Northern Ireland The Forgotten War
These posts are not to promote any paramilitary group it is merely showing incidents that the RGJ might have been caught up in during their tours.
1988 to 1992
1988
4th January 1988: A British soldier was shot and injured by an IRA sniper during an attack on Woodbourne RUC/British Army barracks in Belfast.
9th January 1988: The IRA detonated a 500 lb (230 kg) car-bomb outside Belfast Law Courts on Chichester Street. A warning was given and there were no injuries.
15th January 1988: A UDR soldier was shot and fatally wounded by the IRA in Coalisland, County Tyrone. Three IRA volunteers had cut holes in a hedge outside his home to make firing positions and as he drove past his car was hit by over 20 rounds fired from two AK-47 assault rifles. He died a day later.
23rd January 1988: An RUC officer was injured after an RUC patrol came under gun and grenade assault on the Culmore Road.
25th January 1988: One RUC officer was killed and others were badly injured after an IRA unit launched two drogue bombs at their armoured patrol in Mulholland Terrace in West Belfast. The RUC said this was the first time an officer had been killed by a “drogue bomb/impact grenade”. A British Army bomb disposal officer described the devices as “devastating”.
26th January 1988: The IRA detonated a 500 lb (230 kg) car-bomb at Dunmurry RUC barracks. The bomb caused extensive damage to the building. A warning was given and there were no injuries.
30th January 1988: An alleged rapist was shot and injured by the IRA in a punishment attack in the Twinbrook area of Belfast.
4th February 1988: An IRA active service unit in Derry engaged a joint British army and RUC checkpoint on the Foyle Bridge. Over 70 rounds were fired before the unit withdrew.
10th February 1988: An IRA grenade attack on a British army observation post on North Howard Street in West Belfast injured two British soldiers.
15th February 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead by a unit of the IRA’s South Down Command at his home in Kilkeel, County Down. The soldier was also a member of the Young Unionists.
19th February 1988: Two RUC officers were injured (one seriously) when an IRA active service unit launched a grenade at an RUC armoured car on Main Street in Coalisland.
24th February 1988: Two UDR soldiers were killed and two injured when an active service unit from the IRA’s Belfast Brigade detonated a 250 lb (110 kg) bomb at the Royal Avenue security gate in Belfast. One land rover was ripped apart by the explosion. A second device, intended for the Army response unit, was defused. Both of the dead soldiers were also members of the Orange Order.
26th February 1988: An IRA unit launched two mortars at North Howard Street British army base. The mortars exploded in mid-air.
28th February 1988: Two members of the RUC were injured when the IRA launched two grenades at an RUC patrol in Strabane.
29th February 1988: A British soldier and an RUC officer were injured when they triggered an anti-personnel mine which had been planted by the IRA in the Andersonstown area of Belfast.
29th February 1988: Two IRA volunteers, Brendan Burns and Brendan Moley of the IRA’s South Armagh Brigade died when bombs they were transporting exploded prematurely during a raid on a British army base.
3rd March 1988: Two IRA units attacked Musgrave Street RUC barracks with Rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. The base was damaged but there were no injuries.
6th March 1988: Operation Flavius: Three unarmed IRA volunteers, Daniel McCann, Sean Savage and Mairead Farrell, were killed by the SAS in Gibraltar, as they were planning an attack on a public military parade. Although initial reports claimed the three had been shot dead when about to set off a massive car bomb, within 24 hours the Foreign Secretary, Geoffrey Howe, was forced to admit this was not the case. However, a car used by the three was found in Marbella two days after the killings containing140 lb (64 kg) of Semtex, timed to go off during the changing of the guard.
8th March 1988: A British patrol came under heavy fire from an IRA unit at the Poleglass Roundabout in West Belfast.
14th March 1988: An IRA volunteer was killed in a gun battle with British forces in the Turf Lodge are of West Belfast.
16th March 1988: Milltown Cemetery attack: At the funeral of the three IRA volunteers killed in Gibraltar, Michael Stone, a member of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), launched hand grenades during the graveside oration, killing three people and injuring over 50 injured; including a 10 year old boy who was shot in the back, a 72 year old grandmother and a pregnant mother of four who was wounded by shrapnel. One of those killed was IRA volunteer Caoimhin MacBradaigh who had attempted to disarm the gunman.
18th March 1988: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA while sitting in a car in Tonaghgorm, near Belleek. Over 30 shots were fired into the vehicle. The IRA said the intended target was a close family friend who was a British soldier and subsequently announced that it had disbanded the unit which had carried out the attack. There is also speculation that this unit had been responsible for the Enniskillen bombing.
19th March 1988: Corporals killings: During the funeral of IRA volunteer Caoimhin MacBradaigh, killed in the cemetery attack by Michael Stone, a car approached the funeral procession at high speed. The car was surrounded by mourners, and two men later identified as corporals in the British Army were overpowered, dragged from the car, stripped and searched, taken to waste ground and shot and stabbed to death by the IRA.
21st March 1988: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA gun attack on a vehicle checkpoint in the Creggan area of Derry. He was shot in the head after an IRA unit fired two bursts of gunfire from a nearby building which they had taken over sometime earlier. A nearby civilian was hit in the leg by a stray bullet.
6th April 1988: A UDR soldier was killed when he detonated a booby trap bomb which had been attached to his car by an IRA active service unit in Fermanagh.
7th April 1988: A British soldier and an RUC officer were injured during a large IRA operation in Clogher, County Tyrone. IRA units took control of the town before launching simultaneous assaults on the RUC and UDR barracks. A UDR Major was shot and injured as was an RUC officer.
18th April 1988: A civilian who worked as a laborer for the British army was injured when he triggered a booby trap bomb which had been attached to his car by an IRA unit in Ballyronan, East Tyrone.
18th April 1988: Two British soldiers were injured when an IRA unit detonated a 5 lb (2.3 kg) mine by remote control as a patrol passed in Dungannon.
26th April: Two British soldiers were killed in separate IRA attacks. One UDR soldier was killed in a gun attack near Moortown in County Tyrone. He was shot at close range by IRA volunteers using assault rifles. After he fell to the ground they fired more shots into him. Another British soldier was killed and two injured when the IRA detonated a remote control bomb in Carrickmore. The British patrol had passed a small shop in the village when the bomb exploded. It is believed the IRA switched a gas cylinder which always sat outside the shop for one packed with40 lb (18 kg) explosives.
1st May 1988: Three British soldiers, all members of the Royal Air Force, were killed and four others were wounded when the IRA launched separate attacks in the Netherlands. In the first attack an IRA unit opened fire on a car carrying British soldiers near Roermond, killing one and injuring three. In the second attack, two British soldiers were killed when they triggered a booby trap bomb attached to their car in Nieuw-Bergen.
6th May 1988: IRA volunteer Hugh Hehir was killed by the Garda Special Branch following a bank raid in County Clare.
11th May 1988: Craigavon RUC barracks came under grenade and gun assault from the IRA shortly after 9:20am. The base was damaged but there were no injuries.
12th May 1988: A British soldier, of the Royal Pioneer Corps dog unit, and his Labrador dog were killed when they triggered an IRA anti-personnel device on the Castleblaney Road. The IRA had partly hidden a massive landmine at the side of the road so that it would be discovered by the British Army. When the bomb disposal team arrived they defused the device and a follow-up search was carried out. The IRA had placed a pressure plate bomb nearby and it exploded when the soldier stepped on it during the follow-up operation.
13th May 1988: Two British soldiers were badly wounded when the IRA detonated an anti-personnel mine as their patrol passed on North Howard Street, Belfast.
16th May 1988: A UDR soldier was badly injured when a booby trap bomb concealed in a creamery can exploded at Bantry, near Dungannon.
19th May 1988: Seven RUC officers were injured in an IRA bomb attack during the Balmoral Show in Belfast.
24th May 1988: An IRA unit fired four mortars at Cookstown British army base. Three of the mortars landed inside the base but only one exploded.
15th June 1988: High-ranking UVF member Robert “Squeak” Seymour was shot dead by the IRA in an alley behind his shop on the Woodstock Road in Belfast.
15th June 1988: Six off-duty British soldiers were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to their unmarked military van in Market Square, Lisburn. The bomb was made in such a way so as to ensure it exploded only upwards, causing maximum damage to the van, but avoiding spraying surrounding vehicles with shrapnel.
