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RTHERN
IRELAND
!r
t
at
fr
ll
BritishArmgCaptain
Robert
Nairac
foughthisownwaronthestreetsof Seventies
hat,trainers
Belfast,
heading
outonpatrolwitha cowbog
anda pump-action
Hisundercover
activities
wonhimboththeGeorge
Crossandaccusations
shotgun.
butdoubtsurrounds
almostevergthing
hedid.Esquire
investigates
oftreacherg,
W0R0S
€qnonn 0'Neill
HIM,hiS
LISTEN,
LETMETELLYOUABOUT
in Northernlrelandand
secretoperations
his eventualdisappearance,"
savsa former
high-r'ankingmilitary source,"It's simple:
Nairac didn't just stick his headinto the
lion's mouth - that rvouldn't have been
enoughfor him. Iostead,he had to go and
stick it fight up the lion'sarse."
CaptainRobert Nairacwasa Br itish Army
undercoveloperativein the Seventies.
The details of his notorious life remarn
obscureto this day,but it is known that he
diedaftel bcingabductedby an "IRA gang"
outsidea SouthArmaghbar,andthat hervas
savagelyattacked,beatenand tortured
beforehis deathon l-l Nlal' 1977.His bodl.
hasneverbeenfound.He is the only soldier
among)'lorthernheland's"disappeared"
paramilitaries
rvhose
thosekilled by
bodies
remainmissing.
"Thcre's still a chill to the name:Nairnq"
says one former militaly colleague."It
sounds mysterious, even sinister. Then
again,therearethe seriesofconnections
thesoldierrvhowasa GrenadierGuardsman
connectedto the Qlreen...the SAS.., the
factthat he rvason his own whenhe died...
the overtonesofLawrenceofAmbia. These
all build up into a modern-dayspy figure."
Of all the soldiers rvho have served
in Northern lreland,RobertNairacis one
ofthe fervrvhosticksin people'smemories
andstill,almosr25yearson,sparksintrigue
and controversy.Perhapsit's becausehe
attempted to alter events single-handed
duling oneofthe mostviolentperiodsofthe
Troubles. Or becausehe was an English
RomanCatholicwho had rn insightinto
both sidesofthe conflict.
To some,he rvasthe ultimateundercover
soldier,heroicallyfighting a deadll',duplicitous rvarin s'hich he bravelypenetrated
both Republicanand Loyalist paramilitary
groups,la1-ing
himselfopento attackfrom
both in the process.Othersseehim differently.Thev exprcss
disgustat hisposthumous
arvard of the George Cross for gallantly
(afterthe VictoliaCross,the highesthonour
that canbe given).They allegethat he "ran"
violent agentsinsideopposingparamilitary
groups,that he stoppedfollorvingthe rules
he once respected,and that he vanished
rvhile fighting his own pLivatervar'.
Establishinga fuller picture is difficult.
tllany figures in the British military top
brass choose not to discusshis case,
and Northern L'ish Republicansprefel
to sayaslittle aspossible.His deathleflects
well on neither.Yet it's undoubtedlytrue
that Nairacrvasa complexindividualtaking
part in a truly dirr-vn'ar.
RobertNairacnasbornin Gloucestershire
in 1948,into a solidly middle-classEnglish
family. His father rvas a distinguished
eye sulgeonand a RomanCatholic;his
motherrvasProtestant.His earlyyearss.ere
spentat Gilling Castle,a rcmoteprepschool
in Yorkshire;he thenboardedat Amplefolth
College,the EnglishCatholicequivalent
of Eton. During his time at Amplefolth,
he excelledin both acrdemicand sporting
fields.The countrvside
aloundthe school
w w w . e s q u i r e . c o . ug k 1 2 1
Bogsoldi.r ForlelcNai6c
excelled
at sportsduring
public
histimearCatholic
schoolAmplefohCollege.
boy and looked it." Another colleague
detecteda darkersidein the nervrecruit:
"He still lookedlike a Guardsman,but there
\tas anothe!elementlvhich mademe think
that I couldr't quite trust the guy or begin
to work him out."
