The Bloody Sunday victims in profile
Patrick Doherty (32)
A married man with six children, Doherty was shot dead as he attempted to crawl for cover behind block 2 of the Rossville flats complex.
His last movements were filmed by photographer Giles Peress. He was most likely shot as he turned away from the paratroopers and the entry wound was on his buttock. A steward on the march, he had encouraged his wife Eileen to stay at the rear of the parade.
In his 1972 report, Britain's then-lord chief justice, Lord Widgery, said he was certainly hit from behind whilst crawling or crouching. His reaction to the paraffin test for gun shot residue was negative. Lord Widgery concluded he was not carrying a weapon. He was most likely shot by a paratrooper referred to as Soldier F during the inquiry.
Hugh Gilmour
Trainee tyre fitter Gilmour (17) was the son of a former Derry City soccer player and the youngest of a family of eight. A Liverpool supporter, he went to the cinema almost every night with his friends.
He was shot as he ran on Rossville Street, and a photograph was taken seconds afterwards. He was struck close to the rubble barricade but managed to continue running for a few metres before falling to the ground at the side of the Rossville Flats, just below the window of his family home.
Lord Widgery said it would have been impossible to identify the soldier who shot Mr Gilmour because of his location on the barricade but that there was no evidence to suggest he had used a weapon. He said the track of the bullet that killed him suggested he was not shot from directly behind
Jackie Duddy
Duddy (17) was born at Springtown Camp and was one of a family of 15. He worked at a local factory, but his passion was boxing, and he had fought throughout Ireland. He had no interest in politics and attended the march against his father’s advice.
He was killed by a single shot to the back in the courtyard of the Rossville Flats. He had been running alongside Fr Edward Daly. The photograph of his body being carried while Fr Daly waved a white handkerchief remains an enduring image of the day. Four witnesses said he was unarmed and running away from soldiers; three said they saw a soldier take deliberate aim at him as he fled.
Lord Widgery concluded he was hit by a bullet meant for someone else. Lord Widgery said: Duddy was probably the first fatal casualty of the incident. The bullet entered his right shoulder and travelled through his body from right to left. Lord Widgery said his reaction to the paraffin test was negative and that he accepted that Duddy was not carrying a bomb or firearm.
John Young
Young (17) was also born at Springtown Camp. The youngest of a family of six, he worked in John Temple’s menswear shop in the city. He was interested in showbands and was a ‘roadie’ for The Scene.
He was killed by a single shot to the head as he sought shelter at the rubble barricade on Rossville Street. While two witnesses gave evidence to the Widgery tribunal that Young was unarmed when he was shot, lead particles found on his left hand led Lord Widgery to conclude he had probably fired a gun.
In 1971 he had witnessed the death of Annette McGavigan the 14-year-old who was killed when British soldiers opened fire in the Bogside after a day of rioting in Derry.
Lord Widgery said Young was undoubtedly associated with a group of youths who were throwing missiles at the soldiers from the barricade. He said the track of the bullet suggests that he was facing the soldiers at the time he was shot. He said no weapon was found on young man but there was sufficient opportunity for this to have been removed by others
Kevin McElhinney
McElhinney (17) was the middle child in a family of five. He helped look after his home for six months while his mother recuperated after a heart attack. He worked at Lipton’s supermarket from the time he left school. He regularly attended dances and loved music, especially T-Rex.
He was shot from behind as he was attempting to crawl towards a doorway of the Rossville Flats. He was dragged inside by people who were already sheltering there. Two witnesses, including a Catholic priest, testified that he was unarmed.
Lord Widgery said he was impressed by the evidence of a Sergeant K to the inquiry. Sergeant K described two men crawling from the barricade in the direction of the door of the flats and said that the rear man was carrying a rifle. He fired one aimed shot but could not say whether it hit. Lead particles were detected on the back of McElhinney's left hand and the quantity of particles on the back of his jacket was significantly above normal, but this may have been due to the fact that the bullet had been damaged.
Michael Kelly
Kelly (17) was the seventh child in a family of 13. At the age of three he contracted a virus and spent three weeks in a coma, but he recovered and was training to be a sewing machine mechanic. He spent his weeks at Belfast polytechnic college, returning to Derry at the weekends. He had no interest in politics and the march on what turned out to be Bloody Sunday was the first he had ever attended. He was shot near the rubble barricade in front of Rossville Flats. Lord Widgery accepted Kelly was not armed but concluded he must have been standing close to someone who had discharged their weapon because of lead particles on his right cuff.
Lord Widgery said Kelly was shot in his abdomen from the front and this disposed of a suggestion in the evidence that he was running away at the time. He said he did not think Kelly had fired a weapon at the soldiers from the barricade and he was satisfied that he was not throwing a bomb at the time when he was shot, as alleged by Soldier F.
