The Apprentice Boys March
The annual Apprentice Boys parade on 12 August commemorated the Protestant victory in the Siege of Derry in 1689 and was considered highly provocative by many Catholics. Derry activist Eamonn McCann wrote that the march, "was regarded as a calculated insult to the Derry Catholics".
Although the march did not pass through the Bogside, it passed close to it at the junction of Waterloo Place and William Street. It was here that trouble broke out. Initially, taunts were exchanged between the loyalists and Bogsiders. Stones were then thrown from both sides for a period, before the police forced the nationalists into Rossville Street and the Bogside itself. They were followed by local supporters of the Apprentice Boys, and the confrontation escalated.
Large crowds turned out in the Bogside, pelted the police with stones and Molotov cocktails, and manned pre-prepared barricades to block their progress - which the RUC tried to clear with armoured cars. Out of 59 officers who made the initial incursion, 43 were treated for injuries.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of The Bogside
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