by Ann Williams
All the bombings had been timed to coincide with the strike of the loyalist Ulster Workers’ Council (UWC). The strike was a general strike that took place between Wednesday May 15 to Tuesday May 28, 1974, called in protest of both the security and political situation in Northern Ireland. It was also opposed to the proposals put forward in the Sunningdale Agreement, which meant that the governing body of the Republic of Ireland would have been in direct control of the running of the area. The strike was successful in bringing about the downfall of the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive, and as a result the responsibility then lay with the British Parliament under the arrangements laid out for ‘Direct Rule’. So whoever planned the car bombs knew it would have a maximum impact in a time when Ireland was undergoing great political instability.
THE AFTERMATH
Both the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) denied responsibility for the bombs and the Provisional IRA issued a statement that called the explosions ‘vile murder’. The investigations by the Garda seemed to grind to a halt after a few weeks, despite the fact that they had the names of several known suspects. Over the years the families of the victims and those injured in the blasts came to question the actions of those people in authority in Northern Ireland.
Yorkshire Television, more than 20 years later, made a documentary – Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre – about the car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan with the cooperation of retired members of the Irish Garda. Using information supplied to them, the television programme claimed that the atrocities were the responsility of the UVF, which were a loyalist paramilitary organization. However, the documentary went on to say that the UVF did not have the knowledge to build bombs of such a sophisticated nature and felt that they must have had outside assistance, and it alleged that British intelligence had provided the bombers with military assistance. Previous bombs that had been assembled by the UVF had been simple, primitive devices, yet when forensics studied the remains of the Dublin and Monaghan bombs, they were found to be relatively sophisticated requiring quite a high degree of knowledge regarding explosives.
The relatives of the people killed in the explosions believed that there were just too many questions left unanswered, and in 1996 they formed an organization called the Justice For The Forgotten. Since their formation, the group has continued to put pressure on the Irish government to carry out a public enquiry in an effort to find the truth. Eventually, their efforts paid off and a private inquiry into the bombings was set up in 2003 by Henry Barron, a former Irish Supreme Court judge. The British authorities were not willing to cooperate with Barron or provide him with the necessary files and information he requested. The Barron Report was a long and detailed document, which consisted of some 448 pages, and it gave a close insight into the lack of investigation by the Garda. It makes many claims and accusations but does not really draw any final conclusions that could be supported by circumstantial evidence.
It is still incomprehensible that possibly the most lethal crime in the history of Northern Ireland on any one day has not been pursued in any depth. After all the bloodshed and loss of lives, which appalled the nation, not one person within the central government wanted to pursue the case with the Garda. Those at the higher levels insisted that the investigation did not produce any conclusive evidence, and over the years the enthusiasm grew less and less, possibly proving even further that this was some sort of government cover-up.
Guildford And Woolwich Pub Bombings
The day will dawn when all the people of Ireland will have the desire for freedom to show. It is then we’ll see the rising of the moon.
Bobby Sands
The Guildford and Woolwich pub bombings were part of a campaign mounted in the 1970s by the Provisional Republican Army (IRA) to strike fear into the inhabitants of the British mainland. Five people were killed and over 40 injured when a bomb exploded in the Horse and Groom pub, Guildford, on the evening of October 5, 1974; half an hour later, another bomb went off in the Seven Stars nearby, but this time the landlord was able to evacuate the pub and there were no casualties. Just over a month after these atrocities, a further bombing took place in Woolwich, at the King’s Arms pub, in which two men were killed and another disabled for life. All of the targets were places where army personnel were known to gather, and most of the victims were British soldiers.
PRESSURE MOUNTS
Throughout 1974, the attacks continued, including two horrifying bombings of pubs in Birmingham that killed a total of 21 people and injured many more. Naturally, as the IRA’s campaign of terror continued, the pressure was on from the government, the media and the public for the police to find the culprits and bring them to justice.
By the end of the year, the police had arrested three men and a woman: Gerry Conlon, Paul Hill, Patrick Armstrong and Carole Richardson, who later became known as the Guildford Four. When their cases came to trial, all were convicted of murder, as well as other charges. However, the Guildford Four constantly maintained that they were innocent, and after many years of campaigning, were found to have been entirely unconnected with the murders. Their convictions were overturned. In the same way, those convicted of the crimes in Birmingham, who were known as the Birmingham Six, were freed after years of protesting their innocence.
SIX POUNDS OF GELIGNITE
On the evening of October 5, 1974, British army soldiers and their friends met up in Guildford, Surrey, to drink in the Horse and Groom pub. Unbeknownst to them, that afternoon, a bomb containing 2.7 kg
(6 lb) of gelignite had been placed under some seats by the bar. As the evening wore on, the pub became more crowded, until at 8.30 p.m., the bomb suddenly went off. There were no warnings.
Those who died that night were Paul Craig, a plasterer, and four teenage soldiers from the Scots Guard Regiment and the Women’s Royal Army Corps. They were Guardsman William Forsyth, aged 18, Guardsman John Hunter, 17, Private Caroline Slater, 18, and Private Ann Hamilton, 19. As well as killing these young people as they began their adult lives, the bomb also injured around 50, and caused widespread panic – as it had been calculated to do.
After hearing the blast that went off in the Horse and Groom, the landlord of the Seven Stars pub nearby wisely evacuated all his customers. Another bomb containing 2.7 kg (6 lb) of gelignite then detonated in his pub at 9.00 p.m., but thankfully, this time no one was hurt.
LEG BLOWN OFF
The bombings were widely condemned by politicians and the media, who swore to bring the culprits to justice. However, although the police suspected that an IRA active service unit had planted the bombs, the terrorists had covered their traces well, and there were few leads to follow up. Meanwhile, as other attacks on army and establishment targets continued, including kidnappings and shootings, an atmosphere of fear and anxiety, particularly in and around London, began to build up.
On November 6, 1974, the IRA struck again with the bombing of a pub in Woolwich. This time, the pub was the King’s Arms, situated opposite the Royal Artillery Depot of the British army – another popular watering hole for soldiers and their friends. The bomb used was similar to those planted in the pubs at Guildford, only as well as the gelignite, it was packed with shrapnel. And instead of hiding it under a seat, the bombers threw it through the pub window, killing a civilian, Alan Horsley, and a soldier, Gunner Richard Dunne. Another victim narrowly escaped death when he had his leg blown off by the blast.
MASS MURDER
Later the same month, two bombs exploded in pubs in Birmingham, the Tavern in the Town and the Mulberry Bush. In these attacks, 21 people died and more than 50 were injured. Next, there was a spate of bombs placed in pillar boxes, followed by shootings, a car bomb, and an attempt on the life of the British Prime Minister, Edward Heath. At Christmas, the Provisional IRA called an 11-day truce, but it was not long before the campaign of terror began again the following year.
In this atmosphere of brutality and intimidation, it is not surprising th
at the police were desperate to find suspects for the attacks, especially for the pub bombings that had wreaked so much devastation. However, the four people they eventually picked up for the murders at Guildford and Woolwich had had nothing to do with the bombings, a fact that did not emerge until over a decade later, by which time they had spent many years in jail being punished for crimes that they never committed.
TORTURED BY POLICE
The Guildford Four - Gerry Conlon, Paul Hill, Patrick Armstrong, and Carole Richardson (an Englishwoman) – turned out to have little or no connection to the Provisional IRA at all. Conlon had grown up in Belfast, and in 1974 he had moved to London to work there for a few months before returning once more to his home city. In November that year he was arrested and flown to Guildford, where he was interrogated for several days until he signed a confession. In his statement, which was later shown to have been altered by police, he implicated his friends Hill, Armstrong, and Richardson, who were arrested and also signed false confessions. Conlon’s father Guiseppe travelled to England to help his son and was also arrested, along with other members of the family, who later became known as the Maguire Seven.
At the trial the Guildford Four protested that they had been tortured by police to sign confessions. No evidence could be brought to bear that any of the four had links with the Provisional wing of the IRA, but nevertheless they were convicted on 33 charges of murder and conspiracy. They were each given prison sentences of 30 to 35 years. In 1977, their appeal was turned down. Three years later, Guiseppe Conlon died while under police guard in Hammersmith Hospital, where he had been sent from Wormwood Scrubs Prison due to illness.
MISLEADING EVIDENCE
The campaign to free the Guildford Four continued unabated, and the prisoners became the subject of several television documentaries. Finally, on October 19, 1989, came a breakthrough. A detective looking through notes on the case had found that the police had tampered with statements made by Patrick Armstrong when he was under interrogation. There were many deletions and additions, and all the notes had been rearranged. It was thought that hand-written notes presented at the trial had been made after the interview took place, implying that the police had altered the evidence to fit in with the picture they wanted to present in court. A new right to appeal was granted, and at this trial, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Lane, ruled that the police had lied and that the evidence was misleading.
The Guildford Four’s convictions were overturned and they were released, after serving 15 years in prison. In addition, Paul Hill’s conviction for the murder of a British soldier named Brian Shaw, based on a so-called confession that he had while being interrogated by the Surrey police force, was found to be unsafe.
SIX-DAY SIEGE
However, it was not until 2005 that the Guildford Four received an official apology for their many years of wrongful imprisonment from the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who stated that he was ‘very sorry that they were subject to such an ordeal and injustice’. He added that the Four ‘deserved to be completely and publicly exonerated’. Conlon expressed delight at the apology, although some felt that it did not go far enough, and that the announcement should have been made in Parliament.
