In memory of Sergeant Michael Willetts, GC.
A True British Hero:
Michael Willetts of 3 PARA (13 August, 1943 - 25 May, 1971) was one of the first British soldiers to be killed during ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, and the recipient of a posthumous George Cross for his heroism in saving lives during the Provisional Irish Republican Army bombing which claimed his own. He is buried at St Mary’s Church, Blidworth, Nottinghamshire.
Operation Banner:
Operation Banner was the operational name for the British Armed Forces’ operation in Northern Ireland from August 1969 to July 2007, as part of 'The Troubles.’ It was the longest, continuous deployment in British Military history. The British Army was initially deployed, at the request of the unionist government of Northern Ireland, in response to the August 1969 riots. Its role was to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and to assert the authority of the British government in Northern Ireland.
The main opposition to the British military’s deployment came from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). It waged a guerrilla campaign against the British military from 1970 to 1997. An internal British Army document released in 2007 stated that, whilst the Army had failed to defeat the IRA, it had made it impossible for the IRA to win through violence, and had also reduced substantially the death toll in the last years of the conflict.
Bio/Death:
Born in 1943 in the Nottinghamshire town of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Michael Willetts entered a local colliery after leaving school, but found that he did not suit the job, and so joined the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in the British Army, in March 1962, at the age of 20. He married his wife Sandra in October 1965 and the couple had two children, Dean and Trudy - aged 3 and 5 when their father was murdered.
He was a talented radio operator - particularly good at Morse Code. After serving in Malta, and along with the rest of his regiment, Sergeant Willetts was dispatched to Northern Ireland in 1971 at the outbreak of violence there between Irish nationalists and the unionist Royal Ulster Constabulary.
On 25th May he called his wife at lunchtime and they talked about their little girl who had started school that day.
Just before 8.30pm an IRA man entered the reception hall of Springfield Road RUC Police Station. He was carrying a suitcase out of which a smoking fuse could be seen. Immediately after dumping it on the floor he ran out to a waiting car.
In the reception area of the station were Patrick Gray and his daughter Colette, 4, and Elizabeth Cummings and her son Carl, also 4, along with a number of RUC officers, one of whom spotted the smoking fuse and raised the alarm.
Sergeant Willetts was on duty in the inner hall when he heard the commotion and sent a fellow soldier up to the first floor to warn those working there, while he himself headed to reception. He found the Police Officers ushering the members of public to safety.
Patrick Gray describes what Sergeant Willetts did:
“We all rushed as fast as we could through the enquiry office towards the door at the end of the room. I remember this young Sergeant standing in the door and holding it open for us all. He was very calm and stood there until we had all moved through.”
Sergeant Willetts effectively shielded the civilians and Police Officers with his own body until they were safely past him and outside - he then stood in the doorway, shielding those taking cover when the bomb exploded.
It was a full week and after the funeral before his wife could bring herself to sit down and be told the whole story. In the 2012 book “The Paras” she is recorded as saying:
“I wasn’t surprised at all because there was no way he would have gone out that door leaving anyone in there. He loved people. His friends and colleagues all spoke highly of him. The presence of the children and their Mother made him do what he had to do, which was get them out of there as soon as possible. My own grief eventually moulded with a sense of pride, but also anger that the bombings continued. He was a good example of a good British soldier. The regiment was very proud of his courage.”
One of those serving in the station, Constable Phoenix, made his way back to where the bomb went off after the explosion. Constable Phoenix became a prominent anti-terrorism Detective Superintendent and was killed in the Chinook helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994.
Lost Lives quotes from Constable Phoenix, Policing the Shadows:
“Constable Phoenix made his way to the entrance area where he saw Sergeant Willetts lying with the back of his head gaping open. A metal chunk from a locker hurled across the room by the force of the explosion had struck him. Local people had gathered outside and began to help clear the debris, offering what assistance they could.
