Private 24355690 James Joseph COCHRANE, 3rd UDR. Killed 6 January 1980 aged 21. At rest in St Patrick's Churchyard Sect A Row 1 Grave 171
The following Private Robert (Roy) SMYTH, Private Richard Samuel John WILSON and above James Joseph Cochrane all 3rd UDR were killed by the PIRA whilst on active service with the Operations Platoon, 3rd Ulster Defence Regiment 6th January 1980 He was one of a section of four in the lead vehicle on a two vehicle patrol near Castlewellan, County Down. On their return to Ballykinlar Camp their vehicle was blown up by a 600lb home made land mine at Burren Bridge, near Caslewellan. The explosion left a thirteen foot crater.
He and private Jim Cochrane were trapped under water underneath their vehicle in the crater which was filling up with water from a broken water main caused by the explosion. Three had died at the scene, two from fractured skulls and one may have drowned
Image credited to We Will Remember Them on facebook
We are a non commercial community interested only in the discussion of all things military.
We do not sell or authorise the use of images hosted on our servers, if you wish to purchase or use imagery contact the uploader directly.(you will need to register). Any requests received to purchase or use imagery will be ignored. Thank you and welcome to MI.Net
You have been here as a guest for a while, I guess we are doing something right?
Register as a member and join in the discussions, its completely free and we would welcome your contributions.
All the best admin - MI.Net
We value your privacy
We use essential cookies to make this site work, and optional cookies to enhance your experience.