22nd June 1988: A British soldier was wounded in an IRA gun and bomb attack in the Westrock area of Belfast.
23rd June 1988: A British Army Lynx helicopter was brought down by the IRA near Upper Cashel Lough Upper in south County Armagh. The aircraft was engaged by two DShKs machine guns, three M60s and rifles from Aughanduff mountain.
4th July 1988: The IRA attacked North Queen Street RUC Station in Belfast but withdrew after being engaged by a heavily armed SAS detachment which had been lying in wait with at least one heavy machine gun. The SAS shot dead a passing taxi driver.
7th July 1988: Two civilians were killed in an IRA bomb attack at the Falls Baths in West Belfast. The IRA released a statement saying that the operation had gone “tragically wrong”. The IRA said the bomb was intended for a British foot patrol but had been triggered accidentally. In the follow-up operation a British Army bomb disposal officer was killed when he stepped on a pressure-plate bomb left nearby.
7th July 1988: An IRA volunteer was killed when an improvised mortar detonated accidentally during an attack on Pomeroy RUC station.
13th July 1988: Nine British soldiers were injured when the IRA detonated two bombs at a British military barracks in Duisburg, Germany.
23rd July 1988: Three civilians were killed by an IRA landmine on the main Belfast to Dublin road near Newry. The bomb was intended for High Court Judge Eoin Higgins, who was returning from Dublin Airport. The civilian vehicle was a similar model and had also been returning from Dublin Airport. Along the route it was driving behind an unmarked Garda car. The IRA believed this was a Garda escort and, judging by the car model and the route taken, it was assumed to the Higgins’s car.
25th July 1988: An IRA volunteer was shot by UVF members wearing RUC uniforms in the Markets area of Belfast.
29th July 1988: A British soldier was killed when an IRA landmine exploded as a British foot patrol passed in Cullyhanna. Two RUC officers and two soldiers were also injured.
1st August 1988: One soldier, Lance Corporal Michael Robbins, was killed and a further 9 were injured by a timer device. The attack was the first Provisional IRA bomb on the UK mainland in four years. The target was the British Army base at the Inglis Barracks in Mill Hill, North London. The two storey building containing the single men’s quarters was completely destroyed.
2nd August 1988: An RUC detective was killed in an IRA under-car booby-trap bomb attack in Sloan Street, Lisburn.
2nd August 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead in the carpark of a shopping centre in West Belfast by a two man IRA unit. The gun used in the killing had been stolen from one of the corporals killed on 19th March.
2nd August 1988: Six part-time soldiers of the UDR were injured when their vehicle was struck by an IRA explosive device outside Dungannon, county Tyrone.
3rd August 1988: A UDR soldier was killed when he was on his way to work by an IRA unit which had taken over a house in Cookstown, County Tyrone.
4th August 1988: Two contractors who worked for the RUC were killed when the IRA ambushed their van as it left Belleek barracks. The van was hit by over 100 high velocity bullets. Both men were also members of the Orange Order.
8th August 1988: A British soldier died three weeks after being shot by an IRA sniper at New Barnsley base in west Belfast.
12th August 1988: A British Army Sergeant-Major was shot dead by the IRA in Ostend, Belgium.
20th August 1988: Ballygawley bus bombing: Eight British soldiers were killed and 28 wounded in a landmine attack on their bus, which was travelling between Omagh and Ballygawley. The bomb contained 200 pounds of plastic explosive.
22nd August 1988: A British Royal Navy officer was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Belfast.
26th August 1988: Three RUC officers were injured in an IRA bomb attack and a hotel was also destroyed in an explosion.
27th August 1988: The IRA carried out over 200 separate gun and bomb attacks across Northern Ireland, within a 24‑hour period, in a demonstration of the IRA’s military capacity. It was timed to coincide with the extradition hearing of IRA volunteer Robert Russell.
30th August 1988: 3 IRA volunteers, Brian Mullin (26) and brothers Gerard (29) and Martin Harte (23), were killed in an SAS ambush near Drumnakilly, County Tyrone, as they attempted to kill an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment.
3rd September 1988: Crossmaglen British Army base in County Armagh was hit by three mortars.
9th September 1988: An Ulster Clubs member was shot dead by the IRA in the Finaghy area of Belfast.
12th September 1988: The house of Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, the top civilian servant in Northern Ireland, located at Helen’s Bay, County Down, was heavily damaged by two bombs planted by the IRA. Bloomfield, his wife and children had to be treated for shock.
25th September 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA at Loughgall, County Armagh. The IRA unit fired 47 shots in the attack and the soldier was hit a number of times in the lower body. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
4th October 1988: A Prison Officer was killed when his car was blown up by an IRA bomb in the Bloomfield area of Belfast.
7th October 1988: A British soldier was wounded in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack in Belfast.
11th October 1988: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA on the Lisburn Road in Belfast. He was looking after his brother’s ice cream shop when two men entered and shot him a number of times at close range with .357 Magnums.
17th October 1988: A contractor to the British Army was killed in an IRA bomb attack in the Dundonald area of Belfast. The IRA also claimed he was linked to the UVF.
26th October 1988: An RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Kinawley, County Fermanagh.
26th October 1988: A civilian was killed by a booby-trap bomb attached to his car at his workplace (a postal sorting office) on Tomb Street, Belfast. The IRA claimed responsibility and said it believed he was a member of the UDR.
21st November 1988: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA attack on a security barrier in Castlederg, County Tyrone.
13th December 1988: A contractor to the British Army was shot dead by the IRA in Portadown, County Armagh.
14th December 1988: A rocket was fired at an RUC landrover at a court-house in Newry. Two RUC officers and a civilian were hurt. The IRA claimed responsibility.
16th December 1988: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Downpatrick, County Down.
1989
4th January 1989: Two RUC officers were injured in an IRA booby-trap bomb attack in the New Barnsley area of Belfast.
15th January 1989: A former RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA while parked outside his girlfriends house in Ballintra, County Donegal. Two IRA volunteers fired into the car through the front windscreen, shooting him 23 times. Shortly after the killing the IRA announced that it had stood down one of its units which operated along the Fermanagh-Donegal border.
28th January 1989: An RUC officer was killed when an IRA unit launched a drogue-bomb at a stationary patrol vehicle in Sion Mills, Tyrone. The device was thrown from the roof of a nearby building as the car stopped on a routine inquiry. A second officer was badly injured in the attack.
31st January 1989: A British soldier was killed when an IRA unit detonated a remote control bomb which was hidden in a drainpipe as a British Army foot-patrol passed in the Falls area of Belfast.
6th February 1989: IRA volunteer James Joseph Connolly (20) was killed when a bomb he was planting under an RUC officers car exploded accidentally.
20th February 1989: The IRA bombed a British Army barracks at Ternhill in Shropshire, England. One person was injured.
22nd February 1989: A British soldier was shot dead when a military bus came under gun attack from an IRA unit in the Waterside area of Derry. Lance Corporal Norman Duncan, aged 27, was shot by an IRA Unit as he drove from Ebrington Barracks in Derry to the nearby Ebrington Primary School to collect the children of British soldiers in a school bus. As the bus stopped at a junction a man jumped out of a nearby car, walked over to the bus and fired 15 shots at the driver, hitting him six times in the head and abdomen.
26th February 1989: A man was shot in the head by the IRA in an alley in the Lenadoon area of Belfast. The man was an estate agent and was accused of being an informer for providing the IRA with safe-houses which were bugged by the security forces.
27th February 1989: A former RUC officer was killed in an IRA booby trap bomb attack at his home in east Belfast. The IRA also accused the man of being involved with loyalist paramilitaries. The RUC denied this.
7th March 1989: The IRA carried out a machine gun attack on a building in Coagh, which they claimed was used by loyalists to plan attacks. Three civilians were killed. The IRA claimed that one of the people killed, Leslie Dallas, was a UVF member but that the other two men had been “caught up in the confusion”. The security forces and the UVF denied Dallas was a UVF member.
8th March 1989: Two British soldiers were killed and six other badly wounded when their vehicle struck a massive IRA landmine on the Buncrana Road in Derry. The second vehicle in the patrol was completely destroyed.
14th March 1989: An off duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA while at his workplace in Dungannon, County Tyrone.
