In 1979 the British Army suffered one of its worst losses of
life when 18 soldiers were murdered by the IRA at Warrenpoint, this was in the
time before the days of 24/7 news and
also when the troubles in Northern Ireland seemed to many of us to be deliberately
ignored by both the press and politicians.
But in one part of Ipswich the Warrenpoint atrocity would
not be forgotten as one of those from the 2nd Battalion the
Parachute Regiment murdered that day was 18 year old Gary Barnes.
Gary was from the Whitehouse Estate and a former Westbourne
School pupil.
There is a memorial at Warrenpoint, a bench in Aldershot (the
former home of the Paras) and a further memorial in Palace Barracks, Belfast.
Gary was not forgotten in Ipswich and his name was added to the Cenotaph in Christchurch Park, Ipswich.
27 Years later, another young man left Whithouse Estate to join
the British Army as a member of his
local regiment, the Royal Anglians. Aaron McClure lived close to where Gary
lived and went to the same school as Gary and was even in the same year at
school as Gary’s nephew. Whithouse is a small estate where everyone knows
everyone, a village within the town. In 2007, Aaron was to lose his life in
Afghanistan, just north of Sangin in a ‘friendly fire’ incident.
One town, one estate, one school and now they had lost two young brave men fighting for their country.
I became a councillor in 2008 and then had a year away as I
returned to the army in 2009 to serve in Afghanistan, on my return I was keen
for a lasting memorial to be in the town to Aaron and David Ellesmere the
council leader agreed and we both thought a street named after Aaron would be a
fitting tribute.
We had a number of opportunities to name a street after this
brave man but we were keen for the new road to be in the area of the Whitehouse
Estate. Over the last few years we have been building more council homes and
one new development would be behind the Whitehouse Estate shops on Ulster Way,
so we saw Mrs McClure and family join us to place the McClure Way sign up.
The council was then approached by one of the areas more
senior residents who thought it would also be an ideal opportunity to also
honour another Whithouse lad, Gary Barnes.
So on Friday all those ideas and plans came to fruition as
we unveiled Barnes Square, a new development of flats on McClure Way. It was an
event that I will never forget, the three sisters of Gary, were joined by
Lorraine the mother of Aaron plus other family members but they were not the
only people there to honour the tow lads, also in attendance were friends,
pupils from Westbourne School, local Ward councillors , veterans and the Mayor –
also a Whitehouse boy.
I was very happy that I was also able to facilitate the involvement of the regiments that Gary and Aaron served in
and it was fitting that the families were joined in the unveiling and the photographs
by serving members of 1 Royal Anglian and 2 Parachute Regiment.
It is important in my mind that Ipswich remembered these two
young lads who left our great town to serve in the British Army, now their
names will always be part of the Estate that made them – McClure Way and
Barnes Square on Whitehouse Estate.
Ipswich will never forget them.
