George Simm removed the wheel of his coal truck to simulate a breakdown. Dressed in a donkey jacket and overalls, he fiddled about, waiting on a roadside close to Drumnakilly in County Tyrone, four miles south of Omagh, reports BritPanorama.
On August 30, 1988, George was not actually stranded; he was the “decoy” or the “tethered goat”, as he described it, pretending to be the intended target of an Irish Republican Army Active Service Unit. This day would end in violence, with repercussions that continue to resonate today.
For more than an hour, George waited, aware that British intelligence had identified a three-man team from the IRA intent on killing the real coal truck driver, who was also a part-time member of Northern Ireland’s security services. Surveillance teams reported on suspicious movements, prompting police to suggest ending the operation. However, George, communicating via a concealed radio, opted to remain by the truck, waiting for a confrontation.
He heard a car “over-revving” as it approached, and moments later, Martin Harte emerged and opened fire. “I counted his rounds. I said 15… It was 16 [later investigations found],” George recalled, describing how he sought cover from the gunfire.
As the shots rang out, George’s SAS team, who had been hiding nearby, began their counterattack. George observed one of the IRA members moving around the truck before being shot. Within moments, all three IRA members – Gerard Harte, Martin Harte, and Brian Mullan – were dead.
According to George, who served as the Special Forces ground commander for this operation, the decision to engage was automatic given the imminent threat. At the time, contemporary Irish government records stated that the three men were armed and had hijacked a car prior to the incident.
This confrontation is part of the broader context of “The Troubles,” a violent conflict characterized by multiple casualties. In 1988 alone, 94 people were killed in Northern Ireland, including soldiers, police officers, and civilians. Notably, the same year saw the SAS involved in other controversial operations, heightening public scrutiny of the British security forces’ tactics.
On the same day of the Drumnakilly ambush, Unionist leader John Hume and Gerry Adams, a Republican Sinn Féin leader, conducted a final meeting amid escalating violence, marking a historical moment as they began to lay foundational discussions that would eventually contribute to the peace process.
The incident at Drumnakilly remains contentious, with families of those killed questioning whether it constituted an ambush rather than an operation intended to arrest. In 2023, the High Court criticized the Police Ombudsman for failing to investigate alleged misconduct adequately. However, this ruling did not determine that the SAS’s actions were unlawful.
George rejects claims of his unit adhering to a “shoot-to-kill” policy, asserting that the IRA members had initiated the attack. As debates surrounding the legacy of The Troubles continue, many SAS veterans feel the weight of potential legal challenges, often referring to it as “lawfare,” while victims’ families argue for their right to effective investigations.
The UK government is now working on a new Northern Ireland Troubles Bill that seeks to replace a previous scheme providing conditional immunity from prosecution, amid ongoing political tensions. Veterans like George express concerns that their past actions are being subjected to unending scrutiny.
With tensions over historical accounts continuing, George summarizes the events simply: “You tried to kill somebody and you got killed.”
