1971 Scottish soldiers' killings

Scottish soldiers' murders
Part of The Troubles
Squire's Hill, north Belfast, the area of the killings
Location	White Brae, North Belfast, Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54°38′6.46″N 5°59′35.9″W / 54.6351278°N 5.993306°W / 54.6351278; -5.993306Coordinates: 54°38′6.46″N 5°59′35.9″W / 54.6351278°N 5.993306°W / 54.6351278; -5.993306
Date	10 March 1971
Target	British Army personnel
Attack type	Shooting
Deaths	3
Perpetrators	Provisional IRA

The three Scottish soldiers' killings was an incident that took place in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It happened on 10 March 1971, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army shot dead three unarmed British Army soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers. Two of the three were teenage brothers; all three were from Scotland. They were killed off-duty and in civilian clothes, having been lured from a city-centre bar in Belfast, driven to a remote location and shot whilst relieving themselves by the roadside. Three British soldiers had been killed prior to this event; all had been on duty and killed during rioting.

The deaths led to public mourning and protests against the Provisional IRA. Pressure to act precipitated a political crisis for the government of Northern Ireland, which led to the resignation of Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark. The British Army raised the minimum age needed to serve in Northern Ireland to 18 in response to this incident. In 2010 a memorial was dedicated to the three soldiers near to where they were killed in north Belfast.

British troops had been deployed to Northern Ireland in 1969 for Operation Banner in response to a deteriorating security situation following the 1969 Northern Ireland riots. The British Army had become involved in the disturbances culminating in the Falls Curfew of July 1970. The Provisional Irish Republican Army was created in December 1969 after a split from the Official Irish Republican Army. After the split, the Provisional IRA planned for an "all-out offensive action against the British occupation". Provisional IRA Chief of Staff Seán Mac Stíofáin decided they would "escalate, escalate and escalate" until the British agreed to go. The IRA Army Council sanctioned offensive operations against the British Army at the beginning of 1971. In this year, Robert Curtis was the first British soldier shot and killed by the Provisional IRA, on 6 February 1971, and two more soldiers were killed prior to 10 March.