On 29 July 1971 , at the height of the Troubles , Brigadier Ford was appointed Commander Land Forces , Northern Ireland , with the acting rank of major-general , and was promoted to the substantive rank on 29 August . He was criticised in the Saville Report into the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry for deploying soldiers to arrest rioters : " In our view his decision to use 1 Para as the arrest force is open to criticism but he did not know his decision would result in soldiers firing unjustifiably . " In the secret memo to his superior , dated 7 January 1972 , Ford said he was " coming to the conclusion that the minimum force necessary to achieve a restoration of law and order is to shoot selected ringleaders amongst the DYH ( Derry Young Hooligans ) , after clear warnings have been issued " . In the event , seven of the innocent victims of Bloody Sunday were indeed Derry teenagers . At the Bloody Sunday inquiry he claimed not to remember having written the memo . Ford relinquished his command on 9 April 1973
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1972)
Robert Ford (British Army officer)