The death has been announced of General Mike Jackson, the second in command of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment during Bloody Sunday in Derry 1972.
Gen Jackson was on the ground when members of the regiment opened fire on protesters at a civil rights march on 30 January 1972.
He went on to become the health of the British Army.
Gen Jackson made a “fulsome apology” for the Bloody Sunday shootings in 2011 after the publication of the Saville Inquiry’s report and acknowledged the victims had been killed “without justification”.
Gen Jackson on Tuesday at the age of 80, surrounded by his family.
The Parachute Regimental Association said he was a “great leader of men” who will be “missed by many”.
Tony Doherty, Chairperson of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said there will be no morning among families in Derry.
“He knowingly ordered the execution of many innocent people and should have been in the international dock for war crimes,” Doherty wrote.
Mr Doherty said that while the British may celebrate his life, “there will be no grieving the loss of this man” among the Bloody Sunday families and many other families who’ve had loved ones murdered by the British army.