16th March: A senior UVF member was shot dead by the IRA while at his home in the Skegoneill area of Belfast. An IRA unit entered his home and shot him 15 times at close range.
20th March 1989: Two high-ranking RUC officers, Superintendent Bob Buchanan and Chief Superintendent Harry Breen, were ambushed and killed by the IRA near the Irish border outside Jonesborough, County Armagh. They were shot dead by a six man unit using four rifles. There were at least 25 strikemarks on their unmarked car.
4th April 1989: An IRA volunteer was shot dead by the UDA/UFF as he slept beside his wife in their Rasharkin home. It is alleged by the IRA and Father Raymond Murray that there was collusion between security forces and loyalists in his death.
12th April 1989: A civilian was killed when the IRA detonated a car-bomb at Warrenpoint RUC barracks. The IRA said one of its members had accidentally triggered a microswitch device which caused the bomb to explode early. The bomb was meant to go off an hour later after a smokebomb had detonated first to clear the area.
21st April 1989: The IRA shot dead a civilian in his taxi on the Crumlin Road in Belfast. The IRA originally claimed he was a loyalist paramilitary however it has since emerged that the attack was planned by Sandy Lynch, a British Agent who had penetrated the IRA. He had tipped off the security forces of the attack and an SAS team were lying in wait for the IRA unit. The IRA escaped because they killed the man further up the road than expected. Lynch was later kidnapped by the IRA and was being interrogated in a house in Belfast when he was rescued by the RUC. One of those arrested in the operation was Danny Morrisson.
24th April 1989: A 400 lb (180 kg) IRA van-bomb failed to explode in the Turf Lodge area of Belfast. Despite a warning from the IRA that there was a primed and unexploded bomb on a main road the RUC refused to close the street and only responded to the incident 13 hours later.
4th May 1989: A Prison Officer was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to his car in Loughgall, County Armagh. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
4th May 1989: A British soldier was killed in an IRA landmine attack on a British army foot patrol just outside Crossmaglen, County Armagh. Three other soldiers were wounded. Seamus Mallon MP criticised both the IRA and the British Army for “turning south Armagh into one huge warzone”.
10th May 1989: A British soldier was badly injured losing both his legs and his right eye when the IRA carried out a remote-controlled bomb attack on his patrol on the Falls Road in Belfast.
13th May 1989: The IRA launched a mortar attack on 13th May 1989 against a British Army observation post in Glassdrumman, South Armagh. The attack involved the first use of the Mark-12 mortar.
19th June 1989: A bomb exploded at a British Army base in Osnabrück, Germany. Nobody was injured, but the explosion caused damage estimated at £75,000.
27th June 1989: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA booby trap bomb attack in Strabane, Tyrone.
1st July 1989: An off-duty RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Garvagh, County Londonderry. Two IRA men shot at him as he sat in his parents house.
2th July 1989: A British soldier was killed in an IRA booby trap bomb attack outside his home in Hanover, Germany. He was killed when an IRA bomb exploded as he opened the door of his Mercedes car.
3rd July 1989: A triple IRA bomb attack at Belfast Harbour Airport damaged two aircraft and a control tower.
7th July 1989: A number of RUC officers were injured in an IRA landmine attack in Red Arch Bay, County Antrim. One officer died of his wounds 18 days later.
15th July 1989: The IRA bombed the headquarters of a British phone company in Belfast. The IRA telephoned in a 20-minute warning to a local radio station. There were no civilian casualties.
18th July 1989: The IRA kidnapped and killed a civilian near Dundalk. They claimed he was an informer who had aided the RUC in their arrest of Raymond McCreesh. They also said he regularly met his RUC handler in the Downshire Arms Hotel in Banbridge.
12th August 1989: An IRA bomb wrecked a pub in Derry, just hours before the yearly Apprentice Boys parade.
7th September 1989: A German civilian woman, 26-year-old Heidi Hazell, was shot dead in West Germany. She had been sitting in a car with British license plates outside the British Army married quarters in Unna. A gunman walked up to the car and shot her 14 times at point-blank range with an AK47. The IRA expressed regret for the death and claimed she had been shot “in the belief that she was a member of the British Army garrison” at nearby Dortmund. It did not apologize and warned civilians to “keep well clear of military personnel.”
11th September 1989: A number of mortars were fired at a Royal Air Force radar station south of Belfast. No injuries were reported.
16th September 1989: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper during an attack on Coalisland British Army base, County Tyrone. The soldier was fixing a radio mast on the roof when an IRA volunteer fired up to 30 shots at him. His body dangled from a safety line until he was eventually cut down.
22nd September 1989: Eleven British Royal Marines were killed and 22 other soldiers injured when the IRA bombed their barracks in Deal, Kent, England.
4th October 1989: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA on Cavehill Road in Belfast. The Sunday Tribune reported that he had been killed by mistake, and that a loyalist paramilitary was the intended target. The IRA’s Belfast Brigade issued an apology and claimed it had been a case of mistaken identity.
8th October 1989: An RUC officer was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to his car outside his home on Dalboyne Gardens, Lisburn. The officer was a Superintendent and the sub-divisional commander for Newcastle, County Down.
9th October 1989: A British soldier (who was also a member of Ulster Resistance) was shot dead by the IRA in Kilrea, County Londonderry. He was shot a number of times in the head as he waited for collection by his employer.
18th October 1989: A member of Ulster Resistance was shot dead by the IRA at his home near Lurgan, County Armagh. Three IRA volunteers entered his shop, which sold loyalist regalia, and shot him a number of times at close range.
20th October 1989: An RUC officer was shot dead during an IRA ambush of an RUC armoured patrol near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh. Another soldier was badly wounded, having been shot multiple times. The IRA unit pulled out in front of the RUC vehicle in a lorry and opened fire with a DShK heavy machine-gun. The car was hit 66 times. The killed officer was also a member of the Orange Order.
26th October 1989: IRA members opened fire on the car of an RAF corporal in West Germany. The car had stopped at a petrol station snack bar near RAF Wildenrath and inside it were the corporal, his wife, and their six-month-old daughter. The corporal and his daughter were killed; his wife suffered shock. The IRA expressed regret for the child’s death and claimed its members did not know she was in the car.
26th October 1989: An IRA unit launched a multiple mortar attack on Crossmaglen British Army base, County Armagh.
3rd November 1989: A 1600 lb van bomb exploded outside an RUC base in Derry. There were no injuries.
4th November 1989: A rocket was fired at an RUC landrover in West Belfast. Two RUC officers and two civilians were hurt.
17th November 1989: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA outside Drumad British Army base, Armagh town. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
18th November 1989: Three British soldiers were killed after entering a derelict cottage which had been booby-trapped by the IRA in County Down. The bomb contained almost 400 kg of explosive. A fourth soldier was badly wounded.
18th November 1989: Two British soldiers were wounded when an IRA carbomb exploded at a British Army barracks in Colchester, England.
13th December 1989: Two British soldiers were killed and one wounded during the Attack on Derryard checkpoint, near Rosslea, County Fermanagh. The attack was the only recorded use of a military flamethrower by the IRA.
18th December 1989: The IRA planted a 270 kg car bomb in Rathfriland, County Down, outside the homes of members of the British security services. The device only partially exploded causing moderate damage.
22nd December 1989: Two IRA members were arrested while transporting explosives in Newgale, England.
1990
2nd January 1990: Ulster loyalist militant Harry Dickey, a member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Democratic Party, was killed by an IRA booby trap bomb attached to his car in east Belfast.
2nd January 1990: An IRA unit threw a bomb at a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base on Stewartstown Road, Belfast.
3rd January 1990: A British soldier was injured in an IRA car bomb attack in Magherafelt, County Londonderry.
9th January 1990: A soldier of the British Army’s Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was shot dead by the IRA on the Main Street of Castlederg, County Tyrone. In a follow-up operation, two RUC officers were injured by a bomb left by the IRA unit. The soldier was also a member of the Orange Order.
16th January 1990: An IRA bomb was defused at the British Army’s Headquarters in Aldershot, England.
20th January 1990: The IRA carried out a mortar attack on the RUC/British Army base at Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
22nd January 1990: An RUC inspector was shot dead by an IRA unit in Kilburn Park, Armagh town. Up to 30 rounds were fired through his kitchen door hitting him five times in the head, neck and body.
