14 August
1969 · politics
British troops were sent onto the streets of Northern Ireland
After days of serious rioting in Londonderry and Belfast, British soldiers were deployed to Northern Ireland in support of the civil authorities. The operation was expected to be short. It was given the name Operation Banner and it ran until 2007, making it the longest continuous deployment in British military history.
Almost every family in Britain and Ireland ended up touched by it somehow — a son in uniform, a cousin in Belfast, a news bulletin that became part of the furniture of the evening.
“What do you remember of how the Troubles were reported at the time?”