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The Reavey and O'Dowd killings were two co-ordinated gun attacks on 4 January 1976 in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Six Irish Catholic civilians died after members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, broke into their homes and shot them. Three members of the Reavey family were shot at their home in Whitecross and four members of the O'Dowd family were shot at their home in Ballydougan.〔(CAIN - Chronology of the Conflict - January 1976 )〕 Two of the Reaveys and three of the O'Dowds were killed outright, with the third Reavey victim dying of brain hemorrhage almost a month later. The shootings were part of a string of attacks on Catholics and Irish nationalists by the "Glenanne gang"; an alliance of loyalist militants, British soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police officers. Billy McCaughey, a police officer from the RUC Special Patrol Group, admitted taking part and accused another officer of being involved.〔("Loyalist took vital secrets to his grave" ). ''The Irish News''. 11 February 2006.〕 His colleague John Weir said that those involved included a British soldier, two police officers and an alleged police agent, Robin 'the Jackal' Jackson. The next day, gunmen shot dead ten Ulster Protestant civilians in the Kingsmill massacre. This was claimed as retaliation for the Reavey and O'Dowd shootings. Kingsmill was the climax of a string of tit-for-tat killings in the area during the mid-1970s. ==Background== In February 1975, the Provisional IRA and British Government entered into a truce and restarted negotiations. For the duration of the truce, the IRA agreed to halt its attacks on the British security forces, and the security forces mostly ended their raids and searches.〔(Extracts from ''The Longest War: Northern Ireland and the IRA'' by Kevin J. Kelley ). Zed Books Ltd, 1988. Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)〕 However, there were dissenters on both sides. Some Provisionals wanted no part of the truce, while some British commanders resented being told to stop their operations against the IRA just when they claimed they had the Provisionals on the run.〔 The security forces boosted their intelligence offensive during the truce.〔 There was a rise in sectarian killings during the truce, which 'officially' lasted until February 1976. Loyalists, fearing they were about to be forsaken by the British government and forced into a united Ireland,〔Taylor, Peter (1999). ''Loyalists''. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p.142〕 increased their attacks on Irish Catholics/Irish nationalists. Loyalists killed 120 Catholics in 1975, the vast majority civilians.〔Taylor, Peter. ''Brits: The War Against the IRA''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2001. p.182〕 They hoped to force the IRA to retaliate and thus end the truce.〔 Some IRA units concentrated on tackling the loyalists. The fall-off of regular operations had caused unruliness within the IRA and some members, with or without permission from higher up, engaged in tit-for-tat killings.〔 Most of the loyalist attacks in the County Armagh area have been linked to the "Glenanne gang"; a secret alliance of loyalist militants, British soldiers and RUC police officers.〔(Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s ). Pat Finucane Centre (PFC)〕 *On 27 April 1975, the UVF shot dead three Catholic civilians at a social club in Bleary, near Ballydougan.〔(A Chronology of the Conflict: 1975 ). Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)〕 It has been claimed the Glenanne gang were involved.〔(''Report of the independent international panel on alleged collusion in sectarian killings in Northern Ireland'' ), also known as the "Cassel Report". 2006. p.8〕 *On 31 July, UVF members (some of whom were also British soldiers) shot dead three members of an Irish pop band at Buskhill, near Whitecross. The band's minibus had been stopped at a bogus military checkpoint by gunmen in British Army uniforms. There were two further attacks like this in the area over the following month. On 1 August, a minibus with nine Catholics aboard was stopped at a bogus military checkpoint outside Gilford, near Ballydougan. The gunmen opened-fire, killing two Catholic civilians and wounding several other passengers.〔Cassel Report (2006), p.48〕 On 24 August, two Catholic civilians were shot dead after being taken from their car at another bogus military checkpoint in Altnamachin. RUC officer John Weir believes that a fellow officer and a British soldier were involved in the Altnamachin shootings.〔Cassel Report (2006), p.49〕 All three attacks have been linked to the Glenanne gang.〔 *On 22 August, the UVF launched a gun and bomb attack on McGleenan's Bar in Armagh, killing three Catholic civilians and wounding many others.〔 The Glenanne gang has been linked to the attack,〔 which was allegedly retaliation for an IRA attack in Belfast. *On 1 September, gunmen attacked Orangemen at Tullyvallan Orange Hall, near Whitecross. Five were killed, all Protestant civilians. The "South Armagh Republican Action Force" claimed responsibility.〔 *On 19 December, two civilians were killed and twenty injured when loyalists detonated a car bomb outside a pub in Dundalk, a few miles across the Irish border.〔 Hours later, loyalists killed three Catholic civilians and wounded six in a gun and bomb attack on a pub in Silverbridge, near Whitecross. It is believed the attacks were co-ordinated and that the Silverbridge attack involved the Glenanne gang.〔 An RUC officer later admitted involvement and detectives believed other RUC officers and a British soldier were also involved.〔("Interim report on the report of the Independent Commission of Enquiry into the bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk" ) - Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights - Houses of the Oireachtas, pp. 101-103〕 *On 31 December, three Protestant civilians were killed in a bomb attack on a pub in Gilford. The "People's Republican Army" claimed responsibility.〔 It has been reported that the Reavey and O'Dowd killings were retaliation for this bombing.〔McKittrick, David. ''Lost Lives''. Mainstream Publishing, 2001. pp.606, 609〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Reavey and O'Dowd killings」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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