Francis Hughes – Hunger Striker

Posted by Jim on May 12, 2018

Francis Hughes: Scourge of the UDR

A contemporaneous account of the life of Francis Hughes following his
death on May 12, 1981 while on hunger striker against the Tory
criminalisation of republican prisoners. From the Starry Plough.
 

The name of Francis Hughes will surely continue to stick in the throats
of British military and political hawks.

Unlike many of those who make the ultimate sacrifice Francis Hughes had
already become a legend in his own lifetime and amongst his own people
as one of the most capable guerrilla fighters Ireland has produced in
the long war against British Imperialism.

Having put Francis Hughes “safely away” in 1978 the British assumed that
his name would no longer strike terror in their own hearts and a chord
in the minds of people in South Derry.

The British were exultant at his arrest following a gun battle in which
Francis and a comrade killed an SAS man and wounded another. Despite an
awesome wound he refused to answer his interrogators who later described
him as “totally uncooperative”. After the usual mockery of a Diplock
trial British soldiers felt slightly more relaxed in South Derry and
surrounding areas. Very foolish of them of course but then the British
military mind has never understood the collective spirit of solidarity
engendered by individually brilliant revolutionary soldiers like Francis
Hughes.

And brilliant he was. His exploits are legion and legendary spreading
through areas of Tyrone, Derry and Antrim. They are too numerous to
recount here. Suffice it to say that all the normal cliches like
dedication, bravery, military skill and the like are inadequate to
describe a man who caused the British military machine as much grief as
most guerrilla fighters from Tom Barry, Michael Collins and through to
the modern breed of fighters.

One or two examples of his coolness and ingenuity would make even
Collins look like a novice. The night he was surrounded by British
soldiers in one of the numerous “safe houses” in his area of operation
he simply grabbed his rifle and weaved his way through the tightening
circle stopping occasionally to mumble a few familiar words with the
professionals of the British Army whose perception of the “stupid Irish”
has often been a weapon in our favour. He got away then as on many other
occasions.

Behind his folk hero status in South Derry, however, lies the fairly
typical story of a young Irish man who was not allowed to grow up
normally in the artificial police state called Northern Ireland. It was
not for want of trying.

Showing an aptitude for history and woodwork at school he started an
apprenticeship as a painter and decorator at the age of 16 years which
he completed shortly before becoming a full time revolutionary. Shortly
after he became a painter he and a friend receive a brutal beating from
British soldiers on a lonely country road one night. The experience was
to prove more painful to the Brits than Francis himself over the next
few years.

Responsible for more attacks on British forces than the combined
strength of many other units put together he became the “most wanted
man” in the Six Counties. So feared was he that his comrades recalled
recently in Republican News one UDR patrol recognised him once at a
checkpoint but fearful (wisely) of a shoot-out they waved him through.

Francis Hughes is now doubly famous and revered. His hunger strike to
the death was just the ultimate proof, if any were needed, that his
determination and actions in the field were inspired by a profound
political motivation.

If the entire body of self-seekers now scrambling to retain their seats
in the Dail possessed between them just a portion of the guts and
conviction that Francis showed there might not be the need for the
ending of many young Irish lives.