Army officer who died on same day as Bloody Sunday remembered

The South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), which represents victims of the Troubles, said it remembers both Major Alers-Hankey and those killed by paratroopers in Londonderry.

SEFF’s director of services, Kenny Donaldson, said: “Fifty years ago today Major Hankey died after being injured through a gunshot wound to his stomach sustained in Londonderry. In the broader public narrative, he is another forgotten victim of our Troubles. Major Hankey was the first Army officer to be murdered in the Troubles. He was aged 35 and married with two children.

“We remember him today as we do those who died on Bloody Sunday, a tragedy which claimed the lives of 13 civilians, with a 14th dying four months later. We are mindful of their pain and that also experienced by Major Hankey’s family. His death was also an atrocity, forever changing the lives of those left behind.”

He added: “All of us need to keep challenging ourselves and universally accept that there was no justification for the use of criminal violence in the furtherance of or defence of a political objective.”

On the Bloody Sunday anniversary, Mr Donaldson said: “Where wrong and unjustified actions occurred from the legitimate security forces of our State, this needs acknowledged and accounted for.

“It needs acknowledging the volatile situation within the city at that particular time when three days earlier two police officers were murdered in the city – the first but sadly not the last – by Provisional IRA terrorists.

“We stand by the role performed by the Army, police and prison service over the years of the Troubles, the overwhelming majority of whom acted with honour and integrity. They and their families have paid a huge price as a result of the terrorist campaign which they faced down and ultimately defeated, preventing this country from descending into all-out civil war.

“We think today of all innocents impacted by the events of that day and offer our thoughts and prayers to these individuals.”

Major Alers-Hankey was 35-years-old, married with two children, and served with the Royal Green Jackets. He was from Winchester in Hampshire.

He was shot by the Provisional IRA four months earlier and died in a London hospital on January 30, 1972.