This photograph was taken while McCullin was working for ‘The Sunday Times Magazine’ and was originally published as part of a photo-story entitled ‘War on the Home Front’ in December 1971. It depicts a group of soldiers of the Anglia Regiment counter-attacking stone-throwers in the Bogside, a Catholic majority neighbourhood in Derry/Londonderry. They are heavily kitted-out in full riot gear and are all armed, the majority brandishing guns, aimed forwards, ready to fire as they charge down the street. The two women visible in doorways behind them may have stepped aside to avoid being caught up in the attack, or they may be interested inhabitants wanting to get a closer look at the unfolding drama. McCullin’s tight framing of this scene, in which gesturing human figures are set within the vertical and diagonal lines of the building and the street, emphasises the speed and momentum of the soldiers’ attack.