Herbert Westmacott
Herbert Richard Westmacott , MC (born January 11, 1952 - May 2, 1980 in Belfast , Northern Ireland ) was a Captain of the Special Air Service (SAS) who was killed during a mission against the IRA . He was the first and highest-ranking member of the SAS to be killed during the Northern Ireland conflict.
Use in Northern Ireland
The cousin of the British diplomat Peter Westmacott had been on duty in Northern Ireland since February 1980 and in May 1980 led an operation to arrest members of the M60 gang of the IRA who had carried out fire attacks on security forces using an M60 machine gun . During this operation in the Belfast Antrim Road there was a firefight in which Herbert Westmacott was killed. The IRA men only surrendered after about half an hour of siege. Since the SAS was not yet officially confirmed at the time, Westmacott was mentioned in the media as a member of the Grenadier Guards , of which he had previously belonged.
In October 1980 he was the first soldier to be awarded the Military Cross posthumously.
Perpetrator
In June 1981, the perpetrators Angelo Fusco , Paul Magee , Robert Campbell and Joe Doherty escaped by gun violence from Belfast prison on Crumlin Road. Northern Ireland Minister Humphrey Atkins spoke of a carefully planned and professionally executed escape. They were each sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia two days later.
Doherty was able to escape to the United States , from where he was extradited to Great Britain in 1992 and remained in custody until 1998 before he was released under the Good Friday Agreement . Magee had fled to England, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a police officer in 1993, extradited to Ireland in 1998 and released in 1999. Fusco and Campbell fled to Ireland and escaped imprisonment in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. In December 2000, Fusco, Magee and Campbell were pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II and should therefore no longer face prosecution if they return to Northern Ireland.
Web links
- Seven of the eight IRA prisoners who shot their way out of the fortified Crumlin Road jail this week were convicted in absentia, upi.com
- Great escapes of an IRA gunman, theguardian.com
- Escaped IRA terrorists handed Royal pardons as part of peace deal, telegraph.co.uk
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Westmacott, Herbert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Westmacott, Herbert Richard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British soldier |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 11, 1952 |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 2, 1980 |
| Place of death | Belfast |