Abstract

February 1973 saw the deployment of 42 Commando RM to the same area of Belfast that was covered in the preceding June by 40 Commando RM. The purpose was the continuation of Internal Security duties. The total area covered by the Unit measures approximately fifteen square miles, yet all of the casualties, with the exception of those occurring in a traffic accident, happened over an area of one quarter of a square mile.

The hostile area was that of the New Lodge, a Republican oriented stronghold. The tactics employed by the urban guerrilla during this tour were those of the hidden bomber and the hit-and-run gunman.

By the end of the tour in June, the calculated number of rounds of ammunition fired at the Unit was two hundred and twenty eight, and sixty bomb incidents had been dealt with. Two deaths and over a score of injuries were suffered by the Unit in this time.