A FORCE LIKE NO OTHER: THE LAST SHIFT BY COLIN BREEN

 

A Force Like No Other

The Last Shift

 

By

 

Colin Breen

 

https://blackstaffpress.com/a-force-like-no-other-3-the-last-shift-9781780733319

 

 

This is book 3 in a compelling and important trilogy comprising stories and memories from officers who served in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) during Northern Ireland’s so-called Troubles.

 

Some of the recollections describe the horrific events of those times, of cold-blooded murder, attempted murder, severe injuries, mental anguish, and police officers’ lives always on alert, always on guard whether on or off duty.  Any mistake in a routine or misstep on a procedure could have resulted in death or injury, and sometimes did.

 

The everyday duties combatting terrorists were coupled with routine crimes like burglary and robberies, but often behind a hedge or in the shadows someone’s finger was on a trigger or close to pressing a detonator whenever and wherever the police attended an incident.  Hoax calls to lure officers to an ambush were frequent.  Sometimes the outcomes were safe enough but other times officers weren’t so lucky.

 

The mental pressures were enormous as officers had to look at dead bodies, badly mutilated bodies, bodies with missing limbs and, occasionally, body parts scattered over a wide area after full impact explosions.

 

Police officers’ families too had to be aware of the risks and dangers of someone ready to attack homes. Wives and husbands of officers would hope and pray that their loved ones would return home after their shifts.  “Sitting at home listening to the clock tick, dreading a knock on the door, having to keep feelings bottled up …………..”  Nothing was certain, except worry and anxiety. 

 

But, not everything in this fine book is as serious as described.  There are moments of humour. (When you buy the book, look out for the officer who went for a pee behind a bush and then witnessed the bush walking away.  Or the Chief Constable and the pheasant.  Or the one about elephants on the road.)  In addition, there is much evidence of camaraderie.

 

Colin Breen has achieved something remarkable in this trilogy by recording the memories and feelings of the contributors, human beings doing their jobs in difficult to impossible circumstances.  There is honesty here, heartbreak and everlasting sadness, but hard as it is emotionally to read at times, this latest book and its two predecessors are significant and important chronicles of specific aspects of Northern Ireland’s grim recent past. 

Highly recommended.