“PERMISSION GRANTED.” Just two words scribbled on a notepad by James Callaghan, home secretary in Harold Wilson’s Labour government on the August 14, 1969, in answer to a request to deploy British troops in the North of Ireland, set in motion an operation that lasted four decades.

Wilson’s government wasted no time in pushing ahead with reforms. The publication of a report by Lord Hunt sparked violence when the recommendations included disarming the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) and abolishing the B-specials.

Ironically, it was during a riot in support of the RUC that Constable Victor Arbuckle became the first police officer to die in the Troubles, shot by a loyalist gunman.

A change of government from Labour to Edward Heath’s Conservatives in June 1970 brought with it a change in how the British army operated. Between July 3 and 5, 20,000 residents in West Belfast were locked down on curfew. Floorboards were ripped up, rooms ransacked and reports of residents being subjected to unjustified violence while British soldiers and RUC officers searched for IRA weapons.