The conflict in Northern Ireland remains unlike any other campaign conducted by the British Army this century. There have been no set-piece battles, no decisive victories or crushing defeats; just a grinding, relentless series of small scale operations in response to riots, bombings, sectarian murders and terrorist ambushes. Tim Ripley, a specialist in modern military affairs and research associate at Lancaster University's Centre for Defence and International Security Studies, profiles the operations, tactics, uniforms and equipment of the British and Irish Security Forces and the main terrorist groups involved in 'the Troubles' from 1969-92.

Illustrated by: Mike Chappell