28th January 1990: A civilian was killed when he was hit by debris when an IRA bomb exploded on Derry’s walls during a Bloody Sunday march. The security forces described his death as a “freak accident” as he was a quarter of a mile from the bomb, which was targeting security forces. The young man was a member of Republican Youth and a supporter of Sinn Féin and the IRA. He is commemorated at a Sinn Féin-organised march in his hometown of Strabane each year.
11th February 1990: Three British soldiers were injured when their Gazelle helicopter was forced out of the sky after being hit by machine-gun fire from an IRA unit. The incident occurred near Clogher, County Tyrone. See 1990 British Army Gazelle shootdown.
20th February 1990: The IRA bombed a British military recruitment office in Leicester, England. Two people were injured.
20th February 1990: A van and a car driven by an IRA unit carrying light machine guns were spotted by a British Wessex helicopter near Newtownhamilton, South Armagh. The IRA unit split up in several vehicles, but one of the cars was pinpointed by the aircraft, and three IRA volunteers were arrested by a party of three soldiers and two RUC officers after landing from their helicopter in Silverbridge. Afterwards, a crowd of 40 civilians attacked the security forces, allowing the escape of the three IRA men. A number of automatic weapons were confiscated in the aftermath, among them two light machine guns.
25th February 1990: The IRA bombed a British Army recruitment office in Halifax, England.
8th March 1990: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA at Tullynure, near Dungannon, County Tyrone. He was driving a lorry for a building firm which was contracted to the British Army. A three-man IRA unit attacked the lorry with a grenade and fired over 30 shots into the cab.
16th March 1990: First use of the Barret M82 sniper rifle in Northern Ireland by the South Armagh sniper teams. A British soldier suffered only minor head injures when a bullet pierced his helmet on Сastleblaney Road, County Armagh.
24th March 1990: There was a gun battle between an IRA unit and undercover British forces at the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone, when a civilian-type vehicle driven by an undercover agent was fired on by IRA volunteers without warning, according to Archie Hamilton, then Secretary of State for Defence. Republican newspaper An Phoblacht claims that a Special Air Service (SAS) ambush was thwarted and at least two undercover soldiers were killed. Hamilton states that there were no casualties.
25th March 1990: A 1,000 lb IRA van bomb exploded in front of the RUC base in Ballymena, County Antrim. Another RUC base was bombed in County Tyrone.
28th March 1990: An off-duty RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA unit at his home on Newry Road in Armagh town. He was killed when a burst of shots were fired through his kitchen window.
2nd April 1990: An IRA bomb was defused by a controlled explosion outside Fort George British Army base in Derry.
9th April 1990: Four UDR soldiers were killed when the IRA detonated a landmine under their patrol vehicle in Downpatrick, County Down. The landmine contained over 1,000 lb (450 kg) of explosive and was so powerful that the vehicle was blown into a nearby field.
16th April 1990: The IRA shot dead IPLO volunteer Eoin Morley in Newry. He was dragged from his girlfriend’s house and shot twice in the back. The IRA initially claimed he was an informer but later apologised for the killing claiming they had received false information.
27th April 1990: A contractor to the British Army was killed by the IRA when he triggered a booby-trap bomb attached to his car in Kilkeel, County Down.
28th April 1990: Several mortar shells were fired by the IRA at a military checkpoint in Strabane, County Tyrone.
28th April 1990: A British soldier was shot and wounded in the leg when his patrol was ambushed by an IRA unit firing a heavy machine gun near Cullyhanna, County Armagh.
2nd May 1990: A bomb exploded under a landrover in Lisburn Territorial Army base, injuring a civilian employee. An RUC base in Derry was hit by a mortar, although no injuries were reported.
5th May 1990: A British soldier was shot dead when an IRA unit launched an attack on a British Army foot patrol near Cullyhanna, County Armagh. The patrol had become suspicious of a derelict building after seeing smoke coming from the chimney on a hot day. As they approached they came under heavy machine gun fire and one soldier was shot in the head. A total of 188 bullets were fired by the IRA unit. The patrol were air-lifted to safety. ( See Operation Conservation. )
16th May 1990: The IRA detonated a bomb under a military minibus in London, killing Sgt Charles Chapman, and injuring four other soldiers.
27th May 1990: Two Australian tourists, Nick Spanos and Stephen Melrose, were shot dead in the Netherlands, having been mistaken for off-duty British soldiers from a base across the German border. The IRA said it “deeply regretted the tragedy”.
1st June 1990: A British soldier was killed and two others wounded when they were shot at close range by an IRA unit while waiting for a train at Lichfield railway station in Staffordshire, England.
2nd June 1990: A British Royal Artillery officer was shot dead by the IRA in Dortmund in West Germany. He was one of the most senior soldiers killed in the conflict – having the rank of Major. In a subsequent car chase a West German police officer was injured when the IRA unit fired on the pursuing officers.
6th June 1990: An RUC officer and his wife were killed when an IRA booby trap bomb exploded underneath their car on the Ballygomartin Road in Belfast. A civilian was slightly injured when the car struck her.
9th June 1990: The IRA bombed the headquarters of the British Army’s Honourable Artillery Company in central London. Nineteen people at the barracks were injured.
14th June 1990: A large IRA bomb badly damaged a building inside a British Army base at Hanover, West Germany.
25th June 1990: A bomb exploded at the Carlton Club in London, injuring 20 people.
28th June 1990: A British soldier was wounded when the IRA opened fire on a military patrol in the main street of Pomeroy, County Tyrone.
30th June 1990: Two RUC officers were shot dead in an IRA ambush on Castle Street, Belfast. Both officers were shot at close range in the back of the head in front of dozens of shoppers.
2nd July 1990: Ten people were hurt when an IRA rocket hit an RUC base in Belfast.
20th July 1990: Following a telephoned warning, an IRA bomb exploded inside the London Stock Exchange. It blew a hole in the side of the building, but there were no injuries.
24th July 1990: Three RUC officers and one civilian were killed when an IRA unit ambushed a joint RUC and British Army patrol on Killylea Road in Armagh town. The patrol car was hit by a landmine, which blew it off the road and into a hedge. The officers were also members of the Orange Order. The IRA and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin apologised for the death of the civilian, a Catholic nun.
26th July 1990: The IRA shot dead bomb-maker Patrick Gerard Flood after discovering he was an RUC informer, following a series of botched bomb attacks and the capture of a number of IRA men in Derry. His body was found near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
30th July 1990 Ian Gow MP was assassinated by the IRA when a booby trap bomb exploded under his car at his home in East Sussex, England. The IRA said they killed him because of his role in British policy decisions in Northern Ireland.
13th August 1990: The IRA planted a bomb at the Berkshire home of British Army General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley. The device was defused.
18th August 1990: A builder was killed by a booby-trap bomb on a building site in Castlederg, County Tyrone. The IRA said it carried out the attack because the building firm worked for the security forces.
4th September 1990: The IRA tested a new type of bomb in County Fermanagh. An 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) bomb was loaded onto an unmanned tractor and trailer near Roslea and driven by remote control towards a British Army outpost. The attack failed when the massive bomb caused the tractor to overturn but the remotely delivered bomb would later be used in successful attacks on British Army installations in County Armagh, such as the attack on Cloghoge checkpoint.
5th September 1990: Several RUC officers were injured when the IRA detonated a van bomb at Loughgall RUC base in County Armagh. A local church and a school were also damaged.
6th September 1990: The IRA planted two bombs inside the Royal Navy’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship the RFA Fort Victoria (A387). One of the bombs was defused, but the other bomb went off. The blast caused extensive damage to the engine room, resulting in severe flooding. Because of the bombing and other construction problems, the ship was put out of action for three years.
10th September 1990: The IRA bombed a British Army and Navy recruiting office in Derby, England.
16th September 1990: An RUC detective was kidnapped and later shot dead by the IRA in County Armagh. A van in which he and five prison officers were travelling was stopped at an IRA checkpoint. Three prison officers managed to escape, but the RUC detective and two prison officers were bundled into the back of waiting cars. The two prison officers were released, but the RUC officer was shot in the back of the head and his body dumped near Belleeks.
17th September 1990 A British Army sergeant was shot and injured by the IRA outside an army recruiting office in Finchley, London.