Det operatorshad to live on their wits,
often deepinside enemyheartlands.They
infiltrated at street level, rvatching and
t'aiting, gathering intelligence fiorn the
ground up. lVhen paramilitaryweaponsor
explosiveswere found they weren't seized,
but bugged(or "jarked") for moniroring.
Nairachadto transformhimself,dropping
the Guardsman's
bealingand developing
a lougher appearance;
one wrong rvotd,
gestureor actiol could mean death.For
days,weeks.evenmonthson end, Nairac
had to think and act like his enemies.
Calving out a nicheasa cha ming rogue,
Nairac took on the role of liaison officer
within 14Int, linking Army andintelligence
units andfinding informationin the "intelligencedesert"of the borderareaof South
was initiated, involving RUC Special Armagh. t\Iajor Clive Fairweather, who
Branch, NII5 and t!II6, and outfits such as
servedin the top-levelintelligence
postof
the notoriousForceResealchUnit; inte[G2,/Int insidethe Lisburn-basedBritish
departmental r ivllry rvas comrnonplace. Army HQin Northern Ireland,knewNairac
The stakeswere high: units such as the
and is very clearthat.despiremxnyclaims
Forceused"turned
tllobile Reconnaissance
to the contrary,Nairac was neveran SAS
teuorists" (so-called"Freds") asspies.
man.He rvasonly attachedto their unit and
At first, Nairac rvas simply a soldier'
hadnevergonethroughfirll SAS training.
patrolling the tense streets of both
Nairac latel hooked up rvith another
ProtestantEast and nationalist North
shadowygloup, rvhichusedthe covername
"-[ Field Survey Tloop, Royal Engineers"
Belfast.As a Catholic,it seemeda natural
move for him also to volunteer for
andactedsepalatelyfiom othersoldiersand
some"heartsaodminds" initiativesin the
units. This lvasa coveLtolganisationof
n{tionalistareas,helpingout at a youth club
experiencedand professionrloperrtives.
rnd rcechinc hnvino
NIoD files on this group, rvhich rvasbased
lvhen his battalionpulledout for Hong
neara statelyhouselt Castledillon,County
Kong on 31 October1973,Nairac remained Armagh,areallegedto havevanished.
to ivork as a liaison man fol incoming
Nos, in possession
of a passable
Irish
colleagues.
The adlenalineof n'alkingthe
accent,Nairac resolvedthat his role wasto
streetsseemedto haveflickeda srvitchinside
infilt(rte both terroristgloupsandhe began
his brain,and he no doubtsensedthat the
to frequent IRA and Loyalist bars in the
realrvarrvasan intelligenceone.He volunNolth. These were dangerousplacesfor
teeredfor intelligencetlaining at the Joinc
undercover
men,yet NairacrefusedbackIntelligenceCollege in Kent, folloled
up, his only companybcingthat ofhis black
by trainingrvith the SAS at Hereford, then
Labrador',Bundle.He tried to meetterrorist
survivalcoulscsin the UK and Kenya.
agentsandjoin localunits.Onesourcetold
In early 1974, he s'as sent back to
me Nailac infiltlated a Lovalistgroup,onll'
"Hervasdoing
Northern Irelandto be attachedto a nel
to betraythemto Republicans:
"14Int",
groupcalled
or'"The Det". This
the classicthing, what intelligencecorps
rvasone of the most fcaredorganisetions al*ays tr'1-todo: 'running the enemy'."
operatingi.r the No(th; manl IRA killings
blamedon the SAS s'erein fact carriedout
lN 1374,R0BERT
NAIRAC
metJulian"Ton1."
by The Det, althoughrecruitsrvereofren
Ball,a servingSAS mxn attachedto l4 Int
seconded
SAS men.
and operatingout ofSouth Armagh.Ball,
"Robert Nairac rvls veLymuch the nerv
an ex-Pala, rvas describedto me b1' one
boy," saysa colleague."He stuck out like a
former colleague
as "genuinelltuthlesssorethumb because
he rvasa public schooland in somerval'sI think Nairacmodelled
At0xford,
Nairac
kepta hawkin hisbedroom
andsatexamswearing
fullGuards
uniform
alsoallowedhim to pulsue his greatlove of
shooting,rvild-forvlingand fishing. He was
sociablebut oftencrar.edsolitude.
