| Corporals killings | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Troubles and Operation Banner | |
 Father Alec Reid administers the last rites to Corporal David Howes. | |
| Location | Andersonstown, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Coordinates | 54°34′28″N 05°59′16″W / 54.57444°N 5.98778°W |
| Date | 19 March 1988 |
| Target | British Army personnel |
Attack type | Shooting, stabbing |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Perpetrator | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
On 19 March 1988, the British Army corporals Derek Wood and David Howes[1] were killed by the Provisional IRA in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in what became known as the corporals killings.
Wearing civilian clothes, both armed with Browning Hi-Power pistols and in a civilian car, the soldiers drove into the funeral procession of an IRA member, seemingly by mistake.[2][3] Three days before, the loyalist Michael Stone had attacked an IRA funeral and killed three people. Believing the soldiers were loyalists intent on repeating Stone's attack,[4] dozens of people surrounded and attacked their car. During this, Corporal Wood drew his service pistol and fired a shot into the air. The soldiers were then dragged from the car and taken to a nearby sports ground where they were beaten, stripped and searched. They were then driven to a nearby waste ground where they were shot dead.[4]
The incident was filmed by an overhead British Army helicopter and television news cameras; the images have been described by journalist Peter Taylor as some of the "most dramatic and harrowing" of the conflict in Northern Ireland.[1]
Two men were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, but were released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Several other men received lesser sentences for their part in the murders.
- ^ a b Taylor, p. 284.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Independent 1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ingrao, Charles (2009). Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholar's Initiative (Central European Studies). Purdue University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1557535337.
- ^ a b McKittrick, David. Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Mainstream Publishing, 2007. pp. 1121–1124. ISBN 978-1-84018-504-1