18th September 1990: The IRA attempted to kill Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Terry at his Staffordshire home. Terry had been a prime target since his days as Governor of Gibraltar, where he signed the documents allowing the SAS to operate against IRA volunteers in 1988. The revenge attack took place at 9 pm at the Main Road house. The gunman opened fire through a window, hitting him at least nine times and injuring his wife, Lady Betty Terry, near the eye. The couple’s daughter, Liz, was found suffering from shock. Terry’s face had to be rebuilt as the shots shattered his face, and two high-velocity bullets lodged a fraction of an inch from his brain.
20th September 1990: A British soldier was hit and wounded during a heavy machine gun attack on an army patrol at Drumalt, south County Armagh.
23rd September 1990: An off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA at Oxford Island, County Armagh. He was sitting in his car when he was shot 13 times.
26th September 1990: A British Army helicopter was fired at while landing at Newtownhamilton British Army base, County Armagh. One soldier was wounded.
27th September 1990: An IRA bomb was defused at the Royal Over-Seas League building in central London.
9th October 1990: IRA volunteers Martin McCaughey and Dessie Grew were killed by the SAS near Loughgall, County Armagh. They were alleged to have been unarmed at the time.
13th October 1990: The IRA attacked an RUC/British Army patrol at a security barrier in Belfast. A lone IRA volunteer armed with a Browning Hi-Power pistol approached an RUC vehicle at the barrier and fired a number of shots through the window. The pistol which was used had been captured from Michael Stone during his attack on a funeral two years earlier. Two RUC officers were wounded and one died of his wounds two days later.
20th October 1990: A former UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Strabane. An IRA unit rammed his car on the Melmount Road. Three IRA volunteers then left their car and began shooting into the man’s car with rifles and handguns.
23rd October 1990: A UVF member was shot dead by the IRA on the Falls Road, Belfast. Two men approached his car on either side. As one distracted him from the passenger side another leaned through the window and shot him in the head. The IRA initially claimed he was a UFF member although it later emerged he was a member of the UVF.
24th October 1990: In a proxy bomb attack, the IRA forced a British Army civilian employee to deliver a bomb to a British Army checkpoint at Buncrana Road, on the County Donegal border. The bomb detonated, killing the employee and five British soldiers. As the bomb exploded an IRA unit opened fire from across the border. Over 25 houses in a neaby estate were damaged by the bomb.
24th October 1990: A British soldier was killed in an IRA proxy-bomb attack at a permanent vehicle check point in Killeen, County Armagh.
24th October 1990: An attempted IRA proxy-bomb attack against a British Army base in Omagh failed when the bomb did not fully explode.
2nd November 1990: A UDR soldier was killed by the IRA when he triggered a booby trap bomb attached to a car in Cookstown, County Tyrone. A 19-year-old nurse had left a car rigged with explosives in his Cookstown garage and asked him to work on it. When he put the car in gear it exploded. The soldier was also a member of the Orange Order.
10th November 1990: Two RUC officers (one Special Branch detective and one constable), a former UDR soldier and a civilian were shot dead by the IRA while they were out shooting wildfowl at Castor Bay, County Armagh. The RUC officer and the civilian were both members of the Orange Order.
1st December 1990: A former UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Derry. The IRA’s Derry Brigade said he was killed because he worked for a building firm which was contracted to the British Army and not because he was a former British soldier. His wife was injured in the shooting, the IRA described her injury as “regrettable”. The former soldier had been a member of the Royal Black Institution and the Royal British Legion.
3rd December 1990: A civilian was shot dead at his mobile home on Crew Road in Maghera, County Londonderry. The IRA admitted responsibility and said it believed the man was member of the security forces. It later “profoundly apologised” and said that its volunteers had been acting on “erroneous information”.
5th December 1990: An IRA bomb caused serious damage on the Belfast-Dublin railway near Jonesborough, County Armagh.
20th December 1990: An RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Waringstown, County Down. The officer was shot eight times by a sniper who was waiting in a nearby field. As the officer approached in his car the gunman opened fire.
26th December 1990: An RUC patrol manning a checkpoint exchanged fire with an IRA unit at Annaghmartin, County Fermanagh.
1991
1st January 1991: A gunfight erupted between an IRA unit and British soldiers at a border Army checkpoint at Aughnacloy, County Tyrone.
5th January 1991: A factory and six shops in Belfast were destroyed by incendiary devices planted by the IRA.
8th January 1991: An IRA culvert bomb injured three soldiers and a civilian and caused extensive damage to nearby houses on Dundalk road, Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
21st January 1991: A former RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh.
24th January 1991: An IRA unit threw an explosive device at a British Army base in Staffordshire, England. At least one shot was also fired.
28th January 1991: The IRA bombed a furniture store at Belfast.
30th January 1991: After an IRA car bomb attack, a dairy firm in Armagh town agreed not to supply the British Army or the RUC.
3rd February 1991: The IRA launched another “proxy bomb” attack on a British Army Ulster Defense Regiment base in Magherafelt, County Londonderry. The bomb caused major damage to the base and nearby houses, but the driver escaped before it exploded.
7th February 1991: The IRA launched a mortar attack on members of the British Cabinet and the Prime Minister, John Major in a Cabinet session at Number 10 Downing Street at the height of a huge security clampdown amid the Gulf War.
14th February 1991: One UDR soldier was seriously wounded and another escaped injury when two San Valentine’s card bombs exploded in Killen and Castlederg, County Tyrone.
15th February 1991: The IRA attempted to shoot down one British RAF helicopter that was extracting men from the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment after a border patrol from St Angelo Barracks, Trory, County Fermanagh. More than 360 rounds were fired from across the border.
18th February 1991: A bomb exploded at Victoria Station, one man was killed and 38 people injured. A bomb also exploded at Paddington Station delaying upwards of 500,000 commuters, but there were no injuries. Police confirmed that the IRA had given a 45 minute warning to clear the stations.
24th February 1991: An IRA unit launched a mortar and machine gun assault on a British Army outpost in Silverbridge, County Armagh. A 15-minute gun battle erupted right after the first attack.
25th February 1991: An IRA bomb exploded on a railway line in St. Albans, England.
1st March 1991: Two UDR soldiers were killed in an IRA ambush on Killylea Road in Armagh town. One of the UDR soldiers was an Englishman, who died instantly. The other soldier died on 4 March. This was the first recorded use of the IRA’s Mark-12 horizontal-mortar bomb. ( See Mullacreevie ambush.)
2nd March 1991: The IRA carried out a machine gun attack on a helicopter. The shooting was filmed by a Dublin television crew outside Crossmaglen Health Center, County Armagh. There was no reaction from the British security although the main RUC/Army base was just 50 yards away.
3rd March 1991: IRA volunteers John Quinn (23), Dwayne O’Donnell (17) Malcolm Nugent (20) and one civilian were killed by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) during a gun attack on Boyle’s Bar in Cappagh, County Tyrone. The volunteers arrived in a car as a UVF gang was about to attack the pub. The UVF fired at the car (killing the volunteers) then fired through the window of the pub (killing the civilian). Local republicans wondered how the loyalist unit was able to get away through a heavily patrolled area.
13th March 1991: A British Army checkpoint at Gortmullan, County Fermanagh, was fired on by the IRA. There was another attack on the same spot on 20th April.
20th March 1991: An employee of the firm Locksley Engineering was shot in the arm by IRA members in Belfast, as part of its campaign against companies which supplied security forces. After the shooting, Locksley Engineering announced that they would no longer work for the RUC or the British Army.
22nd March 1991: A female RUC civilian employee was shot and seriously wounded by IRA members outside the RUC headquarters in Derry. Her husband, an RUC officer, had been killed by the IRA in 1987, and the attack stirred widespread condemnation.
23rd March 1991: A UDR soldier was shot and wounded by the IRA in Trillick, County Tyrone.
25th March 1991: There was a rocket attack on an RUC mobile patrol in Newry, County Down. Two RUC officers were injured.
5th April 1991: A number of incendiary devices were planted by the IRA in the Arndale Shopping centre in Manchester, England. They were discovered and defused.
6th April 1991: An RUC officer was killed when he triggered a booby-trap bomb attached to his car by the IRA in Ballycastle, County Antrim. The explosion caused the car to burst into flames and roll down a hill where it hit another vehicle which also burst into flames.
