LAST UPDATE | 16 Oct
THE FORMER HEAD of the British Army who was present on Bloody Sunday and led the army during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has died at the age of 80.
The British Army last night confirmed that General Mike Jackson had died surrounded by his family.
In a statement last night, the British Army said Jackson “served with distinction for over 40 years” and that “he will be greatly missed and long remembered”.
In 1970, Jackon was transferred to the Parachute Regiment, serving in the North during the height of the Troubles.
The Bloody Sunday Trust has said he wreaked havoc in Derry and elsewhere and that he “should have been in the international dock for war crimes”.
Jackson was the second in command in the Parachute Regiment and was on the ground during Bloody Sunday when 13 people were shot dead by British soldiers in Derry on 30 January 1972.
A fourteenth person died several months later in hospital.
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry, also known as the Saville Inquiry, was established in 1998.
In 2003, the inquiry questioned Jackson over a “shot list” he wrote on the night Bloody Sunday.
It was put to Jackson that this list was an attempt to justify publicly why people had been shot.
The handwritten note described some of the people killed during Bloody Sunday as “nail bombers”, “pistol firers”, and “carrying rifles”.
The Saville Inquiry went on to conclude that none of the victims were posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting.
Jackson made an apology in 2011 and acknowledged the victims had been killed “without justification” after the publication of the Saville inquiry’s report.
Then-prime minister David Cameron apologised in the House of Commons, saying that the killings were “unjustified and unjustifiable”.
The chairperson of the Bloody Sunday Trust said “there will be no grieving the loss of this man”.
Tony Doherty added: “He knowingly ordered the execution of many innocent people and should have been in the international dock for war crimes”.
While Doherty said the “British may celebrate his life and so-called achievements”, he added that “there will be no mourning here”.
Tony Doherty, Chairperson of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said: on behalf of the Bloody Sunday families and many other families who’ve had loved ones murdered by the British army; there will be no grieving the loss of this man.@tonydutchdoc @MaeveMcLaughli1 pic.twitter.com/OB6cukebBJ
— Bloody Sunday Trust (@BloodySundayT) October 16, 2024
“As he wreaked havoc in Derry and elsewhere in the 1970s, taking innocent life after innocent life, he thought they had quenched the spirit of freedom,” said Doherty.
“For the many families that he tried to destroy, vengeance had become to laughter of our children and grandchildren.”
Jackson also denied that there was a cover-up of the Ballymurphy massacre when ten people were killed by the British Army in west Belfast in August 1971.
An inquest found that the British Army killed nine of the ten victims,which included a mother-of-eight and a Catholic priest.
Jackson attended an inquest into the killing, which found that the victims were “entirely innocent”.
“People just presumed that they were guilty because of what was put out in the media and what the Army said,” said Eileen McKeown after the inquest’s findings were announced.
Her father Joseph Corr was one of those killed in the Ballymurphy massacre.
Former SDLP leader and current Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said his thoughts are with the Bloody Sunday and Ballymurphy families following Jackson’s death.
“My thoughts are with the Bloody Sunday and Ballymurphy families and all innocent victims following the news of Mike Jackson’s death,” said Eastwood.
“No doubt this will bring back very difficult memories of their loved ones and the decades long crusade they were forced to go through in an attempt to uncover the truth and secure justice.”
Jackson also led the British Army during the allied invasion of Iraq in 2003 and also served in Bosnia.
He had become the head of the British Army just a month prior to the Iraq War.
During his time, Jackson had to deal with claims of Iraqi prisoner abuse at the hands of UK troops.
In March 2006, he also created headlines after criticising kidnap victim Norman Kember, claiming the Briton had not thanked the SAS soldiers who rescued him and his Canadian colleagues from their captors in Iraq.
Jackson retired in August of that year, having held the post for three-and-a-half years.
Home Office minister Dan Jarvis, a former Parachute Regiment officer who served alongside Jackson, said he was a “soldier’s soldier” and an “outstanding, inspirational and charismatic leader”.
-With additional reporting from Press Association
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