On 14 August the battle of the Bogside had reached a crucial stage. The exhausted police were being pushed back when suddenly the advancing Bogsiders caught sight of a force of B-Specials moving forward. There was consternation. McCann writes: Undoubtedly they would use guns. The possibility that there was going to be a massacre struck hundreds of people simultaneously. ‘Have we guns?’ people shouted to one another, hoping that someone would know… suddenly fearful of what was about to happen.28 It was at that moment that the troops were first sighted. The initial response of the people was one
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