Guildford pub bombings: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|1974 IRA bombings in Surrey, England}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date= |
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} |
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{{Use British English|date=January 2013}} |
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}} |
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{{Infobox civilian attack |
{{Infobox civilian attack |
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| type = [[Time bomb]]s |
| type = [[Time bomb]]s |
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| fatalities = 5 (4 off-duty British soldiers and 1 civilian)<br><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=5&month=10&year=1974|title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths|first=Malcolm|last=Sutton}}</ref> |
| fatalities = 5 (4 off-duty British soldiers and 1 civilian)<br><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=5&month=10&year=1974|title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths|first=Malcolm|last=Sutton}}</ref> |
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| injuries = 65+ (30 seriously)<ref>Steven P. Moysey - The Road To Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London p.87</ref> |
| injuries = 65+ (30 seriously)<ref>Steven P. Moysey - The Road To Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London p. 87</ref> |
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| perp = [[Provisional IRA]]<br>[[Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang]] |
| perp = [[Provisional IRA]]<br>[[Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang]] |
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}} |
}} |
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The '''Guildford pub bombings''' occurred on 5 October 1974 when the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) detonated two 6 |
The '''Guildford pub bombings''' occurred on 5 October 1974 when the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) detonated two {{convert|6|lb|kg|1|abbr=off|adj=on}} [[gelignite]] bombs at two [[public house|pubs]] in [[Guildford]], [[Surrey]], [[England]]. The pubs were targeted because they were popular with [[British Army]] personnel stationed at [[Pirbright|Pirbright barracks]]. Four soldiers and one civilian were killed. Sixty-five people were wounded. |
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==The bombings== |
==The bombings== |
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[[File:Guildford Bombing Memorial.jpg|thumb|Guildford Bombing Memorial]] |
[[File:Guildford Bombing Memorial.jpg|thumb|Guildford Bombing Memorial]] |
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In 1974 a number of pubs in Guildford town centre were known to be "army pubs", frequented by military personnel stationed in the area. These included the Horse & Groom on North Street, The Seven Stars on Swan Lane, and the Three Pigeons on High Street.<ref name=":0">{{citation |last1=Travers |first1=Richard |title=Guildford pub bombing FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/303702/GPB-Findings-and-Conclusion-FOR-WEBSITE.pdf |access-date=4 October 2023 |work=IN THE MATTER OF THE GUILDFORD PUB BOMBINGS 1974 AND IN THE MATTER OF THE INQUESTS TOUCHING AND CONCERNING THE DEATHS OF: (1) MR PAUL CRAIG (DECEASED) (2) GUARDSMAN WILLIAM FORSYTH (DECEASED) (3) PRIVATE ANN HAMILTON (DECEASED) (4) GUARDSMAN JOHN HUNTER (DECEASED) (5) PRIVATE CAROLINE SLATER (DECEASED) |agency=SURREY CORONER’S COURT |date=21 July 2022}}</ref> The [[IRA Army Council|Provisional IRA Army Council]] had authorised attacks in England at a meeting in 1973, and army pubs were viewed as [[Soft target|soft]] military targets.<ref name=":0" /> |
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⚫ | The bomb in the Horse and Groom detonated at 8:30 pm, killing a civilian, two members of the [[Scots Guards]] and two members of the [[Women's Royal Army Corps]]. The Seven Stars was evacuated after the first blast, and a second bomb exploded at 9:00 pm while the [[pub landlord]] and his wife searched the pub. The landlord |
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[[File:Horse and Groom, Guildford.jpg|thumb|left|Horse and Groom, Guildford]] |
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⚫ | These attacks were the first in a year-long campaign by an IRA [[active service unit]] who became known as the [[Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang|Balcombe Street Gang]] – |
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⚫ | The bomb in the Horse and Groom, thought to have been planted by a "courting couple" who have never been identified,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gupta |first1=Tanya |title=Guildford pub bomb inquest: Device could have been planted by a 'courting couple' |work=BBC News |date=21 July 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-62122117 |access-date=23 July 2022}}</ref> detonated at 8:30 pm, killing a civilian, two members of the [[Scots Guards]] and two members of the [[Women's Royal Army Corps]]. The Seven Stars was evacuated after the first blast, and a second bomb exploded at 9:00 pm while the [[pub landlord]] and his wife searched the pub. The landlord sustained a fractured skull and his wife a broken leg, and five members of staff and one customer who had just stepped outside received less serious injuries.<ref>Steven P. Moysey - The Road To Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London p. 88</ref> |
