Forty years on, community supports family of young RUC officer killed by IRA bomb in Armagh

Married-father-of-one Gordon Wilson died on 21 February 1983 - the day before he would have celebrated his 30th birthday with his young wife and six-week-old baby daughter.

A service in his memory was held in Loughbrickland Orange Hall on Sunday night.

Axel Schmidt, Advocacy Service Manager with Ulster Human Rights Watch, said: “There were more than 300 people at the service of remembrance. This showed the measure of respect the community had for Sgt Gordon Wilson who was remembered by so many 40 years after his murder by IRA terrorists. It also let his family know that the wider community hasn’t forgotten their loved one."

Rathfriland man Sammy Heenan, who was orphaned by the IRA as a child on his family farm outside Castlewellan, also attended the service.

"A young family was destroyed and a painful legacy still abides due to those who terrorised our society," he said on social media after the service. "So encouraging for the family to see such a large attendance.”

Mr Wilson was killed by an IRA bomb which had been hidden behind the door of a derelict bar near the city centre of Armagh in 1983.

According to Troubles reference work Lost Lives, the device was triggered by remote control as he stood outside the Albert Bar in Lower English Street.

Mr Wilson was in charge of an armoured patrol car which had stopped outside a chip shop while the driver went in to buy food for the patrol.

A Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland spokesman said lodges are encouraged to remember members who gave their lives in defence of Northern Ireland.

“More than 340 members of our Institution were murdered, and they are remembered each year on 1st of September during our Orange Victims Day events,” he said.

“Many, like Brother Gordon Wilson, were serving members of the security forces when they were ruthlessly cut down.

"Others were murdered because they were Protestants, and some were singled out by terrorists simply because they were Orangemen."

He said Mr Wilson was a member of Creevy Bible and Crown Defenders Orange Lodge 120.