Astonishing moment then-IRA man Martin McGuinness allows himself to be filmed ... trends now
Ruthless IRA boss Martin McGuinness apparently helped set up a car bomb that later blew up in the Londonderry city centre, newly recovered video has revealed.
A documentary that was hidden away for nearly 50 years shows how a group of men, including McGuinness, seemingly packed explosives into a Volkswagen on a street in Londonderry, Northern Ireland before the vehicle was driven away.
The video then cuts to the moment a car bomb was detonated on Shipquay Street in 1972. The huge explosion injured 26 people and destroyed several buildings in the city centre.
BBC analysts have now determined the Volkswagen that McGuinness, then 21, helped pack with explosives was responsible for the bombing by connecting its registration plate to the one found at the blast site.
The car in the footage featured the number plate 7337 UI. Archival photographs from the explosion showed the same registration plate spewed amongst the wreckage.
The newly unmasked documentary, titled The Secret Army, was captured by an American film crew using fake press credentials and appears to be the first time McGuinness and his associates were filmed without disguises.
McGuinness was known as 'The Butcher of Bogside'. Feared for his murderous streak, he was the IRA's second-in-command in Londonderry during the Bloody Sunday Massacre, in which 13 innocent civilians were killed by British soldiers during a peaceful protest against internment in 1972.
The ex-Northern Ireland deputy first minister and Sinn Fein negotiator died in March 2017, aged 66, after suffering a rare heart condition.
This is the moment ruthless IRA boss Martin McGuinness, pictured on far-left, apparently helped prepare a car bombing that left 26 injured in Londonderry
This is the moment a car bomb was detonated on Shipquay Street in 1972. The huge explosion injured 26 people and destroyed several buildings in the city centre
Analysts have now determined the Volkswagen that McGuinness, then 21, helped pack with explosives was responsible for the bombing by connecting its registration plate to the one found at the blast site.
The documentary captured the terror group's rank-and-file personnel participating in shootings and bombings during their campaign in 1972.
McGuinness was the dominant IRA leader in Derry at the time and was among those followed around by The Secret Army producer J Bowyer Bell's camera crews.
In one clip, McGuinness is seen driving around the city, his associate Tony Devine in the passenger seat, with guns in the vehicle.
The camera crew also captured McGuinness showing bullets to children.
Devine, narrating for the crew, explained how every time they drive through Free Derry they 'check the barricades', which the IRA had put up to keep the Protestant police force out.
'At night every barricade is manned with vigilantes,' Devine said.
The former IRA member, who still lives in Derry, told the BBC that he and McGuinness were 'only teenagers' at the time and 'weren't used to talking to film crews'.
Devine claims the crew had asked McGuinness to drive around and show them the area, but the leader said 'I'll only do it if you go with me'.
The footage appeared to a show group of men, including McGuinness, packing explosives into a Volkswagen on a street in Londonderry before the vehicle was driven away
Another clip showed McGuinness, pictured, driving around the city with his associate Tony Devine in the passenger seat. The pair had guns in the vehicle. The camera crew also captured McGuinness showing bullets to children
The previously hidden documentary, titled The Secret Army, captured the IRA's rank-and-file personnel participating in shootings and bombings during their campaign in 1972
The crew filmed the IRA conducting several missions, including the Shipquay Street bombing and a gun battle on the edge of Free Derry.
However, it is understood that the
