The politically important ‘Northern Ireland’ M.I.D. group of three awarded to Staff Sergeant S. M. D. Haughton, Royal Corps of Transport, a Close Protection Driver responsible for the safety of senior dignitaries, whose work often intersected with that of the British Army Special Forces and who, while on attachment to 177 Company, Royal Military Police, was Mentioned in Despatches for his ‘exceptional performance’ in the pursuit and arrest of three Ulster Freedom Fighters (U.F.F.) gunmen in the immediate aftermath of their attempted assassination of Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams, in central Belfast, on 14 March 1984.

Extensive service in Ulster aside, Haughton’s range of assignments included Close Protection duty with the Intelligence Corps in Germany and front-line participation in the Gulf War, all of which is recalled in his short but diverting memoir

General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Northern Ireland, with M.I.D. oak leaf (24447694 Dvr S M D Haughton RCT); Gulf 1990-91, 1 clasp, 16 Jan to 28 Feb 1991 (24447694 S Sgt S M D Haughton RCT); U.N. Medal, on UNFICYP riband, unnamed as issued, mounted court style as worn, second medal with two edge bruises otherwise nearly extremely fine (3) £10,000-£12,000

M.I.D. London Gazette 16 October 1984:
‘In recognition of distinguished service in Northern Ireland’.

Stephen Maxim David Haughton was born in 1956 and enlisted in the Royal Corps of Transport in Manchester in January 1977. Following basic training at Aldershot he volunteered for a tour of Northern Ireland and was posted to 18/26 Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport, his duties over the next few months included driving armoured pigs in support of units on tours in Belfast and Londonderry, street patrols, driving Green Goddess fire engines during the firemen’s strike and manning Vehicle Check Points.

Close Protection Driver in Northern Ireland
Accepting the offer to be posted to A Troop 26 Sqn RCT, a unit providing a V.I.P. pool of civilian cars for British Army Headquarters Northern Ireland and visiting government officials and dignitaries, he attended the British Army staff car course at Leconfield Yorkshire. Gaining a high grade, he was recommended for further advancement in the staff car role. Standing in the car park in Lisburn HQ Northern Ireland he was approached by a long-haired, bearded man wearing an old donkey jacket. The man mumbled something about ‘dickers’ and ‘being compromised’ and then, handing Haughton a set of civilian number plates, ordered him to change the plates on a rusty Japanese saloon car parked in the corner. Haughton obliged, ignorant of the fact that this had been his first interaction with the British Army Special Forces. Only months later would he get to know the characters in 14 Intelligence Company or ‘the Det’ as they were known.

The following day, Haughton was informed that he had been selected for training as a Close Protection Driver, a role unique at the time to the Royal Corps of Transport in Northern Ireland, and was ordered to attend the challenging All Arms Close Protection Advanced Driving Course at the Royal Military Police Depot Chichester and Longmoor camp - having recently taken over the role of close protection from the S.A.S., the Royal Military Police also had Close Protection trained soldiers in a unit called 177 (CP) RMP who trained with and worked closely alongside the Royal Corps of Transport Close Protection Drivers.
Passing the course, Haughton then began operating as a JNCO driver for the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Commander Land Forces (CLF) and other high ranking personnel. Issued with armoured cars, the Ford Granada being the preferred choice, as well as soft-skin civilian cars, the Close Protection Drivers dressed in civilian suits or army uniform depending on the task and carried the Browning HI power pistol with 3 magazines of 13 rounds - extendable to 20 rounds although most drivers declined the option of the extended magazine as being too bulky. Haughton’s pistol was fitted with a ‘Pack Meyer’ rubber grip, an orange high intensity strip on the foresight and was carried in a custom made shoulder leather holster or hip mounted pancake holster.

