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Auction: 11010 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 244

The G.S.M. to Private J. Gaskell, Light Infantry Regiment, Who Was Mortally Wounded By an I.R.A. Bomb, 13.5.1973, When Sent to Investigate a ´Gunman´ at a Disused Match Factory, Belfast General Service 1962-2007, one clasp, Northern Ireland (24197631 Pte. J. Gaskell LI.), extremely fine, with named card box of issue, Cap Badge and comprehensive file of research (lot) Estimate £ 600-800 24197631 Private John Gaskell, born 209, Thronlaw South, Thornley, Co. Durham, 1951; having completed his 1st tour of Northern Ireland with the 2/Light Infantry, Gaskell returned with the Regiment for his 2nd tour in March 1973; the 2/L.I. were to patrol the Mid West Sector of Belfast (including Springfield Road, Falls Road, Clonard and Ballymurphy); Gaskell served in ´B´ Company - which was based at ´The Broadway´, the old physiotherapy building of the Royal Victoria Hospital; duties being to guard the fortress like base and patrolling their sector either on foot or in armoured vehicles, two hours on, two hours off; on the evening of Sunday, 13.5.1973, a 999 call was made to the RUC; the caller, a female, stated that there was a gunman in a disused match factory at the junction of Donegall Road and St. James´s Crescent; Gaskell´s company were detailed to send a five man patrol in response; on arrival one man remained with the vehicle whilst the remainder advanced under Corporal T. Taylor (i/c patrol); the four men were Gaskell, Taylor and Privates Barwell and Henry; at 20.00 hours the patrol entered the disused factory by way of a break in the wall and proceeded with caution to search the area; the floor was littered with broken glass, slates and brick; as Taylor and Gaskell, at the front, passed over an area of rubble a bomb was detonated by control wires from a concealed position; both Taylor and Gaskell were mortally wounded, whilst Barwell and Henry were seriously injured; the wounded men were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where Corporal Taylor died just before midnight; Private Gaskell´s 18 year old wife, Martha, was flown from Colchester the next day to the hospital to be with her husband; Gaskell died of his multiple wounds in the afternoon of the 14th May, shortly after his wife had arrived at his bedside; Barwell and Henry both suffered broken legs and multiple lacerations; Gaskell was buried with full military honours at Thornley Parish Church, leaving behind him his wife and 6 month old daughter; a murder investigation was set up by the RUC and 3 males were arrested: Francis McIllvanna (aged 19); James Bernard Bradley and Paul Gerrard Norney (both aged 15); a year after the soldiers deaths, McIllvanna pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment; he had laid the cables for the bomb but had not been present at its detonation; given the age of the other two they were detained in a Training School to await trial for murder; both absconded before being brought to trial - with Bradley still at large by the early 80´s; Norney was later to re-appear in Manchester with two other IRA members - Stephen Nordone and Noel Gibson; the 3 were part of a Provisional IRA Cell based in Manchester; they surfaced, 30.6.1975, during shooting incidents in the Rusholme area; Norney was arrested, however, he was never brought to trial for the murders of Private Gaskell and Corporal Taylor; it was decided not appropriate to have steps taken for his return and trial in Belfast, however, due to his activities with the IRA Cell he received five life sentences and 66 years imprisonment.

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£4,800