The band was . [20] He survived by pretending he was dead, as he lay beside the body of McCoy. 8 in the Irish charts. The massacre dealt a blow to Northern Ireland's live music scene, which had brought young Catholics and Protestants together. He also added that "that bomb was definitely placed there with a view to killing all in that band".[22]. Although not a member of any loyalist paramilitary group,[26] he was a close friend of Harris Boyle and the two were often seen together. As they were being questioned, Major Boyle and Lieutenant Somerville began to search the minibus. [53] It was believed he had been betrayed to the RUC by a member of the gang. Died from several gunshot wounds. Can you step out of the van for a few minutes and we'll just do a check". The scene of The Miami Showband Massacre The Miami Showband reformed in 2008, with Stephen Travers, Des McAlea, and Ray Millar, plus new members. [clarification needed] James McDowell lives in Lurgan, and John James Somerville became an evangelical minister in Belfast. Krijg toegang tot het beste van Getty Images met ons eenvoudige abonnement. [86] Weir alleged the bomb used in the Miami Showband attack came from Mitchell's farm. [41] Fran O'Toole attempted to run away, but was quickly chased down by the gunmen who had immediately jumped down into the field in pursuit. [84], The families held a press conference in Dublin after the report was released. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "Special Branch Agent colluded in Miami killings". With Dublin-born singer [Jimmy Harte] as frontman followed by Dickie Rock as frontman, the Miami Showband underwent many personnel changes over the years. [69], A third person, former UDR soldier John James Somerville (aged 37, a lorry-helper and the brother of Wesley), was arrested following an RUC raid in Dungannon on 26 September 1980. [4][18][28][29] As Crozier took down the information, a car pulled up and another uniformed man appeared on the scene. 34575/04 by Sean McCartney against the United Kingdom: The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section)", "John Weir's Affadavit, Statement by John Weir 03.01.99", "On this day 15October: 1976: UDR men jailed for Showband killings", "Miami Showband massacre survivor shakes with anguish as he remembers his slain friends 40 years on", "Evidence clears Robert Nairac of murders he has been linked to: author", "MoD documents link Robert Nairac to Miami Showband massacre", "Statement of Miami Showband families and survivors in response to the findings of the Historical Enquiries Team into the murders of Anthony Geraghty, Brian McCoy and Francis O'Toole", "Day of 'The Jackal' has finally drawn to a close", "Robert Nairac in command at massacre says Miami guitarist", "Miami Showband Killer Dies at 70; UVF murderer Somerville found dead of cancer in his squalid flat", "Memorial to victims of Miami massacre to be unveiled in Dublin", "Miami Showband killings: Police tipoff helped suspect elude justice, says report", "Miami Showband massacre: HET raises collusion concerns", "Netflix fails to make sense of the Miami Showband Massacre", 'Remastered: The Miami Showband Massacre' On Netflix Unmasks a Conspiracy and False Flag Attack, Houses of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, "Interim Report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings [The Barron Report]", "Interim Report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk", Interim reports (more detail than final reports) of Irish parliamentary inquiries, Ceasefires of the Provisional IRA, UVF, UDA and RHC, Murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine, Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Miami_Showband_killings&oldid=1142010371, Improvised explosive device bombings in Northern Ireland, People killed by security forces during The Troubles (Northern Ireland), Articles with dead external links from April 2012, Articles with dead external links from May 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2020, Articles with dead external links from February 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 01:35. In a police statement made following his arrest for possession of the silencer and Luger on 31 May 1976, Jackson maintained that a week before he was taken into custody, two RUC officers had tipped him off about the discovery of his fingerprints on the silencer; he also claimed they had forewarned him: "I should clear as there was a wee job up the country that I would be done for and there was no way out of it for me". As they began to enter the vehicle, a bomb was detonated and both men were killed outright. They had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart . Touts aren't welcome here.". [4], In May 1974, unionists called a general strike to protest against the Sunningdale Agreement an attempt at power-sharing, setting up a Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland, which would have given the Government of Ireland a voice in running Northern Ireland. [30] Travers, the band's new bass player, assumed he was a British Army officer, an opinion shared by McCoy. It had been blown off his torso when the bomb prematurely exploded as a result of static electricity. Das Getty Images Design ist eine eingetragene Marke von Getty Images. And nearer home, they carried out five operations in one day in the Moy and Stewartstown. Four Protestant civilians (two men and two women) and UVF member Hugh Harris were killed in the attack. They asked him if he recognised it or could he identify it. Findings in a report carried out by the PSNI's Historic Enquiries Team into the Miami atrocity stated that there was fingerprint evidence linking Robin Jackson to the attack. [21][84], Former British soldier and writer Ken Wharton published in his book Wasted Years, Wasted Lives, Volume 1, an alternative theory that was suggested to him by loyalist paramilitarism researcher Jeanne Griffin; this was that the ambush was planned by Robin Jackson as an elaborate means of eliminating trumpet player Brian McCoy. [18][27] The unsuspecting band members got out and were politely told to line up facing the ditch at the rear of the minibus with their hands on their heads. It also devastated the burgeoning live music scene in Northern Ireland.. The attack was carried out by loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and took place while the group, a popular cabaret band, were travelling home to Dublin after a performance. After meeting a new woman, Somerville settled on the Shankill and for a while he worked in the Harland and Wolff shipyard. In prison John Somerville lived a reclusive life. [34] Afterward, as Travers recovered in hospital, the other survivor Des McAlea gave the police a description of McDowell as the gunman with a moustache and wearing dark glasses who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol. [62][64], On 24 August 1975, Catholic civilians Colm McCartney and Sean Farmer were stopped in their car at what is believed to have been another fake checkpoint at Altnamackin (near Newtownhamilton). [19] The Irish Times reported that on the night following the attack, the British ambassador Sir Arthur Galsworthy was summoned to hear the Government of Ireland's strong feelings regarding the murder of the three band members. [4], A continued allegation in the case has been the presence of Captain Robert Nairac at the scene. This is one of the first real crime scene photos ever taken. The three men were sent to serve their sentence in the Maze Prison, on the outskirts of Lisburn. The 55-cent stamp, designed with a 1967 publicity photograph of the band, included two of the slain members, Fran O'Toole and Brian McCoy, as part of the line-up when Dickie Rock was the frontman. [4] The band had no overt interest in politics nor in the religious beliefs of the people who made up their audience. [29] Travers also stepped up to the gunmen and told them to be careful with his guitar. Two serving UDR soldiers and one former UDR soldier were found guilty of the murders and received life sentences; they were released in 1998. Travers later recalled hearing one of the departing gunmen tell his comrade who had kicked McCoy's body to make sure he was not alive: "Come on, those bastards are dead. The attack was carried out by loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and took place while the group, a popular cabaret band, were travelling home to Dublin after a performance. The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband massacre)[1] was an attack on 31 July 1975 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. [5] This move made loyalists apprehensive and suspicious that a secret accord was being conducted between the British government and the IRA, and that Northern Ireland's Protestants would be "sold out". Date: 12th November 1941 Means: Assassinated. But as the death toll mounted, so did Somerville's drinking. On October 23, 1975, Somerville and Jackson led a UVF team in the savage murders of Peter McKearney (63) and his wife Jane (58) at their home near the Moy. [30] The UVF's plan was that the bomb would explode once the minibus had reached Newry, killing all on board. But our investigations this week revealed that shortly before he died, Jackson sent for self-confessed loyalist gunrunner Willie Frazer, also now deceased. Everybody was respectful to Brian". The only identifiable body part from the bombers to survive the blast (which had been heard up to 4 miles (6.4km) away) was a severed arm belonging to Wesley Somerville. Agent Elvis. [33], A stamp was issued in Ireland on 22 September 2010 commemorating the Miami Showband. I only came into it because of my UDR connection and the fact that I had a uniform. Asked whether he