The Battle of the Bogside was a very large communal riot that took place during 12–14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. The fighting was between residents of the Bogside area (allied under the Derry Citizens' Defence Association) and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
The rioting erupted after the RUC attempted to disperse Irish nationalists who were protesting against a loyalist Apprentice Boys parade along the city walls, past the nationalist Bogside. Rioting continued for three days in the Bogside. The RUC was unable to enter the area and the British Army was deployed to restore control. The riot, which sparked widespread violence elsewhere in Northern Ireland, is commonly seen as one of the first major confrontations in the conflict known as the Troubles.
Read more about Battle Of The Bogside: Background, The Apprentice Boys March, The Battle, Rioting Elsewhere, Documentary
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
“Forty years after a battle it is easy for a noncombatant to reason about how it ought to have been fought. It is another thing personally and under fire to have to direct the fighting while involved in the obscuring smoke of it.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)