Robert Nairac

Infobox Military Person
name=Robert Nairac
lived= 31 August 1948 – 15 May 1977


caption=
nickname=
placeofbirth=Mauritius
placeofdeath=Republic of Ireland
allegiance=United Kingdom
branch=British Army
serviceyears=1972 – 1977
rank=Captain
unit=Grenadier Guards
commands=
battles=Operation Banner
awards=George Cross
relations=
laterwork=
Captain Robert Laurence Nairac GC (31 August 1948–15 May 1977) was a British Army officer who was abducted and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). He was posthumously awarded the George Cross.

Background

Nairac was born in Mauritius to a father who was an eye surgeon who worked first in the North of England and then in Gloucester. He was the youngest of four children, with 2 sisters and a brother. [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =2 | month = | isbn = 1843591000]

Nairac, aged 10, attended prep school at Gilling Castle, a feeder school for the prestigious Roman Catholic public school Ampleforth College which he attended a year later. He gained nine O levels and three A levels, was head of his house and played rugby for the school. He became friends with the sons of Lord Killanin and went to stay with the family in Dublin and Spiddal in County Galway. [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =2-6 | month = | isbn = 1843591000]

He read medieval and military history at Lincoln College, Oxford, and excelled in sport; he played for the Oxford rugby 2nd XV and revived the Oxford boxing club where he won 4 blues in bouts with Cambridge. During this time he was in a boxing competition which placed him against Martin Meehan, later a senior IRA commander, with whom he went three rounds. He was also a falconer, keeping a bird in his room which was used in the film Kes. [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =7-9 | month = | isbn = 1843591000]

He left Oxford in 1971 to enter Royal Military Academy Sandhurst under the sponsorship of the Grenadier Guards and was commissioned with them upon graduation. [LondonGazette|issue=45592|supp=yes|startpage=1581|date=8 February 1972|accessdate=2008-01-08] [LondonGazette|issue=45798|supp=yes|startpage=11912|date=9 October 1972|accessdate=2008-01-08] [LondonGazette|issue=45917|supp=yes|startpage=2678|date=26 February 1973|accessdate=2008-01-08] After Sandhurst he undertook post-graduate studies at Dublin University, before joining his regiment. [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =12 | month = | isbn = 1843591000]

Nairac has been described by former army colleagues as "a committed Roman Catholic" [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =39 | month = | isbn = 1843591000] and as having "a strong Catholic belief". [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =168 | month = | isbn = 1843591000]

Military career in Northern Ireland

Nairac's first tour of duty in Northern Ireland was with No.1 Company, the Second Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. The Battalion was stationed in Belfast from 5 July 1973 to 31 October 1973. The Grenadiers were given responsibility first for the Protestant Shankill Road area and then the predominantly Catholic Ardoyne area. This was a time of high tension and regular contacts with paramilitaries. The battalion's two main objectives were to search for weapons and to find paramilitaries. Nairac was frequently involved in such activity on the streets of Belfast. He was also a volunteer in community relations activities in the Ardoyne sports club. The battalion's tour was adjudged a success with 58 weapons, 9,000 rounds of ammunition and 693lbs of explosive taken and 104 men jailed. The battalion took no casulties and had no occasion to shoot anyone. After his tour had ended he stayed on as Liaison officer for the replacement battalion, the 1st Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The new battalion suffered a baptism of fire with Nairac narrowly avoiding death on their first patrol when a car bomb exploded on the Crumlin Road [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =21-31 | month = | isbn = 1843591000] .

Rather than returning to his battalion, which was due for rotation to Hong Kong, Nairac volunteered for military intelligence duties in Northern Ireland. Following completion of several training courses, he returned to Northern Ireland in 1974 attached to 4 Field Survey Troop, Royal Engineers, one of the three sub-units of a Special Duties unit known as 14 Intelligence Company (14 Int). Posted to South Armagh, 4 Field Survey Troop was officially tasked with surveillance duties. Nairac was the liaison officer among the unit, the local Army brigade, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =32-66 | month = | isbn = 1843591000] .

However, he also seems to have taken on tasks which were outside his jurisdiction as a liaison officer – working undercover, for example. He apparently claimed to have visited pubs in republican strongholds and sung songs in Irish. Former SAS officer Ken Connor, who was involved in the creation of 14 Int, wrote of him in his book, Ghost Force, p.263:

Nairac finished his tour with 14th Int in the summer of 1975 and returned to his regiment in London. Nairac was promoted to captain on 4 September 1975. [LondonGazette|issue=46727|supp=yes|startpage=13884|date=4 November 1975|accessdate=2008-01-08] Following a rise in violence culminating in the Kingsmill massacre, army troop levels were increased and Nairac accepted a post again as a liaison officer back in Northern Ireland.

