MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
News Release (107/2008) issued by The Government News Network on 5
June 2008
The Ministry of
Defence is holding an official service to honour members of the UK
Forces and civil servants who lost their lives or were injured in
Northern Ireland. It will also pay tribute to over 300,000
personnel who served in the Province on Operation Banner, the
official title for military operations in Northern Ireland,
between 1969 and 2007. There are 2,000 tickets available for
people to attend the event, which is being held on Wednesday 10
September 2008 at St Paul's Cathedral, London.
The service will be an opportunity to give thanks to the many
servicemen, women and civil servants who served in Northern
Ireland and to remember those who gave their lives helping to
bring stability to the Province over 38 years.
Veterans Minister Derek Twigg said:
"The Armed Forces made an enormous contribution towards the
peace and stability that now exists in Northern Ireland. Operation
Banner lasted for 38 years, with several generations of servicemen
and women taking part in often extremely challenging
circumstances. We should never forget the loss of so many Service
personnel and the thousands who were wounded over that period. The
service at St. Paul's will be an opportunity for us all to
pay tribute and say thank you for their considerable efforts."
Andrew Bennett, now Chair of the Northern Ireland Veterans
Association, was a member of the Royal Corps of Signals. He served
in Northern Ireland between 1986 and 1990 as an Electronic Counter
Measures Operator with a Bomb Disposal Team, and with a Brigade
Signal Squadron. He said:
"Operation Banner is the longest campaign in British
military history, and those who served, and in some cases lost
their lives over the years, deserve this national recognition. As
a Northern Ireland veteran I am proud to have the opportunity to
attend this service alongside former colleagues and families."
Tickets are available for the Commemorative Service for Armed
Forces veterans of Operation Banner, including MOD civilians, and
the families and friends of those who lost their lives. An
application form can be downloaded from
http://www.veterans-uk.info
or by calling the free ticket line on 0800 169 2277. Each
application will receive two tickets.
Notes to Editors:
1. The Prince of Wales' Own Regiment was the first unit to
be deployed in Northern Ireland in August 1969.
2. During the worst period of The Troubles between 1972 and 1973,
27,000 military personnel were stationed in Northern Ireland, the
majority of them Army.
3. Over the course of Operation Banner, 763 servicemen and women
were killed as a direct result of terrorism. This includes 651
Army and Royal Marine personnel; one Royal Naval Serviceman; 50
members of the former Ulster Defence Regiment and later Royal
Irish Regiment; 10 members of the Territorial Army and 51 military
personnel murdered outside Northern Ireland. 6,116 members of the
Army and Royal Marines were wounded over the period.
4. At one stage there were 106 military bases or locations in
Northern Ireland, however, since the first Provisional IRA
cease-fire in September 1994, 80 per cent of these were closed.
The closure of the bases was accelerated after the Good Friday
Agreement of April 1998.
5. The process of steadily reducing military presence began on 1
August 2005. Peter Hain, the then Northern Ireland Secretary,
announced that the security situation had improved. and routine
military support to the police would no longer be needed
6. Operation Banner officially ended on 31 July 2007. It was
superseded on 1 August 2007 by Operation Helvetic, a garrison of
no more than 5,000 military personnel in 10 locations, trained and
ready for deployment worldwide.
7. The closing date for ticket applications is Wednesday 13
August 2008 and the MOD aims to contact all successful applicants
by 27 August 2008.
8. The names of the UK service personnel who lost their lives
during Operation Banner are listed on the Armed Forces Memorial,
Staffordshire. The Memorial, which opened to the public in October
2007, remembers all those killed on duty in conflicts or on
training exercises, by terrorist action or on peacekeeping
missions - http://www.forcesmemorial.org
9. In addition to specific commemorations such as Operation
Banner, veterans of all ages are the focus of attention each year
on Veterans Day, 27 June. The 2008 celebrations will be hosted by
Blackpool in 2008 -
http://www.veterans-uk.info/veteransday08/index.htm