:44:27,220 Bloody Sunday, yeah. Of course, yeah. 789 00:44:27,220 --> 00:44:30,780 That's where the old saying came out, you know, 790 00:44:30,780 --> 00:44:35,140 13 dead, not forgotten, we got 18 and Mountbatten. 791 00:44:36,340 --> 00:44:38,860 There's support for you. Very good. 792 00:44:45,940 --> 00:44:48,940 THE LAST POST 793 00:45:00,980 --> 00:45:03,180 That funeral was extraordinary. 794 00:45:03,180 --> 00:45:06,460 And I think my grandfather has masterminded every moment of it, 795 00:45:06,460 --> 00:45:10,060 understandably, and it ran to perfection. 796 00:45:11,540 --> 00:45:15,580 The whole family of Europe seems to be here. 797 00:45:15,580 --> 00:45:19,500 Lord Mountbatten's State funeral, the largest of its kind 798 00:45:19,500 --> 00:45:23,420 since Winston Churchill's, provided a vivid reminder 799 00:45:23,420 --> 00:45:27,780 of the personal nature of the blow dealt to the Royal family. 800 00:45:32,660 --> 00:45:39,140 Two granddaughters and the girl that bears the name of India and... 801 00:45:39,140 --> 00:45:42,860 We know my grandfather's murder was a complete shock 802 00:45:42,860 --> 00:45:48,100 and very devastating to the Prince of Wales because he fulfilled a role, 803 00:45:48,100 --> 00:45:50,100 and that role was then taken away. 804 00:45:50,100 --> 00:45:53,260 So I think he probably felt that more than most, 805 00:45:53,260 --> 00:45:57,860 the loss, my grandfather's murder, and in such a brutal way. 806 00:45:59,620 --> 00:46:02,460 The murder horrified him and, 807 00:46:02,460 --> 00:46:05,260 in a way, marked him for life. 808 00:46:05,260 --> 00:46:10,020 It left a sort of sense of uncertainty, if Mountbatten, 809 00:46:10,020 --> 00:46:16,020 the invincible, the almighty, could be snuffed out like that, 810 00:46:16,020 --> 00:46:18,500 then what was left certain in life? 811 00:46:20,780 --> 00:46:24,660 Within a week of the funeral, 11-year-old India found herself 812 00:46:24,660 --> 00:46:27,580 sent off to Gordonstoun, the boarding school 813 00:46:27,580 --> 00:46:29,660 in the north of Scotland. 814 00:46:29,660 --> 00:46:33,860 Here was she was given a painful reminder of the very public nature 815 00:46:33,860 --> 00:46:36,420 of her grandfather's death. 816 00:46:36,420 --> 00:46:40,700 I remember feeling desperately lonely going off to boarding school 817 00:46:40,700 --> 00:46:43,140 without my mother, and the first night someone, 818 00:46:43,140 --> 00:46:46,060 after lights out, saying a joke. 819 00:46:47,220 --> 00:46:50,300 And maybe we can't even put this in because it's too horrific, 820 00:46:50,300 --> 00:46:55,340 but she said, "How did they know Lord Mountbatten had dandruff?" 821 00:46:55,340 --> 00:46:57,620 And no-one in the dorm at lights out knew the answer. 822 00:46:57,620 --> 00:46:59,180 And the answer was, of course, 823 00:46:59,180 --> 00:47:03,020 "Because they found his head and shoulders on the beach." 824 00:47:03,020 --> 00:47:04,860 Um... 825 00:47:04,860 --> 00:47:07,620 It was a pretty staggering moment. 826 00:47:11,780 --> 00:47:15,300 Later that autumn, two IRA men were put on trial 827 00:47:15,300 --> 00:47:18,260 for the murder of Lord Mountbatten. 828 00:47:18,260 --> 00:47:20,900 One, Thomas McMahon, was convicted. 829 00:47:22,580 --> 00:47:26,220 Thomas McMahon, did you know him by reputation? 830 00:47:26,220 --> 00:47:29,260 I knew him both by reputation and personally and he was a very, 831 00:47:29,260 --> 00:47:31,900 very fine IRA volunteer. 832 00:47:31,900 --> 00:47:33,900 Very fine indeed. 833 00:47:34,940 --> 00:47:40,700 He would be the most outstanding figure to come out of South Armagh. 834 00:47:40,700 --> 00:47:44,460 Thomas McMahon was sentenced to life in prison, 835 00:47:44,460 --> 00:47:48,700 but no-one higher up in the IRA leadership chain was ever held 836 00:47:48,700 --> 00:47:51,380 to account for the bomb. 837 00:47:53,420 --> 00:47:57,340 Somebody knew children were going on that boat. 838 00:47:57,340 --> 00:48:00,420 Not necessarily the guys who put the bomb on or the guys that made 839 00:48:00,420 --> 00:48:03,940 the bomb, but the people who planned it certainly knew 840 00:48:03,940 --> 00:48:05,980 about the children. 