9th April 1991: A Protestant civilian was shot dead by the IRA at his mobile home on Aughaveagh Road in Coagh, County Tyrone. A witness said that when the men entered the house they asked him if his name was Derek, when he replied “yes” one of the gunmen responded by saying “Bye bye, Derek” and shot him a number of times. The IRA claimed the man was a member of the UVF, although his family denied this.
10th April 1991: IRA volunteer Colm Marks was shot dead by the RUC while he was preparing a mortar bomb in Downpatrick, County Down. Another Volunteer escaped the ambush.
13th April 1991: The IRA shot dead a man outside his parents’ home in Killen, County Tyrone. The dead man had been listed as a UVF member in Garda Síochána files that the IRA had obtained. The documents stated that the man was wanted in connection with firebomb attacks on premises in Ballybofey, Letterkenny and Castlefin in 1987. The attacks had been claimed by the UFF.
13th April 1991: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA at his shop in Lisburn. An IRA gunman entered the shop and shot him at point blank range.
20th April 1991: The British Army checkpoint at Gortmullan, County Fermanagh, was fired on by the IRA for the second time in a month. Members of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment returned fire with a .50 heavy machine gun, the first time that such a weapon was used by the British Army in the Troubles.
28th April 1991: The IRA fired a Mark-12 mortar at the RUC base in Carrickmore, County Tyrone.
1st May 1991: An RUC sergeant was killed after his patrol vehicle was hit by an IRA rocket in Beechmount, Belfast. Two other officers were badly injured.
13th May 1991: A former RUC officer was killed when an IRA booby-trap bomb exploded underneath his car as he drove along The Mall in Armagh town. He was also a member of the Orange Order.
17th May 1991: An RUC officer was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh.
12th May 1991: A man was shot dead by the IRA in east Belfast. The victim owned a fruit and vegetable firm and had been supplying the security forces. He had been warned four times previously to cease supplying them.
25th May 1991: A British soldier was killed when the IRA fired a grenade into North Howard Street British Army Base, west Belfast. Another soldier lost both of his legs in the attack. The IRA claimed that they used a new type of grenade.
26th May 1991: Two RUC officers were injured when an IRA bomb exploded in a Protestant housing area at Cookstown, County Tyrone; 130 houses were damaged.
27th May 1991: An RUC officer was shot dead in an IRA ambush in Lower Crescent, Belfast. IRA volunteers ambushed the patrol at close range with handguns. The dead RUC officer was shot 5 times. A nearby UDR patrol returned fire but the IRA unit escaped.
31st May 1991: Glenanne barracks bombing: Three UDR soldiers were killed and up to 40 injured when the IRA detonated a lorry-bomb packed with 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) of explosives outside Glenanne British Army Base in County Armagh. The bomb was so large that it could be heard in County Dublin, over 60 km away. A 60-metre-deep crater was left by the blast, and most of the cows and other animals in surrounding farms were killed. The soldiers were also members of the Orange Order.
2nd June 1991: A female civil servant was critically injured outside her house in County Antrim by a booby-trap planted under her car. The IRA later apologised, calling the attack ‘a mistake’.
3rd June 1991: IRA volunteers Lawrence McNally (38), Peter Ryan (37) and Tony Doris (21) were killed in an ambush by an SAS unit at Coagh, County Tyrone. The British Army stated that the IRA volunteers had been intercepted on their way to an attack. Over 200 rounds were fired at the car.
17th June 1991: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Duncrue, Belfast. An IRA unit ambushed his car using an AKM rifle and a .357 Magnum handgun. The soldier was hit 7 times in the neck and body.
19th June 1991: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA while off-duty in Strandtown, Belfast. British informer Martin McGartland (later shot and badly wounded by the IRA) alleged that he drove the getaway car.
26th June 1991: Two bombs exploded outside the Queen Street RUC station in Belfast, injuring 20 people. Two suspected IRA members were arrested in the aftermath.
28th June 1991: An IRA bomb was defused at a theatre in Middlesex, England.
29th June 1991: Ulster Democratic Party member and UDA/UFF commander Cecil McKnight was shot dead by the IRA in the Waterside area of Derry City. The IRA claimed he had been involved in the assassination of Sinn Féin Councillor Eddie Fullerton. The IRA unit were pursued by the RUC after the shooting but escaped after they opened fire on an RUC patrol car.
30th June 1991: An IRA bomb was disabled by a controlled explosion at a Royal Navy and Royal Air Force recruiting office in Preston, England.
19th July 1991: The IRA fired a Surface-to-air missile at a RAF Wessex helicopter at Kinawley in County Fermanagh. The missile failed to lock onto the helicopter and exploded on the ground.
19th July 1991: The IRA shot dead a civilian who they claimed was an informer for the Garda Síochána in Dundalk.
5th August 1991: A former UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA while driving his car along Altmore Road, Cappagh, County Tyrone. The IRA said he was a member of the UVF.
8th August 1991: British informer Martin McGartland was kidnapped by the IRA in Belfast. He was being interrogated in a flat when he managed to escape by jumping out of a third floor window.
9th August 1991: Ulster Democratic Party member and UDA/UFF member Gary Lynch was shot dead by the IRA in Lisahally, County Londonderry. Lynch had been a pall bearer at the funeral of senior UDP and UDA/UFF member Cecil McKnight who was shot dead by the IRA two months earlier.
15th August 1991: A civilian was killed and a number of British soldiers wounded when the IRA launched a grenade at a British Army foot patrol in the Falls area of Belfast.
15th August 1991: A former UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA at a farm in Sion Mills, County Tyrone.
17th August 1991: A British soldier was killed when the IRA detonated a 300 lb (140 kg) landmine as a British Army Patrol passed near Cullyhanna, County Armagh.
22nd August 1991: The IRA carried out a bombing against the RUC base at Kilrea, County Londonderry using a 200 lb device.
28th August 1991: A 1,000 lb explosive device planted by the IRA in Markethill, County Armagh, destroyed an RUC base and damaged in different degree all the buildings of the village, some of them beyond repair. A great deal of livestock was killed.
29th August 1991: Three IRA incendiary devices were defused in a London underground depot near Hammersmith.
3rd September 1991: An attempted proxy-bombing in County Armagh failed when the truck slid off the road into a ditch.
10th September 1991: A UVF member was shot dead by the IRA in the Village area of Belfast. A two man IRA unit entered the house and the victim jumped from his bedroom window to escape but the IRA shot him from the window. One of the members then ran downstairs and him again as he lay wounded. In total he was shot 8 times. The suggestion that he was a UVF member was denied by his family although the man had a tattoo with the letters “UVF” on his arm and a number of UVF emblems in his bedroom.
17th September 1991: An RUC officer was killed and several British soldiers wounded when the IRA carried out a horizontal mortar attack against a joint patrol in Swatragh, County Londonderry.
( 18th September 1991: Sgt Thomas Ross, RTA )
19th September 1991: A British Army contractor was shot dead at his workplace in Duncrue, Belfast. A two man IRA team, who were not wearing any masks, walked into his office and shot him twice in the chest and once in the head.
2nd November 1991: Two British soldiers were killed when the IRA detonated a bomb at Musgrave Park British Army base in Belfast. A two storey building in the base was destroyed by the blast.
6th November 1991: The IRA fired a horizontal mortar at a four-vehicle UDR patrol in Bellaghy, County Londonderry. The mortar hit the last vehicle in the patrol, killing a UDR soldier and wounding another.
( 8th November 1991: L/Cpl Wayne Harris, Rfn Christopher Williams, RTA. Hit a bridge in Armagh.
13th November 1991: The IRA shot dead a UDA member and a civilian at their home on Lecale Street, Belfast. Two IRA volunteers armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm pistol opened fire, hitting the UDA man at least nine times and the other man six times. The IRA claimed that both men were UDA members although only one of their names appears on a UDA “roll of honour”. In a separate attack two civilians were killed when the IRA attacked their home on Upper Crumlin Road, Belfast. The building was previously owned by a UVF member and it is suspected he was the intended target.
(14th November 1991: Cpl Matthew Maddocks, Helicopter crash, Gortin Glen, Omagh)
15th November 1991: IRA volunteers Patricia Black (18) and Frank Ryan (26) were killed in St Albans when their bomb detonated prematurely. A civilian was also injured.
