Ballygawley bus bombing
Ballygawley bus bombing | |
---|---|
Part of the Troubles | |
Location | Near Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland |
Coordinates | 54°31′42″N 7°12′39″W / 54.52833°N 7.21083°W |
Date | 20 August 1988 12:30 a.m. |
Target | British Army personnel |
Attack type | Roadside bomb |
Deaths | 8 soldiers |
Injured | 28 soldiers |
Perpetrator | Provisional IRA |
The Ballygawley bus bombing was a roadside bomb attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on a bus carrying British soldiers in Northern Ireland. It occurred in the early hours of 20 August 1988 in the townland of Curr near Ballygawley, County Tyrone. The attack killed eight soldiers and wounded another 28.[1] In the wake of the bombing, the British Army began ferrying its troops in and out of County Tyrone by helicopter.
Background
The
In June 1988,
Attack
On the night of 19/20 August 1988, an unmarked 52-seater
As it was driving along the main road from Ballygawley to Omagh, at about 12:30AM,[11] IRA members remotely detonated a roadside bomb containing 200 pounds (91 kg) of Semtex. According to police, the bomb had been planted in a vehicle by the roadside[8] and had been detonated by command wire from 330 yards (300 m) away.[10] A statement by one of the survivors claims instead that the roadside bomb was made of "two fertilizer bags filled with semtex".[12] The blast hurled the bus 30 metres down the road[11] and threw the soldiers into neighbouring hedges and fields.[8] It left a crater 6 feet (1.8 m) deep and scattered body parts and twisted metal over a wide area.[9] Witnesses described finding dead, dying and wounded soldiers strewn on the road and caught in the wreckage of the bus. Others were walking around, "stunned".[10] Some of the first to arrive on the scene and offer help were loyalist bandsmen of the Omagh Protestant Boy's Band returning from a parade in Portadown, who had also been travelling in buses.[10]
Eight of the soldiers were killed and the remaining 28 were wounded. The soldiers killed were: Jayson Burfitt (aged 19), Richard Greener (aged 21), Mark Norsworthy (aged 18), Stephen Wilkinson (aged 18), Jason Winter (aged 19), Blair Bishop (aged 19), Alexander Lewis (aged 18) and Peter Bullock (aged 21).[1] This was the single biggest loss of life for the British Army from an IRA attack in Northern Ireland since the Warrenpoint ambush in 1979,[13] although eleven off-duty British soldiers had been killed in the Droppin Well bombing in 1982, carried out by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).[14] An account from one of the survivors was published in Ken Wharton's book A Long Long War: Voices from the British Army in Northern Ireland, 1969–98.[15]
An inquest into the attack was told that the road was usually off-limits to military vehicles, due to the threat from the IRA. The driver of the bus, who was also a soldier, claimed he had been directed on to the road by diversion signs. The inquest heard that signs had not been placed by the police or the roads service. The IRA denied placing any signs and said that military buses often used the road. The mother of one of those killed accused the
Aftermath
Shortly thereafter, the Provisional IRA issued a statement claiming responsibility.[9] It said that the attack had been carried out by its Tyrone Brigade and added: "We will not lay down our arms until the peace of a British disengagement from Ireland".[11] The security forces suspected that an informer may have told the IRA of the bus's route and the time it would pass a specific spot.[11] After the attack the British military decided to start ferrying their troops to and from East Tyrone by helicopter to avoid any future attacks like this.[16]
On 30 August 1988, three IRA members were ambushed and killed by the Special Air Service (SAS) at Drumnakilly, County Tyrone. According to author Nick Van der Bijl the men—Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin—were identified by British intelligence as the perpetrators of the bombing.[16] Peter Taylor, instead, says that only Mullin was suspected, and that plans for the SAS operation were already underway at the time of the IRA attack.[19]
Two months after the attack, the British Government introduced the broadcasting ban. It meant that the voices of Sinn Féin and IRA members were not allowed to be broadcast on television or radio. The Ballygawley bus bombing is believed to have influenced the Government's decision to introduce the ban.[10]
According to state papers declassified in 2019, the attack sparked "panic" in the British Government, and tension between the RUC and the British Army over whose fault it was for the security lapse. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher warned RUC chief, John Hermon, that she would no longer send British troops over "in waves to be killed".[20]
See also
- Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1980–1989)
- M62 coach bombing
- Teebane bombing
- 1993 Fivemiletown ambush
- The Troubles in Ballygawley
References
- ^ a b "Sutton's Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland: 1988". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ McKittrick, David (2001). Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Random House. p. 946.
- ^ Sutton's Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland: 1981. Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 20 August 2013.
- ^ Northern Ireland: Death Cycle. Time, 1 June 1981.
- ^ A Chronology of the Conflict: July 1983. Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).
- ^ Taylor, Peter. Brits: The War Against the IRA. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2002. p.273
- ^ English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. Oxford University Press, 2004. p.258
- ^ Evening Times. 20 August 1988.
- ^ a b c d Lohr, Steve (21 August 1988). "IRA Claims Killing of 8 Soldiers As It Steps Up Attacks on British". New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f McKittrick, David. Lost Lives: The stories of the men, women and children who died as a result of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Random House, 2001. pp.1141–1142
- ^ a b c d Yallop, Richard (22 August 1988). "IRA forces security review". The Age.
- ISBN 978-1-78855-018-5.
- ^ McDonald, Henry (6 September 2009). "Timeline: IRA attacks allegedly linked to Libya". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ A Chronology of the Conflict: December 1982. Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).
- ^ A Long Long War: Voices from the British Army in Northern Ireland 1969–98. Goodreads. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
- ^ ISBN 1-84415-956-6
- ^ Pierce, Andrew (8 September 2009). "Britain's carefully crafted diplomatic relationship with Libya starts to unravel". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ISBN 978-0748646562.
- ISBN 978-1-317-13201-1.
- ^ "State papers: Thatcher's 'threat' to pull out troops in row with RUC chief after Ballygawley bus bomb". Belfast Telegraph. 30 December 2019.