soldiers were hurt when their APC was hit by a rocket in the Lower Falls district of Belfast. One of them lost an arm. Another three soldiers were hurt in a gun attack on their APC in the Ballymurphy district of Belfast. 7 December 1972: a widowed mother of ten, Jean McConville, was kidnapped and shot dead by an IRA squad, purportedly for being an informer, although her family denied the claim. Her remains were missing for many years until it was recovered and interred next to her late husband. The IRA denied any involvement in the killing until the 1990s, when it issued an acknowledgement and helped to locate the body. An investigation many years later by N.I. Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan found no evidence she had been an informer. 8 December 1972: a British soldier (John Joesbury, aged 18) died two days after being shot by the IRA while on mobile patrol, Whiterock Road, Ballymurphy, Belfast. 10 December 1972: a British soldier (Stewart Middlemass, aged 33) was killed by a booby-trapped bomb attached to a rocket launcher by the IRA at Fort Monagh British Army, Turf Lodge, Belfast. 13 December 1972: an off-duty RUC officer (James Nixon, aged 49) was shot dead by the IRA outside the Chester Park Hotel, Antrim Road, Belfast. 16 December 1972: an IRA volunteer (Louis Leonard, aged 26) was shot dead by loyalists at his butchers shop in Derrylin, County Fermanagh. 18 December 1972: Ulster Unionist Party councillor, who was also a member of the Police Authority, William Johnston (aged 48), was kidnapped from his home on the Drumarg estate, Armagh. He was found shot dead a short time later at Knockbane, near Middletown, County Armagh. 20 December 1972: an off-duty UDR soldier (George Hamilton, aged 28) was shot dead by the IRA at his workplace, a building site, Kildoag, Claudy, County Londonderry. 24 December 1972: a British soldier (Colin Harker, aged 23) died three months after being shot by an IRA sniper on Lecky Road, Derry. He was injured on 14 September 1972. 27 December 1972: an IRA volunteer (Eugene Devlin, aged 22) was killed by the British Army during an attempted sniper attack on their patrol, Townsend Street, Strabane, County Tyrone. 28 December 1972: an IRA volunteer (James McDaid, aged 30) was shot dead by the British Army while walking across a field, Ballyarnet, County Londonderry. 1973 1 January 1973: a rocket