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Christina Drummond

Private Paul Carter, 2nd Battalion, The Queen's Regiment


Remembering the Fallen: on this day in 1971, Private Paul Carter of 2nd Battalion, The Queen’s Regiment, was killed in Northern Ireland. He was shot twice in the chest as he stood outside the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, guarding other soldiers who were delivering medical supplies to the hospital. It was believed that the shots came from Dunville Park (close to the junction of the Springfield Road and the Falls Road), a place which had been used several times before by the IRA as a place of ambush, as gunmen could easily disappear into the lower Falls from there. Forty years after Private Carter’s death, it was revealed by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) that he did not die alone, as was originally reported to his family by the army, and also that he was not wearing body armour at the time. Two young men from the Falls Road were nearby and risked their lives by running to Private Carter and carrying him into the casualty building next to the hospital - and although they were fired upon, no-one else was injured. His death was one of over 3,000 unsolved murders in Northern Ireland to be investigated by the HET from its inception in 2005 to its closure in 2014. This video shows Private Carter on patrol in Belfast, as well as an interview with his sister in 2012 and a short report on the HET: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-16853227/truth-behind-soldier-s-murder-40-years-ago-consoles-family Paul, from Brighton, was 21 years old.

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