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Death in the Fields: The IRA and East Tyrone
The riveting story of the impact of the Troubles in East Tyrone as told by the people involved.
Based on interviews with veterans from all sides, including former members of the security forces.
A deep-dive into what the Troubles were like on the
ground, by prolific and decorated military historian.
Based on interviews with veterans from all sides, including former members of the security forces.
A deep-dive into what the Troubles were like on the
ground, by prolific and decorated military historian.
288 pages, Paperback
Published May 23, 2023
62 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 27, 2023
Considering the author is themselves a former British soldier, this is a reasonably even handed narrative in regards East Tyrone throughout the Troubles. Rather than just a simple goodies vs baddies approach, Trigg takes the time and effort to summarise the contexts in which events unfolded and decisions taken. While the actual incidents are described in detail, the human tragedy is not forgotten, and Trigg seems to take the route of offering explanations rather than excuses.
The book is reasonably well researched with just a few errors- for example he refers to the event at the Glengannon Hotel where one of the doormen was murdered in revenge of the killing of Billy Wright as a "Catholic youth disco". As anyone who was part of the Exit 15 (later Area 51) massive (and that includes me!) will tell you, while the flyers may have stated "This is Not a Rave" it was well known as a cross-community techno/hardcore/house/trance venue, attracting young folk from all faiths and none, and all parts of the North.
I did approach this book with even more curiosity than normal. As intimated above, I grew up in that area during this time and recognised a lot of the events that went alongside my formative years. Some of the individuals named within were folk I knew, or at the very least had personal connections at some level. There are at least three incidents listed in great detail in the book that I observed first hand (a bomb attack on the local barracks, lying in bed and hearing the shooting of a soldier up a radio mast and watching the tracer bullets as the Clonoe chapel ambush happened, which we had driven past less than an hour before). Some victims and perpetrators I knew either the individuals themselves or at least other family members- for example I worked with the offspring of quite a high profile operative mentioned throughout the book. So it is fair to say I read the book with an even more acutely attuned radar for errors or sins of omission and to be fair there were very few. This was helped by the wide range of individuals from differing backgrounds and with competing agendas who formed the main source of information in the book-it would have been a Herculean task to combine so many competing and, in places directly opposing viewpoints to put events in context and it is generally well done.
The only slight issues I have are a few small factual errors that I really only spotted because I was born and brought up in the area. My biggest gripe is how one element is ignored and that is the role of the UDR. While collusion is touched on near the end in regards the Crown Security Forces overall, the fact so many UDR members were also loyalist paramilitaries and until South Africa provided UDA, UFF and Ulster Resistance with arms later in the 1980s, they were the main source of weapons used to kill Catholic civilians as well as Republican paramilitaries. This was all noted even in British MoD reports as covered in Micheál Smith's recent "UDR Declassified" book. While not excusing the killing of off-duty and retired UDR members, these facts would have been useful as providing extra information in relation to motivations.
Overall this is a well balanced retelling of some very controversial events, and it even helps explain why things turned out the way they did. Trigg could have taken the easy route, and basically provided a book written more like a thriller just going into detail about what happened, since going further and asking "why" made his job more difficult and of course a target for populist eejits looking to score easy points by claiming such an approach is condoning some pretty horrible acts. Hopefully though, anyone with a titter of wit will see this as an good start to understanding why people acted in the way that they did. After all it is easy to condemn- to try and understand takes intelligence and courage, but is the only way we can actually progress forward.
The book is reasonably well researched with just a few errors- for example he refers to the event at the Glengannon Hotel where one of the doormen was murdered in revenge of the killing of Billy Wright as a "Catholic youth disco". As anyone who was part of the Exit 15 (later Area 51) massive (and that includes me!) will tell you, while the flyers may have stated "This is Not a Rave" it was well known as a cross-community techno/hardcore/house/trance venue, attracting young folk from all faiths and none, and all parts of the North.
I did approach this book with even more curiosity than normal. As intimated above, I grew up in that area during this time and recognised a lot of the events that went alongside my formative years. Some of the individuals named within were folk I knew, or at the very least had personal connections at some level. There are at least three incidents listed in great detail in the book that I observed first hand (a bomb attack on the local barracks, lying in bed and hearing the shooting of a soldier up a radio mast and watching the tracer bullets as the Clonoe chapel ambush happened, which we had driven past less than an hour before). Some victims and perpetrators I knew either the individuals themselves or at least other family members- for example I worked with the offspring of quite a high profile operative mentioned throughout the book. So it is fair to say I read the book with an even more acutely attuned radar for errors or sins of omission and to be fair there were very few. This was helped by the wide range of individuals from differing backgrounds and with competing agendas who formed the main source of information in the book-it would have been a Herculean task to combine so many competing and, in places directly opposing viewpoints to put events in context and it is generally well done.