841 00:48:17,380 --> 00:48:21,460 Although Anthony McIntyre has since fallen out with the IRA, 842 00:48:21,460 --> 00:48:25,620 back in 1979, he was still very much an insider. 843 00:48:25,620 --> 00:48:28,300 I think given the political sensitivity around Mountbatten 844 00:48:28,300 --> 00:48:31,940 and the fallout that the IRA leadership, the political thinking 845 00:48:31,940 --> 00:48:35,460 people in the IRA leadership would have anticipated, 846 00:48:35,460 --> 00:48:38,620 I would have imagined there was a decision taken 847 00:48:38,620 --> 00:48:40,500 at the most senior levels. 848 00:48:42,380 --> 00:48:46,620 Kieran Conway, who temporarily left the IRA in 1976, 849 00:48:46,620 --> 00:48:49,260 is in no doubt as to who was in charge at the time 850 00:48:49,260 --> 00:48:51,940 of Mountbatten's assassination. 851 00:48:51,940 --> 00:48:55,580 I have absolutely no difficulty in saying in '81 when I rejoined, 852 00:48:55,580 --> 00:48:58,660 and I wouldn't have said that until Martin died, 853 00:48:58,660 --> 00:49:01,460 that McGuinness was Chief of Staff. 854 00:49:01,460 --> 00:49:05,700 And your clear understanding is that he had been since '78? Yeah. 855 00:49:07,180 --> 00:49:11,180 Ultimately, as Chief of Staff, it would be McGuinness' 856 00:49:11,180 --> 00:49:14,660 responsibility, that operation? Yeah, that's right, yeah. 857 00:49:14,660 --> 00:49:17,700 That's the way it works. I mean, if you are the boss, you are the boss. 858 00:49:17,700 --> 00:49:20,340 You take responsibility for whatever goes on. 859 00:49:25,180 --> 00:49:28,060 Meanwhile, no-one was ever put on trial for the bombs 860 00:49:28,060 --> 00:49:33,420 at Warrenpoint, let alone convicted, despite the arrest on the day itself 861 00:49:33,420 --> 00:49:37,220 of two IRA suspects near the scene of the carnage. 862 00:49:40,420 --> 00:49:43,300 Well, of course it's frustrating. 863 00:49:43,300 --> 00:49:45,740 The event is one of murder. 864 00:49:45,740 --> 00:49:47,980 Mass murder. 865 00:49:47,980 --> 00:49:51,460 And it is a source of great regret 866 00:49:51,460 --> 00:49:54,300 that nobody was brought to account for it. 867 00:50:01,420 --> 00:50:04,540 In these past few days, the irresistible force, 868 00:50:04,540 --> 00:50:08,900 the political will, has met the immovable object, 869 00:50:08,900 --> 00:50:13,020 the legacy of the past, and it has actually moved it. 870 00:50:13,020 --> 00:50:15,580 It took another 20 years after the Mountbatten 871 00:50:15,580 --> 00:50:19,660 and Warrenpoint killings, but peace was finally established 872 00:50:19,660 --> 00:50:23,140 in Northern Ireland by the British and Irish governments 873 00:50:23,140 --> 00:50:26,860 at the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. 874 00:50:26,860 --> 00:50:29,820 This agreement is good for the people of Ireland, 875 00:50:29,820 --> 00:50:32,660 north and south. APPLAUSE 876 00:50:32,660 --> 00:50:37,340 As part of the peace process, the IRA's prisoners were released, 877 00:50:37,340 --> 00:50:40,780 including Thomas McMahon, the sole IRA member 878 00:50:40,780 --> 00:50:42,940 convicted of the killings. 879 00:50:50,740 --> 00:50:55,740 The idea of reconciliation has lain at the heart of the peace process. 880 00:50:58,940 --> 00:51:02,980 And there we get a first glimpse of the Queen. 881 00:51:02,980 --> 00:51:08,020 In 2012, the Queen came face-to-face with the man said to have been 882 00:51:08,020 --> 00:51:13,500 ultimately responsible for the assassination of her second cousin. 883 00:51:13,500 --> 00:51:16,740 You really did have to just pinch yourself and think, 884 00:51:16,740 --> 00:51:19,380 can this actually be happening? 