Political pressure for the action against the " no-go " areas increased after the events of Bloody Friday in Belfast . A British Army attack was considered inevitable , and the IRA took the decision not to resist it . On 31 July 1972 , Operation Motorman was launched when thousands of British troops , equipped with armoured cars and armoured bulldozers ( AVREs ) , dismantled the barricades and occupied the area
Bloody Friday
Bloody Friday (1972)
Free Derry