It was a People's Democracy march from Belfast to Derry which was attacked whilst passing through Burntollet. The march had been called in defiance of an appeal by Northern Ireland Prime MinisterNorthern Ireland Prime MinisterTerence O'Neill for a temporary end to protest.
At Burntollet an Ulster loyalist crowd numbering in the region of 300 - including 100 off-duty members of the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) - attacked the civil rights marchers from adjacent high ground. Loyalists celebrated the attack as a victory over Catholic "rebels".