Robert Nairac
| Robert Nairac | |
|---|---|
Robert Nairac in his Grenadier Guards uniform
|
|
| Born |
31 August 1948 Mauritius |
| Died | 15 May 1977 (aged 28) Ravensdale Woods, County Louth, Republic of Ireland |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Years of service | 1972–1977 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Grenadier Guards |
| Battles/wars | Operation Banner † |
| Awards | George Cross |
Captain Robert Laurence Nairac GC (31 August 1948 –15 May 1977) was a British Army officer who was abducted from a pub in Dromintee, south County Armagh, during an undercover operation and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on his fourth tour of duty in Northern Ireland as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1979.
A number of claims have been made about both Nairac's involvement in the killing of an IRA member and his collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, although he was never charged.
Whilst several men have been imprisoned for his killing, the whereabouts of his body remains unknown.
Nairac was born in Mauritius to an English mother and a father of French-Mauritian origin. His family name originates from the Gironde area of France. Contrary to popular belief, he had no Irish ancestry. His father was an eye surgeon who worked first in the north of England and then in Gloucester. Nairac was the youngest of four children, with two sisters, Rosemonde and Gabrielle, and a brother, David. David died of myocarditis in 1962, aged 24.
Nairac, aged 10, attended prep school at Gilling Castle, a feeder school for the Roman Catholic public school Ampleforth College which he attended a year later. He gained nine O levels and three A levels, was head of his house and played rugby for the school. He became friends with the sons of Lord Killanin and went to stay with the family in Dublin and Spiddal in County Galway.
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