'I would like the truth about my son's death' - Billy Gallagher

Today (Saturday) is the 50th anniversary of the death of nine-year-old Gordon Gallagher.

Gordon was blown up by an IRA bomb left in the back garden of this home, 9, Leenan Gardens in Creggan. 

Before Christmas, Gordon’s father, Billy (85), learned his request for a fresh inquest into Gordon’s death had been turned down by the Attorney General Brenda King.

Gary Duffy of KRW Law Advocates Limited, Belfast, who is representing the Gallagher family, said they are currently examining the possibility of taking further legal action. Mr Duffy described Gordon’s first inquest as “perfunctory”. 

“It lasted less than a day,” he said. 

In an at times highly emotional interview marking Gordon’s anniversary, Mr Gallagher recalled his sons had built a snowman in the garden the day before the explosion occurred. 

“On the morning of the explosion, Sunday, Gordon and his brothers were out playing in the back garden. There were five of them out playing cowboys and indians. Gordon was dressed as a wee cowboy. 

“It seems the bomb was there from the Friday. We weren’t told about it or told to get out of the house. I was told the IRA planted the bomb there because it believed the British army was using the back gardens at night. 

“That morning, Gordon asked me if he could go to 10 o’clock Mass with his brother, Patrick and I let him. He usually went to quarter past 12 Mass with me. 

“The bomb went off when I was at Mass. I heard it going off. A neighbour, Frankie Begley, met me coming out and he said, ‘Billy, that bomb you heard was in your back garden’. His sister was a nurse and she was attending to Gordon. He was away in the ambulance by the time I got home,” said Mr Gallagher.

Mr Gallagher said his wife, Pat (née Garnon) went out after the explosion and spoke to Gordon.

“I don’t know how she did it,” he said. “She had been standing at the kitchen sink and the bomb went off. The four wanes had been out the back minutes before. The windows all came in on top of her. She looked out and she saw Gordon lying. She went out and she tried to lift him. She thought he had just fallen but one of his legs was blown off. 

“Paul Grace, the postman, came in the back and Gordon turned and said, ‘Help me Mr Grace’. 

“Gordon’s other leg was amputated in Altnagelvin in a bid to save his life but his blood loss was too much. He died at quarter past five that afternoon. 

“Fr Rooney, the parish priest, took me out to the hospital. Gordon was already in the operating theatre. He asked the nurse for a drink but she gestured to me that it wasn't possible because it would not have stayed in his body.

“I saw him and he said to me, ‘Yes Daddy’ when I went in. I thought that meant things were not too bad and he might be alright but he had lost too much blood.”

According to Billy Gallagher, the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) report into Gordon’s death found that the British army and the RUC had been notified twice about the bomb being in his back garden. 

“We were not warned about this,” he said. “The army told the HET they did not act because they thought the bomb was a hoax. But hoax or no hoax, we should have been warned and evacuated.

“ The army and the RUC neglected their duty of care to me and my family

“It’s 50 years ago and I still find it hard to get a night’s sleep. I also want a fresh inquest for Gordon. I want to get talking and saying my piece.

“My wife never spoke Gordon’s name for about three years. She was in complete shock. My son, Paul, still thinks about it the most because him and Gordon were together in the back garden that morning. My wife says she remembers seeing Paul running down the garden, after the bomb, and she never saw fear in her life like it. She says he turned pure white. Paul was only eight-years-old at the time.

“I couldn’t stay in the house, so we moved out a few months later.”

Mr Gallagher said, on this, Gordon’s 50th anniversary, he would like the truth about his son’s death to come out.