British soldier’s damning letter to Theresa May every MP must read

A former Welsh Guardsman - who asked not to be named because of the continuing Republican threat - graphically contrasted the rules under which the Army had to operate with the lawless terror campaign waged by the IRA. He told the Daily Express how he witnessed the aftermath of IRA atrocities, saw the remains of his comrades scraped off the streets and was wounded serving of his country. The 69-year-old has written to the Prime Minister as four British veterans face trial over deaths dating back as far as 1972, despite being cleared of wrongdoing at the time.

Another 278 cases are understood to be under investigation. But under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, more than 500 terrorists were released early and 300 on-the-run letters were issued to suspects, telling them they would not be pursued.

In his letter to Mrs May, the ex-lance sergeant who served in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, wrote: "This whole mockery of so-called justice is a disgrace and you should hang your heads in shame for allowing it.

"It is time for the Prime Minister of this country WE served to put an end to this witch-hunt and also pardon ALL British soldiers from any prosecution just like you did for the IRA. The consequences of failing to do so will be dire, not only for the soldiers accused but for the sitting Government of the day.

"I, and the thousands of other British veterans who served in Operation Banner, want OUR 'letter of pardon' also."

He added: "You have legal teams investigating old soldiers now in their 70s for such incomprehensible things such as, 'Did you shout a warning before you opened fire?' "The IRA did not apply these same rule. They didn't have to. They were lawless. If a member of the IRA was arrested he/she had to be treated under the law as if he were just a normal criminal and they had ALL the privileges when arrested as if he were just a shoplifter - free lawyers, legal advice, privileges etc."

The letter points out captured British soldiers "were ALL brutally executed after being tortured and violently beaten". The Northern Ireland Office has recently closed a consultation on how to deal with the legacy killings and is expected to report in the New Year. Mrs May has already told MPs that the current balance of investigations in relation to the Troubles is "patently unfair".

The soldier, from the Northwest, was backed by ex-Armed Forces minister Mark Francois, who plans to read the letter out on the floor of the Commons.

He said: "It is a warts-and-all account of the stark reality of fighting the IRA at close quarters day after day.

"I can only hope officials in the Northern Ireland Office in their air-conditioned offices will take the trouble to read it and will then consult their consciences about why they continue to sell our servicemen down the river while pandering to Sinn Fein/IRA."

Mr Francois also cited Royal Marine David Griffin, 77, now a Chelsea Pensioner, who has lived under the threat of a murder charge for six years over an ambush of suspected IRA terrorists in Belfast in 1972.

The MP said: "What has gone wrong with this country whereby we give alleged terrorists letters of comfort and get-out-of-jail-free cards and we go after Chelsea Pensioners instead?" Dennis Hutchings, 77, of Cornwall, is to stand trial over a shooting in Northern Ireland in 1974 despite having been cleared by two probes and in very poor health. He said: "This letter should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country.

"Mistakes are made in any job but to make veterans go through what we are going through is a total betrayal."

Ex-Grenadier Guardsman Alan Barry, who founded Justice for Northern Ireland Veterans, said: "Sinn Fein is trying to brainwash today's young that the Army were the bad guys and their so-called freedom fighters were the good guys.

"It is like Islamic State's slick propaganda campaign."

The letter follows a demonstration by veterans in Glasgow led by former Royal Military Police officer Suzanne Fernando, who described the prosecutions as a "disgrace and a betrayal".

Yesterday, a veteran who served in Belfast in 1978 said: "They call it The Troubles but it was a full-blown war. Tony Blair let the IRA out in the Good Friday Agreement but now they are picking on elderly soldiers. It is a witch-hunt."

A Government spokesman said: "The current system in Northern Ireland isn't working well, not for soldiers, police officers and not for victims.

"This needs to change to ensure our Armed Forces and police officers are not unfairly treated."

HERO'S LETTER TO THE PM

When I served in the Brigade of Guards from 1968 to 1973, I saw terrible atrocities during my four tours in Northern Ireland on Operation Banner.

'I witnessed the aftermath of IRA executions, tarring and feathering and knee-cappings.

I spent months patrolling bandit areas not knowing what was waiting for me. I witnessed men, women and children being blown to pieces just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time - or considered by the IRA an enemy of "the cause" or of Ireland.

I've been shot at, blown up, spat at, bricks thrown at me, petrol bombed and I also lost goods friends.

In 1972 I was at the Oxford Street Bus Depot when a bomb exploded. But for a heavy brick wall, I wouldn't be here today. Not one minute before the explosion I was standing right next to the car bomb.

I had to pick up the remains of two really good friends who were blown to smithereens by the IRA on that "Bloody Friday". The only way I could recognise one of them was from his radio, as it was only he and I who carried radios and I could see the wires sticking out of his chest.

His face was devoid of all recognition as a human being, let alone a friend.

I, with others, put him on a stretcher and his innards fell out of his back.

I was a young, 23-year-old man.

The other friend killed in the same bomb was our young driver who had his head blown off. It was his 19th birthday the following day.

Believe me, these nightmares do not leave you - ever.

My last act in the province was also in 1972, when I was wounded while on patrol in the Markets area of Belfast.

One day it was a Friday, the next it was Sunday and I was in the Military Wing of Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast.

Remember Musgrave Hospital? The very IRA you pardoned bombed it in 1991, killing two soldiers.

They bombed a hospital. For God's sake, what sort of people have you pardoned? Even the Nazis didn't deliberately bomb hospitals in WWII.

I, with thousands of others you sent to the "war" went through hell at times.

My trauma counselling has always consisted of, "Are you okay mate?" Like all the others who suffered, I just picked myself up and got on with it, because that's what we did back then.

I was lucky but, 50 years on, I still suffer nightmares.

As my generation does, we just get on with it, with no help I might add, from you, my duly elected, caring Government.

I served and suffered for my Queen and Country, but I was proud to do so and I still am. For my Queen and my Country anyway, not my Government.

We could have won that "war" if you had let us, but you tied our hands behind our backs because you, as politicians, were frightened of criticism. That's all you had to face, not bullets.

All British governments refused to call it a war because that held different political and legal implications.

Because of this failure we, the British soldier, had to play by different rules to those we were trained for in total warfare. Even if fired upon first, we first had to shout a warning to the aggressor before returning fire.

But now we have YOUR legal teams and prosecutors investigating old soldiers in their 70s for such things as: "Did you shout a warning before you opened fire?" The IRA did not apply this same rule when opening fire. They were lawless. If a member of the IRA was arrested they had to be treated as if they were just shoplifters - free lawyers, legal advice, privileges etc.

The IRA on the other hand, when they kidnapped a British soldier...well, they were ALL brutally executed after being tortured and violently beaten.

The IRA did not take prisoners. If you had classed it as a war, some IRA members could have been tried under the Geneva Convention for being war criminals and executed. Remember that.

What makes this harder to deal with now, in 2018, is that we have a spineless Government who not only gave these murdering IRA terrorist thugs a pardon, but we are also unable to prosecute them because they got a "letter of pardon" signed by you, OUR Government.

So no matter what evidence is turned up, now or in the future, they can never be prosecuted for their "war crimes".

But you now deem it necessary to start investigations into soldiers for "war crimes" against the very IRA murderers and their supporters that you pardoned.

You're doing this because they want "justice". What do the IRA know about justice? You should hang your heads in shame. It is time for the Prime Minister to put an end to this witch-hunt and pardon all British soldiers from any prosecution - just like was done for the IRA.

'The consequences of failing to do so will be dire. I, and the thousands of other British veterans who served in Operation Banner, also want OUR letter of pardon.