Guildford pub bombings
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| Guildford Pub Bombing | |
|---|---|
| Location | Horse and Groom Public House, Seven Stars Public House, Guildford, United Kingdom |
| Target(s) | Public houses frequented by off-duty soldiers (principal target) and civilians |
| Date | 5 October 1974 2030 – 2100 (GMT) |
| Attack Type | Time bomb |
| Fatalities | 5 |
| Injuries | 65 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
The Guildford pub bombings occurred on 5 October 1974. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) planted bombs in the Horse and Groom pub on North Street, Guildford and the nearby Seven Stars pub, which killed five people and injured 65.
An IRA active service unit, assumed by many to be the Balcombe Street Gang, manufactured two 6 pound gelignite bombs in London. One was placed in the Horse and Groom and the other in the Seven Stars. Both pubs were popular with army personnel, and thus chosen as targets by the IRA.
The bomb in the Horse and Groom caused the most casualties when it detonated without warning at 8.30 p.m. Paul Craig, a 22-year old plasterer and four off-duty teenage soldiers of the Scots Guards and the Women's Royal Army Corps were killed in the blast. The Seven Stars was evacuated after the first blast, and so nobody was seriously hurt in the explosion there at 9.00 p.m.
These were to be the first two attacks in over a year of operations by the Active Service Unit of the IRA that were captured after the Balcombe Street Siege.[1] A similar bomb to those used in Guildford, with the addition of shrapnel, was thrown into the Kings Arms pub in Woolwich on the 7th of November. Gunner Richard Dunne and Alan Horsley, a sales clerk, died in that explosion. On the 21st of November, two bombs exploded in Birmingham at the Tavern in the Town and the Mulberry Bush pubs killing twenty-one people and injuring over one hundred and fifty;[2] these acts led to the conviction of the Birmingham Six. Several other bombings caused casualties and fear across Britain particularly in London, during the year long campaign.
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[edit] The Guildford Four
The bombings were at the height of "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland. The Metropolitan Police were under enormous pressure to apprehend the IRA bombers who had brought the war to Britain. In December 1974 the police arrested three men and a woman, later known as the Guildford Four of:
- Gerry Conlon
- Paul Hill
- Patrick Armstrong
- Carole Richardson
They were falsely convicted of the bombings in October 1975, and held in prison for fifteen years. Their convictions were later overturned in the appeal courts after it was proved the convictions had been based on confessions obtained under duress, whilst evidence clearing them was not reported by the police.[3] During the trial of the Balcombe Street gang in February 1977 the four IRA men 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. They were never charged with these offences. However, the IRA have never identified the true perpetrators of this attack.
The movie In the Name of the Father is based on these events, though some artistic licence was used. The building of the Horse & Groom still stands, although it is now a furniture shop called "Lom Bok".
[edit] The Dead
- Paul Craig, 22
- Guardsman William Forsyth, 18
- Private Ann Hamilton, 19
- Guardsman John Hunter, 17
- Private Caroline Slater, 18
[edit] Notes
See also Guildford Four
[edit] References
- ^ 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 who's first attack was the Guildford Bombings
- ^ "1991: Birmingham Six freed after 16 years", BBC News-On This Day, BBC News, 2001-03-14. Retrieved on March 10, 2007. (in English)
- ^ Pgs 426-436, McKee G, Franey R, Time Bomb, 1988, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 0-7475-0099-1.
