On a bright January day in 1972, more than 10,000 people gathered to join a civil rights protest in Derry against an internment without trial policy used to detain and interrogate civilians suspected of IRA involvement.
Diverted by the army, the march made its way to Free Derry Corner to await a speech from young MP and activist Bernadette Devlin. Some broke off and began pelting stones across the barriers, where a Parachute Regiment of British soldiers was stationed. A derelict building occupied by a few of the soldiers became the protesters’ target; soldiers fired live rounds into the crowd in response, wounding two unarmed men.
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