had anything valuable inside the case, Travers replied no. He was then machine-gunned 22 times, mostly in the face, as he lay supine on the ground. However, the officers suspected that the checkpoint was fake. On April 17, 1975, Somerville and Jackson blew up a Catholic-owned cottage which was being renovated at Killyliss between Dungannon and Ballygawley. [59] Two days later, Portadown disc jockey Norman "Mooch" Kerr, aged 28,[60] was shot dead by the IRA as he packed up his equipment after a show at the Camrick Bar in Armagh. [35] Dillon also opined in God and the Gun: The Church and Irish Terrorism that the dead bombers, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, had actually led the UVF gang at Buskhill. His cell was kept immaculately clean and visitors were required to remove their shoes before entering. The night after the Miami Showband massacre, gunmen shot a minibus near Gilford. The scene of the Miami Showband killings in County Down, Northern Ireland, on 31 July 1975. Aged 70, he died of cancer of the kidney. It was a forgiveness that few of the relatives of his victims were willing to give. Chris Hudson, a former intermediary between the government of Ireland and the UVF, whose role was crucial to the Northern Ireland peace process. [65] Earlier that night, three RUC officers in an unmarked car had been stopped at a checkpoint but allowed through. "After the explosion, the red mist came down and I went mad with a machine-gun," he once told a fellow loyalist prisoner. The meeting was arranged by Rev. [13] Dillon suggested that because there were a number of UDR members in the UVF, and were planned to be used for the Miami Showband ambush, Hanna was considered to have been a "security risk", and the UVF decided he had to be killed before he could alert the authorities. He served in C Company, 11th Battalion UDR. But he quit when the Troubles erupted on the streets of Belfast and Derry in the autumn of 1969. Their name comes from a farm in Glenanne, County Armagh, which was owned by RUC reservist James Mitchell; according to ex-RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir, it was used as a UVF arms dump and bomb-making site. [8] The brigade was described by author Don Mullan as one of the most ruthless units operating in the 1970s. The plaque describes them as having been "killed in action". Griffin goes on to add that the bogus checkpoint was set up not only to plant the bomb on board the van but to ensure the presence of McCoy which would have been confirmed when he handed over his driving licence to the gunmen. Those responsible for the attack belonged to the Glenanne gang, a secret alliance of loyalist militants, Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police officers and UDR soldiers. [20], Bassist Stephen Travers was seriously wounded by a dum-dum bullet which had struck him when the gunmen had first begun shooting. According to loyalists who knew him, Somerville turned down countless RUC Special Branch offers to work as a police agent. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. [96], In a report on Nairac's alleged involvement in the massacre, published in the Sunday Mirror newspaper on 16 May 1999, Colin Wills called the ambush "one of the worst atrocities in the 30-year history of the Troubles". In 1978, he became a born-again Christian. Assuming it was a legitimate checkpoint, McCoy informed the others inside the minibus of a military checkpoint up ahead and pulled in at the lay-by as directed by the armed men. [22] Saxophone player Des McAlea, who had been standing closest to the minibus, was hit by its door when it was blown off in the explosion, but was not badly wounded. Somerville was sent to jail for 35 years and, despite being firmly opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, he was released under its terms after spending just 18 years behind bars. The following year, Fran O'Toole became the band's lead vocalist after Mick Roche (Billy Mac's replacement) was sacked. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. From left: Steve Travers, Tony Geraghty, Ray Millar, Brian McCoy, Fran O'Toole, Des Lee. Three band members were taken from their tour bus and shot . "Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, Sub-Committee on the Barron Report", "The Miami Showband Massacre, 1975: A Survivor's Search for the Truth", "Miami Showband Massacre: Involvement of UVF Man Robin Jackson". The Glenanne gang was a loose alliance of loyalist extremists allegedly operating under the command of British Military Intelligence and/or RUC Special Branch. [85], The Pat Finucane Centre has named the Miami Showband killings as one of the 87 violent attacks perpetrated by the Glenanne gang against the Irish nationalist community in the 1970s. They had killed many Catholics together and they trusted each other implicitly," said our source. The fledgling loyalist terror group didn't operate in established command areas and Somerville and Jackson were able to kill at will over a wide geographical area. He also survived by remaining silent, pretending he was dead. What little that remained intact of their bodies was burnt beyond recognition; one of the limbless torsos was completely charred.[20]. Following the explosion pandemonium broke out among the remaining gunmen; shouting obscenities, they started shooting the dazed band members, who had all been blown down into the field below the level of the road from the force of the blast. And two years later when he was scooped in an RUC raid in Dungannon on September 26, 1980, he made a detailed confession outlining his involvement in numerous UVF murders. Griffin based her theory on the nine bullets that were fired from a Luger into McCoy's body and that Jackson's fingerprints were found on the silencer used for a Luger. [53] The three convicted UVF men, although admitting to having been at the scene, denied having shot anyone. [44], McDowell's statement of admission was published in David McKittrick's book Lost Lives:[44]. They subsequently set up a roadblock with "all the trappings of a regular military checkpoint". The Mid-Ulster Battalion has been assisting the South Down-South Armagh units since the IRA Forkhill boobytrap which killed four British soldiers. Miljoenen beelden, videos en muzikale opties van hoge kwaliteit wachten op u. Maak gebruik van de wereldwijde schaalgrootte, data-gedreven inzichten en het netwerk van meer dan 340.000 makers van Getty Images om voor uw merk exclusieve content te creren. [78], The band's road manager, Brian Maguire stated that when he drove away from Banbridge in the lead, a few minutes ahead of the band's minibus, he passed through security barriers manned by the RUC. [47][71] In his first parliamentary speech on 7 July 1987, Ken Livingstone MP told the House of Commons, "it was likely" that Nairac had organised the attack. Geraghty was engaged to be married. [101], A Netflix documentary titled ReMastered: The Miami Showband Massacre was released 22 March 2019, highlighting the efforts of Steve Travers to track down who authorized the attack, for what purposes, and to get an admission of culpability.[102][103]. [31] Travers described McCoy as a "sophisticated, father-type figure. On 15 October 1976, Crozier and McDowell both received life sentences for the Miami Showband murders. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images [56], Within 12 hours of the attack, the UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership based on the Shankill Road) issued a statement. [58] He was later shot dead in Portadown on 25 January 1976, allegedly by Jackson for having informed the RUC about Thomas Crozier's participation in the attack. Travers was not able to positively identify Nairac, from his photograph, as having been the man at Buskhill. Jackson had assumed command of the Mid-Ulster UVF just a few days before the Miami Showband attack, after allegedly shooting Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan on 27 July 1975. It is fronted by McAlea, who returned to Northern Ireland the same year after living in South Africa since about 1982. One of the first famous crime scene photos was taken on May 5, 1903, in the home of a Parisian woman named Madame Debeinche who had been murdered. The RUC were led to him through his glasses which had been found at the murder scene. He described the scene as having "just the smell of utterly death about the place burning blood, burning tyres". [68] During the trial, Des McAlea had received death threats which made him fear for the safety of his family; this caused him to eventually leave Northern Ireland. Despite severe burns sustained in the Miami attack, a month later Jackson was soon back on a murder mission with his trusted fellow killer John Somerville. Crozier had pleaded not guilty. [53] In a letter to the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern dated 22 February 2004, the Northern Ireland Office stated that: "The PSNI have confirmed that a 9mm Luger pistol was ballistically traced both to the murder of John Francis Green and to the Miami Showband murders. The Miami Showband Massacre, the latest in Netflix's ReMastered music documentary series, may feature a band unfamiliar to Americans but the horrendous violence on display puts most American true . "The cops showed John a bag containing a human arm with a Mid-Ulster UVF tattoo on it. About 10 gunmen were at the checkpoint, according to author and journalist Martin Dillon. The year 1975 was marked by an escalation in sectarian attacks and a vicious feud between the two main loyalist paramilitary groups, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). Irish Times diarist Frank McNally summed up the massacre as "an incident that encapsulated all the madness of the time". The emergence of discos later in the decade meant that ballrooms were converted into nightclubs, leaving the showbands with few venues available in which to perform. Het ontwerp van Getty Images is een handelsmerk van Getty Images. Journalist Emily O'Reilly noted in the Sunday Tribune that none of the three men convicted of the massacre ever implicated Nairac in the attack or accused him of causing Boyle's death. Brian McCoy was the first to die, having been hit in the back and neck by nine rounds from a 9mm Luger pistol in the initial volley of gunfire. "Des Lee"), 24, Catholic, from Belfast; bassist Stephen Travers, 24, Catholic, from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary; and drummer Ray Millar, Protestant, from Antrim. In a rare interview with the BBC Spotlight programme before his death of kidney cancer in 2015, Somerville spoke only once and very briefly about the Miami Showband Massacre. [12] Journalist Joe Tiernan suggested that Hanna was shot for refusing to participate in the Miami Showband attack and that he had become an informer for the Garda in exchange for immunity from prosecution for the Dublin bombings. Ray Millar, the band's drummer, was not with them as he had chosen to go to his home town of Antrim to spend the night with his parents. The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband Massacre) was an attack by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, on 31 July 1975. 14 December 2011. The band was travelling home to Dublin late at night after a performance in Banbridge. Fortnight Magazine reported that on 1 June 1982, John James Somerville began a hunger strike at the Maze to obtain special category status. As the UUUC would not abide any form of power-sharing with the Dublin government, no agreement could be reached and the convention failed, again marginalising Northern Ireland's politicians and the communities they represented. Tony Geraghty also attempted to escape; but he was caught by the gunmen and shot twice in the back of his head and a number of times in the back. U 4. They were prepared to travel anywhere in Ireland to perform for their fans. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images The Miami Showband were an Irish showband in the 1960s and 1970s led firstly in 1962 by singer Jimmy Harte, followed by Dickie Rock and later by Fran O'Toole. A report by the police's Historical Enquiries Team (HET) also suggests this. The Miami Showband minibus with five members in all was stopped at a bogus army checkpoint in Northern Ireland and three were killed and two, including Travers, badly injured in July 1975. [90] The encounter took place inside Hudson's church, All Souls Belfast. Gaelic footballer brothers John Martin Reavey (24) and Brian (22) died at the scene, while 17-year-old Anthony died three weeks later. He was released in 1998. December 29, 2022 by Corinne Sullivan. [98] In 2011, Journalist Kevin Myers denounced the attack with the following statement: "in its diabolical inventiveness against such a group of harmless and nave young men, it is easily one of the most depraved [of the Troubles]". The attack was carried out by loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and took place while the group, a popular cabaret band, were travelling home to Dublin after a performance. [19], The 1975 line-up comprised four Catholics and two Protestants. According to Martin Dillon, the order to shoot was given by the patrol's apparent leader, James McDowell,[36] to eliminate witnesses to the bogus checkpoint and subsequent bombing. "[54] In May 1976, Robin Jackson's fingerprints were discovered on the metal barrel of a home-made silencer constructed for a Luger. [55] Although ballistic testing had linked the Luger (for which the silencer had been specifically made) to the Miami Showband attack, Jackson was never questioned about the killings after his fingerprints had been discovered on the silencer, and the Miami inquiry team were never informed about these developments. The patrol sergeant immediately ordered the patrol to shoot back. That same year, keyboardist Francis (Fran) O'Toole (from Bray, County Wicklow) had won the Gold Star Award on RT's Reach For the Stars television programme. I did what I did. His leadership was endorsed by the UVF's leader Gusty Spence. [18][22] Meanwhile, two other gunmen at the front of the minibus were placing the briefcase containing the bomb under the driver's seat. Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions, "Sunningdale pushed hardliners into fatal outrages in 1974", "Events: Dublin and Monaghan Bombs Chronology of Events", "Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s", "All About the Miami Showband (19611996)", "The Miami Band Lined Up Against the Van. This meant that both it and the UDA were legal organisations.
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