Black's rented cottage and outhouses showing: A, the window of the bedroom where the Special Investigation Branch man waited with a silenced IN the early hours of 18 August 1972, William Black and his wife were awakened by four men attempting to steal two vans outside their house in Black's controlled-Ulster Regiment, arrest the thieves.
This, after a skirmish, he successfully did. William Black was later to wish he had never been so security' conscious.
The men he had arrested were undercover agents of the British Army and from that day on the Army's "Special Investigation Branch', which includes members of the SAS, decided they would teach Black a lesson. In short they decided to kill him.
The story of William Black is told in a book published last week, Ambush at Tully West: The British Intelligence Service in Action: The book is written by Kennedy Lindsay, a former Loyalist member of. the Assembly, coreone normally go out of his way to criticise the British Army. Lindsay's decision to tell the tale of William Black is probably motivated by the fact that Black Loyalist. Official Secrets It was this Loyalism which caused Black to become indignant once he had learned that those he had arrested were in fact members of the British Army.
Although, as a member of the UDR, he was told that he had to say nothing about the incident under the terms of the Official Secrets Act, Black did tell a number of people. It was probably when the Army heard of this that it decided to kill him.
What also disturbed the British forces was that Black knew the theft he had prevented was ot two vans. and that another stolen nearby shortly before. car are what are usually used in IRA bombing operations, and one of the vans the Army was trying to steal belonged to a prominent RepubIn other words, the evidence suggested that Black had interrupted an Army bombing unit which had the intention Republican movement for the crime.
Eleven days after Black's 'arrest of the soldiers, the first attack on his life was made. He was shot at as he was about to answer a ring at his door. Within seconds a Saracen-load o soldiers appeared at his door.
•They claimed to have been 'passing' when they heard the shot. Because Black knew the heavy sound of a Saracen and that he had not heard that sound when he had gone to answer the door, he knew the Army's story was a lie. The soldiers could not possibly have heard the shot.
A few days later Black was sacked from the UDR on a trumped-up charge. He decided it would be safer to move to a new area. Rd, Belfast. As a member of the Defence Black went outside and tried to Northern would was a proven and reliable car had been Two vans and framing the been made.
Black's 'our months later the house opposite hi lew address was machine gunned. when Blac examined the empty cartridge cases left by the attackers he discovered they Army issue. Next day informed him they had received information that it was Black's house that had been the target for the attack and that a mistake had Black finally went to Kennedy Lindsay and told him the story. Lindsay inquiries with a number of lawyers. A few weeks later someone attempted to assassinate son Lindsay considers 'improbable' that the attacker was a member of the IRA. More disturbed than ever, Lindsay then related the Black story in a speech in the •Northern Ireland Assembly. ignored by the media.
had rented were standard the police slencer.
Incredibly, he survived. started making was attack been hired largely there.
Then, on 26 January 1974, William Black and three workmates arrived at a cottage Back County Down. •Black carrying a sporting rifle under his arm. soldiers were waiting for him. Without warning they opened up with a machine gun fitted with a Only Black was shot at. Two bullets passed through his neck; two others ripped through his chest and stomach. One struck him in his back.
stolen propertv was found in an outhous adjacent to Black's cottage. The Army was to claim they knew this to be the case before the was mounted. But the outhouse had Black by a mysterious Thompson', and it was heavily padlocked with no windows, so only the person who had fitted the padlock could have known the goods were B cottage, it was later discovered, was Army a year before against Black. Indeed he but later released.
in England that a 'hit' said the SAS member, 'terrorist' had discovered just how British Army. frame and kill him.
from the estate.
factories "security A pistol 'found' by the Army in Black's was a UDR weapon which had been lost when the UDR member concerned had been on patrol with the At any rate, no charges were ever brought was later awarded £16,700 damages by the Ministry of Defence The soldiers who tried to kill him were arrested A member of the SAS later told Kennedy Lindsay that it was known in SAS headquarters squad had been sent from England to kill Black. They had been told, that Black was a In fact, Black's crime was that by chance he "terrorist' was the And that is why they tried to co-operative concerns have operated
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A sub-machine gun and; B, the outhouse.