By Gráinne McWilliams
Andersonstown News
1st of April 2011

A SPECIAL commemoration will be held this weekend to mark the 40th anniversary of the murder of IRA commander Charlie Hughes.

Charlie, who was O/C of the renowned D Company IRA unit that operated in the Falls, became the first IRA volunteer to be killed by the Official IRA when he was shot dead in the Falls area on March 8, 1971 during one of the many bitter feuds between the two republican groups after their split the previous year.

The Falls Commemoration Committee have organised a special march this Saturday to mark Charlie’s anniversary, which will leave Divis Tower at 2.30pm and walk to the Falls Memorial Garden where a wreath a special wreath-laying ceremony will take place in his memory followed by speeches.

Phil McCullough, who was a training officer with D Company and was present during the Official IRA ambush in which Charlie died, said it was important for people to remember his old friend and comrade.

“With all republicans that have died in the conflict we make a point of remembering them, as these people were good, sound people that were defenders of the area,” said Phil.

“Even with kids that weren’t born when Charlie was killed, his name still comes up in conversation as a defender of the Falls. He was also very prominent during the Falls Curfew in defending the area.”

Speaking about the events surrounding Charlie’s death, Phil explained how it took place during a period of “heavy turmoil”’ with pressure coming on his unit not only from the British army and loyalists, but from the Official IRA.

“Before Charlie was killed the PIRA was still in its infancy,” said Phil.

“The Official IRA had great disagreement with the PIRA as we were taking their membership and undermining their base. It was a period of heavy turmoil. Volunteers, police and soldiers were being killed and there was a lot of pressure from loyalist paramilitaries. But there was a great spirit of resistance and anger in the Falls area at the time against the tactics the British government were using against the people, tactics which recruited a lot of people to the PIRA.

“But there was a lot of thuggery by the Official IRA against us (the Provisionals) and their own people,” said Phil.

“They were recruiting heavily but their standard and volume of recruitment meant there was no quality of people joining their ranks, it was almost a numbers game with them. They put a lot of people out of their homes, including myself.”

Phil explained how a severe beating visited upon two Provisional volunteers by the Official IRA set in motion a chain of events that would lead to Charlie’s death.

“The two IRA volunteers were arrested by the Officials and brought to one of their drinking clubs in Leeson Street where they were severely pistol-whipped,” Phil continued.

“A decision was then made by the Belfast Brigade staff of the new Provisional IRA that this would not be tolerated any more. We decided to destroy public establishments that were used by the Official IRA at the time as meeting places – one was a pub and the other was a sheebeen in Leeson Street called The Cracked Cup. These were becoming infamous places for the beating up and torture of the PIRA and their supporters.”

The bar was first to be targeted – burned down by the Provisionals without any casualties inside or out.

“We made our way to The Cracked Cup to do something similar,” said Phil.

“But the OIRA had got word to their local unit that we were on our way, so when we were about to enter the sheebeen we came under fire from them and two members of the unit I was in were injured. A ceasefire was then called between the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA after that incident.”

However this ceasefire was short-lived, as Charlie Hughes would find out to his cost.

“During this ceasefire the Brigade Staff of the PIRA went to a house in Cyprus Street for a meeting to discuss the ambush at The Cracked Cup,” said Phil.

“We were still a bit edgy in terms of our confidence in the Officials carrying the ceasefire through. I was sent to the meeting with a Thompson machine gun to make sure that the people finishing the meeting were able to get away safely. Charlie Hughes, myself and two others were the only people remaining in the house after the meeting.

“Charlie was armed at the time with a .45 automatic pistol, and for some reason he handed me the pistol and walked out of the house. As soon as he walked out a fusillade of shots came down Cyprus Street and Charlie was hit. I opened fire and shouted at Charlie to make his way back into the house, but he was fatally injured. I tried twice to rescue him from the street but I was beaten back by gunfire. I could hear him moan in the gutter, and eventually the moans and the groans stopped and he was dead.”

Charlie’s subsequent funeral was a massive affair with a huge amount of people coming out to pay their respects. But the funeral went down in local history as the first and last occasion the British army saluted a republican funeral cortege.

“It was the first time ever and the last time ever that the British army showed any respect to their enemy,” said Phil.

“They had three armoured cars beside St Dominic’s school and they lined them up very regimentally and lowered their weapons. When the coffin was passing by, complete with tricolour and IRA guard of honour, the three British soldiers stood up on the armoured cars and saluted the coffin. They must have got into a lot of trouble with their commanders after that as it never happened again.”

Phil described how the fall-out from Charlie’s death prompted the Official IRA to take action on its own membership. And he reflected on what a huge loss his killing was to the republican movement .

“There was a lot of revulsion about Charlie’s death,” he said. “The OIRA tried to do some cleaning out and quite a lot of their numbers defected to the PIRA. Charlie was a quiet man, he wasn’t a drinker and was very religious,” continued Phil.

“He had a great ability to organise and I think that was probably one of the fears that the Officials had at the time – that he was a great organiser, he was good at talking to people and recruiting people in the PIRA. He was a great asset to the movement.

“He was the D Company O/C. He was destined to go to higher places within the movement because he had that ability.”

• The march in memory of Charlie Hughes leaves Divis Tower on Saturday, March 5, at 2.30pm.