10 March 1971: Three young Scottish soldiers were found shot dead in a field at White Brae, Squire's Hill, off the Ligoniel Road in North Belfast on this day. They were all members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers. They were Brothers John and Joseph McCaig from Ayr and Dougald McCaughey from Glasgow in Scotland (ages 17, 18 and 23). 

They had been given afternoon passes from their barracks and went drinking in Belfast City Centre. What happened after that is somewhat murky but it appears unbeknownst to themselves they fell into the company of some members of the IRA who invited them back to a well known Republican haunt. Probably later that evening they were driven to a remote location and stepped out of the vehicle they were passengers in to relieve themselves in a remote field. At this stage they were all shot in the back of the head and left for dead. Some time later their bodies were discovered by children playing nearby. 

The revelations of their deaths and the manner in which they met their deaths & also the extreme youth of the two McCaig brothers caused widespread shock and anger in the British military and in the wider community, esp. amongst the Loyalist population of Belfast. Up to that time only two British soldiers had been shot dead and both of those were armed, in uniform  and on Duty when killed. But this was different in that all had been despatched in Cold Blood. 

Demonstrations and Rallies followed to mourn them led by the Rev Ian Paisley and the Ulster Government of Major James Chichester-Clark came under severe pressure from both within & without the Ulster Unionist Party to take a firmer stand against the IRA. In the event his position very quickly  became untenable and he resigned as Prime Minister on 20 March after unsuccessfully lobbying the British Government for more troops to fight the IRA that would act upon the instructions of the Stormont Government. However in the wake of their deaths the British decided that no more soldiers under 18 would be sent to the North.

The mother of the two McCaig brothers visited the site of their deaths in May 1972. She expressed a wish to leave a monument to her sons but was advised that it might well be damaged by vandals. She later said that she was touched by the wreaths and flowers that had been left at the spot. When the deaths of these young Scottish soldiers was soon covered over by even more terrible events the chance of a memorial at the spot their corpses were discovered became an impossibility. However today a small plaque is in place to remember what happened that night 51 years ago but it has been regularly targeted for defacement.