24th November 1991: One UVF member and one UDA member were killed and eight others injured when the IRA managed to plant a bomb in the dining hall used by loyalist prisoners in the Crumlin Road Prison, Belfast.
27th November 1991: A UDR soldier was kidnapped, shot dead by the IRA while off-duty in Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
1st December 1991: Four IRA devices exploded in separate retail premises on the Tottenham Court Road, London. There were no injuries.
2nd December 1991: An IRA incendiary device ignited in a Littlewoods store on Oxford Street, London.
4th December 1991: A car bomb in Belfast caused widespread destruction on the Grand Opera House and left 16 people injured.
7th December 1991: A large number of explosive devices were found in shops and businesses in Blackpool, England.
8th December 1991: Seven incendiary devices exploded in the Manchester Arndale in England. There were no injuries.
12th December 1991: An IRA truck-bomb wrecked the RUC station in Craigavon, County Armagh, injuring more than 60 people. Another IRA device exploded on the grounds of a vacated Territorial Army base near Derry.
12th December 1991: Cpl Lawrence Dean Wall, Death by violent or unnatural causes.
14th December 1991: Four IRA explosive devices were discovered in Brent Cross shopping centre, London.
15th December 1991: An IRA incendiary device partially exploded in the National Gallery in London.
16th December 1991: The IRA detonated a bomb on a railway line near Clapham Junction in England.
23rd December 1991: Three IRA firebombs exploded at separate underground railway stations in London. There were no injuries although an estimated 50,000 commuters were affected and the cost the city around $90 million.
1992
A Sniper at work sign, near Crossmaglen, warns British troops of the presence of the South Armagh Sniper.
1st January 1992: There was a gun battle between British troops and an IRA unit at Pomeroy, County Tyrone.
10th January 1992: A small device explodes in Whitehall Place, London following a telephoned warning. No injuries.
13th January 1992: An IRA booby-trap bomb killed a civilian in Coalisland, County Tyrone. The man was killed by a bomb that had been attached to his car by a magnet. It was a case of mistaken identity; the IRA had received information that he was working as a labourer on a British Army barracks (he was a joiner by trade) but this turned out to be untrue. The IRA extended sympathy to the dead man’s family.
17th January 1992: An IRA landmine blew up a minibus at Teebane near Cookstown, County Tyrone. It killed eight men who were working as building contractors for the British Army in Omagh. Another six contractors were badly injured. One of the dead was also a British soldier of the Royal Irish Rangers regiment.
27th January 1992: A civilian was injured when an IRA bomb exploded at the bottom of Rockdale Street in Belfast.
30th January 1992: An IRA firebomb was defused at Elephant and Castle, London.
31st January 1992: An IRA van bomb blew up in downtown Dungannon, County Tyrone, causing three wounded and substantial damaged both on the city center and the security base.
2nd February 1992: The IRA detonated a car-bomb on Botanic Avenue, Belfast. The explosion caused widespread damage.
3rd February 1992: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA in Dungannon, County Tyrone. Two men followed him to a supermarket and opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles, hitting him 32 times. The IRA claimed the man was a member of the UVF. The RUC refused to comment on the claim.
5th February 1992: Joseph MacManus, an IRA volunteer from Sligo Town, County Sligo was killed near the border at Mulleek, near Belleek, County Fermanagh during a gun battle following the attempted ambush of a UDR soldier. A UDR soldier was badly wounded in the attack.
7th February 1992: An IRA firebomb was discovered at Neasden, London.
11th February 1992: An IRA bomb was defused on Parliament Street, Exeter.
15th February 1992: The IRA detonated a 450 lb (200 kg) bomb on Adelaide Street, Belfast. The bomb caused millions of pounds worth of damage.
16th February 1992: IRA volunteers Kevin Barry O’Donnell (21), Sean O’Farrell (23), Peter Clancy (19) and Daniel Patrick Vincent (20) were ambushed and killed by the SAS in Clonoe, County Tyrone. The IRA unit had just attacked Coalisland RUC base using a DShK heavy machine gun mounted on the back of a stolen lorry. The men were ambushed in a graveyard following the attack by undercover British soldiers. Two other IRA volunteers were wounded during the ambush but managed to escape. A British soldier was also injured during the incident.
28th February 1992: The IRA detonated a bomb at London Bridge railway station injuring 29 people.
29th February 1992: An IRA bomb exploded at the Crown Prosecution Service building in London injuring two people.
1st March 1992: A small IRA bomb was defused at White Hart Lane BR station in London.
5th March 1992: A 1,000 lb IRA bomb exploded in the center of Lurgan, County Armagh, causing extensive damage to commercial properties.
5th March 1992: A British soldier was injured by an IRA bomb near Augher, County Tyrone.
9th March 1992: The IRA destroyed a service station on the Ballygawley/Dungannon road, County Tyrone, on the basis that they were supplying British forces.
10th March 1992: A small IRA bomb exploded near Wandsworth Common railway station in London. There were no injuries.
15th March 1992: An IRA unit fired more than 1,000 rounds at two helicopters from across the border near Roslea, County Fermanagh.
24th March 1992: The IRA detonated a massive car-bomb containing over 1,100 lb (500 kg) of explosive in Pakenham Street, Belfast. The bomb caused severe damage to the RUC base and nearby business premises
27th March 1992: A female RUC officer was killed when an IRA unit hit her patrol vehicle with a horizontal mortar in Newry, County Down. Another Police Constable lost both his legs in the attack.
6th April 1992: A small IRA bomb exploded near Piccadilly Circus in London. There were no injuries.
10th April 1992: The IRA detonated a large truck-bomb at 30 St Mary Axe in the City of London. Despite a warning to evacuate the area, three civilians were killed and 91 injured. Many buildings were heavily damaged, including the Baltic Exchange.
11th April 1992: A large IRA car-bomb exploded at Staples Corner in London causing serious damage to buildings and nearby roads.
11th April 1992: An IRA bomb partially exploded in a shop in Pomeroy, County Tyrone.
13th April 1992: A 500 lb (230 kg) IRA car-bomb was defused outside Castlereagh RUC base.
18th April 1992: An employee of the British Army was shot dead by the IRA at his home on Nialls Crescent in Armagh town. At least 18 shots were fired at him through the front door from a high velocity weapon.
1st May 1992: A British soldier was killed when the IRA used a specially designed unmanned railway bogie to deliver a bomb to a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint at Cloghoge, County Armagh. ( See Attack on Cloghoge checkpoint.)
5th May 1992: A Mark-12 mortar, fired by an IRA unit, overshot Rosemount RUC station in County Londonderry and damaged several houses nearby.
8th May 1992: A 1,000 lb IRA car bomb exploded outside the RUC station in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, injuring 10 civilians and causing substantial damage to civilian properties nearby and structural damage to the security base itself.
9th May 1992: A number of incendiary devices exploded at the Metro Centre in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, causing some damage.
9th May 1992: An IRA bomb exploded accidentally in Mullaghbawn, County Armagh, injuring the IRA volunteer who was assembling it.
12th May 1992: A British Army paratrooper lost both legs after an IRA bomb attack near Cappagh, County Tyrone. The incident triggered a series of clashes between British soldiers and local people in the town of Coalisland, which lasted until 17th May, when an army machine gun was stolen. Unionist officials accused Sinn Féin of being the instigators of the riots. At least three civilians and two soldiers were injured.
2nd June 1992: An IRA unit carried out a mortar attack on a British Army checkpoint at Mullan Bridge, Kinawley, County Fermanagh.
7th June 1992: A British Police officer, Glenn Goodman, was shot dead after he stopped the car of an IRA volunteer on the A64 at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. Another officer was shot and badly wounded. IRA volunteers Paul Magee and Michael O’Brien were caught four days later. Paul Magee was charged and found guilt for the murder, while O’Brien was found guilty of attempted murder. On the same day an IRA bomb exploded at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
10th June 1992: A small IRA bomb exploded in Wilcox Place, London.
15th June 1992: An IRA bomb exploded in a hijacked minicab in St. Albans.
21st June 1992: An IRA semtex blast bomb was thrown to an RUC patrol during a festival in Benburb, County Tyrone.
