ildren took part in the march in what was described as a carnival atmosphere. Members of the British Army prevented the march from entering the city center. The main body of the march then moved to the Free Derry Corner to attend a rally, but some young men began throwing stones at soldiers in William Street. Soldiers of the Parachute Regiment, an elite regiment of the British Army, moved into the Bogside in an attempt to arrest certain protesters. During the next 30 minutes these soldiers shot and killed 13 men, while injuring 13 more people, mainly by single shots to the head and torso.The soldiers responsible for the deaths and injuries that day insisted that Irishmen had fired them upon first with guns and bombs. They claimed the attack was by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and that they only fired at people in possession of weapons. Those involved in the march, and those who witnessed the events, all provided evidence that was contrary to the evidence given by the soldiers. According to these testimonies none of those killed or injured had any guns or bombs.The events of 'Bloody Sunday' caused a lot of shock and revulsion at an international level. Within Ireland the killings resulted in a dramatic increase in support for Republicanism in general and the IRA in particular. The appeal for a new investigation into events on that day was a main demand of the relatives of the incident, and the events of "Bloody Sunday" remain an emotional issue to this day. This is in contrast to a number of other major incidents involving paramilitary groups that do not attract the same level of media attention. Part of the reason for this difference is the fact that the Widgery Report into "Bloody Sunday" left doubts about the innocence of those killed. Members of various paramilitary groups killed those who died in other major incidents. However, in Derry it was government forces, in the form of the British Army, the very people ...
