William James Paul Fleming and Danny Doherty were volunteers in the Derry Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army from the predominantly republican "Top Of The Hill" area of the Waterside, Derry, Northern Ireland.
Willy Fleming and Danny Doherty were killed in a pre-meditated British ambush in the grounds of Gransha Hospital by the SAS and 14 Intelligence Company soldiers of the British Army on 6 December 1984.
Willy Fleming and Danny Doherty were killed in a pre-meditated British ambush in the grounds of Gransha Hospital by the SAS and 14 Intelligence Company soldiers of the British Army on 6 December 1984.
On 6 December 1984, Fleming and Doherty were driving a motorbike into the grounds of Gransha Psychiatric Hospital, approximately 4 miles from Derry City Centre. The hospital was also the administrative headquarters of the Western Health and Social Services Board. It was reported at the time that the pair were at the hospital in an attempt to execute an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment who worked at the hospital as there was a shift change at the hospital at 8am.The SAS unit were aware that an IRA operation had been planned to take place in the vicinity of the hospital after receiving a tip-off. An SAS unit from the "Londonderry Detachment of 14 Intelligence Company", without the knowledge of the RUC or the hospital authorities, were on duty at the hospital for two weeks prior to 6 December, however they had little prior information as to the details of the operation.
At 8 am an unmarked car driven by a member of the SAS rammed into the motorbike, dislodging Fleming from the pillion seat and causing it to go out of control. After Fleming had been knocked from the motorbike, two further SAS troopers shot him, claiming he was armed and posed a direct threat. The bike then mounted a kerb and threw Doherty to the ground. Forensic evidence showed that a further six shots hit Doherty while he was on the ground, and Fleming's autopsy showed that he had four gunshot wounds to his head and 56 to his trunk and torso. During the inquest into the shootings, the coroner stated that Vol. Danny Doherty had three gunshot wounds to the head and a further twenty one shots to his body. Proof of not an arrest, but a deliberate murder by the forces of the crown, simply because Volunteers Danny Doherty & William Fleming posed a threat to the forces of British occupation due to their uncompromising dedication to the Republican cause and the goal of a 32 County Socialist Republic.
At 8 am an unmarked car driven by a member of the SAS rammed into the motorbike, dislodging Fleming from the pillion seat and causing it to go out of control. After Fleming had been knocked from the motorbike, two further SAS troopers shot him, claiming he was armed and posed a direct threat. The bike then mounted a kerb and threw Doherty to the ground. Forensic evidence showed that a further six shots hit Doherty while he was on the ground, and Fleming's autopsy showed that he had four gunshot wounds to his head and 56 to his trunk and torso. During the inquest into the shootings, the coroner stated that Vol. Danny Doherty had three gunshot wounds to the head and a further twenty one shots to his body. Proof of not an arrest, but a deliberate murder by the forces of the crown, simply because Volunteers Danny Doherty & William Fleming posed a threat to the forces of British occupation due to their uncompromising dedication to the Republican cause and the goal of a 32 County Socialist Republic.
Volunteers Danny Doherty & William Fleming, unbowed and unbroken, they lived and died as Republicans and Irishmen. Remember them with pride.
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