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The Maze Prison Guard Force
During ‘the Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, Her Majesty's Prison Maze (known colloquially as The H Blocks, Long Kesh, or The Maze) housed paramilitary prisoners from mid-1971 to mid-2000. It was in the former RAF station at Long Kesh near Lisburn, County Antrim. It was here that a notorious hunger strike took place in 1981.
43 Battery Royal Artillery deployed as the Prison Guard Force from April to July 1994. In addition, soldiers of the Battery took part in routine patrolling. When the Battery Commander, Major Ian Fraser RA invited me to visit the prison, I accompanied soldiers on patrols in ‘Snatch’ Land Rovers in Lurgan and West Belfast.
If the alarm sounded to warn of a mortar attack or attempted breakout, the soldiers rushed to assemble near the cookhouse while Land Rovers drew up. This drill was named Operation TODBER and is shown in the central scene; (the soldiers humorously called it ‘Op Todger’). The Battery Sergeant Major, WO2 Grendall, conducts the roll call while the Battery Captain, Mick Doyle, looks on. The first team (4 men) to be ready then loaded weapons under the supervision of the senior cook, and mounted the first vehicle. Three war dogs and handlers of the Army Dog Unit also deployed.
In the hangar a car search is conducted.
Vehicles were maintained by the Light Aid Detachment (LAD) of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
The prison was closed in 2000 and razing began on 30 October 2006.
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Printed image size(s): B2 only (58 x 38 cm)
Owner: 43 Battery (Lloyd's Company) Royal Artillery
Price(s): £70
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