Captain Robert Nairac: Hemel Hempstead MP remembers his former army captain on the anniversary of his death

Captain Robert Nairac died 44 years ago
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Hemel Hempstead's MP, Sir Mike Penning, has spoken out about his former army captain, Captain Robert Nairac who died 44 years ago this week, and whose body has never been found.

On the evening of Saturday, May 14, 1977 Captain Robert Nairac was undercover drinking and singing Republican folk songs in the Three Steps Inn in Dromintee, south Armagh. He was posing as a Catholic from the Ardoyne area of north Belfast.

As he left the bar at the end of the night, he was attacked in the car park and abducted. It is believed he was tortured before being killed by the IRA. The IRA later put out a statement saying he had been shot. Despite wide-ranging searches at the time, his body has never been found. He was 28.

Sir Mike Penning remembers Captain Robert Nairac GC on the 44th anniversary of his deathSir Mike Penning remembers Captain Robert Nairac GC on the 44th anniversary of his death
Sir Mike Penning remembers Captain Robert Nairac GC on the 44th anniversary of his death

Captain Nairac was Sir Mike’s captain in the Guards but was serving as a liaison officer for military intelligence when he was murdered.

Mike Penning said: “Up until last year, I made a short statement to the House of Commons, by way of a debate intervention or Point of Order to remember my former army captain, Captain Robert Nairac GC Unfortunately, due to the pandemic I was not able to do that last year or again this year.

“All of us owe an enormous debt to our soldiers who served in Northern Ireland during the troubles and particularly to those who gave their lives for the peace that we see in the province today.

“Captain Robert Nairac’s family and friends deserve to know the truth and be able to lay him to rest. Somebody knows what happened and where his body lies.

“He was an incredibly brave young man and was rightly posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1979.”