He wenton to studymedievalandnrilitary
history at Oxford, wherehe stoodout fiom
the crowd.He kept a trainedhrwk in his
bedroom,satexamsu'earingfull Grenadier
Guardsuniform, and boxedfor his college.
Contempolariesconsideredhim singlemindedandcharismatic;somealsonotedan
air ofdoomaroundhim.
A brief holiday in Ireland rvhile at
Ampleforth led to Nairac developing an
enduringloveofthe country.In 1972,after
training ar Sandhurstmilitary academyand
joining the GrenadierGurrds at Wellingron
Barracksin London, Nailac volunteeredto
serve in Northern heland. trVhilemost
soldierstried to avoidthe plovince,Nairac
sawit assomervhele
he could mlke a mark.
Arriving in Nlarch 1973 to join No 1
Compaly,2nd Brttalion GrenadielGualds,
he entereda conflict that couldn't havebeen
morc violent rnd volltile. Ar rhe time,
British soldiersrverebeing targetedby the
nel,lv armedProvisionalIRA; the Br itish
military respondedlvith more menrmore
wexponsand e\,entorture, at the notorious
interrogrtion centre.The tules
Castlereagh
l'ere changing:"Bloodv Sunday",rvhen
membersof the ParachuteRegimentshot
dead 13 peoplein Januarl,1972and the
IRA's response
six monthslater,"Bloodl'
Fridal-",duringrvhichBclfastcitr'-ccntrecar
bombskilled nine people,had seento that.
The Army rvasexploringothcr anti-IRA
options.A morevigorousintelligencervar
f . c ou.k
1 2 2 O w w we. sq u i e
Lelt,Nai€c[centrc] as
a gouthfulGrcnadier
Guadsolficerinthe
eedvSevenlies
himself on him". Another sourceput rt
"Ball wasa nastybit of rvot'k- a
blunth:
psvchotic,I rtould sal' He bit his fingernails
ioovn to the white half-moons and rvas
living on his nervescontinually,possibly
tekinedrugs."
Th-e p"ir tvorkedcloselvrogetherfor
about a year during a turbulent period for
Northeln Leland, and controversystill
surroundstheir activities.Both havebeen
to the lvorstsingleda)
liaked,for e<ample,
Troubles:the !97-l
entire
in
the
ofatrociry
bombinssin Dublin and Nlonaghan'rvhich
killediJpeople{che1998outragein Omagh
saw29 victimsmurdered).
Solicitorsrepresentingthe familiesof
victimsofthesebombshaverecentlyexamined secretBritish Army documentsthat
Ieadthem to believeBritish military intelliqroupsusedLoyclisrgroupsasaqenrs
sence
-o.ouoi","u.t.
It is allegedthat the bombs
"our
werephntedby Loyalistsaidedby an
fcction
ofcontrol"BririshArmy intelJigence
to
wanred
it
if
that
Dublin
seekingto show
to
share
have
also
it
lvould
Paln,
power,
share
and asa warningto the areato stopacttng
asa havenfor Republicanterrorists'
Celtainly, the Garda (the L'ish police)
knewwithin 72 hours of the bombsbeing
detonated that the cars used lvere from
LoyalistareasofNorthern lreland Within
rveeksthey had identified prirne suspects,
all of whom wereknown membersol the
Ntid-Ulster UVF (andall ofrvhom arenol'
dead,manyasa resultofterrorist activities)
Dubiin passedthis informationon to Belfast
folloved'
butno arrestsor courtappearances
Horvever,expertshaveagreedthat the UVF
did not havethe expertiseto organisethe
detonationof three car bornbsrvithin 90
secondsand rvith 100per centeffectiveness;
onlv a military operationcouldachievethat
Gov.rnmentauthotitiesin Dublin have
secretpflpersthat point to Britishmilitaryinvolvement.A Dublin solicitortold me
from the time sugBlitish correspondence
"the Dublin and Nlonaghanbombings
eests
-ha<l
beenconnectedto a groupknownts the
ProtestantAction Folce,or ProtestantTxsk
Force,rvhichlvts controlledby a speclaldutiestetm from the British Army Hqin
Lisbutn. lt hrs beenkno'r'nfol sometime
that a specialBritish Army unit operdtedin
Armaghin 197-lunder the title of 4 Field
"
Survel'Tloop Nairacl'as in that gt oup
Oneofthe contactsilet$'ee[Nairacxnd
theseLoyalists\!ls FredHolroyd,e retired
officerrvhorrasformerly
military-intelligence
attachedto PortadorvnSpecialBranch He
met Nairxc in Portadorvnin 1974and knes'
he rvasrvorkingfor a specialunit Holroyd
1 2 4 O w w w . e s q u l r eu. kc o
them
groupto betrag
a Logalist
Heinfiltrated
"iunningthe
enemg"
hewas
to Republicans:
they did it becauseRobert told me'''says
"He pitched up in my oflrce and
Hoiroyd.
