The 1970s was a decade in which the IRA carried out numerous bombing attacks in and around central London. A full list appears in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_London. While living in Soho’s Horse and Dolphin Yard we heard numerous explosions from the safety of our flat.
On 30 March 1979, Airey Neave, British Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was assassinated by the Irish National Liberation Army with a bomb fixed under his car. The bomb detonated in the car park of the Palace of Westminster in London and mortally wounded Neave, who died shortly after being admitted to hospital.[1] (Wikipedia – extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Airey_Neave)
When younger, our King Charles III was very close to his Great Uncle Louis Mountbatten whose home, Broadlands is in Romsey, not far from us in The New Forest.
On 27th August 1979, their relationship was ended by an IRA bomb. Details of the event can be found in:
https://www.history.com/news/mountbatten-assassination-ira-thatcher
‘The gruesome 1979 IRA assassination of a beloved British royal—which took place the same day as a deadly coordinated attack on British troops—led to outrage, heartbreak and a heightening of “The Troubles,” the decades-long Northern Ireland conflict.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility for the August 27, 1979 murder of Lord Louis Mountbatten, 79, Earl of Burma, great-grandson of Queen Victoria, second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and great-uncle of King Charles III. The World War II hero and last viceroy of India was aboard his 29-foot Shadow Vfishing boat with six others near his summer home in northwest Ireland the morning of the attack.
A Sunny Day Turns Grim
August 27, 1979, a Bank holiday, had dawned sunny, following days of rain. “Dickie” Mountbatten and some of his family who had been staying at their holiday home, Classibawn Castle near the Village of Cliffoney, County Sligo in the Republic of Ireland, decided to take an outing on their boat to take in the good weather.
Fifteen minutes after setting sail, a planted bomb was activated by two members of the Provisional IRA, a paramilitary group of Irish nationalists who waged a terror campaign to drive British forces from Northern Ireland to create a united, independent nation. Known as “the Troubles,” the conflict raged for 25 years before IRA and loyalist ceasefires were initiated. By 1998, the year the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement settled the conflict, more than 3,600 people had died.’
That must have been a terrible time to live through.
Especially for our soldiers, I think, Liz. Thank you very much
You’re welcome, Derrick.
I still remember hearing about it. Hopefully the Troubles will remain in the past.
I still remember hearing about it. Hopefully the Troubles will remain in the past.
Hopefully, Pat. Thank you very much
What a terrible time! You might be interested in knowing that the talks that led to the Good Friday agreement were chaired by former Senator George Mitchell who is from Waterville, Maine, where I was born.
What a good connection, Laurie. Thank you very much
Waaay too much violence and hate in this world then and now. Why can’t we just get along? ???
Good question, Jan. Thank you very much
Those were grim days.
Thanks very much, Gary
Strange times. I worked in Ireland in the early 80s – the security to use the ferry was less strict than the security to get into a nightclub.
Thanks a lot, Quercus
I remember this happening on the news, I was still in high school. So very sad and sickening. ?
Quite so, John. Thank you very much
I hope this never happens again.
Not the finest page in the history of Ireland. My brother-in-law was in Birmingham city centre in a pub when one of the bombs they had planted went off. He had just left the part of the pub where the bomb was placed and was next door, so he was not killed. He was, however, mentally affected for the rest of his life and he was never the same person again. Did he get any help of any kind in the aftermath of the bombing? Did he even get a lift home in a police car? Did he get help with his PTSD? I’ll leave you all to guess about that one!
Such a sad consequence, John. Thank you very much
I remember the news reports. I was young, but remember thinking there had to be another way to settle differences and make progress.
Quite right, young Lavinia. Thank you very much.
Such a sad, terrible time. It must have been stressful to be living with that going on.
Thank you very much, Merril. It is amazing how inured one becomes
Yes, I suppose so. People go on in all sorts of trying circumstances.
I remember hearing about this from news on television.
Very sad, horrible times. 🙁
(((HUGS))) ❤️
Thank you very much, Carolyn X
I remember this so well, it was horrific.
Thanks very much, Sue
This post brought back memories of when I was near to but fortunately avoided two bombing incidents
Thanks a lot, Sheree. Fortunate, indeed
Hopefully no more such Troubles!
As human history shows terror is not the way to solve any problems, and it never did. It only makes the problem deeper and harder.
Quite so, Alexander. Thank you very much
My Aunt Alys lived in London during The Troubles. Communications were so different in the day, but I remember hearing about the Harrod’s bombing and how we worried about our Aunt with no clear way to quickly reach her. I was still in high school in the seventies. Violence is never the answer, and yet we never learn.
Quite so, Alys. Thank you very much
I didn’t know most of this. Thank you for educating me, Derrick.
Thanks very much, Dolly
You are very welcome, Derrick.
So sad that we still have such acts of hate happening today.
Indeed. Thank you very much, AnneMarie
See you updated this along with the new pictures.
Thanks very much for reading it again, Pat.