885 00:51:19,380 --> 00:51:21,660 That the head of state of the United Kingdom 886 00:51:21,660 --> 00:51:25,700 and the man who without doubt it was one of the leaders of the military, 887 00:51:25,700 --> 00:51:28,420 the offensive side of the Republican movement, 888 00:51:28,420 --> 00:51:31,180 who may well have had a hand in planning Mullaghmore, 889 00:51:31,180 --> 00:51:33,180 or certainly signing off on it... 890 00:51:33,180 --> 00:51:36,140 That they were standing together was remarkable. 891 00:51:37,620 --> 00:51:41,980 The symbolic strength of that shaking of hands 892 00:51:41,980 --> 00:51:48,660 was enormous - one of the most powerful things that she could do. 893 00:51:48,660 --> 00:51:51,460 And she did it even though personally 894 00:51:51,460 --> 00:51:53,700 it may have cost her something. 895 00:51:53,700 --> 00:51:56,380 But it was terribly important that that was done. 896 00:51:56,380 --> 00:51:59,620 Only she could do it, and she did it. 897 00:51:59,620 --> 00:52:02,340 She is the more admirable person in the transaction, 898 00:52:02,340 --> 00:52:04,340 I think, you know? 899 00:52:04,340 --> 00:52:07,980 I think it was more difficult for her than it was for him. 900 00:52:13,860 --> 00:52:15,820 Like mother, like son. 901 00:52:17,140 --> 00:52:19,500 Three years later, the Prince of Wales made his own 902 00:52:19,500 --> 00:52:21,940 gesture of reconciliation. 903 00:52:21,940 --> 00:52:27,180 The events of 1979 had come as a double blow to him. 904 00:52:27,180 --> 00:52:30,460 He was Colonel in Chief of the Parachute Regiment 905 00:52:30,460 --> 00:52:34,780 which had lost 16 of the 18 soldiers killed that Warrenpoint. 906 00:52:34,780 --> 00:52:37,980 And at Mullaghmore, he had also lost to the mentor 907 00:52:37,980 --> 00:52:40,420 who meant so much to him. 908 00:52:40,420 --> 00:52:44,900 At the time, I could not imagine how we would come to terms 909 00:52:44,900 --> 00:52:48,580 with the anguish of such a deep loss, since, 910 00:52:48,580 --> 00:52:53,460 for me, Lord Mountbatten represented the grandfather I never had. 911 00:52:59,340 --> 00:53:03,780 The poet Yeats once wrote that I shall have some peace there, 912 00:53:03,780 --> 00:53:06,020 for peace comes dropping slow. 913 00:53:08,660 --> 00:53:15,460 As a grandfather now myself, I pray that his words can apply 914 00:53:15,460 --> 00:53:17,820 to all of those that have been so hurt 915 00:53:17,820 --> 00:53:20,740 and scarred by the Troubles of the past. 916 00:53:22,500 --> 00:53:25,540 The problem with peace is you have to keep working at it. 917 00:53:25,540 --> 00:53:27,980 It's not a passive thing. 918 00:53:27,980 --> 00:53:31,620 It is always going to be a continuing responsibility 919 00:53:31,620 --> 00:53:35,900 on all of us in these islands to make sure that the conditions 920 00:53:35,900 --> 00:53:39,500 in Northern Ireland do not encourage the break-out again 921 00:53:39,500 --> 00:53:41,540 of sectarian tensions. 922 00:53:41,540 --> 00:53:43,620 We do not want to go back to that. 923 00:53:43,620 --> 00:53:46,380 So it is not a matter of peace coming, dropping slow - 924 00:53:46,380 --> 00:53:49,300 peace has to be worked at damned hard. 925 00:53:50,740 --> 00:53:54,100 Two years ago, Martin McGuinness, the man widely believed 926 00:53:54,100 --> 00:53:56,820 to have been the IRA Chief of Staff at the time 927 00:53:56,820 --> 00:53:59,340 of the bombings, died. 928 00:53:59,340 --> 00:54:02,940 According to Buckingham Palace, the Queen sent a private letter 929 00:54:02,940 --> 00:54:04,940 of condolence to his widow. 930 00:54:14,500 --> 00:54:17,860 Today, for the most part, normal life has returned 931 00:54:17,860 --> 00:54:20,180 on both sides of the Irish border. 932 00:54:22,020 --> 00:54:26,260 But the sense of shame in the village of Mullaghmore lives on, 933 00:54:26,260 --> 00:54:30,820 especially among those who had had close ties to the Mountbattens. 934 00:54:34,340 --> 00:54:37,620 There was a terrible sense of shock in this village, 935 00:54:37,620 --> 00:54:40,100 and disbelief. 