'lVell, lve've topped Jorln rrxncls
seid.
B ishAm!sooiersf-s[
1 9 ' 2 , ; h e . B . i , s 5r o o p s
Green,' and I told him I didn't believe himSundag
on
Bloodg
marche6
killed 13 civilians;Ande6on
Then he produced a Polaroid photograph of
the killing as proof and describedin great
detail horv they'd done it. He even asked"me
links Nairac rvith the Portadown UDA and
"rvirh
ifl'd like to come along on the next one
them on planning
claims Nairec rvrs
lVhile one source claims that Nairac had
sessionsfor terrorist outrrges"
r drarver'fr.tllof gruesomescene-of-ctime
Holrovd was told that UDA members
shots. this particular photograph has been
from Portadorvnhad carried out the Dublin
the subject of much disPute David
and llonaghan bombs. Does thrt mean' I
!lcKittIick, Northern Ireland coIresponBall
Tony
askedhim, thar RobertNairac and
"Yes de\tl of The Inde\ell(lenr,has claimed it \las,
involved?
could have been directly
"tn fact, highly
in fact, a Garda picture taken after the killing
very, very easily,"he replied.
xnd that it couldfl't have been in Nairtc's
A
l i k e l v .I ' d b e s u r p r i s e di f t h e y r v e r e n ' r ' "
journalist Duncan
possession.
TuesdalFirst
-Campbell, Investigative
1995 Yorkshire Television
that the
maintains
horvever,
documentaryalso ailegedthat Nairac rvas
T
r
i
s hp o l i c e
t
h
e
g
e
n
u
i
n
e
r
n
d
t
h
r
t
i
s
"lunning" three Loyalists $ho were susimase
I975'
in
crmetr
i
PolcLoid
did;'r
o\\n
pected o1being agenrsin the Dublin and
Fred Holrold alleges that Nairac rvas
r\lonaqhnn bombs.
follorving orders, possibly from NlT5 ot
It h1s tlso been claimed thar Nairnc
nnother uea of the British intelligence
and Boll rvereinvolved in rhe cross-border
"I think there \vere hidden
communitl'.
of Repubiictn gunman John
assassination
agendasin his being deplol'ed in L eland,"
Francis Green in Januat1 1975 While
he sa.vs.Hoiroyd believesthat Nairac was
the actual killels hate never been caught,
being run directly by someone back in
and uncertaint-vsur rounds rhis ciaim (one
Ensland, someone$ith enough po\\'er to
intelliqence source told me that Ball was too
also control lhe Northern Leland SAS if
lr'ith
Nairac
-uch-of " loner to have taken
thev became too curious about Nairac's
thar this
him), Fred HoLoyd is in no doubt "I
secrletmissions nnd overall agenda
knorv
rvasa joint Nairac/Ball mission
SomuchTrcublc C/ocklvrse
Fromlopi stand_affon
lloodg Sundag,l0 lanua'g
Sveel' Belfast on ZB MaU
1972' afiera bomb atlacktn
w\ic' eig\ oeop ediedi
Shotsfrcmbothsld.s
Clockwise
fon fur IeJt:
Talent
Street,oublinon
15Mag1974afteracar.
bombattack;Pet€rCleary,
Perhaps
Nairac
thought
thattherulesdidn't
applgto him.Perhaps
hewasoutof control
Nairac's namehasalso beenlinked to the
rnassacre
ofpopgrouptheMiami Showband
nearNewry inJuly 1975.A pistol linked to
theJohn FrancisGreenkilling wasusedin
the killing andan Englishaccentwassaidto
be heard among the eight UDR-dressed
UVF terrorists.Yet the caseagainstNairac
for this atrocity is thin.