In his unpublished biography of his military service, Haughton recalls some of his early experiences in the role:
‘My first tour was very busy and the three years passed very quickly. On one of the tasks I drove a government minister. This gentleman, who was very friendly and chatty to me and the Royal Military Police bodyguard, mentioned he had been a prisoner in Colditz Castle during World War Two. Unfortunately on his return to London after visiting Northern Ireland he was murdered in his car by the INLA on leaving a underground car park next to parliament. That gentlemen was Airey Neave, D.S.O., O.B.E., M.C., Maggie Thatcher’s shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland.
If members of the squadron went on leave or on a course, I would often stand in. One time I was asked to work a few weeks in another area for another little known organisation in Northern Ireland called the Northern Ireland Patrol Group (N.I.P.G.) or to the troops ‘Northern Ireland Play Group’ since it was situated above a kindergarten in Ballykinler Camp. The group was commanded by an S.A.S. officer who, for cover, wore a Royal Signals cap badge around camp. One day the G.O.C., Sir Timothy Creasey, visited and the O.C. mentioned to him that he had dropped at Suez in the 1956 invasion. Here was an experienced officer who had instant respect. Among my duties here was the provision of transport for both the Det 14 Int and Close Observation Platoons (COP) during their training exercises. Deployed in the middle of night out the back of a van into the hedgerowed country roads. Disappearing for days on end. To add realism we would often dress up as terrorist using captured IRA weapons in rehearsed ambushes.’

At the end of his first tour in Northern Ireland, Haughton was posted to Belize for 6 months to provide transport support to the military and, when requested, to the S.A.S. at the camp for the jungle phase of selection. The course here was run by two S.A.S. Regiment legends, John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman and Barry Davies B.E.M. who entertained the staff in the evenings with stories of derring-do from Oman to Mogadishu over hot-chilli stews. The relaxed attitude combined with total professionalism impressed Haughton greatly. As the selection period came to an end, helicopters arrived to take the troops back to the airport camp. Unbeknown to Haughton, a number of these men would be involved in the Iranian Embassy siege and Falklands War a few years later. During this time Haughton was often instructed to go into the border area with a member of the SAS directing staff and pick up groups of 2 to 3 men emerging from the jungle and drop them off at a local town. These men were dishevelled looking, wearing a mix of US military and civilian clothing and carrying rucksacks. Often he would hear Spanish or American accents spoken in the back of the Landover. Years later it emerged that UK and US security services were actively supporting the Guatemalan government fight against Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes or FAR terrorist group.

Haughton’s next posting was to work as a Close Protection Driver with the Intelligence Corps in Germany. Based at the Dusseldorf Station, a joint U.S. and British Intelligence H.Q. with a few spooks including those from the C.I.A. and M.I.6. He found himself working in plain clothes accompanying his boss, an Int Corp Major, often involved in odd journeys meeting people in Balkan restaurants in Dusseldorf and Cologne, picking up snippets of intelligence from these eastern European ex-pats relating to countries behind the Iron Curtain. Sometimes, in corners of bars, his boss would introduce him to people and later would let information slip in passing e.g. ‘that one is an ex-Nazi officer now working for BND German Foreign Intelligence’
(Bundesnachridchtendienst). Not quite “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” but contributing to winning the cold war never the less.
After this posting, Haughton spent a few months with 8 Regiment R.C.T. in Münster, Germany, a Regiment responsible for transporting the Lance surface to surface nuclear missile for 50 Missile Regiment, Royal Artillery, followed by a six month tour to Canada at the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS).

Second Tour of Northern Ireland
After a brief return to routine garrison life with 8 Regiment in Germany, he chose to volunteer again for service with 26 Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport and was sent straight back to Northern Ireland for his second tour in the Close Protection role. The first few weeks were spent working on fitness, learning new tactics and re-familiarisation with the Sterling Machine Gun as well as the Walther PPK and the dependable Browning 9mm. Cross training on the HK53s of the RMP CP 177 Coy was encouraged.