Gerald Donaghey
Donaghey (17) was the youngest of three children. He was orphaned at the age of ten. He had previously been sentenced to six months for rioting in the Bogside. He was a member of the IRA's youth wing, Fianna na hÉireann. He was shot in the abdomen while moving between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park but did not die immediately. Two men attempted to bring him by car to hospital but were stopped at a military checkpoint and ordered to leave the car. It was driven by a soldier to an aid post, where another soldier, who was also a medical officer, pronounced Mr Donaghy dead.
Lord Widgery rejected suggestions that nailbombs were planted on Donaghey by a member of the security forces. He said no evidence was offered as to where the bombs might have come from, who might have placed them or why Donaghy should have been singled out for this treatment.
William Nash
Nash (19) was the seventh child in a family of 13. He worked with his father on Derry's docks and was a brother of boxer Charlie Nash. He was killed at the rubble barricade in Rossville Street with a single shot to the chest. His father Alex was wounded trying to reach him. Witness accounts state Nash was unarmed and was going to the aid of someone else when he was shot. However, because lead particles were found on his left hand Lord Widgery concluded that he had probably been firing a gun.
A paratrooper, named Soldier P, said he saw a man with a pistol and shot him in the chest. He told the inquiry he thought that the pistol was removed by other civilians. Lord Widgery said, given where he was shot, it was possible that Soldier P had given an accurate account of the death of Nash.
Michael McDaid
McDaid (20) lived in Tyrconnell Street. He was the second youngest of a family of 12. He was a bartender in the Celtic Bar.
He was killed by a single shot at the rubble barricade in front of Rossville Flats. The tweed jacket he was wearing on the day, with a jagged tear where the bullet exited his body, is on display at the Museum of Free Derry.
As lead particles were found on McDaid's jacket and his right hand, Lord Widgery concluded that he was near to someone discharging a weapon. Lord Widgery said the bullet had struck McDaid in the left cheek
Jim Wray
Wray (22) was the second-oldest in a family of nine and had been working in England. He was engaged to an English woman. He and his family went to the march after attending mass together. He was shot in Glenfada Park. As he lay on the ground wounded he was shot again at close range, outside his grandparents' home. The corduroy jacket he was wearing, with bullet holes, is on display in the Museum of Free Derry.
Lord Widgery said the evidence of his death was too confused and too contradictory to make an individual comment as there was no photographic evidence. He said testing by experts suggested Wray had used a firearm but that the balance of probability suggests that at the time when he shot he was not acting aggressively and was shot without justification.
William McKinney
McKinney (27) was the oldest in a family of ten. He worked as a compositor with the local newspaper, the Derry Journal. His family nickname was 'The Professor'. He loved music, particularly Jim Reeves, and played the accordion.
A keen amateur cameraman, he managed to record some footage of the events of the day. He was shot in the back as he tried to assist wounded people in Glenfada park.
Lord Widgery said the evidence relating to his death was too confused and too contradictory to make a specific consideration as to how he died.
Paraffin tests for gunshot residue on his hands and clothing were negative.
Gerald McKinney
McKinney (35) was married to Ita and the father of eight children, the youngest of whom was born eight days after his father’s death. McKinney worked in John McLaughlin’s on the Strand Road. He ran the Ritz roller skating rink and managed a junior soccer team. He had no particular interest in politics. When he was shot dead in an alleyway leading from Glenfada Park to Abbey Park, he had been part of a group of people trying to move towards Westland Street to safety.
When Gerald Donaghey, who was running ahead of him, was shot, two witnesses said McKinney then raised his arms and shouted: "Don't shoot, don’t shoot".
The position of the bullet's entry and exit holes on his body indicated he had his arms raised at the time he was shot.
Lord Widgery said McKinney was shot somewhere near the south-west corner of a courtyard of the flats at Glenfada Park. Lord Widgery said the evidence received during his investigation regarding McKinney was too confused and too contradictory to make a determination of exactly how he died. Paraffin tests on his hands and clothing were negative for gunshot residue.
Bernard "Barney" McGuigan
McGuigan (41) was a married father of six. He worked in the Birmingham Sound Reproducer factory. He was shot in the back as he tried to go to the aid of the dying Patrick Doherty. McGuigan had emerged from shelter waving a white handkerchief when he was shot dead by a single bullet to the head. A number of witnesses stated he was unarmed.
Lead particles found on both his hands drew Lord Widgery to conclude that “he had been in close proximity to someone who had fired”.
Lord Widgery said photographs of McGuigan initially showed him without a scarf around his head but later did. He said the scarf showed a heavy deposit of lead, the distribution and density of which was consistent with it having been used to wrap a revolver which had been fired several times. His widow said the scarf did not belong to him. Lord Widgery said he accepted her evidence. He concluded it was not possible to say that McGuigan was using or carrying a weapon when he was shot.
John Johnston
Johnston (59) worked as a draper all his life and was a keen golfer. He supported the civil rights movement and attended as many marches as he could. However, Johnston was not on the march that day, but on his way to visit a friend in Glenfada Park.
He was hit by the first shots fired in William Street on the day. When he died months later on June 16th, 1972, his death was attributed to the injuries he suffered on Bloody Sunday.