Kingsmills Massacre 50th memorial service: 'Despite claims of 'no alternative' - ten innocent men were brutally done to death'
A 50th anniversary remembrance service for the Kingsmills Massacre has heard that despite claims there was “no alternative” – ten innocent men were taken out of their van and “brutally done to death” at the site.
The memorial service on a cold and lonely south Armagh road today heard that there is a responsibility not to forget the night fifty years ago when the IRA took ten Protestant workmen from their minibus and shot them dead.
The attack took place near Kingsmills in south Armagh on 5 January 1976 when the IRA gunned down the 10 as they travelled home from their factory jobs in a minibus.
The 10 men were Robert Chambers, 18, John Bryans, 46, Reginald Chapman, 29, Walter Chapman, 35, Robert Freeburn, 50, Joseph Lemmon, 46, John McConville, 20, James McWhirter, 58, Robert Walker, 46, and Kenneth Worton, 24. Sole survivor Alan Black survived being shot 18 times.
In 2024 the coroner from the legacy inquest on the atrocity concluded that it had been "an overtly sectarian attack by the IRA" and that it had been mounted "because the deceased men were Protestants and for no other reason".
Loyalists murdered three members of the Reavey family in Whitecross and three members of the O’Dowds in Gilford the day before – however the Kingsmills massacre had actually been planned months in advance, he said.
The IRA gang - which police said included men from nearby Whitecross - dressed as an army patrol as they waved the minibus down.
They lined the workmen up against the minibus with their hands on the vehicle and asked if there were any Catholics present.
The workmen placed their hands over that of the sole Catholic to protect him - but the IRA gang knew exactly who the Catholic was and pulled him out of the line, before chasing him down the road.
They then opened fire on the 11 Protestants before striding over the groaning and dying men and finishing them off as they lay on the ground. Alan Black survived despite being hit 18 times.
The victims had no paramilitary or security force connections but were ordinary civilian workers in a textile factory.
Relatives of the deceased gathered on the cold and isolated roadside today where their loved ones suffered their final moments 50 years ago to the day.
Rev Graham Middleton told them: "It was on a cold winter's night 50 years ago today .
"The ten Protestant, innocent young men were murdered at this very site, whilst returning from their work.
"Let us join today with their families and remember the sacrifice of these brave young men, who protected their Catholic colleague whilst facing death."
He also urged those present to pray for the Kingsmills families and to "pray for the justice system in our land".
He added: "We would like to see justice for these families, that have suffered terribly more than any of us could ever realise."
Nobody has ever been charged with the murders.
He went on to lead the crowd in a prayer for justice, citing the story of Cain murdering his brother Abel in the bible, saying, "the murderer who sheds innocent blood, that blood cries out to thee from the ground.
"And therefore, O God, we take comfort in the fact that thou hast also said vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord."
For the families "it seems like like yesterday".
There a real danger with the passing of time that the atrocity could be forgotten, he said.
"And of course, added to that, there is the persistent rewriting of history, so that the facts and the horror of this night that we're remembering today can be lost sight off."
He added: "And friends, we need to keep the memory of these ten innocent workmen alive, very much alive. If we don't. Who's going to? We need to keep it."
He added that "despite this common rewriting of history, what took place here was completely and utterly unjustified. There was no justification for this terrorist act.
"And despite those who lie and apologise for terrorism, saying that there was no alternative, for example, we have to remember the facts of what took place here.
"Ten innocent men, taken out of their work bus, unarmed and brutally done to death.
"There can never be any justification before that. "It's the truth. It's cold blooded, wicked, and evil, murder.
"That's the reason why we can't let these things slip."
He said that God has seen "all of the atrocities in our land" and that "there is a day of accounting coming soon".
He added: "The Lord will judge those, not only who committed this wicked act, but also those who have covered it up for years. Friends, that's a sombre thought."
A lone piper played a lament.
Relatives of the deceased came up one by one to lay wreaths.