Haughton recalls a typical morning and one of his more memorable tasks:
‘We would start the day with an hour’s physical training then breakfast and, if not on task, we would be off to the 25-metre range at the Maze prison near the infamous H blocks to fire off a few rounds. As we continued to get more hectic and with taskings increasing every day I would often find myself tasked and on my own with the principle.
A couple of weeks later I had a typical short notice ad-hoc task with the Brigadier of 39 Infantry Brigade. He stormed into our shabby portacabin in the overcrowded MT park. I immediately recognised him. We all stood up at attention and he turned to me, “Get a car! Have you a weapon! Follow me!”
“Yes, Brigadier Rose!”
He turned steely eyes and unsmiling face, “Don’t you call me by my rank, where we are going it will get us killed ok!”
We drove in silence to Coleraine parish church. And parked the car up to see hundreds of mourners for the funeral of a female RUC police officer.  The officer had been murdered by the IRA using a roadside IED.  Two other RUC officers were killed in the same attack near Newry. Brigadier Rose just wanted to pay his respects, low key and without any fuss. I followed close by him aware what a prize he would be for the I.R.A. There would be plenty of dickers (watchers for the terrorists) so we both had to be switched on and aware of the crowd and atmosphere. Although it was an emotionally charged day, everything proceeded as normal and it was another successful tasking.
Brigadier Rose - ex S.A.S. commander for the Iranian Embassy Siege and Falklands - went on, as General Sir Michael Rose, to help bring peace in the former Yugoslavia years later.
Our role with our RMP colleagues would involve travelling throughout the province in areas where the army would venture only in helicopters to avoid IEDs buried in culverts under the roads near the border with Southern Ireland. Although in plain clothes driving covert civilian cars the risks were ever present.
We as “Drivers” would take responsibility for what would normally require a team of police or bodyguards. We would only be informed days or hours before a visit of a politician, military officer, lawyers from the U.K. flown in for 24 hours. These are targets for both sides of the political divide.
To help these people relax, we wouldn’t just take them to their office while in Northern Ireland, but, if requested and cleared by HQNI, we would also show them around the province, maybe visit a coastal town. There we would be, in a cafe surrounded by old ladies and shopping bags. With a pot of tea and jam scones. Sitting opposite me, the principle. A criminal judge who had flown in from London to oversee a trial of murdering terrorists in the high court on Crumlin Road the next day. A very pleasant atmosphere in the small sea side cafe with the customers unaware of our true identities except for our hushed English accents. Or of my 9mm Browning pistol loaded with one round in the chamber. If anything occurred while on task you don’t have time to cock a weapon or shout a warning. If it happened on my watch, I wouldn’t hesitate to engage a threat. Prepared for all eventualities. Including having the money ready to pay for the pot of tea and jam scones!
I didn’t have to wait long to put into practise what I had been trained to do.’

Gerry Adams assassination attempt - M.I.D. - ‘This is indeed a deserving reward for your exceptional performance in assisting in the apprehension of an armed terrorist in Belfast’
On 14 March 1984 Gerry Adams was in central Belfast facing charges of obstructing the R.U.C. in their attempts to remove an Irish tricolour from a Sinn Féin election cavalcade. After leaving the courthouse Adams was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt when several Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) gunmen fired about 20 shots into the gold Ford Cortina in which he and four other Sinn Fein members were travelling (three of Adams co-travellers were also wounded). Adams was hit in the neck, shoulder and arm and was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where he underwent surgery to remove three bullets. Witness to the shooting that day was Haughton, then a Corporal in 26 Squadron Royal Corps of Transport attached Royal Military Police 177 Company, and Royal Military Police Corporal Andrew Mudd, who were on a reconnaissance mission for a public event being held in Belfast City Hall the following evening. Both were armed and dressed in civilian clothing.