22nd June 1992: A British army patrol was fired upon and near missed by an IRA sniper in the town of Cookstown, County Tyrone.
25th June 1992: An IRA briefcase-bomb exploded under a car in Coleman Street, London. A police officer had to be treated for shock.
27th June 1992: An IRA bomb injured 21 people in the center of Belfast.
30th July 1992: Two incendiary devices exploded in Milton Keynes causing minimal damage.
2nd August 1992: A British soldier was injured in a gun battle with the IRA in Pomeroy, County Tyrone.
3rd August 1992: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper team in the New Lodge area of Belfast. The soldier was in the back of an army Land Rover when an IRA sniper fired from a block of flats, hitting the soldier in the chest.
( 10th August 1992: Rfn Jamie Smith, RTA )
20th August 1992: Two British soldiers were wounded in an IRA attack at Grosvenor road, Belfast.
21st August 1992: A civilian was shot dead in a crossfire by the IRA during a gun battle in Ardoyne with the RUC. The IRA issued a statement after the attack in which it apologised for the killing.
25th August 1992: An IRA firebomb exploded in the Shropshire Regimental museum in Shrewsbury Castle, Shropshire, England and two incendiary devices exploded in two furniture shops in Shrewsbury Town Centre.
27th August 1992: An unsuccessful one-shot attack was launched by the IRA’s South Armagh sniper on a British Army patrol at Carran Road, Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
28th August 1992: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA’s South Armagh Sniper in the main square of Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The soldier was taking up position in the main square of the town when he was hit in the chest by a single bullet fired by an IRA sniper 250 yards away.
6th September 1992: A small IRA bomb exploded at the Hilton hotel in London.
17th September 1992: One bomb and four firebombs exploded at various locations around London.
23rd September 1992: A massive 3,500 lb (1,600 kg) IRA truck-bomb exploded outside the Forensic Science Laboratory at Newtownbreda in south Belfast. The device almost completely demolished the Laboratory and damaged 1,002 homes in the surrounding area. The tremors from the blast were felt over 12 miles (19 km) away and the bomb was later assessed as probably the largest device ever detonated in Northern Ireland. There were no injuries in the attack as the IRA had given a 40-minute warning to evacuate the area, although hundreds of residents had to be treated for shock. It was described as being as powerful as a “mini-nuke”. The army bomb disposal team who were attempting to defuse it all suffered deafness, and several military vehicles were damaged.
30th September 1992: A UDA member was shot dead by the IRA in the Ballynafeigh area of Belfast.
1st October 1992: A 15-men strong IRA unit, armed with rifles and machine guns, set up several checkpoints around the village of Meigh, County Armagh.
7th October 1992: Five people were injured when an IRA bomb exploded in Piccadilly, London. Another bomb also exploded on Flitcroft street in London.
8th October 1992: One person was injured when an IRA bomb exploded underneath a car in Tooley Street, London. Another bomb exploded on Malcombe Street.
9th October 1992: An IRA bomb exploded in the carpark of the Royal British Legion building in Southgate, England.
9th October 1992: Two explosive devices blew up outside two shops at Dungannon, County Tyrone, destroying both buildings. Another bomb exploded outside a bank in Belfast, causing minor damage.
10th October 1992: An RUC officer was shot dead by the IRA in the Monico Bar, Lombard Street, Belfast. In England, the IRA bombed Paddington Green police station, injuring one person.
12th October 1992: An explosive device exploded in a toilet of the Sussex Arms public house in Covent Garden killing one person and injuring four others.
19th October 1992: An IRA bomb explodes in Oxenden Street London, leaving two people requiring treatment for shock.
20th October 1992: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA at his home in Rasharkin, County Antrim. The soldier was said to have been a close friend of DUP leader Ian Paisley.
21st October 1992: Three people were injured when the IRA detonate a bomb at Princess Louise Territorial Army Centre, Hammersmith Road, London. Two more people were wounded when the IRA bomb a railway line in Edmonton, England.
21st October 1992: The IRA detonated a 200 lb (91 kg) carbomb on the Main Street of Bangor, County Down.
22nd October 1992: A sewage pipe is damaged by an IRA explosive device at Wick Lane, London.
25th October 1992: A small IRA bomb explodes in London damaging one building and a number of vehicles.
( 29th October 1992: Rfn Richard Davey, Death by violent or unnatural causes. )
30th October 1992: A small IRA bomb explodes outside 10 Downing Street, the residence of the British Prime Minister.
31st October 1992: The IRA wiped out the IPLO in Belfast after a vicious internal IPLO feud and allegations that it was dealing drugs. The leader of the IPLO’s breakaway Belfast Brigade, Sammy Ward, was shot dead in the Short Strand and several other high-ranking members were kneecapped. Their lives were spared on condition that the IPLO surrender and disband immediately. Within a few days both IPLO factions surrendered and disbanded. IPLO units in Newry and Armagh were not attacked and absolved of any involvement in criminality or drug dealing by the IRA.
13th November 1992: The IRA detonated a van-bomb in the centre of Coleraine, County Londonderry, causing extensive damage to the town centre.
14th November 1992: A British Police officer was shot and injured by the IRA in London after confronting two men he had spotted acting suspiciously. The two men fled the seen and in a follow up search a truck-bomb was discovered and defused.
15th November 1992: An RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA sniper while manning a vehicle checkpoint in Belcoo, County Fermanagh. It emerged that the sniper used an AK-47 assault rifle equipped with a night-sight and fired a single shot from high ground on the Donegal side of the border.
19th November 1992: An off-duty British soldier was shot dead in Portadown, County Armagh. He was shot at least 12 times by an IRA volunteer who fired at close range. The soldier managed to return fire but it is not believed he hit anybody.
21st November 1992: An alleged informer was shot dead by the IRA at Creggan, County Londonderry.
24th November 1992: An IRA unit exchanged fire with a combined British Army/RUC patrol at Castlederg, County Tyrone. The unit had been surprised outside the house of a Royal Irish Regiment soldier. More than 70 shots were fired.
24th November 1992: Four RUC members were injured in Belfast by an IRA jar-bomb.
25th November 1992: IRA volunteer Pearse Jordan was shot dead by the RUC after his car was rammed by an undercover RUC vehicle in Belfast. After stumbling out of the car unarmed, Jordan was shot three times in the back by an RUC sergeant. In May 2001, Jordan’s case was heard by the European Court of Human Rights along with three similar cases. The Court agreed that Jordan’s death was in violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights
1st December 1992: An IRA van-bomb was made safe by the British Army in London after a telephoned warning. In Belfast two IRA bombs exploded injuring 27 people, and an IRA unit fired a rocket at a British Army outpost on a Belfast’s high-rise.
2nd December 1992: British Police managed to disarm and IRA van bomb which was left London’s West End.
4th December 1992: The IRA detonated two small bombs in Manchester, England; 64 people were injured.
7th December 1992: The first barrack buster mortar was launched against an RUC base in Ballygawley, County Tyrone.
9th December 1992: The IRA detonated two car-bombs on King Street, Belfast City centre. In London an IRA truck-bomb partially explodes in Woodside Park.
10th December 1992: Two IRA bombs explode at Wood Green shopping centre in London injuring 11 people.
13th December 1992: An IRA unit fired at British troops in Annaghmartin, County Fermanagh. The RUC base there was also mortared.
13th December 1992: A British Army observation tower was hit by an IRA mortar round in Crossmaglen.
13th December 1992: The IRA attacked Oldpark RUC station in Belfast.
18th December 1992: The RUC base at Markethill, County Armagh, was damaged by an IRA mortar attack.
21st December 1992: A small IRA bomb exploded at Hampstead underground station in England. There were no injuries.
22nd December 1992: A soldier was given a box of chocolates by a female motorist at a checkpoint in Cookstown, County Tyrone. Later, British Army experts found and defused a 1 kg Semtex device inside. The IRA is suspected.
24th December 1992: The IRA called a three-day ceasefire.
28th December 1992: The IRA’s three-day ceasefire ended.
30th December 1992: A British soldier was shot dead at his home in the Cavehill Road area of Belfast. Two IRA volunteers burst into the house armed with AK-47 assault rifles and shot the soldier at least 13 times at close range. The soldiers wife claimed that IRA volunteer Thomas Begley was one of the gunmen.
Sourced from Wikipedia