Assassination of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Assassination of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma | |
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Part of The Troubles | |
Location | Mullaghmore Peninsula, Ireland |
Coordinates | 54°27′59″N 8°26′55″W / 54.4664°N 8.4486°W |
Date | 27 August 1979 |
Target | Earl Mountbatten |
Attack type | Bombing |
Weapon | Bomb |
Deaths |
|
Injured |
|
Perpetrator | Provisional IRA |
Assailant | Thomas McMahon |
Motive | Irish republicanism |
Convicted | Thomas McMahon |
Charges | Murder |
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, a relative of the British royal family, was assassinated on 27 August 1979 by Thomas McMahon, an Irish republican and volunteer for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).
Details
McMahon placed a 50lb gelignite bomb on Shadow V, a fishing boat owned by Mountbatten, while it was harboured overnight in Mullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland. It was detonated several hours later, after Mountbatten and his family and crew had boarded it and taken it offshore. Mountbatten was found alive by fishermen who rushed to the site of the explosion, but he died before reaching shore. Also killed were Mountbatten's 14-year-old grandson Nicholas Knatchbull, and Paul Maxwell, a teenage boy from Enniskillen serving as crew. The four others aboard – Mountbatten's daughter Patricia; her husband John Knatchbull; their son Timothy (twin brother of Nicholas); and John Knatchbull's mother Doreen – were all seriously injured. Doreen Knatchbull died in hospital the following day.[1][2]
The assassination took place during The Troubles, a conflict between republicans and unionists in Northern Ireland following the Partition of Ireland.[3] The IRA claimed responsibility three days after the bombing, describing the attack as "a discriminate act to bring to the attention of the English people the continuing occupation of our country."[4]
Mountbatten was a great-grandson of
Two hours before the explosion, McMahon had been arrested by the
The assassination marked an escalation of the conflict, with the IRA committing their deadliest attack on the British Army (the Warrenpoint ambush) on the same day as the assassination.[12] Thatcher changed Britain's approach by coordinating the various British security services campaigns against the IRA more centrally and used the SAS more aggressively to kill known IRA volunteers who were on active operation., Thatcher was herself the target of an assassination attempt five years later.[13] McMahon was paroled from his life sentence in 1998 after 19 years in prison under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, as part of the Northern Ireland peace process which brought an end to the Troubles after three decades.[14]
Reactions
The killing was condemned by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Jack Lynch. Many international figures offered their condolences to the royal family, including US President Jimmy Carter and Pope John Paul II.[15][16] The United States Department of State said: "Americans will especially recall his great contribution to our common cause in World War II as well as his many services to this country and to the world since then."[17]
Three days of state mourning was announced in Burma (now known as Myanmar), while in India where he served as the last
The assassination also horrified the Irish American community, who viewed Mountbatten as a hero for his role in defeating the Axis powers during World War II (many American soldiers in the war served under him),[22][23][24] and IRA financial support in America via NORAID dwindled,[25] which was already in steep decline since the Bloody Friday incident of 1972.[26] The American press condemned the attack, including The Boston Globe, which said "the Provisional army's action against Mountbatten and others engenders no sympathy for their cause" and The New York Times, which suggested that the Republic of Ireland and Britain team up as a means of "how to punish the IRA."[24] The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which succeeded in greatly reducing the IRA arms importation into Ireland from America at the time of the killing, responded by forming the PIRA Squad in order to effectively track down IRA gunrunners engaged in procuring American arms.
Funeral
On 5 September 1979, the
References
- ^ Kennedy, Leslie (2020-12-22). The IRA Assassination of Lord Mountbatten: Facts and Fallout. History Channel. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ British socialite whose father, Lord Mountbatten, and son were killed by the IRA. Irish Times (2017-06-17). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ Lord Mountbatten death: Who was he and why was he assassinated?. The Independent (2020-12-20). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ Statement by I.R.A.. New York Times (1979-08-31). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ Hallemann, Caroline (2020-11-13). Who Is Prince Philip's Uncle, Lord Mountbatten?. Town and Country Magazine. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ MB1/J Mountbatten Papers: Chief of the Defence Staff, 1959–65. University of Southampton. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ MB1/I Mountbatten Papers: First Sea Lord, 1955-9. University of Southampton. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ NORTHERN IRELAND: It is Clearly a War Situation. Time (1979-11-19). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ On This Day: 27 August 1979: IRA bomb kills Lord Mountbatten. BBC. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ Killer of Lord Mountbatten enjoys freedom, 30 years on from IRA murder. Daily Telegraph (2009-08-09). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ King, Victoria (2009-12-30). Files show US-UK tensions over Northern Ireland in 1979. BBC. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ Timeline: Long road to Northern Irish settlement. Reuters (2011-05-17). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ Lord Mountbatten’s assassination and its impact on IRA’s push for independence. Indian Express (2020-11-18). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ This Day in History: 1979 November 23 1979: IRA member sentenced for Mountbatten's assassination. History Channel. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ISBN 978-1-4711-5097-5.
- ^ Death of Mountbatten: Taoiseach John Lynch message to MT (condolences and condemnation). Margaret Thatcher.org. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
- ^ Summary of World Broadcasts: Far East. British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service. 1979. pp. A-9.
- S2CID 237793636.
- ^ "Prime Minister Ch. Charan Singh signing condolence book for Earl Mountbatten at British High Commission in Delhi". charansingh.org. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
- ^ Charan Singh: Selected Speeches, July 1979-December 1979. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 1992. p. 55.
- ISBN 9-7817-3340-4921– via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-1-5210-0362-6.
- ^ ISBN 0-8132-08351.
- ISBN 9-7890-4740-7386– via Google Books.
- ^ Linda Charlton (24 September 1979). "Fund‐Raising by a Group in U.S. Called Vital to I.R.A. Operations". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d "LOUIS, 1st EARL MOUNTBATTEN OF BURMA 1979: A Royal Ceremonial Funeral". Lord Mountbatten. Retrieved 27 March 2023.