Haughton’s personal account recalls events as they unfolded:
‘Having completed our business at City Hall, I drove the Green Renault 18 into the morning traffic only to be overtaken suddenly by a brown Rover 2000 being driven fast and erratically. This vehicle caught our attention and then it drove alongside a gold coloured Ford Cortina. I observed showers of glass spray out the side of the Cortina. Clouds of smoke came from the tyres. Above the sound of the traffic I heard the intermittent but unmistakable sound of gun shots. We observed this gold coloured Ford Cortina turn left and escape from the attack and roar off in the direction of the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Corporal Mudd was immediately on the radio sending a contact report. Unfortunately, not getting through to headquarters HQNI. I was motioned by Corporal Mudd to follow the Cortina but my instincts took over and I decided to follow the brown Rover 2000, this was no time to discuss rights or wrongs. I put on the blues and twos but the siren didn’t work.
I put my foot down and raced after the assassins’ car; the chase was through Belfast city centre and at high speed. I had to drive through red traffic lights, narrowly missing a woman with a pram crossing the road. I mounted pavements in my bid to catch up. Increasing speed, it was too late! I overshot the Rover as it had parked up at the side of the road. I did a hand brake turn in the middle of the road and drove against the flow of traffic, screeching to a halt in front of an Ulster bus.
I jumped out of the car the same time drawing my pistol and immediately challenged a man standing in the road, who I now know was the off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment man. He was standing in the middle of the road by a red car which I had noticed behind me during the chase. He said that he recognised one of the guys across the road in the Rover.
I told him to wait and I walked towards the Rover and noticed the rear door open and a man sitting there. I didn’t realise at the time this was one of the team of gunmen involved in the incident and he had accidentally shot himself and was wounded.
I then looked on the other side of the car and saw a couple of guys who stood out, both dressed smartly in suits trying to appear casual as they walked away. I shouted a number of times at them.
They turned as I challenged them with my pistol drawn and was surprised to see they were both wearing surgical plastic gloves, one of the men’s gloves being blood stained. They didn’t appear armed at that moment.
I got up close to one of them and pushing my 9mm Browning towards his face and screamed, ‘get on the ground; all of you!’ I could see, just for a split second, that fight or flee look, but the suspect then looked down and got on the floor with the other guy.
At the moment, a crowd appeared and jeered at me, I was getting very apprehensive and told them to back off. Corporal Mudd had gone back to our car, desperately trying to reach HQ at Lisburn on the car’s radio.
About 10 minutes or so later, a uniformed policeman appeared around the corner, but curiously asked me to wait two minutes and he would be back with back-up; he promptly disappeared around the corner. The crowd was getting very loud and aggressive. The terrorists looking and moving about, I was forced to put my foot in the back of one of them and I informed him: ‘move again and I will shoot you!’ At this point a man appeared in an old duffle coat with he hood up. I found out moments later he was a police detective as he showed me his warrant card. I pointed my weapon away from him. Not knowing who all these people were crowding around, it was a dangerous situation and my adrenaline was flowing. I handed over to the plain clothes policeman as other uniformed RUC arrived.
I returned to the Green Renault 18, placed my Browning pistol back into my holster and jumped in and backed away from the bus. I will never forget the driver’s face still staring out, registering shock, sitting frozen behind the wheel of his bus as the incident unfolded in front of him. The press and TV started to arrive. The next day the Daily Mail had a front-page picture of the very same duffel coated policemen holding onto one of the terrorists. The police station was located just around the corner and we went in to report the incident. The front desk was in chaos as armed police pushed past us. The desk sergeant asked us what we wanted and we said that we had been involved in the incident, he seemed a bit surprised by our statement, even more so that we were in civilian clothes and armed. Ushered into a back room we made our statements and then quietly drove back to Lisburn. Just before I left the police station, I bumped into the off duty UDR soldier, shaking my hand. He said he had covered myself and my colleague with his personal protection weapon which he carried off duty. He recognised one of the terrorists as he had gone to school with him.
I was told later that one of the handguns that the terrorists used had come from a soldier who had been to the Falklands in 1982 and brought back an Argentinian Army Colt 45. This weapon was apparently sold in a Glasgow pub to the UFF.
The off-duty soldier was awarded a Queen’s Gallantry Medal and had gone on to join the RUC. Myself and Corporal Mudd were told by the Commander Land Forces staff in Headquarters Northern Ireland that it was politically correct that an appropriate award was issued to the UDR soldier. He had to continue to live and work in the community, he and his family facing daily danger. We all know we did our duty that day to the best of our abilities and Corporal Mudd and I were each awarded a Mention in Despatches for our efforts that day.’

Both Haughton and Mudd continued their military service separately. A number of years later Mudd was seriously injured in an I.R.A. car bomb attack on him and his wife in a quiet suburban street in the U.K. He fortunately was able to continue successfully in his military career and continues to work for the benefit of disabled armed forces charities and personnel.
John Gregg, one of the terrorists apprehended by Haughton, was released by the Good Friday Agreement and later became part of the leadership in the UFF. He was murdered in Belfast on 1 February 2003.

Ever since the attempt on his life took place, Gerry Adams has maintained that the security forces in Northern Ireland had advance knowledge of the attack due to a tip-off from informants within the UDA, and chose to only step in and apprehend the terrorists once the shootings had taken place. One widely cited theory is that Adams and his co-passengers had survived in part because RUC officers, acting on the informants’ information, had replaced much of the ammunition in the UDA’s weapons dump with low-velocity bullets. In 2015 a statutory report relating to these allegations was compiled by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Dr Michael Maguire. The report, produced after enquiries with all pertinent parties had been made and relevant available intelligence viewed, found no evidence of collusion between the security forces and the UDA.

