Statement by TUV Comber councillor and UDR veteran Stephen Cooper:
“Today is the 50th anniversary of the murder of Gunner Robert George Curtis, the first military fatality of Operation Banner. Gunner Curtis, like 705 British soldiers murdered in the following 30 years of terrorism, did not die on the battlefield. He was shot while seeking to bring peace to the streets during a riot situation. The murderer responsible did not stand and face this soldier but rather, like the coward he was, used the cover of a crowd to escape.
“Like so many others Gunner Curtis left a family behind. Having been married just over a year he left a widow who was expecting their first child. Just prior to the murder he received a letter from his wife advising him that he was going to be a father.
“At a time when there is a concerted effort by the enemies of truth and justice to rewrite the past and sanitise the blood-soaked annals of the Provisional movement it is more important than ever to remember the sacrifice of good men like Gunner Curtis. We owe it to the upcoming generation to defend his memory and those of his gallant colleagues.”