Colin Wallace, in describing Nairac as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer (MILO) said "his duties did not involve agent handling". Nevertheless, Nairac "seems to have had close links with the Mid-Ulster UVF, including Robin Jackson and Harris Boyle". According to Wallace , "he could not have carried out this open association without official approval, because otherwise he would have been transferred immediately from Northern Ireland" [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/dublin/barron03.pdf Report by Justice Henry Barron into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings] , Dublin, December 2003, p. 175-176] Wallace wrote in 1975; Nairac was on his fourth tour of duty in 1977.

Robin Jackson was implicated in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of May 1974, and Harris Boyle was blown up by his own bomb during the Miami Showband massacre, that Nairac was also alleged to have participated in.

Nairac on his fourth tour was a liaison officer to the units based at Bessbrook mill. It was during this time that he was killed.

Shooting by the PIRA

On the evening of 14 May 1977, Nairac visited the The Three Steps pub in Drumintee, South Armagh, alone. He is said to have told regulars of the pub that his name was Danny McErlaine, a member of the Official IRA from the republican Ardoyne area in north Belfast. [cite book | last = Harnden | first = Toby | authorlink = Toby Harnden | title = Bandit Country | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | date= 1999 | pages = pp. 302-303 | month = | isbn = 034071736X] Witnesses say that he got up and sang a song with the band who were playing that night. At around 11.45 p.m., he was abducted following a struggle in the pub's car park and taken across the border into the Republic of Ireland to a field in Ravensdale, County Louth. Following a violent interrogation that lasted for over an hour, Nairac was shot dead. He did not admit to his true identity at any time.

Terry McCormick, one of Nairac's abductors, posed as a priest in order to try to obtain information through Nairac's confession. Nairac's last words were: 'Bless me Father, for I have sinned'. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/20/nira120.xml Light shed on IRA murder of Nairac] The Daily Telegraph]

An edition of Spotlight (NI) broadcast on June 19th, 2007, claimed that his body was not destroyed in a meat grinder (as is widely believed). McCormick, who has been on the run in America for thirty years because of his involvement in the killing (including being the first to attack Nairac in the car park), was told by a senior IRA commander that it was buried on farmland, unearthed by animals, and reburied elsewhere. The location of the body's resting place remains a mystery. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6769697.stm New Revelations in Nairac Killing] BBC News] Nairac is one of nine IRA victims whose graves have never been revealed and who are collectively known as 'The Disappeared'. The cases are under review by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains

Events after Nairac's death

In November 1977, Liam Townson, a 24-year-old PIRA member from the village of Meigh outside Newry was convicted of Nairac's murder. Townson was the son of an Englishman who has married a local Meath girl. He confessed to killing Nairac and implicated other members of the gang involved. Townson made two admissible confessions to Gardaí officers. The first was made around the time of his arrest, it started with "I shot the British captain. He never told us anything. He was a great soldier." The second statement was made at Dundalk police station after Townson had consulted a solicitor. He had become hysterical and distressed and screamed a confession to the officer in charge of the investigation. [cite book | last = Parker | first = John | title = Secret Hero | publisher = Metro| date= 2004 | pages =226-229 | month = | isbn = 1843591000]

Townson was convicted in Dublin's Special Criminal Court of Nairac's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Townson served 13 years in prison and was released in 1990.

In 1978, the RUC arrested five men from the South Armagh area. Three of them - Gerard Fearon, 21, Thomas Morgan, 18, and Daniel O'Rourke, 33 - were jointly charged with Nairac's murder. Michael McCoy, 20, was charged with kidnapping, and Owen Rocks, 22, was accused of withholding information. Fearon and Morgan were convicted of Nairac's murder. O'Rourke was acquitted but found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for ten years. McCoy was jailed for five years and Rocks for two.

Three other men, Terry McCormick, Pat Maguire and Kevin Crilly, wanted in connection with this incident remain on the run. [cite book | last = Harnden | first = Toby | authorlink = Toby Harnden | title = Bandit Country | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | date= 1999 | pages = pp. 309 | month = | isbn = 034071736X]

In May 2000 allegations were made claiming that Nairac had married, and fathered a child with a woman named Nel Lister. (Also known as Oonagh Flynn, or Oonagh Lister). In 2001, DNA testing revealed the allegations to be a hoax [ [http://www.lentil.org/static/nannygate.html Nel Lister/Oonagh Flynn article] ] [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20010610/ai_n14528550/pg_1 Sunday Mirror article on Nel Lister Jun 10, 2001] ]

Criminal case

On 20 May 2008, 57-year-old IRA veteran Kevin Crilly of Jonesborough, County Armagh was arrested at his home by officers of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He had been on the run in the United States but had returned to Northern Ireland under an alias after the 1998 Belfast Agreement. He was charged the following day with the murder of Nairac. [Pogatchnik, Shawn. " [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hpbrUbHpPEOYap2QmS9iC5Eh5KrAD90Q8V200 IRA veteran charged in 1977 killing of soldier] ". Associated Press, 21 May 2008]

George Cross award

On 13 February 1979, Nairac was posthumously awarded the George Cross.

