On 19 March 1988, the British Army corporals Derek Wood and David Howes were attacked by members of a crowd attending a funeral of an IRA member, and were later shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Wearing civilian clothes, both armed with Browning Hi-Power pistols and in a civilian car, the soldiers drove into the funeral procession of an IRA member, seemingly by mistake. Three days before, the loyalist Michael Stone had attacked an IRA funeral and killed three people. Believing the soldiers were loyalists intent on repeating Stone's attack, dozens of people surrounded and attacked their car. During this, Corporal Wood drew his service pistol and fired a shot into the air. The soldiers were then dragged from the car and taken to a nearby sports ground where they were beaten, stripped and searched.
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