| Guildford Pub Bombing | |
|---|---|
| Location | Horse and Groom Public House, Seven Stars Public House, Guildford, United Kingdom |
| Date | 5 October 1974 2030 – 2100 (GMT) |
| Attack type | Time bomb |
| Deaths | 5 |
| Injured | 65 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
The Guildford pub bombings occurred on 5 October 1974. Guildford ( IPA /ˈgɪlfəd/ is the County town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Events 869 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about Patriarch Photius of Constantinople Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. Greenwich Mean Time ( GMT) is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Óglaigh na hÉireann ( IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Events 869 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about Patriarch Photius of Constantinople Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. 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 seriously injured 65. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Óglaigh na hÉireann ( IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Guildford ( IPA /ˈgɪlfəd/ is the County town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the
An IRA active service unit manufactured two 6 pound gelignite bombs in London. The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass Gelignite, also known as blasting gelatin, is an Explosive material consisting of Collodion - Cotton (a type of Nitrocellulose London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. 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 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 Scots Guards (SG form part of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and 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. An Active Service Unit (ASU was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA cell of five to eight members tasked with carrying out armed attacks The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA and London 's Metropolitan Police Service lasting [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. The Kings Arms is a Public house in Woolwich, London that was bombed in 1974 and is now a landmark on the route of the London Marathon. Woolwich (ˈwʊlɪtʃ or /ˈwʊlɪdʒ/ is a suburb in south-east London, England in the London Borough of Greenwich, on the south side of the River 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. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um The Birmingham Six were six men — Hugh Callaghan Patrick Joseph Hill Gerard Hunter Richard McIlkenny William Power and John Walker — sentenced to Life imprisonment in Several other bombings caused casualties and fear across Britain particularly in London, during the year long campaign.
The Guildford Four
The bombings were at the height of "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of The Metropolitan Police were under enormous pressure to apprehend the IRA bombers who had brought the war to Britain. "Metropolitan Police" redirects here See also Metropolitan police. 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, during which Gerry Conlon's father, Patrick "Giuseppe" Conlon died in prison. The Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven were two sets of people wrongfully convicted by British authorities of bombings carried out by the Provisional Irish 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. The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA and London 's Metropolitan Police Service lasting [4] 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. In the Name of the Father is a 1993 film directed by Jim Sheridan based on the true life story of the Guildford Four, four people falsely The building of the Horse & Groom still stands, although it is now a furniture shop called "Lom Bok".
Notes
See also Guildford Four and Maguire Seven
References
- ^ McKee G, Franey R, Time Bomb, 1988, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 0-7475-0099-1. The Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven were two sets of people wrongfully convicted by British authorities of bombings carried out by the Provisional Irish 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. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Events 1489 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing (English)
- ^ Pgs 426-436, McKee G, Franey R, Time Bomb, 1988, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 0-7475-0099-1.
- ^ Joe O'Connell's speech from the dock
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