Captain Nairac's posthumous George Cross citation reads, in part: [LondonGazette|issue=47769|supp=yes|startpage=1991|date=12 February 1979|accessdate=2008-01-08]

cquote| [...]

On his fourth tour Captain Nairac was a Liaison Officer at Headquarters 3 Infantry Brigade. His task was connected with surveillance operations.

On the night of 14/15 May 1977 Captain Nairac was abducted from a village in South Armagh by at least seven men. Despite his fierce resistance he was overpowered and taken across the border into the nearby Republic of Ireland where he was subjected to a succession of exceptionally savage assaults in an attempt to extract information which would have put other lives and future operations at serious risk. These efforts to break Captain Nairac's will failed entirely. Weakened as he was in strength-though not in spirit-by the brutality, he yet made repeated and spirited attempts to escape, but on each occasion was eventually overpowered by the weight of the numbers against him. After several hours in the hands of his captors Captain Nairac was callously murdered by a gunman of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who had been summoned to the scene. His assassin subsequently said 'He never told us anything'.

Captain Nairac's exceptional courage and acts of the greatest heroism in circumstances of extreme peril showed devotion to duty and personal courage second to none.

Allegations of collusion with Loyalist paramilitaries

Claims have been made abouts Nairac's conduct with regard to claims of involvement in the killing of an IRA member in the Republic of Ireland and relations with loyalist paramilitaries.

Hidden Hand documentary

Allegations were made concerning Nairac in a 1993 Yorkshire Television documentary about the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings of 1974 entitled "Hidden Hand". The narrator of "Hidden Hand" states:

According to the documentary, support for this allegation was said to have come from various sources:

Holroyd

It was alleged by a former MI6 operative, Captain Fred Holroyd, that Nairac admitted involvement in the assassination of PIRA member John Francis Green on 10 January 1975 to him. Holroyd claimed in a "New Statesman" article written by Duncan Campbell that Nairac had boasted about Green's death and showed him a colour Polaroid photograph of Green's corpse taken directly after his assassination.

These claims given prominence when, in 1987, Ken Livingstone M.P told the House of Commons that Nairac was quite likely to have been the person who organised the killing of three Miami Showband musicians.

Barron report

Nairac was mentioned in Justice Henry' Barron's inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings when it examined the claims made by the "Hidden Hand" documentary and Holroyd.

Former RUC Special Patrol Group member, John Weir, who was a loyalist paramilitary, claimed he had received information from an informant that Nairac was involved in the killing of Green: [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/dublin/barron03.pdf Report by Justice Henry Barron into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings] , Dublin, December 2003, P. 206]

In addition, "Surviving Miami Showband members Steve Travers and Des McAlee testified in court that an Army officer with a crisp English accent oversaw the Miami attack" - see Miami Showband killings - the implication being that this was Nairac. [Enigmatic SAS man linked to massacre, The News Letter, August 1 2005]

The Barron Inquiry found a chain of ballistic history linking weapons and killings under the control of a group of UVF and security force members, including RUC Special Patrol Group members John Weir and Billy McCaughey, that is connected to those alleged to have carried out the bombings.

These "included, in 1975, three murders at Donnelly's bar in Silverbridge, the murders of two men at a fake UDR checkpoint, the murder of IRA man John Francis Green in the Republic, the murders of members of the Miami showband and the murder of Dorothy Trainor in Portadown. In 1976, they included the murders of three members of the Reavey family, and the attack on the Rock Bar in Tassagh." [http://www.tribune.ie/article.tvt?_scope=TribuneFTF&id=23418&SUBCAT=&SUBCATNAME=&DT=14/12/2003%2000:00:00&keywords=Susan%20McKay&FC= Barron throws light on a little shock of horrors] , by Susan McKay, Sunday Tribune, December 14 2003]

Fred Holroyd and John Weir linked Robert Nairac to the Green and Miami Showband killings.

Susan McKay summarised Barron on the ballistic history of the weapons involved:

References

ee also

*The Troubles in Forkhill

External links

* [http://www.gc-database.co.uk/recipients/NairacRL.htm George Cross Database]
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1900512750 Death of a Hero (Amazon books)]
* [http://republican-news.org/archive/2000/January06/06john.html The killing of Frank Green]
* [http://www.fantompowa.net/Flame/dirty_war_in_ireland.htm History of SAS in Ireland by Seán Mac Mathúna]
* [http://www.relativesforjustice.com/publications/monaghan.htm Captain Fred Holroyd]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20000507/ai_n14506423/pg_1 Sunday Mirror article on Nairac's death May 7, 2000]
* [http://oireachtas.ie/documents/committees29thdail/jcjedwr/InterimDubMon.pdf 2003 Interim Barron Report into the Dublin & Monaghan Bombings]
* [http://www.eamonnoneill.net/articles/ROBERT%20NAIRAC.pdf"Shadow man " Article "Esquire Magazine"]