Former ITN cameraman recounts filming 1988 IRA funeral attack on British soldiers

Former ITN cameraman Peter Wilkinson has described filming one of the most shocking incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

In March 1988, Wilkinson was sent to cover the funeral of Kevin Brady. The funeral cortege had left church and was heading for Milltown Cemetery, where Kevin Brady had been killed on the Wednesday. Tensions were at boiling point. Earlier that same month, three unarmed IRA members had been shot dead by the SAS on Gibraltar. As they were being buried, Loyalist Michael Stone launched a grenade and gun attack, killing three mourners.

Wilkinson said the scene was calm when he arrived. He noticed a grey car driving down towards the coffin from the right-hand side and thought: 'my God, what's going to happen here?' There was no way out. Taxis in the procession blocked the car's path, with several behind it and one in front. On the passenger side was David Howes. Wilkinson had an ITN sticker on his camera and was very close to him. He believed Howes looked at him and did not seem too worried, perhaps thinking the media's presence meant nothing unpleasant would happen.

Then the mob caught sight of a gun. On the far side of the car, the driver began to get out with a pistol in his hand and was set upon. Wilkinson remembered saying 'no, no, no' as the attack happened. His sound man pulled his jacket and told him to remember where they were because of his English accent. Camera crews were forced to stop filming.

Wilkinson took the tape containing most of the attack out of the camera and put it down his underpants. He put another tape in and ran it on. The IRA came over and asked for the tape. He made a fuss and said it had all his material, then handed over the second tape. He said they warned him: 'if it's not on here, we know exactly who you are and where it gets you.'

The mob beat the two plain-clothes soldiers, Derek Wood and David Howes, and dragged them into a nearby park. They were later shot. An eyewitness saw a priest try to help one of the men. Wilkinson went up to him as he was giving the last rites to a man who was still alive and breathing. The event had a lasting impact, and the image haunted people. During the interview, Tom Bradby argued that it was one of the things that pushed the Troubles towards a conclusion.

After the tape was broadcast, Wilkinson went back to the local television station. The editor, David Nicholas, phoned him and told him to come home now and leave everything. He left his belongings in the hotel and took a flight home. He said nobody filmed the actual executions. Two days after the event, he got a phone call at home. The caller said: 'don't come back and identify your film.' Wilkinson replied that he would go to prison if he did not attend. The caller said: 'think of the alternative.' Wilkinson found the call chilling because the caller had his phone number. His wife used to take their daughters to school, and the family was told to look under the car and check for strangers. They had a direct line to Tellington Police Station because once you are on a list, you are a target.

Wilkinson also said it emerged over time that the two corporals appeared to have accidentally driven into the procession. One was taking over a job from the other and was being shown around Belfast. The fathers of the two soldiers phoned Wilkinson at home, though he did not know how they got his number. They said they wanted to see him. When they arrived, they were curt. They asked why he had not hit the attackers with his camera. He told them the British Army could not cope with the IRA at times, so he stood no chance of stopping anything. As they left, they said: 'Peter, I think you probably were the last, one of the last people that cared about them.' Wilkinson described it as an extraordinary emotional thing to witness.