Time for a serious post.
31 years ago today.
The murder of Corporal Derek Woods and Corporal David Howes. Two off duty British soldiers who accidentally came into the path of an IRA funeral. Their car was swarmed by Republicans who proceeded to take them, beat them and then bundle them into a black taxi where they were then taken to a piece of waste ground, robbed of their possessions and then executed. Although armed with his service pistol, Corporal Wood refused to fire upon the crowd.
The incident was shown on live television, as the IRA funeral was broadcast on UTV (Northern Ireland's equivalent to ITV). According to reports from the police, they had been on standby to go in and rescue the pair, but were given orders from the British Army to stand down - army intelligence believing the men to be two Loyalist gunmen, when in reality they were two lost soldiers.
31 years ago today, and it is still seen as one of the most shocking episodes of The Troubles, and in this time of the British Governments prosecution of British Soldiers who served in Northern Ireland, it is important to remember the enemy they had gone up against and the brutality the IRA was capable of.
Felt like I needed to share this somewhere, you can all go back to shitposting now.