1974 London pillar box bombings

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London pillar box bombings
Part of
Provisional IRA

On 25 and 27 November 1974 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) placed several bombs in pillar boxes and one in a hedge behind a pillar box. This was a new tactic used by the IRA in England, although a similar tactic had been used in Northern Ireland during The Troubles several times previously. 40 people were wounded from five explosions in several districts.[1]

Background

The IRA began their bombing campaign of England in early 1973 when they bombed the Old Bailey courthouse, the seat of justice in Britain, they used a car bomb to attack it which injured over 200 people, caused extensive damage and one person died from a heart attack.[2]

1974 was to be the IRA's most deadly year in England with close to 50 people being killed and with around 500 being injured. The year started with the M62 coach bombing a military coach which had soldiers and their families on it. Nine soldiers were killed and three civilians with just under 40 being injured, many seriously.[3][4]

The IRA had been bombing targets in and around the London area since October 1974, including the Guildford pub bombings on 5 October and the Woolwich pub bombing on 7 November. Seven people were killed from these two bombings alone (5 British military personnel & 2 civilians) and almost 100 people were injured.[2][5]

On 21 November the

Judith Ward of the M62 coach bombing and it was also used to convict the eleven members of the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven of the Guildford bombings. All these convictions were also overturned in the late 1980s/early 1990s.[7][8]

Bombings

Casualties
Caledonian Road 2
Piccadilly Circus 16
Victoria Street 2
Tite Street (1st) 0
Tite Street (2nd) 20

The IRA decided to send a message of defiance to the government over the PTA and to show that the IRA was very much still operational in England. They created bombs concealed in packets small enough to fit in a standard-sized pillar post box.[9]

On 25 November 1974 the IRA planted bombs inside pillar boxes in various places around London. They made three small

King's Cross and Pentonville Road,[9] went off at 5:50 pm that injured two people. Ten minutes later a second bomb went off outside Piccadilly Circus at 6:00 pm. This was the worst bomb of the day as it injured 16 people. The last bomb detonated near Metropole Cinema, just outside London Victoria station
, and went off at 6:50 pm, injuring another 2 people. This brought the total injured to 20 for the day.

The Metropolitan Police called in the army bomb squad to check all pillar boxes in the W1 and N1 postal areas. In addition, false alarms throughout other places in London caused traffic chaos. The next day, many nervous post workers in central London refused to open boxes in fear that there could be a bomb.[9]

Two days later on 27 November, a twin bomb attack near the National Army Museum on

claymore-type device.[11] The second bomb was aimed to kill those on the scene.[9]

Aftermath

The secondary 'come-on' bomb in Chelsea, the first time it was deployed in London, forced the Metropolitan Police to make changes to responses to explosions. It required all police officers attending an explosion to carry out an immediate search around the scene and cordon the area off to ensure there would be no second bomb.[11]

Sources

References

  1. ^ Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1974". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  3. ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  4. ^ Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1974". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  5. ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  6. ^ Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1974". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Justice – Miscarriages of justice". sixthformlaw.info. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  8. ^ Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: HMSO: Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  9. ^ .
  10. ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=oR8_DwAcAQBAJ&q=november+1974+bomb+london+piccadilly+circus&pg=PT111[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ .