🔗 Share this article

Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as arguably the most fatal – and significant – occasions during thirty years of unrest in the region.

Within the community where events unfolded – the memories of the tragic events are displayed on the structures and etched in collective memory.

A public gathering was held on a wintry, sunny afternoon in Derry.

The demonstration was opposing the policy of imprisonment without charges – detaining individuals without trial – which had been put in place following multiple years of conflict.

Soldiers from the Parachute Regiment fatally wounded 13 people in the district – which was, and remains, a strongly Irish nationalist area.

One image became notably prominent.

Images showed a religious figure, the priest, displaying a blood-stained cloth while attempting to shield a crowd moving a teenager, Jackie Duddy, who had been killed.

Journalists recorded much footage on the day.

Historical records features the priest telling a media representative that military personnel "just seemed to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no provocation for the discharge of weapons.

That version of the incident wasn't accepted by the original examination.

The first investigation concluded the military had been shot at first.

During the resolution efforts, the administration commissioned another inquiry, after campaigning by bereaved relatives, who said Widgery had been a inadequate investigation.

That year, the report by Lord Saville said that generally, the paratroopers had initiated shooting and that zero among the individuals had posed any threat.

At that time Prime Minister, the leader, apologised in the government chamber – saying fatalities were "improper and unacceptable."

Law enforcement began to investigate the matter.

An ex-soldier, known as Soldier F, was charged for murder.

Indictments were filed concerning the killings of one victim, 22, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.

Soldier F was also accused of attempting to murder Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, more people, another person, and an unnamed civilian.

Remains a court ruling preserving the soldier's privacy, which his attorneys have argued is necessary because he is at threat.

He testified the Saville Inquiry that he had solely shot at individuals who were possessing firearms.

This assertion was disputed in the concluding document.

Evidence from the examination could not be used straightforwardly as proof in the court case.

In the dock, the veteran was hidden from public using a protective barrier.

He addressed the court for the opening instance in court at a hearing in that month, to answer "not guilty" when the charges were presented.

Kin of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday made the trip from Derry to the judicial building every day of the proceedings.

John Kelly, whose relative was died, said they always knew that hearing the proceedings would be emotional.

"I visualize everything in my recollection," the relative said, as we visited the main locations referenced in the proceedings – from the street, where the victim was fatally wounded, to the nearby Glenfada Park, where James Wray and William McKinney were died.

"It reminds me to where I was that day.

"I helped to carry Michael and place him in the medical transport.

"I went through each detail during the testimony.

"But even with having to go through everything – it's still valuable for me."