Colin Wallace
Encyclopedia
John Colin Wallace is a former British
soldier and psychological warfare
operative who was one of the members of the 'Clockwork Orange'
project, which is alleged to have been an attempt to smear a number of British politicians
in the early 1970s.
, Northern Ireland
, in 1943 and educated at Ballymena Academy
. He joined the Territorial Army in 1961, and later was a marksman in the Ulster Special Constabulary
, or 'B Specials'. A former officer cadet in the Irish Guards
, in 1963 he was commissioned into the Antrim
and Belfast
Army Cadet Force
. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant
in 1965. In 1972, he was commissioned into the Ulster Defence Regiment
and was immediately granted the acting rank of captain
, although he also stayed in the ACF. He was seconded to the SAS in New Zealand before working for the Intelligence Services as a psychological warfare officer.
at the British Army
Northern Ireland
headquarters at Thiepval Barracks
in Lisburn
. He became an established information officer from 14 December 1971 and a senior information officer with effect from 27 September 1974, having first held this latter post on temporary promotion.
As well as carrying out overt information work for the Army, Wallace was also working for the Intelligence Services as a member of the ultra-secret Army Psychological Operations unit, covertly attempting to undermine the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) and loyalist paramilitary groups. One of Wallace's roles was to plant a number of bogus news stories such as one titled "Danger in those Frilly Panties" in the Sunday Mirror, which suggested that female IRA volunteers were causing premature explosions due to static electricity
caused by their underwear, in order to divert the IRA's bombmakers from the real cause of the bombs' failure.
. Wallace alleges that this involved right-wing
members of the security services in a disinformation campaign aimed not at paramilitary
organisations in Northern Ireland
, but at British MPs
. He was supported by a covert specialist military troop (possibly an SAS unit made up from specially-trained Northern Ireland personnel). This group was shrouded in secrecy. It was headed by a former Irish Guard sergeant, codenamed 'Meltdown'. Journalists from foreign news organisations would be given briefings and shown forged documents, which purported to show that politicians were speaking at Irish republican
rallies or were receiving secret deposits in Swiss bank accounts.
People named by Wallace as having been targeted in this manner include Harold Wilson
, Edward Heath
, Merlyn Rees, Tony Benn
and Ian Paisley
.
scandal
at the Kincora boy's home
, which he claims was blocked because the leading perpetrator was both a leading member of a loyalist paramilitary group and an undercover agent for MI5
.
In the 1980s, however, Wallace produced some documents, including a series of handwritten notes by himself, which he claimed were taken at meetings with other members of the plot, including the Member of Parliament
Airey Neave
. The notes were later subjected to an independent forensic analysis by Dr Julius Grant
, and the results were consistent with the notes having been made contemporaneously during the 1970s.
of the husband of one of his work colleagues. The conviction was quashed in 1996 in the light of new forensic and other evidence, ten years after he was released from prison. During the appeal hearing, a Home Office pathologist, Dr Ian West, admitted that some of the evidence that he had used at Wallace's trial had been supplied to him by "an American security source". The journalist Paul Foot
, in his book 'Who framed Colin Wallace', suggested that Wallace may have been framed
for the killing, possibly by renegade members of the security services in a bid to discredit his allegations that members of the intelligence community had attempted to rig the 1974 general election after which Harold Wilson came to power with a minority government.
discussion series After Dark - see Wikipedia article.
, in 1990, the Government admitted that Ministers had "inadvertently misled" Parliament over Wallace's role and confirmed that he had been involved in disinformation activities on behalf of the security forces and that he had been authorised to supply, on occasions, classified information to journalists.
Junior Defence Minister, Archie Hamilton, also confirmed the existence of a project called 'Clockwork Orange' but denied that there was any evidence that it involved briefings against elected Irish or British politicians.
A government inquiry set up by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
and undertaken by Sir David Calcutt
QC confirmed that Wallace had, indeed, been working for the Intelligence Services during the 1970s and that his enforced resignation from the Ministry of Defence had been made on the basis of a false job description designed to conceal his covert role in psychological warfare. Sir David Calcutt also found that members of the Security Service had manipulated the disciplinary proceedings taken against Wallace. In the light of the Inquiry's findings, Wallace was awarded compensation by the Government.
