Almost a month earlier,on 20 July, the Derry Citizens Action Committee had been superseded in the Bogside by a new grouping,the Derry Citizens' Defence Association,the DCDA. Hume's group had two representives on the DCDA,but it was dominated by people not renowned for their moderation - such as the senior local Republican Sean Keenan (currently interned). This was anathema to the Protestants of course,but it was inevitable in the Bogside. The critical function of policing the Bogside had been abdicated by the legally-constituted forces of the law.It was left entirely in the hands of this Catholic vigilante group,the DCDA. That is what the police thought the DCDA genuinely wanted. The Home Affairs minister,Porter,has since testified that while police reports coming to him spoke of the DCDA members 'persuasions, 'I had nothing before me to indicate that any of the people on that committee were prepared to encourage or embrace violence.'
The DCDA had even met amicably with representives of the Apprentice Boys at the beginning of August,both promising to provide effective stewarding on the day of the parade. The Apprentice Boys kept their side of the bargain;the DCDA did not keep theirs.
When it came to the 'defence' of the Bogside in the event of attack,however, the Derry Citizens'Defence Association showed a professionalism markedly at odds with the amateurishness of its arrangments to preserve the peace. While the stewards relied on bicycles to keep the peace,for instance,those in the DCDA preparing for battle had obtained two-way radios - 'to report,as one DCDA man said later,'on the actions along the fronts'. In the three weeks before the march the DCDA made elaborate defensive prepartions. They set up first-aid stations inside the Bogside to be mounted by doctors and ambulance men of the Knights of Malta. They established a communications system with the two-way walkie talkie radios. They installed two powerful radio transmitters. They formed their own fire brigade. They even organized the evacuation of the old and ill from sensitive or dangerous areas.
The DCDA also made prior arrangements for the erection of barricades in coordinated positions thoughout the Bogside. The main job of Green in his own words 'immediately hostilities commenced,to go round the areas and ensure that barricades were erected all round the Bogside area to prevent the police,or whoever were attacking us,from getting in round the back.' Volunteers for barricades and patrol duties were,unlike the stewards,properly organized.
Heaps of stones were piled at strategic points on the periphery of the Bogside; petrol bombs were prepared; barricades were erected on the night of the 11th; and milk bottles from the week-end - normanlly returned on Monday,the 11th and Tuesday the 12th - were hoarded. (The dairy lost 43,000). The Bogside,in other words,was spoiling for a showdown with the police on 12 August