The only slight issues I have are a few small factual errors that I really only spotted because I was born and brought up in the area. My biggest gripe is how one element is ignored and that is the role of the UDR. While collusion is touched on near the end in regards the Crown Security Forces overall, the fact so many UDR members were also loyalist paramilitaries and until South Africa provided UDA, UFF and Ulster Resistance with arms later in the 1980s, they were the main source of weapons used to kill Catholic civilians as well as Republican paramilitaries. This was all noted even in British MoD reports as covered in Micheál Smith's recent "UDR Declassified" book. While not excusing the killing of off-duty and retired UDR members, these facts would have been useful as providing extra information in relation to motivations.
Overall this is a well balanced retelling of some very controversial events, and it even helps explain why things turned out the way they did. Trigg could have taken the easy route, and basically provided a book written more like a thriller just going into detail about what happened, since going further and asking "why" made his job more difficult and of course a target for populist eejits looking to score easy points by claiming such an approach is condoning some pretty horrible acts. Hopefully though, anyone with a titter of wit will see this as an good start to understanding why people acted in the way that they did. After all it is easy to condemn- to try and understand takes intelligence and courage, but is the only way we can actually progress forward.
April 15, 2023
Found this to be a quite fair and balanced assessment of a relatively recent period of history. Quite informative and not patronising as can often be the case with this subject material. Glad to be living in different times.
October 5, 2024
Fascinating book.
January 27, 2024
My main point of contention with this book is it reinforces the idea that Jim Lynagh was a Maoist. He was not a Maoist he was just influenced by one of Mao's ideas which was that the PIRA should have liberated zones from which to hold and these zones would make it more difficult for the British army to retake the area. the book is also very poorly sourced. it had a lot of very good first-hand accounts but other than that it was lacklustre. it. the introduction is very good as it gives a whole history of Tyrone.
December 27, 2023
Excellent book.
The book goes into detail on many diverse but interesting aspects of "The Troubles". I was particularly struck by the latter chapters dealing with the RUC Special Branch and how many leading members of the Provisional IRA realised they couldn't win.
And the reluctance of younger nationalists to join, not wanting to be killed or ending up in jail for a long time. A very informative read.
The book goes into detail on many diverse but interesting aspects of "The Troubles". I was particularly struck by the latter chapters dealing with the RUC Special Branch and how many leading members of the Provisional IRA realised they couldn't win.
And the reluctance of younger nationalists to join, not wanting to be killed or ending up in jail for a long time. A very informative read.
February 2, 2025
illuminating
I had just previously read the story of Stakeknife and thought the premise that the IRA had been thoroughly infiltrated a little excessive, however this book shows this to be largely true. The work of the East Tyrone brigade illustrates the level of commitment these men had to the cause and how normal people felt about the environment of segregation and discrimination can lead to such outcomes. I very enjoyable book well worth a read.
I had just previously read the story of Stakeknife and thought the premise that the IRA had been thoroughly infiltrated a little excessive, however this book shows this to be largely true. The work of the East Tyrone brigade illustrates the level of commitment these men had to the cause and how normal people felt about the environment of segregation and discrimination can lead to such outcomes. I very enjoyable book well worth a read.
October 20, 2023
Good book on the' troubles '( most are).
A good addition to ' bandit country ' although (East) Tyrone is the focus.
About pira guys who are never detailed much compared to the Belfast volunteers.
A good addition to ' bandit country ' although (East) Tyrone is the focus.
About pira guys who are never detailed much compared to the Belfast volunteers.
December 4, 2023
The bravest of the brave.
June 25, 2025
Very interesting book on a troubled time for both Northern Ireland and the British forces. Trigg always writes in a style that brings factual information to life.
October 12, 2023
Essential Reading
A blow by blow account of the rise, fall and annihilation of one of PIRA’s units. The naked sectarian killings make it hard to read in places but for those of us who served there and those with an interest in Op Banner this is essential reading.
