Heroic restraint one snowy night in March 1978 near the Glenshane Pass in Co Londonderry cost one SAS man his life and was nearly the death of another: Corporal Michael “Bronco” Lane. A few days earlier, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch had found an IRA arms cache — waterproofed, buried weapons — and fitted it with transmitters to alert them of any movement. The SAS, acting on intelligence of an imminent bombing mission or assassination, had then mounted an operation codenamed “Gingal” to intercept the IRA active service unit (ASU) coming to retrieve the weapons.
“Bronco” Lane and Corporal David Jones were in an unmarked car observing the area when at about 9.15pm they saw two men in camouflage clothing approaching. Leaving the