Ambulances began ferrying the injured to the nearby Royal Victoria Hospital. Lieutenant Colonel Chiswell was with Sergeant Willetts, who was taken out on a door to the ambulance. A crowd of youths were waiting to greet them. They started to jeer and scream obscenities at the badly wounded soldiers. Lieutenant Colonel Chiswell recalled, "My reaction was one of total disbelief that anyone could be so inhumane.”
“Dying to protect little children was just the sort of thing I would have expected him to do,” Sergeant Willetts’ brother-in-law quoted in a contemporary report which also details the actions of a Republican crowd on the day of the murder.
Sergeant Willetts, who was due to leave Northern Ireland in a few days, died after two hours on the operating table.
Memorial Badge:
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In June 1971, Sergeant Michael Willetts’ 3-year-old son collected the George Cross posthumously awarded to his father. A news report from the time records that his mother Sandra Willetts said:
“I have no bitterness towards the Irish. But it hurts to hear them complain about the troops. The Army is just trying to stop innocent people being murdered.”
George Cross Medal Citation:
“The Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the posthumous award of the George Cross to: 2391067 Sergeant Michael WILLETS, The Parachute Regiment.
At 8.24pm on the evening of 25th May 1971, a terrorist entered the reception hall of the Springfield Road Police Station in Belfast. He carried a suitcase from which a smoking fuse protruded, dumped it quickly on the floor and fled outside. Inside the room were a man and a woman, two children and several police officers. One of the latter saw at once the smoking case and raised the alarm. The Police Officers began to organise the evacuation of the hall past the reception desk, through the reception office and out by a door into the rear passage.
Sergeant Michael Willetts was on duty in the inner hall. Hearing the alarm, he sent an N.C.O up to the first floor to warn those above and hastened himself to the door towards which a Police Officer was thrusting those in the reception hall and office. He held the door open while all passed safely through and then stood in then stood in the doorway, shielding those taking cover. In the next moment, the bomb exploded with terrible force.
Sergeant Willetts was mortally wounded. His duty did not require him to enter the threatened area, his post was elsewhere. He knew well, after 4 months service in Belfast, the peril of going towards a terrorist bomb but he did not hesitate to do so. All those approaching the door from the far side agree that if they had had to check to open the door they would have perished. Even when they had reached the rear passage, Sergeant Willetts waited, placing his body as a screen to shelter them. By this considered act of bravery, he risked - and lost - his life for those of the adults and children. His selflessness, his courage are beyond praise.
22nd June 1971.” - London Gazette, 21 June 1971.
Other Honours:
Michael Willetts was also posthumously awarded Man of the Year in 1971 by RADAR, the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation.
“Soldier” written, recorded and performed by Harvey Andrews:
In 1972, folk musician Harvey Andrews wrote and recorded “Soldier.”
The song was never intended to be an account of what happened to Sergeant Willetts - it was inspired by the actual story.
Whatever may be said about the artist’s poetic licence, there’s no doubting the power of the song’s lyrics, and although Harvey Andrews was an established and well respected artist the song was banned from the airwaves by the BBC for fear that it would upset Nationalists in Northern Ireland.
Harvey Andrews recalls:
“When I wrote it, based on the Sergeant Willetts incident, the protest song movement was well established. I had no idea the song would become so big.It was banned from broadcasting in Britain and I was not allowed to sing it on "Folk on Two” on BBC radio. Soldiers were not allowed to play it. One has emailed that he was charged and locked up for a few days. It was sold in the streets of Belfast and was basically number one over there but was never printed as such, I think. It has been bootlegged as well as re-recorded by Protestant bands in Scotland and sold illegally in pubs.“
He insists that the song was intended to transcend sectarianism - something which seems reasonable when one actually thinks about the lyrics.
Not only that, but they are words which reflect the general attitude of soldiers from Great Britain quite well. They provided a title for not one but two of Ken Wharton’s excellent books about Operation Banner.
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