Iraq - Operation Granby - ‘The 100 Hour War’
Haughton continued his military service, going on to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. He also took part in the Gulf War and the liberation of Kuwait, 1990-91, seeing some extraordinary sights:
‘On the third night of the advance into Iraq, we came up against strong opposition. An Iraq artillery regiment of about 300 hundred soldiers, well dug in and concealed, were two miles directly in front of our line of advance. The Royal Artillery immediately prepared the rocket launches, MRLS Multi Rocket Launch System. The very same ones that we had out loaded in Germany weeks before and brought half way across the world. Once set up they were fired onto the enemy positions, the noise was incredible as eight rockets flew away from the armoured tracked launchers into the night sky. Streaming clouds of white smoke behind them as we watched thousands of bomblets drop from the sky, ejected from the rockets, like streams of rain drops falling down onto enemy positions, clearly illuminated behind the full moon. No fixing bayonets and charging the position like our forefathers had done years before. Just a complete carpeting of the enemy, and in the morning, stragglers started to appear in the front of our positions to surrender. They told us that there were just thirty-two survivors out of three hundred soldiers. I will always remember the orange ball, shaped like a mushroom, erupt from the centre of the Iraq position, as we hit their ammunition dumps, the blast wave reached us a full five seconds after the explosion.
As we advanced the following day. Racing across the desert to cut the motorway north of Kuwait city and the retreating Iraqi army. On what became known as the “Highway of death”. On the road, a convoy of abandoned and destroyed armoured vehicles and tanks. A smashed Iraqi military truck. And stretching skyward were two fingers of steel, twisted and blackened with a single large wheel with a tyre attached, frozen melted rubber and wire dripping toward the road now set in a great sign of severe violence. The occupants of this vehicle been blown skyward by the apache predator that had fired the aptly named hellfire missile, propelling them into another hell. I walked through this mess checking for signs of life among this collection of mannequins, for that’s what they now looked like, with arms and limbs at acute angles where they fell, waxen frozen features, eyes black and staring, clothing intact but their bodies smashed.’


Sold with a file of copied research including the recipient’s witness statement given to the police on 14 March 1984 and the following original items and documents:
i. Recipient’s anecdote-filled account (38 pages) of his military service and later career as a bodyguard for Mohammed Al-Fayed and his son Dodi.
ii. Certificate of Service ‘Red Book’.
iii. Certificate of Qualifications and Army Job Description Form B6335c - these contained in red army folder.
iv. Letter of congratulation from Lieutenant General Sir Robert Richardson KCB CVO CBE, General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland, dated 15 October 1984:
‘I am delighted at your award of a Mention in Despatches in the latest Operational Gallantry Awards list for service in Northern Ireland. This is indeed a deserving reward for your exceptional performance in assisting in the apprehension of an armed terrorist in Belfast. Warmest congratulations!’
v. Letter of congratulation from Major General J. D. G. Pank, Commander Land Forces Northern Ireland:
‘My sincere congratulations on your award of a mention in Despatches in the latest Northern Ireland Operational Gallantry Awards List. I am delighted that your courage and quick reaction at a shooting incident in Belfast on 14 March 1984 have been recognised in this way. Very well done!’
vi. Letter of congratulation from Major General D. H. Braggins, Director General of Transport and Movements:
‘I was delighted to hear that you have been Mentioned in Despatches for your service in Northern Ireland. Please accept my sincere congratulations and best wishes for the future.’
vii. Certificate of Qualification for Corps of Royal Military Police Staff car Drivers (Close Protection) Course No.11, dated 5 - 16 December 1983.
viii. Mention in Despatches Certificate
ix. A threat assessment / intelligence brief for West Belfast as at 2 February 1986 together with a programme of close protection driving tasks for a three-day V.I.P. itinerary, 4 - 6 February 1986.
x. A quantity of contemporary newspaper cuttings.
xi. A quantity of reverse-captioned photographs relating to the recipient’s career in Northern Ireland, Belize, Cyprus and 1st Gulf War. Notable images from Northern Ireland include those depicting the armoured Ford Granadas driven by the recipient in his Close Protection role for both the CLF and GOC Northern Ireland and an image captioned ‘Me - Operation Tonnage - rebuild of Crossmaglen’s army/police post.’