Fled Holroyd, however,went on to make
another,previouslyunpublished,accusation
against the Nairac and Ball SAS-trained
team:"I thilk he lNairac] wasa niceyoung
chap,as keenas mustard to do vell, but I
alsoknow that he waskilling peoplebefore
he cameto me.I knowfrom the information
and evidenceI havereceivedthat Robelt
NairacandTony Ball wereworkingtogether
and that certainofhcersof the British Army
complainedto a commandingofficerthat he
fNairac] was going out with Ball in the
evenings- shootilg Catholicsonenight and
Protestantsthe next. They were using an
unmarked car and were dressedin plain
clothes,but theywerecarryingsub-machine
orrnc and ni<tnl<'r
Holroyd allegesthat the commanding
officer in questionthreatenedhis superior
with resignationunlessNairacwasstopped.
He alsoclaimsthat Nairacand Ball'saim
had beento breakan Nll6-negotiatedtruce
that had led the IRA to declarea seriesof
ceasefires.
Holroyd'ssourcefor this allegation wasdescribedto rne as"a very senror
Army officer,just retired". He allegesthis
sourceestablished
his bonafidesby quoting
to Holrol'd "largechunks"ofHolroyd'sown
Top SecretNIoD file, to which only toplevelpersonnelwould haveaccess.
Irt thesummerof 1975,on militarl'orders,
Nairac and Ball were split up. Nairac
returned to London; Ball lxter lefr the
Army and follorveda privatemilitary career
in the NliddleEast.He died at theageof38,
1 2 6 @ w w w . e s q u i r eu. kc o .
in a 1981car accidentin Oman, servingas
the lieutenant-colonelcommanding the
Sultan'sSpecialForces.
With the IRA taking their war to the UK
by bombing murdering and hostage-taking,
London was a dangerous place for an
off-duty undercoveroperative.Yet Nairac
was often to be seenhanging out in Irish
pubs in Kilburn, practisinghis accentand
starting fights. It seemedthat the mission,
the draw of a dark and dangerousundercoverNorthern Ireland, wasbeginning to
controland definethe man.
Then, in January 1976, l0 Protesta[t
workers in Armagh vere murdered by a
Republican
hitsquadin whatbecameknown
asthe Kingsmills Massacre.One Catholic
worLer was ordered away from the scene
before the bloodbath. As a result, the
SAS were officially sent into Northern
Ireland by PNI Harold Wilson. This wasa
pivotal poiDt,inRobert Nairac's [ife. Sent
backto the provinceasa liaisonofficerwith
ao SAS detachment,he wasbriefed to make
contactwithalltherelevantintelligenceoutfits and report backto the SAS.The newly
arrived SAS - not all of rvhomliked this
outsider who occasionallyaffected their
regimentalberet- neededhis help."He was
a powerful characterand there was a lot
goingon insidehis head,"saysex-SASman
"He producedlots
lvlajorCliveFairrveather.
of usefulinformation."
Yet for the next year or so, betrveenthe
departureofone SAS unit and the arival
ofthe next, Nairac rvagedhis orvn,highly
dangerous
rvar.By night he rvouldgo undercor,erto localbals;during the sameday,he'd
lvdk the streetsi[ patroluniform, occasronally addinga cowboyhat, trainersor extra
piecesofnon-issuegear',suchasa shoulderholster,a Wingmasterpump-rctionshotgun
and jumpboots.To describethis asreckless
shotb9theSAS,
possibtg
ar $e behestof Nairac;
JohnFrancis
Green,
an tRA
manwhoseassassination
waslinkedto Nairac
would be generous.PerhapsNairac simply
thought he lvasdifferelt, rhar the normal
rules didn't apply to him, or that he lvas
so rvell "in" with borh sidesthat he had
ruled hirnselfoutasa target.Perhapshe was
working to a secretagenda.Perhapshe was
out of control.
