Today is the European Day for Victims of Terrorism, so it’s appropriate that we remember that on this day 54 years ago, three young Scottish soldiers were murdered by cowardly IRA terrorists.

Brothers John and Joseph McCaig (aged 17 and 18), and 23 year old Dougald McCaughey had been drinking in Mooney’s, a Belfast city centre pub. They were off-duty soldiers serving with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, deployed in Ulster to keep the peace as part of Operation Banner.

The arrival of these British forces had been welcomed by many Catholic civilians, but the IRA was determined to ratchet up violence as part of their long-term subversive aim of breaking up the United Kingdom.

It’s understood that the three young Fusiliers were lured into a car by young women who invited them to a party, but who were in fact working for an IRA gang.

After a long off-duty drinking session, they were in no position to defend themselves, and they were shot at close range. Their bodies were dumped by a roadside in north Belfast and discovered by local children.

Relatives of the McCaig and McCaughey families are still waiting for justice. No one has been brought to justice for these crimes. Even though the IRA’s political wing Sinn Féin now considers itself a ‘respectable’ party of government, it has not seen fit to treat victims’ families with the slightest dignity and respect.

On Saturday 22nd March 2025 there will be a Loyalist parade in Liverpool to commemorate these terrible murders and pay tribute to the memory of the dead Fusiliers. H&D readers are encouraged to support this event, and further details will be posted soon.