The causes of the Battle of Bogside were rooted in sectarian tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Civil rights activism was also a contributing factor. Nationalists saw civil rights as a means to end discrimination against Catholics and gain equal rights with Protestants. Loyalists, on the other hand, viewed civil rights as a front for radical Republicans and a threat to British sovereignty in Northern Ireland. These sectarian tensions needed only a flashpoint to erupt into violence. In this case, it was a Protestant march that began with insults and jibes but quickly escalated into rock-throwing and assaults.

Violence broke out when Protestant loyalists marched past the Catholic quarter of Bogside. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) pushed back the Catholic crowd and entered Bogside, followed by Loyalists attacking Catholic houses. The Bogside residents organised themselves and repelled the RUC with stones and petrol bombs. The violence quickly spread to other neighbourhoods and resulted in two days of rioting, known as the « Battle of Bogside ».

Over 1,000 people were injured during the rioting in Derry that took place during the Battle of Bogside. However, no one was killed during the event.

The RUC was inadequately equipped to cope with the escalating violence. Its officers had armoured vehicles and water cannons but no authorisation to use them. The British government intervened on August 14, marking its first direct military intervention in Ireland since partition. The deployment of British soldiers to Northern Ireland was intended to assist the police and restore order. This was the beginning of Operation Banner. It was initially intended as a « limited operation » but became one of Britain’s longest continuous deployments, spanning almost four decades, from 1969 to 2007.

The Battle of Bogside ended when British troops marched into Waterloo Place in the city center and stretched out concertina barbed wire to separate the Catholic and Protestant areas. The impact of the British army’s presence on the violence during the Battle of Bogside is a matter of debate. Some believed that the army’s strong but temporary presence would arrest the violence and protect Catholics from Loyalist persecution. However, it sparked widespread violence elsewhere in Northern Ireland, led to the deployment of British troops, and is often seen as the beginning of The Troubles.

Gilles Caron’s photographs of the Battle of the Bogside provide a glimpse of the violence that gripped Derry in 1969. His photographs captured the build-up of tension from the first images of the procession marching to music to the final stone-throwing.

His photographs had a significant impact on society’s perception of the conflict. They provided a visual record of events during the conflict and allowed people to see the violence and upheaval that took place in Derry in the summer of 1969. The photographs were widely published in newspapers and magazines, raising public awareness of the situation in Northern Ireland.