It's allegedthat his anticssoonled to rwo
high-profile ircidents for the SAS. in
t\larch 1976,IRA man SeanMlcKennais
allegedto havebeenwokenil his cottagern
County Louth, just a mile and a halfacross
the border,with an SAS gun to his temple.
He wasthen frogrnarchedfrom the Republic
into the North. rllcKenna was held in
remandfor l6 months; he cameto trial on
14 lvlay 1977,the sameday Robert Narrac
disappeared.In April 1977,IRA member
PeterClearywas"arrested"andkilled while
allegedlylunging for an SAS man who was
holding him captive; forensicssuggested
a very different scenario.Clearyarrivedat
a British Army basedeadand was loaded
into a bodybag.The manrumouredto have
fingeredhim that night wasRobertNairac.
THE THREESTEPSINN at the edge of
Drumintee is still opentoday.This parr of
South Almagh has been dubbed "bandit
coultry'r, a labelthe localsresent,yet more
soldiershavedied in South Arrnagh than
arlyotherpalt ofNorthern Irelandandeven
now,in the peaceprocess,the Blitish Army
neverpatrolshereon foot.The IM's South
Armagh recruitsareregardedastheir most
deadly, and their bombing expertise
renowned:the 1996Docklandsbomb, for
example, which caused {lbn worth of
damage,two deathsand 33 injuries, was
plannedneat here.Today,ir is a recruiting
ground for the "Real IRA".
What happenedto RobertNairac on the
night ofhis deathis dispured.One rheoryis
that Nairac came to The Thlee Steps to
infiltrate localRepublicancitcles.Iftrue, it
$as colrtrary to everythinghe'd ever.been
taught.FredHolroyd,however,
believes
that
Nairac may have been acting the way he
did becausehe felt relativelysafe:"Well, he
didn't haveto worry,did he?He wastalking
to these people.He was actually serving
them up Protestants,"
lVhat is knorvnis that Nairacleft his base
at Bessbrook
Nlill barracks,ar.ound15miles
to the norrh, in an unmarked,miliraty issue
car and drovedirectly to the bar.Just ashe
had rvhenvisiting the pub the night before,
he brokeoff radio conractwirh the base
beforearrival.Heordereda pintofGuinness
and talked to locals. Characteristicalll.,
Nairac iventout ofhis rvayto be noticed;he
Sc.ocot the crlme
ClockwiseJrcn
top:rhe
b dgeoveriheRiver
Fluftgin Ravensdale
Forest
whereNaiEcissupposed
death
Suchwastheuncertaintg
aboutNairac's
thatsomebelieved
hehaddefected
to theIRA
ioinedthe pub bandto singL'ishrebelsongs.
It rvashis rvayof hidingin plainsight or'
ofsignallinghis plesenceto a contact.
Lateq horvever,
he wasnotedto havebeen
actingoddly.He mndefiequentvisitsto the
lavatory. He vas pleoccr.rpiedrvith the
disappearance
ofhis cigarettes.Perhapshe
wasworlied abouta sourcemeetirtgthat had
gonervrongor hada codedmcssage
wlitten
on the cigarettepacket.Thc membersofthe
pub band sensedNairac rvasin dangerand
offeredhim r lift, but he refused.
Local IRA sympathisershad decidedto
abducthim, and ashe left the pub Nairac
s'aslynched,beatenand bundledinto a car.
Later',rvhenthey discovered his modified
Browning 9mm automatic(storiesvary':
either he l,as carrling it in ln underarm
holsteror it wasfoundin his car),they knerv
he s,asa soldierofsomedescription.
Ifhe'd
folloled standardbrck-up rules,this s'ould
IRA had warnedthe SAS that Nairac was
a target.Nairachadlaughedoffthe threat.
Reportsof Nairac'sconditionwhen he
lvasin the car vary: somestatehe wasstill
aliveandfunctioning;otherssuggesthe rvas
batteredunconscious
beforeevenleavingthe
car parkofThe Three Steps.Either rvay,he
wasdrivena short distanceat high speed
througha mazeoflanestorvardsthe border'.
furtherbeatingsin an areacalled
He received
Ravensdale
Forest,overin the Republic.A
more seniorIRA man,Liam Torrnson,rvas
summonedfiom Dundalk.By the time he
arrived,Nairacrvashalf-dead.
