I woke up with this song in my head this morning, another forgotten hero. The GC (George Cross) is ranked identically to the Victoria Cross and not one below as often said.

25th May 1971:

Sergeant Michael G. Willets, 27, 3 Para,

On the evening of the 25th May 1971 a terrorist entered the reception hall of Springfield Road Police station in Belfast. He carried a suitcase from which a smoking fuse protruded, dumping the case on the floor he fled out-side, inside the room were a man a woman and two children and several police officers. One of the police officers raised the alarm then began organising an evacuation of the hall through the reception office.

Sgt Willetts was on duty in the inner hall, on hearing the alarm he sent an NCO to the first floor to warn those above and hastened himself to the door towards which the police officer was thrusting those in the reception hall and office. He held the door open while all passed safely through and then stood in the doorway shielding those taking cover.

In the next moment the bomb exploded with terrible force. Sgt Willetts was mortally wounded. His duty did not require him to enter the threatened area. All those people who were approaching the door from the far side agreed that if they had had to check to open the door, They would have perished. Sgt Willetts waited, placing his body as a screen to shelter them.

By this act of bravery, he risked and lost his life for those of the adults and children.

Sgt Michael Willetts was awarded the George Cross (Posthumous)

A true Hero not like the coward who walked in a put the bomb in there

I wonder if that coward was ever caught, and if he was, if he got released as part of the Good Friday agreement. I hope the cun-t is dead already, and that when he died, it was in the most extreme excruciating pain, and it lasted for weeks on end.Suffering is still too good for the bas-tard.

I seem to remember it was alledged to be Frankie Hughes. If correct he died with Boby Sands. So yes, painful.

That song was originally by The Angelic Upstarts on their 'Still from the heart' & sounds very emotional with its backing snare drum,they re-did it a few years later with an acoustic guitar backing,but nothing gets near the emotion of the original.

Rather ironic that the Angelic Upstarts 12 months later released the single Brighton Bomb (which was a celebration & not a protest) with the singer,Mensi,proclaiming "I hate Margaret Thatcher,I wish the I.R.A would blow her up"

I am very happy if that is the case - murdering fu-ckers - and that would apply to both sides. I'm prejudiced against murderers, not religions.

The Soldier was written and originally recorded by Harvey Andrews on his Writer of Songs album not these upstsrt by name upstart by nature gadgies . When it was released as a single it was banned by the BBC but has now progressed from being a banned song to being a GCSE English set piece.

You walk into a copshop aiming to blow it up, see two children, then blow it up anyway.

Yup, that's callous.

And yes, Willets was heroic beyond the bounds of expectation.

I stand corrected,you learn something new everyday.
I still reckon the Upstarts version is the best though