On This Day / February 6, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19710206
Reference Date
19710206
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 6th February 1971, Belfast saw lethal rioting with four shot dead, including Gunner Robert Curtis, officially the first military fatality of the modern Northern Irish ‘Troubles’. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Four Shot Dead in Belfast | On This Day – 6th February 1971
THREE civilians and a soldier were shot dead and many more injured when Belfast erupted in violent rioting again early today.
The deaths followed a night of mounting tension and clashes in the New Lodge Road and in the Springfield, Crumlin, Oldpark and Falls Road areas.
This morning massive military reinforcements were centred mainly around Ardoyne and the New Lodge Road. The soldier was one of five troops shot in Ardoyne.
The dead civilians were 21 year old Jim Saunders of Ardilea Street in the Oldpark area; 28 year old Bernard Watt, a father of two of Hooker Street and a man named John McGuinness, shot in the throat in Ballymurphy.
Watt was shot in the chest after a military personnel carrier was hit by nail and petrol bombs and burst into flames at Butler Street.
Saunders was shot in the back as he stood at the corner of Mayfair Street by a sniper operating from Louisa Street.
About sixty shots were fired during the night in the Oldpark district and seven bombs were exchanged between Louisa Street and Glenview Street. Most of the shooting came from Louisa Street.
Military patrols were reported to have come under fire in many parts of the city.
The Falls Road had remained comparatively quiet as peace priest, Fr Padraig Murphy toured the area appealing to crowds to disperse.
Ban Civilian Arms – Cooper
MID Derry, is to ask the Minister of Home Affairs at Stormont next week to introduce legislation immediately to make the holding of any arms by civilians in the North illegal. Mr Cooper said yesterday that there were 70,000 licensed guns in the North.
No Bus Services in Riot Areas
THE Belfast Corporation Transport Committee, at an emergency meeting yesterday, decided to withdraw bus services to troubled areas of the city
Happy Moon Landing
ASTRONAUTS Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell spent more than four hours exploring the rough, rock-strewn slopes of Ra Mauro yesterday after a spot-on moon landing which was touch and go until the last three minutes.
The mission ended with both crew members clambering into the cramped cabin of the spidery spacecraft, Antares.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Shot dead by an Army sniper, Jim Saunders was one of the first IRA members shot dead in the Troubles by loyalists.
On the same night the British army sustained its first casualty when Gunner Robert Curtis (20) of the Royal Artillery was killed during a gun-battle on the New Lodge Road.
These events were overshadowed in the media by the latest Moon Landing by US astronauts.)
On This Day – 6th February 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710206
Reference Date
19710206
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 6th February 1971, Belfast saw lethal rioting with four shot dead, including Gunner Robert Curtis, officially the first military fatality of the modern Northern Irish ‘Troubles’. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Four Shot Dead in Belfast | On This Day – 6th February 1971
THREE civilians and a soldier were shot dead and many more injured when Belfast erupted in violent rioting again early today.
The deaths followed a night of mounting tension and clashes in the New Lodge Road and in the Springfield, Crumlin, Oldpark and Falls Road areas.
This morning massive military reinforcements were centred mainly around Ardoyne and the New Lodge Road. The soldier was one of five troops shot in Ardoyne.
The dead civilians were 21 year old Jim Saunders of Ardilea Street in the Oldpark area; 28 year old Bernard Watt, a father of two of Hooker Street and a man named John McGuinness, shot in the throat in Ballymurphy.
Watt was shot in the chest after a military personnel carrier was hit by nail and petrol bombs and burst into flames at Butler Street.
Saunders was shot in the back as he stood at the corner of Mayfair Street by a sniper operating from Louisa Street.
About sixty shots were fired during the night in the Oldpark district and seven bombs were exchanged between Louisa Street and Glenview Street. Most of the shooting came from Louisa Street.
Military patrols were reported to have come under fire in many parts of the city.
The Falls Road had remained comparatively quiet as peace priest, Fr Padraig Murphy toured the area appealing to crowds to disperse.
Ban Civilian Arms – Cooper
MID Derry, is to ask the Minister of Home Affairs at Stormont next week to introduce legislation immediately to make the holding of any arms by civilians in the North illegal. Mr Cooper said yesterday that there were 70,000 licensed guns in the North.
No Bus Services in Riot Areas
THE Belfast Corporation Transport Committee, at an emergency meeting yesterday, decided to withdraw bus services to troubled areas of the city
Happy Moon Landing
ASTRONAUTS Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell spent more than four hours exploring the rough, rock-strewn slopes of Ra Mauro yesterday after a spot-on moon landing which was touch and go until the last three minutes.
The mission ended with both crew members clambering into the cramped cabin of the spidery spacecraft, Antares.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Shot dead by an Army sniper, Jim Saunders was one of the first IRA members shot dead in the Troubles by loyalists.
On the same night the British army sustained its first casualty when Gunner Robert Curtis (20) of the Royal Artillery was killed during a gun-battle on the New Lodge Road.
These events were overshadowed in the media by the latest Moon Landing by US astronauts.)
On This Day – 6th February 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710206
Reference Date
February 6, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 6th February 1971, Belfast saw lethal rioting with four shot dead, including Gunner Robert Curtis, officially the first military fatality of the modern Northern Irish ‘Troubles’. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Four Shot Dead in Belfast | On This Day – 6th February 1971
THREE civilians and a soldier were shot dead and many more injured when Belfast erupted in violent rioting again early today.
The deaths followed a night of mounting tension and clashes in the New Lodge Road and in the Springfield, Crumlin, Oldpark and Falls Road areas.
This morning massive military reinforcements were centred mainly around Ardoyne and the New Lodge Road. The soldier was one of five troops shot in Ardoyne.
The dead civilians were 21 year old Jim Saunders of Ardilea Street in the Oldpark area; 28 year old Bernard Watt, a father of two of Hooker Street and a man named John McGuinness, shot in the throat in Ballymurphy.
Watt was shot in the chest after a military personnel carrier was hit by nail and petrol bombs and burst into flames at Butler Street.
Saunders was shot in the back as he stood at the corner of Mayfair Street by a sniper operating from Louisa Street.
About sixty shots were fired during the night in the Oldpark district and seven bombs were exchanged between Louisa Street and Glenview Street. Most of the shooting came from Louisa Street.
Military patrols were reported to have come under fire in many parts of the city.
The Falls Road had remained comparatively quiet as peace priest, Fr Padraig Murphy toured the area appealing to crowds to disperse.
Ban Civilian Arms – Cooper
MID Derry, is to ask the Minister of Home Affairs at Stormont next week to introduce legislation immediately to make the holding of any arms by civilians in the North illegal. Mr Cooper said yesterday that there were 70,000 licensed guns in the North.
No Bus Services in Riot Areas
THE Belfast Corporation Transport Committee, at an emergency meeting yesterday, decided to withdraw bus services to troubled areas of the city
Happy Moon Landing
ASTRONAUTS Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell spent more than four hours exploring the rough, rock-strewn slopes of Ra Mauro yesterday after a spot-on moon landing which was touch and go until the last three minutes.
The mission ended with both crew members clambering into the cramped cabin of the spidery spacecraft, Antares.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Shot dead by an Army sniper, Jim Saunders was one of the first IRA members shot dead in the Troubles by loyalists.
On the same night the British army sustained its first casualty when Gunner Robert Curtis (20) of the Royal Artillery was killed during a gun-battle on the New Lodge Road.
These events were overshadowed in the media by the latest Moon Landing by US astronauts.)
On This Day – 6th February 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.