Throughouthis abduction,attacknnd
torture,Nairacmaintainedthat he wasr
memberof the OfflcialIRA ("a Stickie")
from North Belfast,namedDannl'.Even
at the brink ofdeath,asTorvnsonaimeda
gun at his head,he still insistedhe rvasan
IRA man and askedfor a priest.At one
-^r !'"',- !.^-----,
point, he evenmanagedto grab the weapo[
Fred Hohol'd belier,esNairac'sattackeLs and aim at it his attackers;
it misfiredand
hrd knos'nl,ho he s,asall along."Thev
he rvasbeatenfurther rvith a rvoodenstrke.
didn't mind him beingthere because
thel'
After sevcralfurthcr misflres- he had been
didn't regardhim asa greatthreat,"he sal's. drinking all da1'- Torvnsonfinally'shot
"He rvasoneman,he vas irrelevant.
Thev
CaptainRobertNairacthroughthe skull.
could takehirn out any time they $anted."
What happenedto his body next is not
In fact,I s'astold by anothersourceth:rtthe
knorvn.[RA sourcesclaimedrhat Nailac
128 O
w w w . e s q u ief . c o .u k
ro havebeenshotiThe
threeStepsinn,sceneof
hisabduclion
bVtheIRA;
aspotbgtheb dge
wherebloodwasfound
wastakento a nearbymeat-processing
plant
and treated"like anyothercarcass".Others
suggested
a secretburial nearBelfast.
Nairrc's disappearance
causedponicin
the ranksofthe British Arny. Suchrvasthe
uncertaintyabouthis deaththat somein the
SAS believedhe had defectedto the IRA;
there was evenspeculationthat he would
shorvup at an IRA prcssconfercnce.It vas
also fealed that before his death he had
passedon informationthat rvouldcompromiseBritish Army securitJ'.
In fact, rumours would later suggest
seniorIRA figureswelefuriousthatNairac's
captorshadn't realisedthe significanceof
the man theyhadkilled andthat no detailed
infor mation had beenextractedfrom him.
The IRA no doubtkept the bodybecause
it
would hareshorvnthe heavybearingNairac
had taken;it rvasa violentmobattacknot in
line rvirh more military-styleexecutions.
OnepersonI spoketo allegedthat the Garda
and RUC foundthesuspects
in cheNairac
caseso quicklybecausethe IRA themselves
had tur ned themin.
The IRA issueda statement,however,
claimingNairac had becn kept alive for
a while and interrogatedfully and to their
satisfactionbeforebeing executed.trVhile
it's true that N^irac's notebook,lvhich he
calriedwith him at all timesandrvhichcontaineddetailsof his agentsandope:arions,
'wasnever found, the rest is ptopaganda.
During policeinterrogation,one suspect
colfessedthat, despiteall the brutality
he administered,
Nairac"nevertold us anything". Yearslater,a more seniorIRA man
statedwith authodty that, "The only thing
eveothe IRA rvill admit is that he [Nairac]
wasa bravesoldier."
In 1978, Townson rvassentencedto a
mandatorylife sentence.He was released
after 12 years. The fi\,eother men charged
l'ith Nairac'smurder werebrought to trial
in Northern Leland and givensentences
ranging frorn five to 22 ye:usirloneserved
morerhan10.Trvoothersuspects
flcd,ir is
thoughtto the US.
The posthumousawardof the George
Crossin 1979onll-added
to his reputation.
Almost 25 yearsafter first meetinghim,
retiredSAS NIajorCliveFairweather
still
- andmystifindsNrirac'ssrorvcompelling
fying "I think he rvzrs
a sufficientbreakerof
rules to go alonefacrossthe border]to cock
a snookat evervone,"
he srys."I oftenask
myselfwhetherhe simplyhada deathrvish,
or rvashercall]'aherollVe'llneter knotr'.But,
by God, he lealll pushedit to the limit." @
Sofietri u'estahenfron 'Deathof u Hen'
b1,John Purker(Meu'oBooks,f,8)