Despite the findings of the Calcutt Inquiry, the Ministry of Defence refused to allow the Defence Select Committee to have access to Wallace's secret job description. In a letter dated 11 February 1991, the Ministry of Defence said that Wallace's job description contained "sensitive information relating to the security and intelligence matters" and that the provision of such papers, even under the conditions relating to the Committee's access to classified information, "would be inconsistent with the conventions".
inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings
.
A letter from Colin Wallace to Tony Stoughton, the Chief Information Officer of the Army Information Service at Lisburn, on August 14, 1975 noted the connections between UVF loyalists and intelligence agencies of the Army and of the RUC Special Branch:
In a further letter dated 30 September 1975, Wallace revealed that MI5 was trying to create a split in the UVF in order to foment violence:
and the Oman
during the Cold War
, but the Intelligence Services still try to distance themselves from what Wallace was doing. Wallace's role in Northern Ireland is clearly still a very sensitive matter. He had been part of the Army team preparing for the Widgery Tribunal into the Bloody Sunday
killings of protestors in Derry
, and in 2002, he testified at the Saville Inquiry
into the events.
One of Wallace's close friends in the Army described him as follows: "I played golf with the general. That was an accident. Colin was needed by the general. Everyone needed him. They just could not do without him."
Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Yarnold, who worked with Wallace in Northern Ireland, said: "Let's face it, Colin was the lynchpin of the whole operation. He was terrific - way ahead of us all in his knowledge and his readiness to work. Everyone wanted him all the time, and somehow he was always available."
A former Ministry of Defence Chief Information Officer commented: "For loyalty and dedication to the Army, Colin Wallace was in a class of his own."
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soldier and psychological warfare
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
operative who was one of the members of the 'Clockwork Orange'
Clockwork Orange (plot)
Clockwork Orange is the name of the secret British security services project which was alleged to have involved a right-wing smear campaign against British politicians in the 1970s....
project, which is alleged to have been an attempt to smear a number of British politicians
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
in the early 1970s.
Early life
Wallace was born in RandalstownRandalstown
Randalstown is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Antrim and Toome. It had a population of 4,956 people in the 2001 Census. It has a very prominent disused railway viaduct and lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, in 1943 and educated at Ballymena Academy
Ballymena Academy
Ballymena Academy is a mixed grammar school located in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in the early nineteenth century as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland.-Admissions:The school currently has...
. He joined the Territorial Army in 1961, and later was a marksman in the Ulster Special Constabulary
Ulster Special Constabulary
The Ulster Special Constabulary was a reserve police force in Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the founding of Northern Ireland. It was an armed corps, organised partially on military lines and called out in times of emergency, such as war or insurgency...
, or 'B Specials'. A former officer cadet in the Irish Guards
Irish Guards
The Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
, in 1963 he was commissioned into the Antrim
Antrim, County Antrim
Antrim is a town in County Antrim in the northeast of Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Six Mile Water, half a mile north-east of Lough Neagh. It had a population of 20,001 people in the 2001 Census. The town is the administrative centre of Antrim Borough Council...
and Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
Army Cadet Force
Army Cadet Force
The Army Cadet Force is a British youth organisation that offers progressive training in a multitude of the subjects from military training to adventurous training and first aid, at the same time as promoting achievement, discipline, and good citizenship, to boys and girls aged 12 to 18 and 9...
. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1965. In 1972, he was commissioned into the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
and was immediately granted the acting rank of captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
, although he also stayed in the ACF. He was seconded to the SAS in New Zealand before working for the Intelligence Services as a psychological warfare officer.
Information officer
Wallace joined the civil service on 15 March 1968 as an assistant information officer for the Ministry of DefenceMinistry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
at the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
headquarters at Thiepval Barracks
Thiepval Barracks
Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn, County Antrim, is the headquarters of the British Army in Northern Ireland and its 38th Brigade. In August 2008, 19th Light Brigade moved into Thiepval Barracks from Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire...
in Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
. He became an established information officer from 14 December 1971 and a senior information officer with effect from 27 September 1974, having first held this latter post on temporary promotion.
As well as carrying out overt information work for the Army, Wallace was also working for the Intelligence Services as a member of the ultra-secret Army Psychological Operations unit, covertly attempting to undermine the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) and loyalist paramilitary groups. One of Wallace's roles was to plant a number of bogus news stories such as one titled "Danger in those Frilly Panties" in the Sunday Mirror, which suggested that female IRA volunteers were causing premature explosions due to static electricity
Static electricity
Static electricity refers to the build-up of electric charge on the surface of objects. The static charges remain on an object until they either bleed off to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge. Static electricity can be contrasted with current electricity, which can be delivered...
caused by their underwear, in order to divert the IRA's bombmakers from the real cause of the bombs' failure.