A blow by blow account of the rise, fall and annihilation of one of PIRA’s units. The naked sectarian killings make it hard to read in places but for those of us who served there and those with an interest in Op Banner this is essential reading.
May 8, 2024
I read this book in two sittings as it was so engaging, eschewing statistical analysis,intricate political philosophy and concentrating on the main protagonists of the conflict’s triumvirate of players namely; East Tyrone PIRA, State Security Services and Loyalist Paramilitaries. The book has its genesis set around the end of the failed IRA Border Campaign of the late 1950s and informs us how the strife of 1969 motivated the moribund republican tradition Into physical action. Embracing a very parochial attitude, a few dozen families formed the core of the deadly East Tyrone PIRA. The author informs us in great detail of multifarious PIRA battles with the British Army and the concomitant security or loyalist response. He elucidates how the conflict was perceived to turn sectarian as the PIRA targeted the locally recruited, but mainly Protestant UDR and Municipal building contractors which had a negative impact on PIRA as local inhabitants were now indirectly helping the authorities as a sign of their rejection of the growing sectarianism. For the reader not familiar with Northern Ireland, it is revelatory how indigenous the actors were, with RUC officers warning off the parents of their potential assassins, to keep their sons away from their current company as ‘they will end up in a box’. This patois was not threatening, but empathetic or a form of paternalism which we learn via the author’s interlocutors from all sides of the arena. We learn of how certain elements within East Tyrone Brigade, Jim Lynagh in particular, wanted to create liberated zones within Northern Ireland by attacking barracks and police stations while the PIRA chief of staff Kevin Mc Kenna favoured a Vietnam style tet offensive. Inevitably as the conflict moved to The Long War the Special Branch got smarter and were able to infiltrate the East Tyrone Brigade via informers and technology advancement. Consequently, all the major players known colloquially as The A Team and The Untouchables were virtually massacred by the SAS, suffering at Loughall the second biggest loss of life in IRA history ( part of the failed liberated zone effort)
I was shocked to learn that these ‘key players’ were replaced in the PIRA Brigade by individuals who should have been studying Macbeth for A Levels and not living the Republican Dream shooting their neighbours. One area that the author tangentially mentions is the dichotomy of the rift between the physical force element in the PIRA and political element. We know now that the politicos won that battle but I feel a lot more will be written about this period of our history, especially from the advocates of The A Team and The Untouchables. However, I feel it will be my grandchildren who will be reading that story, as by the time HMG open the classified files I, like Gerry Adams will be sleeping with the fish.
I was shocked to learn that these ‘key players’ were replaced in the PIRA Brigade by individuals who should have been studying Macbeth for A Levels and not living the Republican Dream shooting their neighbours. One area that the author tangentially mentions is the dichotomy of the rift between the physical force element in the PIRA and political element. We know now that the politicos won that battle but I feel a lot more will be written about this period of our history, especially from the advocates of The A Team and The Untouchables. However, I feel it will be my grandchildren who will be reading that story, as by the time HMG open the classified files I, like Gerry Adams will be sleeping with the fish.
November 23, 2024
I was serving in East Tyrone when the 'A Team' were at their most brutal.
The book emphasizes pivotal moments, especially the 1987 Loughgall ambush, where eight members of the IRA's East Tyrone "A Team" were killed in an SAS operation. This event is portrayed as a watershed for the brigade, marking a turning point that curtailed its operational capabilities. Trigg examines the circumstances surrounding the ambush, including speculation about informants and strategic missteps, while also acknowledging the brigade’s earlier successes, driven by a core group of seasoned volunteers and weaponry sourced from Libya.
Death in the Fields offers an insightful and balanced account of a brutal yet critical period in East Tyrone’s history. It appeals to readers interested in military history & counterinsurgency in the Province
The book emphasizes pivotal moments, especially the 1987 Loughgall ambush, where eight members of the IRA's East Tyrone "A Team" were killed in an SAS operation. This event is portrayed as a watershed for the brigade, marking a turning point that curtailed its operational capabilities. Trigg examines the circumstances surrounding the ambush, including speculation about informants and strategic missteps, while also acknowledging the brigade’s earlier successes, driven by a core group of seasoned volunteers and weaponry sourced from Libya.
Death in the Fields offers an insightful and balanced account of a brutal yet critical period in East Tyrone’s history. It appeals to readers interested in military history & counterinsurgency in the Province
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews