Letter: Private Winston Donnell is an example of a true hero who was prepared to take a stand for freedom and justice
A letter from Stevan Patterson:
On the evening of Monday, August 9, 1971 an Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) patrol was operating outside the village of Clady in County Tyrone, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland.
Earlier that day Operation Demetrious, or internment as it is known, was introduced.
Just before dusk a car approached and turned at a gateway and then reversed towards the patrol. On sensing something was very wrong, Private Winston Donnell put his body in front of the perceived danger and as he stood in the middle of the road was hit numerous times from two or three bursts of a Thompson sub machine gun fired by a fascist republican terrorist sitting in the back seat. The car then fleed across the border into the safety of the Republic of Ireland.
Private Winston Donnell of ‘A’ Company, 6th Battalion UDR died almost imminently. He was from Hillhead Road, Urney, Strabane and the first member of the UDR to be murdered in what today is known as the Troubles. Along with his comrades on that very patrol was a brother of Winston’s.
His funeral with full military honours was held on Friday, August 13 and attended by many hundreds including the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Brian Faulkner.
Later Winston’s mother Margaret Donnell, a widow, was awarded just £2,500 in compensation for his murder, so little for a grieving mother and so great a loss. To add to that insult, no one has ever been charged in connection with his murder.
Winston Donnell was a brother of my uncle William (Billy) Donnell who also served in the UDR along with his two other brothers. I have always been so proud of Winston, like all those others that bravely served in the UDR and sadly far too often paid the supreme sacrifice.
The UDR really did hold the line and ensured that during the dark times in Northern Ireland’s history, the country did not descend into an all-out civil war.
The UDR operated from 1970 to 1992, 22 years the same number of precious years of life that Winston had before it was so cruelly taken. The regiment was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) in 2006 in recognition for the many acts of valour by its members, like in the case with Winston’s actions.
It is said heroes are not born they are made, and no finer example of a true hero can be found in the life, service and sacrifice of Winston Donnell who was prepared to take a stand for freedom and justice.
Yet successive governments have failed these true heroes time and time again. Pandering instead to the continued threat of violence, a one-sided peace process where the terrorist victim makers are thought more about than the victims as part of a one-sided justice system and legacy.
Fifty-five years after Winton’s brutal murder, the demand for justice for innocents like him continues and in doing it’s time for the Republic of Ireland to open its books on what it knew and pay compensation.
The continued rewriting of history; claims that there was no alternative to violence by, for example, the first minister, Michelle O’Neill, is just so wrong on so many levels.
Of course there was always an alternative to the terrorist actions of ethnic cleansing, mass murder and destruction and that was by the stand taken by those who bravely served in UDR CGC. The truth must be told and retold so that as a true hero Winston Donnell on the 55th anniversary of his murder is properly honoured and never forgotten.
Lest We Forget.
Stevan Patterson, Castlederg