Clockwork Orange
In 1973 and 1974 Wallace was involved with an operation called Clockwork OrangeClockwork Orange (plot)
Clockwork Orange is the name of the secret British security services project which was alleged to have involved a right-wing smear campaign against British politicians in the 1970s....
. Wallace alleges that this involved right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
members of the security services in a disinformation campaign aimed not at paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
organisations in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, but at British MPs
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. He was supported by a covert specialist military troop (possibly an SAS unit made up from specially-trained Northern Ireland personnel). This group was shrouded in secrecy. It was headed by a former Irish Guard sergeant, codenamed 'Meltdown'. Journalists from foreign news organisations would be given briefings and shown forged documents, which purported to show that politicians were speaking at Irish republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
rallies or were receiving secret deposits in Swiss bank accounts.
People named by Wallace as having been targeted in this manner include Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, Merlyn Rees, Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
and Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
.
After HQNI
Wallace resigned from the Civil Service in 1975 in order to avoid disciplinary action, ostensibly for privately briefing journalists with classified information. Wallace always claimed that this action was consistent with his secret job duties as a member of the Intelligence Services and that the real reasons for his dismissal were related to his refusal to continue working on the 'Clockwork Orange' project in October 1974 and his investigation of a child abuseChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
scandal
Scandal
A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
at the Kincora boy's home
Kincora boy's home
The Kincora Boys' Home was a home for working boys in Belfast that was the scene of a notorious child sex abuse scandal.-Scandal:The scandal first came to public attention in January 1980 after a news report in the Irish Independent...
, which he claims was blocked because the leading perpetrator was both a leading member of a loyalist paramilitary group and an undercover agent for MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
.
In the 1980s, however, Wallace produced some documents, including a series of handwritten notes by himself, which he claimed were taken at meetings with other members of the plot, including the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Airey Neave
Airey Neave
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave DSO, OBE, MC was a British soldier, barrister and politician.During World War II, Neave was one of the few servicemen to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle...
. The notes were later subjected to an independent forensic analysis by Dr Julius Grant
Julius Grant
Julius Grant was a British forensic scientist and intelligence officer.Grant made a career exposing forgeries on the basis of chemical analysis of paper, ink and other characteristics of written documents. Much of his work was for British Intelligence as illustrated in the Colin Wallace Clockwork...
, and the results were consistent with the notes having been made contemporaneously during the 1970s.
Imprisonment
In 1980, Wallace was convicted of the manslaughterManslaughter in English law
In the English law of homicide, manslaughter is a less serious offence than murder, the differential being between levels of fault based on the mens rea . In England and Wales, the usual practice is to prefer a charge of murder, with the judge or defence able to introduce manslaughter as an option...
of the husband of one of his work colleagues. The conviction was quashed in 1996 in the light of new forensic and other evidence, ten years after he was released from prison. During the appeal hearing, a Home Office pathologist, Dr Ian West, admitted that some of the evidence that he had used at Wallace's trial had been supplied to him by "an American security source". The journalist Paul Foot
Paul Foot
Paul Mackintosh Foot was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party...
, in his book 'Who framed Colin Wallace', suggested that Wallace may have been framed
Frameup
A frame-up or setup is an American term referring to the act of framing someone, that is, providing false evidence or false testimony in order to falsely prove someone guilty of a crime....
for the killing, possibly by renegade members of the security services in a bid to discredit his allegations that members of the intelligence community had attempted to rig the 1974 general election after which Harold Wilson came to power with a minority government.
After Dark
In 1987 Wallace appeared on the first programme of the Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
discussion series After Dark - see Wikipedia article.
Government re-examination
In the House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, in 1990, the Government admitted that Ministers had "inadvertently misled" Parliament over Wallace's role and confirmed that he had been involved in disinformation activities on behalf of the security forces and that he had been authorised to supply, on occasions, classified information to journalists.
Junior Defence Minister, Archie Hamilton, also confirmed the existence of a project called 'Clockwork Orange' but denied that there was any evidence that it involved briefings against elected Irish or British politicians.
