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Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as among the deadliest – and significant – occasions in multiple decades of conflict in the region.

Within the community where events unfolded – the memories of that fateful day are painted on the buildings and seared in collective memory.

A protest demonstration was organized on a cold but bright period in Londonderry.

The march was a protest against the system of internment – holding suspects without legal proceedings – which had been established following multiple years of violence.

Troops from the elite army unit fatally wounded thirteen individuals in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist area.

A particular photograph became especially iconic.

Pictures showed a religious figure, the priest, waving a bloodied cloth while attempting to defend a group transporting a youth, the fatally wounded individual, who had been mortally injured.

Media personnel documented considerable film on the day.

Documented accounts includes the priest explaining to a reporter that military personnel "just seemed to fire in all directions" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no reason for the discharge of weapons.

The narrative of what happened was disputed by the original examination.

The first investigation concluded the military had been shot at first.

In the peace process, the administration commissioned a new investigation, in response to advocacy by surviving kin, who said the initial inquiry had been a whitewash.

That year, the report by Lord Saville said that generally, the soldiers had discharged weapons initially and that not one of the individuals had been armed.

At that time head of state, the Prime Minister, apologised in the House of Commons – declaring killings were "without justification and unjustifiable."

Authorities commenced look into the events.

An ex-soldier, referred to as the accused, was prosecuted for murder.

Indictments were filed over the deaths of the first individual, 22, and twenty-six-year-old William McKinney.

The accused was also accused of attempting to murder multiple individuals, Joseph Friel, more people, another person, and an unnamed civilian.

Exists a legal order protecting the veteran's anonymity, which his attorneys have maintained is essential because he is at danger.

He stated to the examination that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at people who were armed.

That claim was dismissed in the final report.

Information from the examination would not be used immediately as evidence in the legal proceedings.

In court, the veteran was screened from view with a privacy screen.

He made statements for the initial occasion in the hearing at a proceeding in that month, to answer "not guilty" when the allegations were read.

Relatives of the victims on Bloody Sunday journeyed from Londonderry to the courthouse daily of the case.

A family member, whose brother Michael was fatally wounded, said they always knew that hearing the case would be emotional.

"I visualize everything in my mind's eye," he said, as we walked around the primary sites discussed in the case – from the location, where his brother was fatally wounded, to the nearby Glenfada Park, where the individual and the second person were killed.

"It returns me to where I was that day.

"I assisted with the victim and lay him in the vehicle.

"I relived each detail during the testimony.

"Notwithstanding enduring the process – it's still meaningful for me."