Brian McCoy was the first to die, having been hit in the back and neck by nine rounds from a 9mm Luger pistol in the initial volley of gunfire. [78], The band's road manager, Brian Maguire stated that when he drove away from Banbridge in the lead, a few minutes ahead of the band's minibus, he passed through security barriers manned by the RUC. [33], A stamp was issued in Ireland on 22 September 2010 commemorating the Miami Showband. Director Stuart Sender Writers Jeff Zimbalist Michael Zimbalist Stars Stephen Travers Bertie Ahern Organisieren, kontrollieren, verteilen und messen Sie alle Ihre digitalen Inhalte. "The cops showed John a bag containing a human arm with a Mid-Ulster UVF tattoo on it. I only came into it because of my UDR connection and the fact that I had a uniform. [4] Despite the heavy gunfire, Tony Geraghty and Fran O'Toole attempted to carry a severely injured Stephen Travers to safety, but were unable to move him far. The submachine guns, which had been stolen years earlier from a former member of the B Specials,[52] were linked to prior and later sectarian killings, whereas the Luger had been used to kill leading IRA member John Francis Green the previous January. Sometimes the showbands played traditional Irish music at their performances. [70] Crozier, McDowell, and Somerville were released after 1998 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. [5], UK Home Secretary Roy Jenkins introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gave the government unprecedented powers against the liberty of individuals in the United Kingdom in peacetime. He was released in 1998. "The arm belonged to John's brother Wesley, who was killed in the Miami explosion. It had been travelling from Banbridge to Bleary with nine people on board; all were Catholics and most had been returning from a regular bingo session. [19], In 1994, Eric Smyth, a former UDR member and the husband of Brian McCoy's sister, Sheila, was killed by the IRA. In the ensuing confusion the UVF men opened fire on the band, killing three and wounding two. With Dublin-born singer [Jimmy Harte] as frontman followed by Dickie Rock as frontman, the Miami Showband underwent many personnel changes over the years. "Kevin Myers: The Miami Showband massacre was one of the most depraved massacres of the Troubles". A child of Northern Ireland's Troubles recalls that fateful night when The Miami Showband was ambushed by the Ulster Volunteer Force on this day in 1975. About 10 gunmen were at the checkpoint, according to author and journalist Martin Dillon. As they began to enter the vehicle, a bomb was detonated and both men were killed outright. Browse 25,406 crime scene photos stock photos and images available or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images [81] Martin Dillon maintained in The Dirty War that the Miami Showband attack was planned weeks before at a house in Portadown, and the person in charge of the overall operation was a former UDR man, whom Dillon referred to for legal reasons as "Mr. [62] However, police have blamed the IRA. Abe Reles, 1941 Place: Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island Date: 25th October 1957 Means: Pushed out of the window Angelo Bruno, 1980 Place: Intersection of 10th Street and Snyder Avenue, South Philadelphia Date: 21st March 1980 Means: Shotgun blast to the back of the head Five members of the Dublin-based band were travelling home after a performance at the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge, County Down, on Thursday 31 July 1975. [97] Irish Times diarist, Frank McNally, summed up the massacre as "an incident that encapsulated all the madness of the time". In a rare interview with the BBC Spotlight programme before his death of kidney cancer in 2015, Somerville spoke only once and very briefly about the Miami Showband Massacre. [clarification needed] James McDowell lives in Lurgan, and John James Somerville became an evangelical minister in Belfast. Days before the Miami attack, Robin Jackson murdered William Hanna, the UVF commander in mid-Ulster. In prison John Somerville lived a reclusive life. Griffin based her theory on the nine bullets that were fired from a Luger into McCoy's body and that Jackson's fingerprints were found on the silencer used for a Luger. The band was . RM G4PYFC - Miami Showband massacre RM EC8F8C - London, UK. Somerville would never have gone to prison if he'd agreed to work for the RUC. It had been set up in Lurgan in 1972 by part-time Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) sergeant and permanent staff instructor Billy Hanna, who made himself commander of the brigade. From left: Steve Travers, Tony Geraghty, Ray Millar, Brian McCoy, Fran O'Toole, Des Lee. The scene of the Miami Showband killings in County Down, Northern Ireland, on 31 July 1975. [34], Thomas Crozier recounted that on the night of the killings, he had driven to the grounds of a school in Lurgan where he had picked up two men. The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband Massacre) was an attack by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, on 31 July 1975. The Historical Enquiries Team (HET), which was set up to investigate the more controversial Troubles-related deaths, released its report on the Miami Showband killings to the victims' families in December 2011. Although this information was passed on to RUC headquarters, nothing was done about it. Ray Millar, the band's drummer, was not with them as he had chosen to go to his home town of Antrim to spend the night with his parents. [6] The existence of these talks led unionists to believe that they were about to be abandoned by the British government and forced into a united Ireland; as a result, the