A government inquiry set up by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and undertaken by Sir David Calcutt
David Calcutt
Sir David Charles Calcutt QC was an eminent barrister and public servant, knighted in 1991. He was the Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge from 1985 until 1994. He was also responsible for the creation of the Press Complaints Commission.-References:...
QC confirmed that Wallace had, indeed, been working for the Intelligence Services during the 1970s and that his enforced resignation from the Ministry of Defence had been made on the basis of a false job description designed to conceal his covert role in psychological warfare. Sir David Calcutt also found that members of the Security Service had manipulated the disciplinary proceedings taken against Wallace. In the light of the Inquiry's findings, Wallace was awarded compensation by the Government.
Despite the findings of the Calcutt Inquiry, the Ministry of Defence refused to allow the Defence Select Committee to have access to Wallace's secret job description. In a letter dated 11 February 1991, the Ministry of Defence said that Wallace's job description contained "sensitive information relating to the security and intelligence matters" and that the provision of such papers, even under the conditions relating to the Committee's access to classified information, "would be inconsistent with the conventions".
Dublin bombings inquiry
Evidence from Wallace was used by the Barron Report, an Irish governmentIrish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...
inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
.
A letter from Colin Wallace to Tony Stoughton, the Chief Information Officer of the Army Information Service at Lisburn, on August 14, 1975 noted the connections between UVF loyalists and intelligence agencies of the Army and of the RUC Special Branch:
"There is good evidence the Dublin bombings [see Dublin and Monaghan bombingsDublin and Monaghan BombingsThe Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
] in May last year were a reprisal for the Irish government's role in bringing about the [power sharing] Executive. According to one of Craig's people [Craig Smellie, the top MI6 officer in the North of Ireland at the time], some of those involved, the Youngs, the Jacksons, Mulholland, HannaBilly HannaWilliam Henry Wilson "Billy" Hanna MM was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who founded and led the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force until he was killed, allegedly by Robin Jackson, who took over command of the brigade.According to RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir,...
, Kerr and McConnell were working closely with SB [Special Branch] and Int [Intelligence] at that time. Craig's people believe the sectarian assassinations were designed to destroy [then Northern Secretary Merlyn] Rees's attempts to negotiate a ceasefire, and the targets were identified for both sides by Int/SB. They also believe some very senior RUC officers were involved with this group. In short, it would appear that loyalist paramilitaries and Int/SB members have formed some sort of pseudo-gangs in an attempt to fight a war of attrition by getting paramilitaries on both sides to kill each other and, at the same time, prevent any future political initiative such as Sunningdale."
In a further letter dated 30 September 1975, Wallace revealed that MI5 was trying to create a split in the UVF in order to foment violence:
"because they wanted the more politically minded ones ousted. I believe much of the violence generated during the latter part of last year was caused by some of the new Int people deliberately stirring up the conflict. As you know, we have never been allowed to target the breakaway UVF, nor the UFF, during the past year. Yet they have killed more people than the IRA!"
Summary
To this day, Wallace remains something of an enigma. Former members of the Special Forces admit that Wallace worked with them as far afield as BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and the Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, but the Intelligence Services still try to distance themselves from what Wallace was doing. Wallace's role in Northern Ireland is clearly still a very sensitive matter. He had been part of the Army team preparing for the Widgery Tribunal into the Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1972)
Bloody Sunday —sometimes called the Bogside Massacre—was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in which twenty-six unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army...
killings of protestors in Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, and in 2002, he testified at the Saville Inquiry
Bloody Sunday Inquiry
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry, also known as the Saville Inquiry or the Saville Report after its chairman, Lord Saville of Newdigate, was established in 1998 by British Prime Minister Tony Blair after campaigns for a second inquiry by families of those killed and injured in Derry on Bloody Sunday...
into the events.
One of Wallace's close friends in the Army described him as follows: "I played golf with the general. That was an accident. Colin was needed by the general. Everyone needed him. They just could not do without him."
Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Yarnold, who worked with Wallace in Northern Ireland, said: "Let's face it, Colin was the lynchpin of the whole operation. He was terrific - way ahead of us all in his knowledge and his readiness to work. Everyone wanted him all the time, and somehow he was always available."
A former Ministry of Defence Chief Information Officer commented: "For loyalty and dedication to the Army, Colin Wallace was in a class of his own."