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⚫ | These attacks were the first in a year-long campaign by an IRA [[active service unit]] who became known as the [[Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang|Balcombe Street Gang]] – whom police arrested in December 1975 after the [[Balcombe Street siege]] leading to their trial and conviction for other murders and offences.<ref>McKee G, Franey R, ''Time Bomb'', 1988, Bloomsbury Publishing, {{ISBN|0-7475-0099-1}}. Page 18 notes that a new ASU was set up in August 1974 comprising O'Connell, Dowd etc whose first attack was the Guildford Bombings</ref> A similar bomb to those used in Guildford, with the addition of shrapnel, was thrown into the [[Woolwich pub bombing|Kings Arms pub in Woolwich]] on 7 November 1974. A soldier and a civilian died in that explosion.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11504414|title=Woolwich pub bombing: murder of Alan HORSLEY and Richard Copeland Sloan DUNNE and injury...|date=1 January 1974 - 31 December 1976 |publisher=The National Archives}}</ref> |
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==The Guildford Four== |
==The Guildford Four== |
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{{Main|Guildford Four and Maguire Seven}} |
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The bombings were at the height of [[the Troubles]] in [[Northern Ireland]]. The [[Metropolitan Police]] were under enormous pressure to apprehend the IRA bombers responsible for the attacks in England. In December 1974 the police arrested three men and a woman, later known as the [[Guildford Four]].<ref name=mckee/> One of the four, [[Gerry Conlon]], had been in London at the time of the bombings, and had visited his mother's sister, Annie Maguire. A few days after the Guildford Four were arrested, the Metropolitan Police arrested Annie Maguire and her family, including Conlon's father, Patrick "Giuseppe" Conlon – the "[[Guildford Four and Maguire Seven|Maguire Seven]]".<ref name=mckee/> |
The bombings were at the height of [[the Troubles]] in [[Northern Ireland]]. The [[Metropolitan Police]] were under enormous pressure to apprehend the IRA bombers responsible for the attacks in England. In December 1974, the police arrested three men and a woman, later known as the [[Guildford Four]].<ref name=mckee/> One of the four, [[Gerry Conlon]], had been in London at the time of the bombings, and had visited his mother's sister, Annie Maguire. A few days after the Guildford Four were arrested, the Metropolitan Police arrested Annie Maguire and her family, including Conlon's father, Patrick "Giuseppe" Conlon – the "[[Guildford Four and Maguire Seven|Maguire Seven]]".<ref name=mckee/> |
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The Guildford Four were [[wrongful conviction|wrongfully convicted]] of the bombings in October 1975 and sentenced to life in prison. The Maguire Seven were wrongfully convicted of providing bomb-making material and other support in March 1976 and sentenced to terms varying between four and fourteen years.<ref name=mckee/> |
The Guildford Four were [[wrongful conviction|wrongfully convicted]] of the bombings in October 1975 and sentenced to life in prison. The Maguire Seven were wrongfully convicted of providing bomb-making material and other support in March 1976 and sentenced to terms varying between four and fourteen years.<ref name=mckee/> |
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The Guildford Four were held in prison for fifteen years, while Giuseppe Conlon died near the end of his third year of imprisonment. All the convictions were overturned years later in the appeal courts after it was proved the Guildford Four's convictions had been based on confessions obtained by torture (as were some Maguire Seven confessions), whilst evidence specifically clearing the Four was not reported by the police.<ref name=mckee>McKee G, Franey R, ''Time Bomb'', 1988, pp. |
The Guildford Four were held in prison for fifteen years, while Giuseppe Conlon died near the end of his third year of imprisonment. All the convictions were overturned years later in the appeal courts after it was proved the Guildford Four's convictions had been based on confessions obtained by torture (as were some Maguire Seven confessions), whilst evidence specifically clearing the Four was not reported by the police.<ref name=mckee>McKee G, Franey R, ''Time Bomb'', 1988, pp. 426–36, Bloomsbury Publishing, {{ISBN|0-7475-0099-1}}</ref> |
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During the trial of the [[Balcombe Street Gang]] in February 1977, the four IRA members instructed their lawyers to "draw attention to the fact that four totally innocent people were serving massive sentences" for three bombings in Woolwich and Guildford. The Balcombe Street Gang were never charged with these offences. The 1993 |
During the trial of the [[Balcombe Street Gang]] in February 1977, the four IRA members instructed their lawyers to "draw attention to the fact that four totally innocent people were serving massive sentences" for three bombings in Woolwich and Guildford. The Balcombe Street Gang were never charged with these offences. The 1993 film ''[[In the Name of the Father (film)|In the Name of the Father]]'' is based on these events.<ref>Bergman, Paul and Asimow, Michael (2006). ''Reel justice: the courtroom goes to the movies''. Andrews McMeel Publishing, p. 43. {{ISBN|0-7407-5460-2}}</ref> |
