I've a lot of sympathy for the soldiers being put in that situation. They are primarily trained to go to war against another army but in Ireland they were being asked to do the job of the police force. With a soldiers training and mentality it's a recipe for disaster.

Mark Wright was in my year at school. One of two lads from the Scots Guards who did six years of a life sentence for shooting someone in Ulster whilst out on patrol. Now, Wrighty was never the brightest and probably wouldn't have gotten into the police, yet was allowed to patrol and basically police the streets with a rifle.

Sorry for digressing slightly but my point is that it was the government to blame. It was they who let the lads out with ambiguous rules of engagement in a hostile environment to do a job they weren't really suited.