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[Jock2413 Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jock2413]

Busy Issy again. Lads, she's putting most of us to shame.
The graves of Gunner Angus Stevens of the RA and S/Sgt Joseph Fleming RCT (TA)

Gnr Stevens RA.jpg SSGT fLEMING rct.jpeg

[spanner Association Member & WUSA Overseas rep aka Cathie Find all posts View Profile Close spanner]

Good work Issy.

[On1on Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close On1on]

James Joseph Fleming, Civilian, Catholic, 29. A Territorial Army (TA) staff sergeant, he was shot with two other men, Brian McMillan and Alan Meehan, both of whom were Protestants. They were found in his car at Little Distillery Street in the Grosvenor Road area. Joseph Fleming and Alan Meehan were found in the back seat, still alive while Brian's body was in the boot. All three had bullet wounds to the head. An attempt had been made to set the car on fire. A policeman said, "Whoever shot these men was not content with that, they also tried to burn them alive."

The car was discovered by a milkman at 6.30am on a Sunday morning. He saw the bodies covered with a coat in the back of the vehicle and alerted a nearby army patrol. The two fatally wounded men were rushed the short distance to the Royal Victoria Hospital but the TA staff sergeant died later that day and Alan died three days later.

The exact circumstances of the shooting of the three companions is not known. It remains a possibility that the ira stopped the staff sergeant's car and saw some sort of military identification. It is also possible that the shooting was sectarian or that the men were killed because they were mistaken for members of the security forces.

According to newspaper reports Joseph Fleming who came from Barnstable in Devon was on full time duty as an instructor with the RCT volunteer unit based at Sunnyside Street in the Ormeau Road area. He was given a military funeral in England. In 1977 a 22 year old man from the Falls Road area was charged with the three murders as well as one of the Bloody Friday bombings.

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James Joseph Fleming, Civilian, Catholic, 29. A Territorial Army (TA) staff sergeant, he was shot with two other men, Brian McMillan and Alan Meehan, both of whom were Protestants. They were found in his car at Little Distillery Street in the Grosvenor Road area. Joseph Fleming and Alan Meehan were found in the back seat, still alive while Brian's body was in the boot. All three had bullet wounds to the head. An attempt had been made to set the car on fire. A policeman said, "Whoever shot these men was not content with that, they also tried to burn them alive."

The car was discovered by a milkman at 6.30am on a Sunday morning. He saw the bodies covered with a coat in the back of the vehicle and alerted a nearby army patrol. The two fatally wounded men were rushed the short distance to the Royal Victoria Hospital but the TA staff sergeant died later that day and Alan died three days later.

The exact circumstances of the shooting of the three companions is not known. It remains a possibility that the ira stopped the staff sergeant's car and saw some sort of military identification. It is also possible that the shooting was sectarian or that the men were killed because they were mistaken for members of the security forces.

According to newspaper reports Joseph Fleming who came from Barnstable in Devon was on full time duty as an instructor with the RCT volunteer unit based at Sunnyside Street in the Ormeau Road area. He was given a military funeral in England. In 1977 a 22 year old man from the Falls Road area was charged with the three murders as well as one of the Bloody Friday bombings.

It is sad to read how some of these people died.

I always have a chat with them when I visit and let them know that we have not forgotten them.

[On1on Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close On1on]

Angus Stephens, 45 Medium Regiment Royal Artillery, 18. The Gunner who came from Stonehouse in Plymouth was one of two soldiers killed in an ira bomb attack on an observation post at the junction of Warkes Lane and Lewis Street, Londonderry on 27th October 1971. Two 10lb bombs were tossed over a nine foot wall from a bowling green at Brooke Park on the sandbagged emplacement at the back of Rosemount RUC station. The soldiers died instantly in the blast which wrecked the post and shattered windows in nearby houses and a shirt factory.

The ira said the bombs were in retaliation for the shooting of Irish women, believed to be a reference to the killing of Maura Meehan and Dorothy Maguire by the army in Belfast. Rioting followed the explosion.

[Jock2413 Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jock2413]

So that murdering little scumbag was 17 years old when he committed those crimes.

[On1on Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close On1on]

I always have a chat with them when I visit and let them know that we have not forgotten them.

Issy, I can't make out the inscription on Gnr Stephens' headstone, is that the correct spelling?

[Jock2413 Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jock2413]

G, his surname is spelt STEVENS.

[On1on Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close On1on]

Not in Lost Lives, another mistake, that's why I was checking...

[Jock2413 Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jock2413]

Quite a few errors in that book as you know. Maybe we should contact the authors so's that they can make the changes in any future issues. They did this before.

[On1on Association Member Find all posts View Profile Close On1on]

Nah, I like fault finding...

Yes, we should for the sake of the families. To be fair, they do ask for any corrections to be sent to them. It'd be good if we could get some recognition in any future reprint.