Memorial service planned to pay tribute to those who died in Northern Ireland conflict

Photo: Cllr Alan McCarthy

Memorial service planned to remember Northern Ireland conflict

A service of remembrance and parade will be held in Heywood on Sunday 12 February to pay tribute to those who died in the conflict in Northern Ireland, including local man Lance Corporal Michael Beswick who was killed aged 21 in an ambush in Armagh in 1993.

The event will also remember victims of the M62 coach bomb, 1974, where nine soldiers and three civilians were killed in a suspected IRA attack. Of those victims, 18 year-old Fusilier Stephen Whalley came from Middleton.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/events/46067/events-in-rochdale/remembrance-parade-and-service

The Lancashire Veterans Association have organised the service in early February for the past eight years, as the coach attack happened on 4 February 1974, while L/Cpl Beswick was killed on 9 February 1993.

Chairman of the Lancashire Veterans, Harry Mills said: “The service is to show solidarity to all victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Everyone tends to forget Northern Ireland, but we’ve got to remember there are other conflicts.”

Mr Mills, himself a veteran of the Northern Ireland conflict, added: “Apart from a service in Hartshead where the coach bombing took place, nobody else round here remembers it.”

Organisers are hoping for as many people as possible to attend and pay their respects. In the past, around 70 people have attended, including L/Cpl Beswick’s family.

The event on Sunday 12 February starts at The Kings, Market Street, Heywood at 12.00pm. The parade will then make their way to Heywood Gardens of Remembrance for the service at 12.45, before returning to The Kings at 1pm. Members of the public are welcome.