The recent HIT findings do make for uncomfortable reading for Republicans. It was sectarian murder whatever way it is dressed up. As the HIT report showed, there were almost certainly IRA members involved, but this was not an IRA operation. South Armagh Republican Action Force claimed the murders. probably because this would not have got the go ahead from the provos.
You are still a lying ****, but I take the point on this occasion.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13800042
IRA 'responsible for Kingsmills'
Families of those killed in the Kingsmills Massacre have received the report into the shootings after an investigation by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET).
The families said the report confirms much of what they already believed.
It found that the IRA was responsible for the atrocity and that the victims were targeted because of their religion.
The full HET report is expected to be made public on 21 June.
Part of the investigation centres on claims that guns used that night may be linked to as many as 90 other murders and attempted murders.
Survivor Alan Black was shot 18 times. He said the memory would "never leave him".
"There is a memorial to the men in the village of Bessbrook, close to where I live, and I think often of my work mates who lost their lives on that terrible evening.
"I have suffered physical and mental scars but the families of the men who died have suffered much more.
"Their grief continues every day and I hope they will find some comfort in the HET report."
On 5 January 1976, the 10 textile workers were travelling home from work in the dark and rain on a minibus in the heart of rural County Armagh.
Just after the van cleared the rise of a hill, there was a man standing in the road flashing a torch.
They stopped and there was the sudden, ominous movement of 11 other men, all armed, emerging from the hedges around them.
Their first thought was that it was the Army, but the gunmen were masked.
A man asked their religions. There was only one Catholic left on the bus. He was identified and ordered away from his Protestant work mates. He was able to run off.
The lead gunman spoke one other word - "Right" - and the shooting began.
Mr Black was the only one to survive.
After the initial screams, he recalled years later: "There was silence. I was semi-conscious and passed out several times with the deadly pain and cold.
"I must have been lying at the roadside waiting on the ambulance for up to 30 minutes. It was like an eternity.
"When help arrived I could not get the words out quick enough. I was afraid I'd die and nobody would ever know what happened.
"I was hysterical and wanted to tell everyone - the ambulance men, nurses, doctors, police."
Bessbrook, a small, Quaker model village that because of the Troubles hosted a massive Army base, was devastated. Nine of the men lived in Bessbrook. They had 14 children.
They were Joseph Lemmon, whose wife was standing over their tea as he died; Reginald Chapman, a Sunday school teacher who played football for Newry Town; his younger brother Walter Chapman; Kenneth Worton, whose youngest daughter had not even started school; James McWhirter, who belonged to the local Orange lodge; Robert Chambers, still a teenager and living with his parents; James McConville, who was planning to train as a missionary; John Bryans, a widower who left two children orphaned; and Robert Freeburn, who was also a father of two.
The van driver, Robert Walker, came from near Glenanne.
The IRA never admitted involvement and was supposed to be on ceasefire at the time.
The South Armagh Republican Action Force claimed the deaths. The HET reinvestigated the killings as part of work spanning three decades of conflict.
More Kingsmills family members are expected to give their reactions soon.
OR
http://www.crossexaminer.co.uk/archives/6724
HET report: âProvisional IRA responsible for Kingsmillâ
June 21, 2011
The families of those killed in the Kingsmill Massacre in 1976 have received a preview of the report into the murders, following an investigation by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET).
The report found that the Provisional IRA was responsible for the attack, despite a group calling itself the âSouth Armagh Republican Action Forceâ claiming responsibility at the time.
The families say the report confirms much of what they already believed but will resist commenting on its findings until it is made public this Tuesday, June 21st at 10.00am in Bessbrook Town Hall.
Part of the HET investigation centres on claims that guns used in the attack may be linked to as many as ninety other murders and attempted murders.
The Kingsmill Massacre took place on 5th January 1976. Eleven textile workers were on a minibus from work in Glenanne going to Bessbrook when stopped by masked men masquerading as a British army checkpoint. The occupants of the mini bus were ordered out and lined up against it, assuming they were being checked and searched by the British Army, UDR or RUC. However, one of the gunmen ordered Richard Hughes, the only Catholic on the bus, to step forward and immediately the eleven remaining Protestants feared they were dealing with a Loyalist paramilitary group intent on killing Hughes. However, the lead gunman told Hughes to leave the area immediately and âdonât look backâ. The eleven Protestants were shot, with a total of 136 live rounds being fired in less than a minute. Only one man â Alan Black â survived, despite being shot 18 times.
Mr Black said the memory would never leave him. âThere is a memorial to the men in the village of Bessbrook, close to where I live, and I often think of my work mates who lost their lives on that terrible evening. I have suffered physical and mental scars but the families of the men who died have suffered much more. Their grief continues every day and I hope they will find some comfort in the HET report.â
SDLP MLA Dominic Bradley said the HETâs report puts an end to a 35-year-old lie which few ever believed.
âThis was our darkest hour in South Armagh. There has never been any serious doubt that the Provisional IRA was responsible. This sordid record provides an opportunity to move forward in dealing with the past,â he said.
Mr Bradley called on Sinn Fein to publicly accept the HETâs forensic evidence on the weapons used at Kingsmills that points to the PIRA and, in doing so, âlive up to their own plans for a truth and reconciliation mechanismâ.
âGeneralised expressions of indirect regret are not sufficient,â he said. âThey must also face up to the conclusion that this sectarian massacre had been planned for some time.â
UUP Assembly man, Danny Kennedy, knew nine of the Kingsmills victims personally. Describing the report as âa very difficult readâ, Mr Kennedy said the killings represented âone of the very darkest events of sectarian genocideâ.
âIt was a barbaric event, which rightly shocked and horrified the entire country. Whilst the report sheds much truth on the events, it does not provide the families with a means of justice. The relatives have never sought revenge, but have always hoped and prayed that justice could and should be delivered. The report clearly exposes the Provisional IRA as the group directly responsible for this massacre. Now that this report has been published, I believe the leadership of the Republican Movement has serious questions to answer about Kingsmills,â he added.
