Soldiers' reflections on the Troubles

The Tower Museum will play host to a ground-breaking exhibition looking at how the recent political and military conflict affected the lives of various people living in Great Britain.

The exhibition, entitled Ireland: What was that about?, opens on 30 April and is one of a series of events organised as part of Community Relations Week.

Organised by Eastside Community Heritage Group in London in conjunction with Derry City Council's Heritage and Museum Service, the exhibition tells how the recent political and military conflict in Northern Ireland played a significant part in the lives of two groups of people from Great Britain: Toms or Tommies - slang for soldiers of the British Army - in particular, Toms who served in Northern Ireland during "Operation Banner", which ran from 1969 to 2007 and TOM - or the Troops Out Movement and similar organisations, who were based in Great Britain where they campaigned against the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, calling for British political and military withdrawal.

In their own words eight veterans each from TOM and the British Army tell of their lives, motives and reflections on 'The Troubles'.

They say why they joined their respective organisations, what the highs and lows of their experience were, what they think now of what they did and what their respective organisation achieved.

Other topics covered include: The start of 'The Troubles'; Whether the British troops were "an army of occupation"; Bloody Sunday; The Hunger Strikes and the peace process.

In a unique coming together, as part of the research for this exhibition, three former Toms and three members of the TOM met and discussed the conflict at the Peace Centre of the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace in Warrington.

There, they answered questions from East London school children who wanted to know, 'Ireland – What was that about? The children, who also attended school workshops on Northern Ireland and related history, subsequently produced a video of their encounter with 'vets' of both sides, which also features in the exhibition.

Welcoming the exhibition to the Tower Museum, Craig McGuicken, Acting Head of Museum and Heritage Services with Derry City Council, said it was a very interesting exhibition that was sure to attract much debate and discussion.

"This exhibition discusses a wide range of interesting topics and brings a lot of people together with different and strong opinions about our contested history.

"The event is organised as an attempt at mutual understanding and post-conflict reconciliation," he said.

Among those whose memories feature are: Aly Renwick - a former British soldier who was one of the founders of the Troops Out Movement, Pat Arrowsmith – the veteran peace campaigner who was sentenced to 20 months jail for leafleting British soldiers on Northern Ireland and later escaped from prison during that sentence.

Mary Person one of the TOM activists, who still helps to maintain TOM, Jermey Corbyn – outgoing Labour MP for Islington North; AFN Clarke – a member of the Parachute Regiment who served in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and went on to write a highly praised account of his experiences in Contact, Steven Mc Loughlin – a British soldier who served in Northern Ireland and Iraq and later wrote Squaddie and Patrick Mercer – an outgoing Conservative MP who served nine tours of duty in Northern Ireland.

The exhibition was part funded by the Big Lottery through the Museums and Libraries Archives Council and their 'Their Past, Your Future' programme.

Eastside Community Heritage is a London-based oral history charity which has now been existence for 18 years.

Its achievements include establishing the East London Peoples Archive, which now has over 15,000 oral histories

The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace was set up by Colin and Wendy Parry following the death of their 12-year-old son Tim and 3-year-old Johnathan Ball after the IRA bombed Warrington in 1993.

The Peace Centre (Warrington) is a unique LIVING legacy and memorial to Tim and Johnathan. It was built with local, national and international support, and was opened on March 20, 2000.