Battle of the Bogside

Battle of the Bogside
Part of the Troubles and the 1969 Northern Ireland riots
Bogsiders defending their barricades
Date	12–14 August 1969
Location	Derry, Northern Ireland, UK 54°59′52″N 7°19′38″W / 54.99778°N 7.32722°W / 54.99778; -7.32722
Caused by	(see background)
Methods	large-scale rioting
Resulted in	The battle marked the beginning of The Troubles British Army deployed Free Derry becomes a no-go area
Parties
Derry Citizens' Defence Association Residents of the Bogside Royal Ulster Constabulary B-Specials
Lead figures
Paddy Doherty Bernadette Devlin Eamonn McCann Anthony Peacocke
Number
Uncertain; thousands 691
Casualties and losses
At least 1,000 injured[citation needed] At least 350 injured

The Battle of the Bogside was a large three-day riot that took place from 12 to 14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. Thousands of Catholic/Irish nationalist residents of the Bogside district, organised under the Derry Citizens' Defence Association, clashed with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and loyalists.^[1][2] It sparked widespread violence elsewhere in Northern Ireland, led to the deployment of British troops, and is often seen as the beginning of the thirty-year conflict known as the Troubles.

Violence broke out as the Protestant loyalist Apprentice Boys marched past the Catholic Bogside. The RUC drove back the Catholic crowd and pushed into the Bogside, followed by loyalists who attacked Catholic homes.^[3] Thousands of Bogside residents beat back the RUC with a hail of stones and petrol bombs.^[4] The besieged residents built barricades, set up first aid posts and petrol bomb workshops, and a radio transmitter broadcast messages calling for resistance.^[4] The RUC fired CS gas into the Bogside – the first time it had been used by UK police.^[4] Residents feared the Ulster Special Constabulary would be sent in and would massacre Catholic residents.^[4]

The Irish Army set up field hospitals near the border and the Irish government called for a United Nations peacekeeping force to be sent to Derry. On 14 August, the British Army were deployed and the RUC were withdrawn. The British Army made no attempt to enter the Bogside, which became a no-go area called Free Derry. This situation continued until October 1969 when military police were allowed in.