TRAGEDY IN OSTEND

The war memorial in Knighton (Trefyclawdd), a small town on the Welsh/English border, stands proudly in the Town Square. It takes the form of a cenotaph on a three-stepped base with two dedicatory plaques on the front face listing the names of those from the town who lost their lives in the two World Wars. Each plaque has a green border of laurel leaves interwoven with gilt painted ribbons. There are 32 names from World War One and 16 form World War Two.

Added later however is the name of Richard Michael Heakin a Warrant Officer 1st class in the Royal Regiment of Wales. Richard was 38 years old and married with a 9-year-old son and a daughter of seven when he met his death. He was gunned down on 12th August 1988 having stopped his car at traffic lights in the North Sea port of Ostend. The IRA later claimed responsibility. The Ministry of Defence said Heakin was going home on leave from his base at Moenchen Gladbach, West Germany, and planned to take a ferry to Dover. He was attacked an hour before the ferry’s departure. Two men approached his car, one opened fire and then both fled on foot toward a nearby park. Officials said Heakin died at the scene. He was in civilian clothes but drove a British-made Vauxhall car with British Army of the Rhine tags. After the shooting, police took witnesses to the ferry dock in an attempt to identify the assailants from among passengers on two ferries to Dover. They were not spotted however. The tragedy came during a period in which the IRA was intensifying its campaign against British security forces. This had begun on 1st August when it bombed a barracks in north London, killing one soldier and injuring nine. Richard was laid to rest in his home town of Knighton where more than 1,000 mourners attended his funeral.