Glenanne barracks bombing
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Glenanne barracks bombing was a large
truck bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...
attack carried out by the
Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
against a
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
(
Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...
) base at Glenanne, near
Mountnorris Mountnorris is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The village also extends into the townland of Tullyherron. It lies about six miles south of Markethill. It is within the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon local governm ...
,
County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
. The driverless lorry was rolled down a hill at the rear of the barracks and crashed through the perimeter fence. The bombing took place on 31 May 1991 and left three soldiers killed and 14 people wounded, four of them civilians.


Background

The bombing took place at a time when the
Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...
arranged multi-party talks (known as the Brooke/Mayhew talks) on the future of Northern Ireland.
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
members were not invited to attend because of their links with the IRA, which prevented them from being recognised as a 'constitutional' party. The talks ended in failure soon after. Built in 1972, the barracks housed two companies of the 2nd Battalion of the
Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...
(UDR). Seen as an outpost, it sat on the dividing line between a
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
area and a
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
area. Although the military barracks itself had not been attacked by the IRA before, seven UDR soldiers from the base had already been killed during
The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
.


The bombing

At 11:30 PM, a driverless truck loaded with of a new type of home made explosive was rolled down a hill at the rear of the barracks and crashed through the perimeter fence.Whitney, Craig
"I.R.A. Says It Planted Truck Bomb That Killed 3"
''The New York Times'', 2 June 1991.
According to a witness, a UDR lance corporal who alerted the base, the truck was a Mercedes, and a
Toyota Hiace The (pronounced "High Ace") is a light commercial vehicle produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. First launched in October 1967, the HiAce has since been available in a wide range of body configurations, including a minivan/ ...
van carrying at least two men acted as a support vehicle. The men were seen outside the parked van, masked and armed one with a handgun, the other with a submachine gun. This same witness alerted the base believing the IRA team were about to carry out a mortar attack, and debris thrown up on the roof by the lorry as it plunged down the hill was misinterpreted by some inside the base as a mortar projectile.Ryder, Chris (2005). A special kind of courage: 321 EOD Squadron – battling the bombers. Methuen, p. 249; Automatic fire was heard by other witnesses just before the main blast. A
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...
report claims that IRA members triggered the bomb by firing upon the driverless vehicle. It was later determined that the lorry had been stolen the day before in
Kingscourt Kingscourt, historically known as Dunaree (), is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It is located near the Cavan– Meath border. The town was founded near the site of the old village of Cabra, by Mervyn Pratt, towards the end of the 18th centur ...
,
County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...
, in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
. The blast left a crater deep and threw debris and shrapnel as far as . The explosion could be heard over away, as far as
Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...
. This was the biggest bomb detonated by the IRA until then. Most of the UDR base was destroyed by the blast and the fire that followed. At first, a massive mortar attack was suspected."Another three dead"
, ''The Irish Emigrant'', Issue No. 277, June 3 1991.
Some livestock were killed and windows broken around the nearby Mossfield housing as a result of the explosion. The cars parked outside the base were obliterated. Ceilings were brought down and the local primary school was also damaged.Potter, p. 354 A UDR sergeant present, who was duty officer (and whose wife was also a member of the UDR attending a social event on base) recalled the immediate aftermath of the explosion: The barracks was usually manned by eight soldiers, but at the time there were 40 people in the complex, attending a social event. Three UDR soldiers –
Lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...
Robert Crozier (46),
Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
Sydney Hamilton (44) and Private Paul Blakely (30) – were killed and ten were wounded. Two of them were caught by the explosion when they came out to investigate after a sentry gave the alarm; a third died inside the base. Four civilians were also wounded. The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility two days later. Author Kevin Toolis lists the destruction of Glenanne UDR barracks in County Armagh as part of the cycle of violence and
tit-for-tat Tit for tat is an English saying meaning "equivalent retaliation". It developed from "tip for tap", first recorded in 1558. It is also a highly effective strategy in game theory. An agent using this strategy will first cooperate, then subseque ...
killings in neighbouring County Tyrone.Toolis, Kevin (1995). Rebel Hearts: journeys within the IRA's soul. Picador, p. 73. The IRA would later claim that the death of three of its men in the town of Coagh was an SAS retaliation for the Glenanne bombing.'The SAS broke the rules of war'
by Chris Summers. BBC news, 28 January 2009
The base was never rebuilt. It had outlived its operational usefulness and a decision had already been taken to close it down.Potter, p. 351 The decision not to rebuild the
compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...
raised some controversy among unionists. A memorial stone was erected by the main entrance road with the names of the UDR soldiers killed over the years while serving in Glenanne.


Bibliography

* Geraghty, Tony: ''The Irish War''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. *Potter, John: ''A Testimony to Courage – The Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 – 1992''. Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001.


References


External links


CAIN site
{{PIRA Explosions in 1991 The Troubles in County Armagh Provisional Irish Republican Army actions 1991 in Northern Ireland Conflicts in 1991 British Army in Operation Banner Ulster Defence Regiment Car and truck bombings in Northern Ireland Military history of County Armagh Military actions and engagements during the Troubles (Northern Ireland) 20th century in County Armagh 1991 crimes in the United Kingdom May 1991 events in the United Kingdom Attacks on military installations in the 1990s Building bombings in Northern Ireland