Guildford bombings

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As a Guildford pub bombings ( English Guildford pub bombings ) two bombings of will Provisional Irish Republican Army in the English town of Guildford referred.

background

As part of the IRA's Éire Nua strategy, the IRA's fight for a unified Ireland modeled on the Irish Republic , which previously took place in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in particular , was also extended to the entire United Kingdom . As a result, there were numerous bomb attacks beginning on October 5, 1974, especially in the greater London area , which claimed numerous lives.

Guildford attacks

On October 5, 1974, an IRA Active Service Unit , later known as the Balcombe Street Gang , carried out two bombings in Guildford. The destinations were the Seven Stars and Horse and Groom pubs , which were particularly popular with British soldiers. The first bomb exploded at 8:30 p.m. at Horse and Groom , killing four soldiers (two each from the Scots Guards and two from the Women's Royal Army Corps ) and a civilian. 65 other people were injured, some seriously. Immediately after the attack, other pubs in Guildford, including the Seven Stars , were evacuated. The second bomb, which detonated at the Seven Stars at 9 p.m. , did not result in any serious personal injury. Six pound nitroglycerin- based bombs were used in both attacks .

The Guildford bombings marked the beginning of a long series of attacks by various IRA Active Service Units . The Balcombe Street Gang responsible for the Guildford attacks carried out further attacks in London and the surrounding area until they were arrested on December 13, 1975. Among other things, she is responsible for the attack on November 7, 1974 on the Kings Arms pub in Woolwich , which claimed two lives.

Guildford Four

About two months after the Guildford bombings, police arrested several Northern Irishmen and one Englishwoman who were held responsible for organizing and preparing the attacks. After long interrogations, which also included torture methods, four detainees confessed to the crime. These four were eventually charged with carrying out the attacks, with seven others as supporters. The four main defendants, who would later become known as the Guildford Four , were sentenced to life imprisonment and the seven supporters, the Maguire Seven , were sentenced to multiple years imprisonment. It later emerged that forensic evidence was scientifically untenable and that the confessions were partly falsified and based on unauthorized interrogation methods. The convictions were overturned in 1989.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ McKee G, Franey R, Time Bomb , 1988, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 0-7475-0099-1 . P. 18 ff.