Derry Ireland and is often dated as the starting point of the Troubles. On Sunday 30 January 1972, 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights march in the Bogside area. Another 13 were wounded and one further man later died of his wounds. This event came to be known as Bloody Sunday. The conflict which became known as the Troubles is widely regarded as having started in Derry with the Battle of the Bogside. The Civil Rights movement had also been very active in the city. In the early 1970s the city was heavily militarised
Battle of the Bogside the Derry Catholics". Although the march did not pass through the Bogside, it passed near to it at the junction of Waterloo Place and William Street. It was here that trouble broke out. Initially, some loyalists had thrown pennies from the top of the walls at Catholics in the Bogside below, in return marbles were fired by slingshot. As the parade passed the perimeter of the Bogside, Catholics hurled stones and nails, resulting in an intense confrontation. The police, who had suffered a barrage of missiles, then moved in. Whilst the police fought with the rioters at William Street, officers