Brandon Sullivan ✍ with the third part of his dig into the British state's Dirty War in the North.

Part one available here, and part two available here. It’s probably best to read them both before getting into the detail contained in this part.

How Did Clive Fairweather Come to Believe that UDR Sergeant William Black was the UFF’s Captain Black?

A commenter described William Black as “shady.” Perhaps he was. It is clear that some people who might nowadays be described as “securocrats” wanted other people to believe so. I have come into possession of some documents that will evidence either the smearing of William Black, or the identification of him as a paramilitary figure.

A document titled Restricted - Special Handling, and with a copy list containing: Mr Cooper; Mr Howard-Drake; Mr Goddard; Mr Adler; Mr Gilliand; Mr Carter; and Mr Reid, was compiled. I believe that the copy list are probably senior members of the Northern Ireland Office, and that the information was provided by elements of British military intelligence. It says:

“BLACK is an “easily led” man who has the nickname of “Hallelujah” and “Bible Black” on account of his following the Brethren religious sect. He often becomes belligerent and enjoys arguments and rows. His ex UDR Company Commander stated that he would happily join anyone who wished to volunteer to go out into the streets and shoot up Roman Catholics.”

The document also claims that William Black’s brother, as part of a family feud, shot him with a shotgun, and that that brother, like William, was a UDR man, and also dismissed for “irregularity and nonattendance.”

Another RUC document stated that:

Police enquiries have established that the stolen property consists of freezers (part of a consignment hi-jacked on 20 November 1973 in the Lisburn Road area)’ wines and sherries (hi-jacked on 13 December 1973 in the Mountpottinger area) and carpets (hi-jacked on 24 January 1974 in the Tennent Street area). From a delicate source the police have reason to believe that the stolen property referred to was stored on behalf of the Shankill UDA.

It is worth remembering that the RUC did not see any of the stolen goods when they first visited the scene of William Black’s February 1974 shooting, and that William Black lived among Catholics in several of his previous addresses. Should the documents above be accepted at face value, or seen as after-the-fact smearing of a man that became the target of totally discredited and vengeful British army undercover soldiers?

I’m speculating, but I think Fairweather remembered William Black’s name, and the smearing of him by various British army personnel, and conflated the two. I am not sure if he would have known, or remembered, the minutiae of the case. My former military contact knew exactly who I was talking about as soon as I mentioned the SAS claim to have killed Captain Black of UFF infamy.

Who Killed UDR/UDA Member John Thomas “Jackie” Todd?

Photo from CAIN. Note also Michael Morrison,
UDA member killed in 1993 Shankill bomb

 

I finished my last article on this subject with a number of questions, one of which was:

Why was Jackie Todd killed? And who within the British army killed him? And how did his personal weapon end up in a house which had been taken possession of by the SAS?

Having been given an entirely plausible account from a military source, I believe that the man who shot and killed Jackie Todd was a Corporal with the Light Infantry, and I further believe that, as was standard practise at the time for a British solider killing an “insurgent” that the Corporal received the Military Medal in due course. It’s conjecture as to how his personal weapon ended up in a house occupied by SAS men, but I doubt the Corporal would have been decorated had he been obstructive or asked too many questions. A Light Infantry Corporal receiving the Military Medal in a time frame fitting with Todd’s killing was Neville Robert Robson. However it might not be the same person. 

The manner in which Todd was killed, and his killer honoured, was similar to scores of other British army killings, except that Todd was a loyalist, in the UDR, and (arguably) from the PUL community. This type of killing was almost routine. His personal weapon ending up at the scene of an SAS operation is not.

Who shot William Black?

The Commanding Officer of the men involved in ambushing William Black in February 1974 was a Major, who retired as a Brigadier-General and went on to have a high profile career in a United Nations organisation. His name was Antony Mornement. One of the gun-men, the officer in charge, was described by Black has having a “flint like face” and by an RUC officer as looking “murderous” with “sideburns and a dark beret.” Black described and drew the insignia of the man’s beret, which the journalist instantly recognised as belonging to the SAS.

I believe that this man was Lt Julian 'Tony' Ball (ex SAS, Parachute regiment, and commissioned in 1970).

Photo from Noonans.co.uk

Ball was previously implicated in the shooting of two politically uninvolved nationalists, as well as a number of other incidents in and outside Ireland. For more information, please read this excellent account in TheBrokenElbow.

