A group of survivors from the Ballygawley terror attack return to the scenes that left them for dead.
A former soldier who survived the Ballygawley bus bomb whilst on tour in Northern Ireland has marked remembrance this year in his own way - by returning to the site where it happened - for the first time in 31 years.
Dave Hardy who served for the 1st Battalion of the Light Infantry Regiment, was just 18 when the bus he was travelling on in the townland of Curr, near Ballygawley, Co Tyrone was hit by a bomb.
The attack led by the IRA left eight soldiers killed and twenty-eight injured on August 20th, 1998, all between the ages of 18 and 21. Four of them later taking their own life.
Having been left for dead, Mr Hardy emotionally told of his recollection of the events after the rear end of the bus exploded: “The next thing I remember is being outside the bus. There was either blood or blood and rain because I think there was drizzle that night. I’m trying to wipe my eyes but can’t move my arm. And then I was really confused, dazed, couldn’t get anything into vision.
“I never want to hear it again. I heard sickening, crying of pain. And that was who survived – really agonising pain – And then I went out after that.”
Dave Hardy woke up 4 weeks later, having been in a coma since the terror attack.
One survivor, Mike Drew who was on the bus with Mr Hardy appealed through the media in an attempt to find the women who helped pull him from the wreckage.
“I remember these ladies helping”, Mr Drew said, “I thought I was going to die. I just wanted it over with.”
Mr Drew, now 49, sustained severe injuries to his hands and required roughly 500 stitches to his head, neck and face.
He was reunited with the two sisters who helped save his life as he lay dying at the roadside.
36 soldiers were on board the bus heading towards the Omagh base before it detonated. The men had just completed 18-months of their two-year tour in Northern Ireland.
Each year a reunion brings together many who were involved in the tragedy.
“It will help having other guys there.” Mr Hardy said when asked whether he was worried about returning to the location.
5 of the 28 soldiers whom survived the tragedy joined Dave in remembering the events of the dreary midnight hours.
“It’s like I’m here but I’m not here. It’s hard to explain” Dave said, “I now know where the firing point was, and where the bomb was placed. And seeing where I woke up - that’s another chunk of the jigsaw.”
Traffic slowed as onlookers witnessed the men recount the steps of what happened that night.
In a tearful speech, the men took a moment to pay their respects to their fellow servicemen, for those whom survived, and those whom didn’t.
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