David, your novel follows a British battalion on its tour of Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Why did you want to write about this difficult period in British and Irish history?
To some extent the Troubles are a forgotten ‘war’ and quite unlike almost any campaign that the British Army has ever undertaken, largely because it took place on British soil. Many British soldiers found themselves more than a little bewildered by the circumstances they encountered. Operation BANNER, the name given to this campaign, has always fascinated me because I grew in Northern Ireland but also served there, full-time with the UDR.
We follow Lee, a young private from difficult circumstances. Was there something you wanted to capture about British squaddies posted to NI?
Really, I wanted a record of the peculiar nature of the campaign undertaken. The troops wore uniform whereas the enemy did not. The enemy could attack at any time but attacks were sporadic if increasingly effective as time wore on. I hoped to give a sense of the routine that the soldiers lived with and also how they managed to find humour in trying circumstances. Also I felt it was worth drawing attention to the soldiers’ youth and the extraordinary responsibility they had. Lee was a typical British soldier of the period – or of any period! Serving in Northern Ireland was likely to be the only really notable thing he did in his life.
Dennis, the antagonist, is a somewhat naïve volunteer into the PIRA and from a middle class home. Was this background unusual for recruits into the terrorist organisation?
The terrorist organisations expected different levels of commitment from their adherents. Some were no more than ‘hangers on’ who contributed next to nothing. Others helped with storing or moving weapons or perhaps providing hiding places for gunmen etc. Some were content to pass on intelligence and others took direct action with guns or bombs. There was obviously a yobbish element in these organisations but also a cadre of well-educated idealists with political ideals (socialism based). Dennis wants to do his bit for the cause but perhaps with an eye on rising up through the ranks in future.
I think the level of sophistication shown in the PIRA campaign in particular certainly indicates a high level of education and intelligence in the organisation’s higher echelons. The men and women who orchestrated their terrorist campaign were not generally the same blowhards who sat around in pubs merely talking of great deeds.
The novel is set during the late 1980s. How had the experience of the British soldier changed since the 1970s?
The tactics employed by the Army changed in this period in response to the more sophisticated campaign they were faced with. Riots and (often inconclusive) gun battles had largely gone as had the so-called ‘brigade system’ used by PIRA. PIRA began to organise itself in cells, the members of which supposedly knew little about the members of other cells. This had the twin benefits of improving security but also of ridding the organisation of the hangers on who would, in reality, contribute little to the cause.
The net result for the British Army was more importance being placed on intelligence gathering – with every patrol theoretically able to add its own observations to the overall picture. In addition the training provided prior to a tour of duty in the province became increasingly realistic and specific to the campaign being ‘fought’ rather than an updated version of tactics from previous campaigns.
Eventually, the army and the police achieved what was called, ‘an acceptable level of violence’ in the 1980s.
When Lee returns to the mainland he encounters people who, if Northern Ireland comes into their thoughts they are hopelessly misinformed. To what extent do you think the Troubles are understood in England?
They’re still not understood well or at all and this situation gets worse as time goes by. In fairness it has to be said that The Troubles were very confusing: Who was who? Who was right and who was wrong? Why did young British men have to risk their lives for a load of ‘Paddies’? Why did they have to go to ‘Ireland’ at all? Part of the problem lies with a widely held belief that English and British are synonyms, therefore why were ‘we’ getting involved in someone else’s fight?
There have been a number of novels written about the Troubles in recent years, including Milkman and Country. What is it about the conflict that makes it such fertile territory for novelists?
I think part of the interest stems from the fact that it was a ‘war’ ‘fought’ on British soil. The enemy spoke English, drove Fords, Vauxhalls and Toyotas, lived in ordinary houses in ordinary communities, drank ordinary beer and watched TV when not engaged in attacking their foes. The troops lived in the modern equivalents of Wild West forts, often surrounded by a hostile population. At the same time they might undertake patrols on streets replete with reminders of home: Marks and Spencer, Boots, Woolworths. It was unlike previous campaigns in Malaya or Borneo but no less disquieting.
For those who would like to explore further the history of the Troubles, is there one book or writer you would recommend?
A good starting point would be, A Breed Of Heroes by Alan Judd. It was one of the first books which I read on the subject.
What are you working on next?
At the minute I am re-working some of my older novels with a view to them being published at some point in the future. Most of these involve soldiers or ex-soldiers – stick to what you know!
David Roy is the author of The Plaster Saints, published by Chiselbury.