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==Aftermath== |
==Aftermath== |
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The London |
The London-based IRA active service unit's next attack was the [[Woolwich pub bombing]] on 7 November 1974,<ref>{{cite web |title=CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1974 {{!}} Thursday 7 November 1974 |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch74.htm#71174 |website=CAIN Web Services |publisher=Ulster University |access-date=14 September 2020}}</ref> two people were killed in this attack, one soldier and a civilian who worked in the pub, over 30 people injured.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sutton |first1=Malcolm |title=An index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland {{!}} November 1974 |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=7&month=11&year=1974 |website=CAIN Web Service |publisher=Ulster University |access-date=14 September 2020}}</ref> Two of the Guildford Four were also convicted of this attack.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=and agencies|date=2005-02-09|title=Blair apologises to Guildford Four family|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/feb/09/northernireland.devolution|access-date=2021-01-29|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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==Sources== |
==Sources== |
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*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/5/newsid_2492000/2492543.stm BBC report on the attacks], bbc.co.uk, 5 October 1974; accessed 23 October 2015. |
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/5/newsid_2492000/2492543.stm BBC report on the attacks], bbc.co.uk, 5 October 1974; accessed 23 October 2015. |
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*[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Balcombe-Street-Terror-London-ebook/dp/B00XUVNR2Y The Road to Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London |
* [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Balcombe-Street-Terror-London-ebook/dp/B00XUVNR2Y ''The Road to Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London'' – Second Edition by Steven P. Moysey – Author] |
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{{PIRA}} |
{{PIRA}} |
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{{The Troubles}} |
{{The Troubles}} |
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[[Category:20th-century military history of the United Kingdom]] |
[[Category:20th-century military history of the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Attacks on bars in the United Kingdom]] |
[[Category:Attacks on bars in the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Building bombings in |
[[Category:Building bombings in England]] |
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[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in England]] |
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in England]] |
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[[Category:Guildford|Pub bombings]] |
[[Category:Guildford|Pub bombings]] |
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[[Category:History of the British Army]] |
[[Category:History of the British Army]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:1974 building bombings]] |
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[[Category:Mass murder in 1974]] |
[[Category:Mass murder in 1974]] |
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[[Category:Murder in Surrey]] |
[[Category:Murder in Surrey]] |
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[[Category:October 1974 crimes]] |
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[[Category:October 1974 events in the United Kingdom]] |
[[Category:October 1974 events in the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Provisional IRA bombings in England]] |
[[Category:Provisional IRA bombings in England]] |
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[[Category:Scots Guards]] |
[[Category:Scots Guards]] |
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[[Category:Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1974]] |
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1974]] |
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[[Category:Women's Royal Army Corps soldiers]] |
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[[Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 1974]] |
Latest revision as of 16:04, 27 February 2024
Guildford pub bombings | |
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Part of The Troubles | |
Standort | Horse & Groom pub; Seven Stars pub, Guildford, England |
Coordinates | 51°14′13″N 0°34′18″W / 51.237054°N 0.571753°W |
Date | 5 October 1974 20:30 – 21:00 (BST) |
Target | British Army soldiers |
Attack type | Time bombs |
Deaths | 5 (4 off-duty British soldiers and 1 civilian) [1] |
Injured | 65+ (30 seriously)[2] |
Perpetrator | Provisional IRA Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang |
The Guildford pub bombings occurred on 5 October 1974 when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated two 6-pound (2.7-kilogram) gelignite bombs at two pubs in Guildford, Surrey, England. The pubs were targeted because they were popular with British Army personnel stationed at Pirbright barracks. Four soldiers and one civilian were killed. Sixty-five people were wounded.
