Lichfield gun attack
Lichfield gun attack | |
---|---|
Part of Provisional IRA | |
Assailants | IRA active service unit in West Midlands, England |
The Lichfield gun attack was an ambush carried out by the
Background
The IRA had stepped up their campaign against British military targets outside Northern Ireland in the late 1980s. In May 1988 they killed members of the
The shooting
On 1 June 1990 three off-duty British soldiers were sitting on a bench on a platform at Lichfield City railway station. Suddenly two paramilitary volunteers from the Provisional IRA appeared on the platform, pulled out handguns and fired shots at the soldiers, then jumped onto the tracks, ran across the line and through a builder's yard opposite the station. The attack killed 18-year-old private William Robert Davies of Pontarddulais, south Wales and injured two other soldiers, Robert Parkin, 20, and Neil Evans, 19. A British Rail employee who witnessed the shooting said he jumped across the tracks to try to help the soldiers.[citation needed]
"I and a station employee tried to staunch the flow of blood from the chest of one of the soldiers," he said.
The three soldiers, who were in training at Whittington Barracks,[6] were waiting for a train to nearby Birmingham for weekend leave, said Detective Chief Superintendent Malcolm Bevington.[citation needed]
A week before the attack two Australian tourists,
Aftermath
The IRA released a statement after the attacks, saying: "While British troops remain in Ireland such attacks will continue."[9]
The IRA continued their campaign in England and mainland Europe. On 9 June 1990 the IRA bombed the headquarters of the British Army's Honourable Artillery Company in central London, wounding 19 people. On 14 June 1990 a large IRA bomb badly damaged a building inside a British Army base at Hanover, West Germany. On 25 June 1990 an IRA bomb exploded at the Carlton Club in London, injuring 20 people. One of the wounded, Conservative politician Lord Kaberry, died of his injuries on 13 March 1991.[10]
As of 2013, no-one had been convicted of the murder of Pte Davies.[11]
See also
- JHQ Rheindahlen bombing (Germany)
- 1988 Netherlands Attacks
- Deal barracks
- Osnabruck mortar attack
- 1990 Eltham bombing
References
- ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". CAIN. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". CAIN. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1988". CAIN. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". CAIN. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ West, Michael (17 May 1990). "Minister Says London Being Subjected To IRA Terror Campaign". AP News. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ "Police hold six men over latest attacks by IRA". The Herald. 5 June 1990. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
- ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". CAIN. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ Socolovsky, Jerome (28 May 1990). "IRA Says It Mistakenly Killed Two Australian Tourists". AP News. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ "IRA Kills British Soldier in West Germany, Another in England". AP News. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1990". CAIN. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ "Memory of our son's killing remains raw". Express & Star. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2017.