Ball is on the far right with camo cream,
photo from TheBrokenElbow.com

You can see how the British government decorated its killers by looking at an auction of Julian Ball’s medal collection here. In the blurb, Ball is described as “a slim, thin faced individual who had an excess of nervous energy.”

What happened to Sean McNamee?

One of the saddest things I discovered researching this complex set of stories is the fate of Sean McNamee.

Photo source: Belfast Telegraph

As I have noted in previous parts of this story, Sean McNamee was an entrepreneurial man, employing many in west Belfast. On Friday, October 10th, in the midst of the Sticks feud with the Provos, two men and a woman entered McNamee's business premises at the Whiterock industrial estate. The trio were members of the Official IRA and they were after the wages packets that Sean's brother, Denis, was making up. As they were collecting the money, one of the robbers asked if that was all of it. Sean replied "you forget that " and pointed to some loose coins. At that moment, he moved across the office, and as he did, 20 year old Official IRA man Charles Anthony Fitzpatrick shot him a number of times with a revolver.

Sean fell to the ground, fatally wounded, and one of his colleagues struck Fitzpatrick over the head with an iron bar. Fitzpatrick’s comrades fled, whilst McNamee’s brothers “set upon” him. Fitzpatrick went to Long Kesh for murder. The OIRA didn’t get any money from the raid.

Sean McNamee left behind two children. One of his cousins, Brendan McNamee, also died in 1975, in June, killed by the Provos.

I think there is still much more to this story. It reads like fiction, but is all too real. In the right hands, a compelling documentary series could be made out of this source material.

I’d like to thank all of the sources who helped me with this three part article. Unfortunately, I think this may be the last in-depth piece of research I’m able to do for the Quill for a little while – but as ever, I welcome comments, constructive criticism, and most importantly, bits of information I can look further into.

⏩ Brandon Sullivan is a middle aged, middle management, centre-left Belfast man. Would prefer people focused on the actual bad guys. 

Killing Captain Black? The Curious Case Of The UDR Sergeant Targeted by Undercover British Soldiers – Part Three

Brandon Sullivan ✍ with the third part of his dig into the British state's Dirty War in the North.

Part one available here, and part two available here. It’s probably best to read them both before getting into the detail contained in this part.

How Did Clive Fairweather Come to Believe that UDR Sergeant William Black was the UFF’s Captain Black?

A commenter described William Black as “shady.” Perhaps he was. It is clear that some people who might nowadays be described as “securocrats” wanted other people to believe so. I have come into possession of some documents that will evidence either the smearing of William Black, or the identification of him as a paramilitary figure.

A document titled Restricted - Special Handling, and with a copy list containing: Mr Cooper; Mr Howard-Drake; Mr Goddard; Mr Adler; Mr Gilliand; Mr Carter; and Mr Reid, was compiled. I believe that the copy list are probably senior members of the Northern Ireland Office, and that the information was provided by elements of British military intelligence. It says:

“BLACK is an “easily led” man who has the nickname of “Hallelujah” and “Bible Black” on account of his following the Brethren religious sect. He often becomes belligerent and enjoys arguments and rows. His ex UDR Company Commander stated that he would happily join anyone who wished to volunteer to go out into the streets and shoot up Roman Catholics.”

The document also claims that William Black’s brother, as part of a family feud, shot him with a shotgun, and that that brother, like William, was a UDR man, and also dismissed for “irregularity and nonattendance.”

Another RUC document stated that:

Police enquiries have established that the stolen property consists of freezers (part of a consignment hi-jacked on 20 November 1973 in the Lisburn Road area)’ wines and sherries (hi-jacked on 13 December 1973 in the Mountpottinger area) and carpets (hi-jacked on 24 January 1974 in the Tennent Street area). From a delicate source the police have reason to believe that the stolen property referred to was stored on behalf of the Shankill UDA.

It is worth remembering that the RUC did not see any of the stolen goods when they first visited the scene of William Black’s February 1974 shooting, and that William Black lived among Catholics in several of his previous addresses. Should the documents above be accepted at face value, or seen as after-the-fact smearing of a man that became the target of totally discredited and vengeful British army undercover soldiers?

I’m speculating, but I think Fairweather remembered William Black’s name, and the smearing of him by various British army personnel, and conflated the two. I am not sure if he would have known, or remembered, the minutiae of the case. My former military contact knew exactly who I was talking about as soon as I mentioned the SAS claim to have killed Captain Black of UFF infamy.

Who Killed UDR/UDA Member John Thomas “Jackie” Todd?

Photo from CAIN. Note also Michael Morrison,
UDA member killed in 1993 Shankill bomb

 

I finished my last article on this subject with a number of questions, one of which was:

Why was Jackie Todd killed? And who within the British army killed him? And how did his personal weapon end up in a house which had been taken possession of by the SAS?

Having been given an entirely plausible account from a military source, I believe that the man who shot and killed Jackie Todd was a Corporal with the Light Infantry, and I further believe that, as was standard practise at the time for a British solider killing an “insurgent” that the Corporal received the Military Medal in due course. It’s conjecture as to how his personal weapon ended up in a house occupied by SAS men, but I doubt the Corporal would have been decorated had he been obstructive or asked too many questions. A Light Infantry Corporal receiving the Military Medal in a time frame fitting with Todd’s killing was Neville Robert Robson. However it might not be the same person. 

The manner in which Todd was killed, and his killer honoured, was similar to scores of other British army killings, except that Todd was a loyalist, in the UDR, and (arguably) from the PUL community. This type of killing was almost routine. His personal weapon ending up at the scene of an SAS operation is not.

Who shot William Black?

The Commanding Officer of the men involved in ambushing William Black in February 1974 was a Major, who retired as a Brigadier-General and went on to have a high profile career in a United Nations organisation. His name was Antony Mornement. One of the gun-men, the officer in charge, was described by Black has having a “flint like face” and by an RUC officer as looking “murderous” with “sideburns and a dark beret.” Black described and drew the insignia of the man’s beret, which the journalist instantly recognised as belonging to the SAS.

I believe that this man was Lt Julian 'Tony' Ball (ex SAS, Parachute regiment, and commissioned in 1970).

Photo from Noonans.co.uk

Ball was previously implicated in the shooting of two politically uninvolved nationalists, as well as a number of other incidents in and outside Ireland. For more information, please read this excellent account in TheBrokenElbow.

Ball is on the far right with camo cream,
photo from TheBrokenElbow.com

You can see how the British government decorated its killers by looking at an auction of Julian Ball’s medal collection here. In the blurb, Ball is described as “a slim, thin faced individual who had an excess of nervous energy.”

What happened to Sean McNamee?

One of the saddest things I discovered researching this complex set of stories is the fate of Sean McNamee.

Photo source: Belfast Telegraph

As I have noted in previous parts of this story, Sean McNamee was an entrepreneurial man, employing many in west Belfast. On Friday, October 10th, in the midst of the Sticks feud with the Provos, two men and a woman entered McNamee's business premises at the Whiterock industrial estate. The trio were members of the Official IRA and they were after the wages packets that Sean's brother, Denis, was making up. As they were collecting the money, one of the robbers asked if that was all of it. Sean replied "you forget that " and pointed to some loose coins. At that moment, he moved across the office, and as he did, 20 year old Official IRA man Charles Anthony Fitzpatrick shot him a number of times with a revolver.

Sean fell to the ground, fatally wounded, and one of his colleagues struck Fitzpatrick over the head with an iron bar. Fitzpatrick’s comrades fled, whilst McNamee’s brothers “set upon” him. Fitzpatrick went to Long Kesh for murder. The OIRA didn’t get any money from the raid.

Sean McNamee left behind two children. One of his cousins, Brendan McNamee, also died in 1975, in June, killed by the Provos.

I think there is still much more to this story. It reads like fiction, but is all too real. In the right hands, a compelling documentary series could be made out of this source material.

I’d like to thank all of the sources who helped me with this three part article. Unfortunately, I think this may be the last in-depth piece of research I’m able to do for the Quill for a little while – but as ever, I welcome comments, constructive criticism, and most importantly, bits of information I can look further into.

⏩ Brandon Sullivan is a middle aged, middle management, centre-left Belfast man. Would prefer people focused on the actual bad guys. 

3 comments:

  1. The SAS have a sand coloured beret never a dark one and absolutely never wear insignia on ops. Such an obvious error makes me a bit suspicious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Would that have been the case in 1974?

    Nobody, at any official level, have ever denied that it was undercover British army soldiers who committed these acts, and there is substantial evidence supporting the thesis that the men who shot Black were in the SAS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Brandon and especially since they were not "Officially" deployed until 1976. Not saying they weren't but most people had never even heard of the SAS until after the Iranian Embassy siege in the 80's. How this Journalist knew it, and the claim that they wore insignia while doing an Op just doesn't ring true. Plenty of other spooks around but something doesn't quite sit right on this one.

      Delete