The bombings
[edit]In 1974 a number of pubs in Guildford town centre were known to be "army pubs", frequented by military personnel stationed in the area. These included the Horse & Groom on North Street, The Seven Stars on Swan Lane, and the Three Pigeons on High Street.[3] The Provisional IRA Army Council had authorised attacks in England at a meeting in 1973, and army pubs were viewed as soft military targets.[3]
The bomb in the Horse and Groom, thought to have been planted by a "courting couple" who have never been identified,[4] detonated at 8:30 pm, killing a civilian, two members of the Scots Guards and two members of the Women's Royal Army Corps. The Seven Stars was evacuated after the first blast, and a second bomb exploded at 9:00 pm while the pub landlord and his wife searched the pub. The landlord sustained a fractured skull and his wife a broken leg, and five members of staff and one customer who had just stepped outside received less serious injuries.[5]
These attacks were the first in a year-long campaign by an IRA active service unit who became known as the Balcombe Street Gang – whom police arrested in December 1975 after the Balcombe Street siege leading to their trial and conviction for other murders and offences.[6] A similar bomb to those used in Guildford, with the addition of shrapnel, was thrown into the Kings Arms pub in Woolwich on 7 November 1974. A soldier and a civilian died in that explosion.[7]
The bombings occurred only five days before the October 1974 United Kingdom general election. As all parties felt obliged to respond to the events, they contributed to the speedy and unchallenged passing of the Prevention of Terrorism Acts in November 1974.[citation needed]
The Guildford Four
[edit]The bombings were at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Metropolitan Police were under enormous pressure to apprehend the IRA bombers responsible for the attacks in England. In December 1974, the police arrested three men and a woman, later known as the Guildford Four.[8] One of the four, Gerry Conlon, had been in London at the time of the bombings, and had visited his mother's sister, Annie Maguire. A few days after the Guildford Four were arrested, the Metropolitan Police arrested Annie Maguire and her family, including Conlon's father, Patrick "Giuseppe" Conlon – the "Maguire Seven".[8]
The Guildford Four were wrongfully convicted of the bombings in October 1975 and sentenced to life in prison. The Maguire Seven were wrongfully convicted of providing bomb-making material and other support in March 1976 and sentenced to terms varying between four and fourteen years.[8]
The Guildford Four were held in prison for fifteen years, while Giuseppe Conlon died near the end of his third year of imprisonment. All the convictions were overturned years later in the appeal courts after it was proved the Guildford Four's convictions had been based on confessions obtained by torture (as were some Maguire Seven confessions), whilst evidence specifically clearing the Four was not reported by the police.[8]
During the trial of the Balcombe Street Gang in February 1977, the four IRA members instructed their lawyers to "draw attention to the fact that four totally innocent people were serving massive sentences" for three bombings in Woolwich and Guildford. The Balcombe Street Gang were never charged with these offences. The 1993 film In the Name of the Father is based on these events.[9]
Aftermath
[edit]The London-based IRA active service unit's next attack was the Woolwich pub bombing on 7 November 1974,[10] two people were killed in this attack, one soldier and a civilian who worked in the pub, over 30 people injured.[11] Two of the Guildford Four were also convicted of this attack.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths".
- ^ Steven P. Moysey - The Road To Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London p. 87
- ^ a b Travers, Richard (21 July 2022), "Guildford pub bombing FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS" (PDF), IN THE MATTER OF THE GUILDFORD PUB BOMBINGS 1974 AND IN THE MATTER OF THE INQUESTS TOUCHING AND CONCERNING THE DEATHS OF: (1) MR PAUL CRAIG (DECEASED) (2) GUARDSMAN WILLIAM FORSYTH (DECEASED) (3) PRIVATE ANN HAMILTON (DECEASED) (4) GUARDSMAN JOHN HUNTER (DECEASED) (5) PRIVATE CAROLINE SLATER (DECEASED), SURREY CORONER’S COURT, retrieved 4 October 2023
- ^ Gupta, Tanya (21 July 2022). "Guildford pub bomb inquest: Device could have been planted by a 'courting couple'". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ Steven P. Moysey - The Road To Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London p. 88
- ^ McKee G, Franey R, Time Bomb, 1988, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 0-7475-0099-1. Page 18 notes that a new ASU was set up in August 1974 comprising O'Connell, Dowd etc whose first attack was the Guildford Bombings
- ^ Woolwich pub bombing: murder of Alan HORSLEY and Richard Copeland Sloan DUNNE and injury... The National Archives. 1 January 1974 – 31 December 1976.
- ^ a b c d McKee G, Franey R, Time Bomb, 1988, pp. 426–36, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 0-7475-0099-1
- ^ Bergman, Paul and Asimow, Michael (2006). Reel justice: the courtroom goes to the movies. Andrews McMeel Publishing, p. 43. ISBN 0-7407-5460-2
- ^ "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1974 | Thursday 7 November 1974". CAIN Web Services. Ulster University. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "An index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland | November 1974". CAIN Web Service. Ulster University. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- ^ Staff, and agencies (9 February 2005). "Blair apologises to Guildford Four family". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
Sources
[edit]- BBC report on the attacks, bbc.co.uk, 5 October 1974; accessed 23 October 2015.
- The Road to Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London – Second Edition by Steven P. Moysey – Author
- 1974 in England
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