Back in 1977, the authorities had had their chance to free the Guildford Four. During the trial of a group of IRA operatives known as the Balcombe Street Gang, the men accused instructed their lawyers to draw attention to the fact that four totally innocent people were serving massive sentences for crimes that they had not committed: the bombings in Guildford and Woolwich. The members of the gang, Martin O’Connell, Eddie Butler, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty, had taken a couple hostage in Balcombe Street, London, and had surrendered after a six-day siege. As well as murdering Ross McWhirter, who had advertised a £50,000 reward for the capture of the terrorists, they had also launched bomb attacks on military and establishment targets in and around London. The gang all received life sentences for their part in these crimes, but the lead on the Guildford and Woolwich pub bombings was not followed up, and it never became clear whether or not they were guilty of these attacks as well. Thus, to this day, no one has been convicted of these heinous crimes.
The Laju Incident
Singapore condemns in the strongest terms these attacks and all other forms of terrorism. The perpetrators of these terrible crimes cannot go unpunished. They must be brought to justice. Others must be deterred from contemplating similar horrific acts.
Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani
The small island of Pulau Bukom is situated just a few kilometres to the south of Singapore and is currently the site of the Shell oil refinery. The company’s association with the island dates back to 1891 when Shell used the island as a store for kerosene. The tranquil island was the scene of a terror attack on January 31, 1974, when a group of four terrorists attempted to blow up the refinery.
THEIR PLANS GO AWRY
The group of four terrorists comprised of two men from the Japanese Red Army (JRA), or ‘Sekigun’, and two Arabs from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The JRA has had a long-term relationship with the PFLP, possibly due to the fact that their centre and training camp was based in the Bekaa valley in Lebanon. They had carried out other terror attacks together, the most notable one being the massacre of 26 people at Israel’s Lod Airport in May 1972. The mission of these four men was to blow up three oil storage tanks belonging to the Shell Eastern Petroleum Company, situated on the island of Pulau Bukom, with the aim of disrupting the oil supply from Singapore to other countries, especially South Vietnam.
To reach the island, the four men had commandeered a small boat, but their mission hit problems right from the beginning. As they tried to steer their craft towards Pulau Bukom, they felt something hit the underneath of their vessel. Looking into the water, they realized that they had run aground on some coral reef. Unsure of what to do next, the four men waited until they managed to trick an unsuspecting boatmen to tow them to the shore of the island.
Once on dry land, the four men – carrying submachine guns and explosives – climbed over the sea wall and ran towards the gates of the Shell refinery. The terrorists fired at a tanker as it tried to enter the gates but failed to stop the driver. They also fired at an engineer who was working on the island, but he too managed to escape unharmed. There was only one guard at the security post and, although he was taken by surprise, he managed to escape and raised the alarm.
Out of the 12 explosive devices the terrorists were carrying, they only managed to actually detonate three of them, and these caused little damage. Realizing that their mission had been a complete failure, the four men had to think quickly about how best to escape the island. Seeing the Laju ferry at the Bukom jetty, they decided they would hijack the vessel and take the five crew members hostage. The ferry headed out to sea, quickly pursued by marine police boats. When they reached the Eastern Anchorage, the small boat was intercepted and was blocked in by 15 marine police boats, custom launches and three Singapore Maritime Command gunboats.
Using the five crew members as bait, the terrorists started to make their demands. The negotiations went on for several days, in which time two of the hostages managed to escape by jumping overboard. Later after many hours of intense bargaining, the terrorists agreed to release the remaining three hostages in return for a selection of ‘guarantors’, which included four commandos from the Singapore Armed Forces and eight government officials. The group of ‘guarantors’ was led by MINDEF’s Director of Security & Intelligence, Sellapan Ramanathan (also known as S. R. Nathan), who later became the President of Singapore.
The plan was to move the terrorists from the Laju on the night of February 7 and transfer them to the Marine Police Headquarters, and from there a minibus would pick them up and take them to the airport. Before they left the boat, the three terrorists covered their faces with hoots and tied the three remaining hostages, securing their hands behind their backs. Determined not to let anything else go wrong, t
he terrorists held the hostages at gunpoint during the entire 30-minute journey to the Marine Police jetty.
On arriving at the airport, the terrorists, true to their word, immediately freed their hostages and surrendered all their weapons. They left Singapore for Kuwait on February 8, along with the members of S. R. Nathan’s team, subsequently ending a very delicate situation.
ROLE OF THE GUARANTOR
The ‘Laju’ incident, as it has become known, shows the skill with which the Singapore Armed Forces Commandos handled their role as ‘guarantor’. They formed in 1969 as an elite branch of the Singapore Armed Forces with the aim of specializing in neutralizing delicate situations in enemy territories. The term ‘guarantor’ was not really used until 1997, and was a term for a mediator who would take part in the negotiations between disputing parties. Due to the vigilance of their Internal Security Department, the Singapore government was able to foil the attempts of people who wanted to harm their country.
Therefore, the steps we have taken over the years have been to ensure that Singapore is safe and secure.
Minister Wong
Ira Coach Bomb
We’ve come to terms with it, but we’ll never ever forgive, and never ever forget. It will be with me to the day I die, that morning.