loyalist paramilitary groups reacted with a violence that, combined with the tit-for-tat retaliations from the IRA (despite their ceasefire), made 1975 one of the "bloodiest years of the conflict". Just after the arrival of this mysterious soldier, McCoy nudged Travers, who was standing beside him, and reassured him by saying "Don't worry Stephen, this is British Army". [21] He was replaced by Johnny Brown, who in turn was replaced by Dave Monks until Stephen Travers eventually became the band's permanent bass player. The Story With thanks to Jimmy Harte, Anto Long and Caroline Allen Dickie's Miami (1962-1972) Few bands in Ireland have had as prolific, and tragic, a history as the Miami. [67][clarification needed], A number of suspects were arrested by the RUC in early August 1975. [68] During the trial, Des McAlea had received death threats which made him fear for the safety of his family; this caused him to eventually leave Northern Ireland. [50], The stolen Ford Escort belonged to a man from Portadown, who according to Captain Fred Holroyd, had links with one of the UVF bombers and David Alexander Mulholland the driver of the bomb car which had been left to explode in Parnell Street, Dublin, on 17 May 1974. "ReMastered: The Miami Showband . He was charged with the Miami Showband murders and the attempted murder of bass player Stephen Travers, as well as the murder of Patrick Falls in 1974. No one coerced me. [37][38] This might have resulted in the Irish authorities enforcing tighter controls over the border, thus restricting IRA operations. He also provides other alibis for Nairac precluding his presence at the scenes of both the John Francis Green killing and the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. [34] Afterward, as Travers recovered in hospital, the other survivor Des McAlea gave the police a description of McDowell as the gunman with a moustache and wearing dark glasses who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol. The 55-cent stamp, designed with a 1967 publicity photograph of the band, included two of the slain members, Fran O'Toole and Brian McCoy, as part of the line-up when Dickie Rock was the frontman. [53] The judge, by sentencing McDowell and Crozier to 35 years imprisonment each, had handed down the longest life sentences in the history of Northern Ireland; he commented that "killings like the Miami Showband must be stopped". [23], According to the Irish Times, at the height of Irish showbands' popularity (from the 1950s to the 1970s), up to as many as 700 bands travelled to venues all over Ireland on a nightly basis.[24]. [88], Travers travelled to Belfast in 2006 for a secret meeting with the second-in-command of the UVF's Brigade Staff, in an attempt to come to terms with the killing of his former colleagues and friends. [4], The killings shocked both Northern Ireland and Ireland and put a serious strain on Anglo-Irish relations. Three UVF members are being treated for gunshot wounds after last night but not in hospital. [72][73] Surviving band members Stephen Travers and Des McAlea told police and later testified in court that a British Army officer with a "crisp, clipped English accent" oversaw the attack, the implication being that this was Nairac. Her brothers Seamus and Michael also died in the attack, which was later claimed by the Protestant Action Force, a cover name for the Mid-Ulster UVF. Het ontwerp van Getty Images is een handelsmerk van Getty Images. [47] The UVF gunmen had worn green UDR berets, whereas the other man's had been lighter in colour. And he wanted Frazer to ensure the Miami killer received any assistance he needed in adjusting to life on the outside. Stroomlijn uw workflow met ons toonaangevende beheersysteem voor digitale bestanden. [62][64], On 24 August 1975, Catholic civilians Colm McCartney and Sean Farmer were stopped in their car at what is believed to have been another fake checkpoint at Altnamackin (near Newtownhamilton). UVF serial killer John Somerville shot Miami Showband singer Fran O'Toole 22 times in the face. On October 23, 1975, Somerville and Jackson led a UVF team in the savage murders of Peter McKearney (63) and his wife Jane (58) at their home near the Moy. The night after the Miami Showband massacre, gunmen shot a minibus near Gilford. Krijg toegang tot het beste van Getty Images met ons eenvoudige abonnement. Optimieren Sie Ihren Workflow mit unserem erstklassigen Digitalen Asset Management System. Video: Netflix. It is obvious, therefore, that the UVF patrol was justified in taking the action it did and that the killing of the three Showband members should be regarded as justifiable homicide. [4][22][74] In his book The Dirty War, Martin Dillon adamantly dismissed the allegation that Nairac had been present. [30][32], McCoy, son of the Orange Order's Grand Master for County Tyrone,[33] had close relatives in the security forces; his brother-in-law was a former member of the B Specials which had been disbanded in 1970. At least four of the gunmen were soldiers from the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), and all were members of the UVF. What little that remained intact of their bodies was burnt beyond recognition; one of the limbless torsos was completely charred.[20]. [21][84], Former British soldier and writer Ken Wharton published in his book Wasted Years, Wasted Lives, Volume 1, an alternative theory that was suggested to him by loyalist paramilitarism researcher Jeanne Griffin; this was that the ambush was planned by Robin Jackson as an elaborate means of eliminating trumpet player Brian McCoy. The conflict in Northern Ireland, known as "the Troubles", began in the late 1960s. 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