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Details of how some of the 300 Orangemen murdered by the
IRA since 1969 met their deaths have been collected for the
first time in a new book published this week in the run up
to Remembrance Sunday.
The details are included in "Battles Beyond the Boyne
- Orangemen in the Ranks 1798-2000" edited by Dr David
Hume, the Order's Director of Services, with contributions
from six Orangemen.
In a chapter entitled "Orangemen in Troubled Times",
author Greg Hopkins from Co Antrim, says a total of 304 Orangemen
were murdered by the IRA in the past 35 years - 148 civilians
and 156 members of the RUC, UDR or the Prison Service. About
a quarter of the victims (73) came from Co Tyrone, with Belfast
(67) and Co Armagh (66) also suffering a particularly high
number of fatalities.
The book goes on to outline the circumstances in which some
of the Orangemen were killed - from 80 year-old John Johnston,
one of five men murdered in the attack on Tullyvallen Orange
Hall in 1975 to George Saunderson the primary school headmaster
from Co Fermanagh who was shot dead in front of his staff
and pupils in April 1974.
"Orangemen suffered more than most through terrorism",
said Dr David Hume. "We estimate that Orange deaths amounted
to almost 10 percent of the total number of fatalities attributed
to the so called troubles, and I'm sure those who died will
be in the minds of many Orangemen and their families as they
gather to mark Remembrance Day this week."
Apart from recent conflict, "Battles Beyond the Boyne"
(available from the Orange Order's headquarters at Schomberg
House in East Belfast; price £5.00) also examines the
contribution of Orangemen in military actions from the Indian
Mutiny to the Battle of the Somme and the D-Day Landings with
contributions from history authors David Cargo and Cecil Kilpatrick,
as well as David Scott, Bruce Kidd and Jack Greenald.
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