936 00:54:40,100 --> 00:54:43,140 And there was a dark cloud over the area, 937 00:54:43,140 --> 00:54:45,540 over the village, for years afterwards. 938 00:54:47,500 --> 00:54:49,460 People didn't talk about it. 939 00:54:49,460 --> 00:54:52,780 They did in their own houses hushed talk about it, 940 00:54:52,780 --> 00:54:55,140 but not out in the open. 941 00:54:55,140 --> 00:54:58,340 People felt so bad about what happened, 942 00:54:58,340 --> 00:55:00,420 and embarrassed about it. 943 00:55:02,420 --> 00:55:06,900 As with the town, so with the individuals themselves. 944 00:55:06,900 --> 00:55:10,940 They too are still struggling to come to terms with the tragic 945 00:55:10,940 --> 00:55:13,380 events of 40 years ago. 946 00:55:15,980 --> 00:55:18,260 I never took another picture since. 947 00:55:18,260 --> 00:55:20,300 That's 40 years ago. 948 00:55:20,300 --> 00:55:22,980 Why did you never take another photograph? 949 00:55:22,980 --> 00:55:25,460 I... 950 00:55:25,460 --> 00:55:27,580 I just couldn't face it. 951 00:55:27,580 --> 00:55:29,620 I was literally shaken. 952 00:55:31,820 --> 00:55:34,300 I watched the firemen and I thought, 953 00:55:34,300 --> 00:55:36,900 "That's what I should have been doing." 954 00:55:36,900 --> 00:55:41,060 And the following week, I applied and I joined the Fire Service then. 955 00:55:42,620 --> 00:55:46,540 Loved it. Loved it. 956 00:55:48,340 --> 00:55:52,420 I see that young boy's face over and over and it doesn't go away 957 00:55:52,420 --> 00:55:56,460 and it doesn't get any more blurred as it did from 1979 to today, 958 00:55:56,460 --> 00:55:59,100 because I can still see it. 959 00:55:59,100 --> 00:56:02,780 I'm OK with all that because I brought that kid home. 960 00:56:11,860 --> 00:56:14,460 That's 40 years ago now. 961 00:56:20,940 --> 00:56:23,540 There hasn't been one day, I'm sure, that it hasn't 962 00:56:23,540 --> 00:56:26,100 crossed my mind sometime. 963 00:56:28,100 --> 00:56:31,780 And that's a long time for something to stick in your mind. 964 00:56:34,820 --> 00:56:37,500 Didn't feel lucky at the time, 965 00:56:37,500 --> 00:56:40,820 didn't feel lucky for ten years after it. 966 00:56:44,380 --> 00:56:46,500 I wanted to be with them. 967 00:56:47,580 --> 00:56:49,740 Why did I survive? 968 00:56:52,100 --> 00:56:57,500 It was like a day that would never end and then went on to weeks 969 00:56:57,500 --> 00:57:03,260 that would never end and years where grieving would never end. 970 00:57:03,260 --> 00:57:05,700 And it hasn't. 971 00:57:05,700 --> 00:57:07,940 I will always grieve for Paul. 972 00:57:09,180 --> 00:57:12,900 I carry him in my heart everywhere I go. 973 00:57:15,060 --> 00:57:17,980 I asked my mother about doing this and she said, 974 00:57:17,980 --> 00:57:21,940 "Yes, absolutely, it's important to keep talking." 975 00:57:23,580 --> 00:57:28,460 I think, in trauma and in death and in survival, 976 00:57:28,460 --> 00:57:35,100 there is so much that is unsaid, and there is unfortunately no path, 977 00:57:35,100 --> 00:57:38,820 there is no written text book of healing. 978 00:57:38,820 --> 00:57:42,900 And so, in amongst my seven cousins, who I am, and remain, 979 00:57:42,900 --> 00:57:48,300 close to, and my own siblings, everybody coped very differently. 980 00:57:50,300 --> 00:57:53,820 And some didn't cope well and of course we are seeing 981 00:57:53,820 --> 00:57:58,060 the side-effects of that even to this day, 982 00:57:58,060 --> 00:58:00,980 and the damage that was done 983 00:58:00,980 --> 00:58:05,300 was so much deeper than any of us could ever have imagined, 984 00:58:05,300 --> 00:58:09,500 and adult lives are still being horrifically disrupted. 985 00:58:13,180 --> 00:58:18,620 I certainly try not to hold resentment in any way, 986 00:58:18,620 --> 00:58:20,660 and that's hard. 987 00:58:22,380 --> 00:58:25,580 But forgiveness, I think, is important. 988 00:58:25,580 --> 00:58:27,580 One has to move on.