Ralph Brooker served in the British army touring Fermanagh, Derry and the infamous South Armagh, better known as "Bandit Country".
Having spent the majority of his time in rural, border areas Ralph recounts the British army's constant attempts to counteract the IRA's ever evolving methods and tactics. Ralph speaks to us about being on the receiving end of IRA mortar attacks, explosive booby-traps & landmines and the day-today realities of fighting a guerrilla army.
Ralph told me about his views on the IRA and how they changed over the years as well as whether he now considers his old foes to be "freedom fighters"
(Q&A coming soon so please drop any questions in the comments or email me at thegoodlistenerpodcast@gmail.com )
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00:00 GETTING MORTARED while in a HELICOPTER
12:20 High Profile IRA men
21:40 How Ralph viewed the IRA- Freedom Fighters ??
44:40 Dealing w/ the Public
51:20 Clashes w/ UDR & RUC
1:02:50 Derry
1:07:50 Names in Stormont that Ralph remembers from COP (Close Observational) Days
1:23:05 Were the Loughall “A-Team” set up ?
1:25:15 IRA Booby-Traps
1:30:40 SOUTH ARMAGH
1:45:30 IRA’s
1:52:00 Final Thoughts
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