Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang
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The Balcombe Street Gang was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) active service unit (ASU) (also known as the Balcombe Street Four or the Balcombe Street Unit) who carried out a bombing campaign in southern England in the mid-1970s. The majority of their attacks and attempted attacks took place in London and the rest in
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, Hampshire and Wiltshire. Between October 1974 and December 1975 they carried out approximately 40 bomb and gun attacks in and around London, sometimes attacking the same targets twice. The unit would sometimes carry out two or more attacks in one day; on 27 January 1975 they placed seven
time bomb A time bomb (or a timebomb, time-bomb) is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use (or attempted use) of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare. They ar ...
s in London. On 25 November 1974, they carried out three bomb attacks in the centre of London injuring 20 people. They were eventually caught during the Balcombe Street siege in December 1975, thus ending their 15-month bombing campaign in England. They have been described as "the most violent, ruthless and highly-trained unit ever sent to Britain by the Provisional IRA".


Active members

The members of the Balcombe Street Gang's ASU were Hugh Doherty, Joseph O'Connell, Eddie Butler and Harry Duggan (these four were captured at the Balcombe Street Siege). Liam Quinn (a US-born member) and Brendan Dowd were also active within the unit. O'Connell and fellow ASU member Dowd flew from Shannon Airport, County Clare, to Heathrow in early August 1974, under the pretence of looking for work in London. O'Connell, as the bomb-maker of the group, was responsible for making the first devices the ASU detonated in their campaign, during the Guildford pub bombings on 5 October 1974. This was the beginning of a wide range of attacks O'Connell was involved in. They varied from the bombing of the
Kings Arms, Woolwich The Kings Arms was a public house in Woolwich in southeast London. Standing at 1 Frances Street to the south of Woolwich Dockyard and the Royal Marine Barracks, and northwest of the Royal Artillery Barracks, it was built in the 19th century. ...
, to throwing hand bombs in
Sir Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
's club and the murder of an insurance broker.


Background

The Balcombe Street Unit was possibly the most successful IRA unit ever to carry out a bombing campaign in England. They had a focus on London (in particular the West End of London where they targeted pubs, clubs and restaurants with bombings and shootings. They attacked several of their targets twice. Within the space of nineteen days they had planted their first six explosive devices, two in Guildford on 5 October, another two in Seymour Street and St. James's Square on the 11th, another at St James's Square on the 22nd and one in Harrow on the 24th. In spring 1973, the IRA extended its bombing campaign to England, attacking military and symbolically important targets. The aim was to both increase pressure on the British government by swaying popular British opinion, with the goal of British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. It began on 8 March 1973 when an 11-person ASU, (which included Irish republicans such as the Price Sisters and
Gerry Kelly Gerard Kelly (Irish: Gearard Ó Ceallaigh; born 5 April 1953) is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 1 ...
) bombed the Old Bailey. Despite warnings, one person died of a heart attack and about 200 were injured, some seriously. The IRA always believed that one bomb in England was worth about 30 in Belfast and the huge media response seemed to prove this theory. The ASU behind the Old Bailey bombing was caught trying to leave England by plane to Ireland. Although the IRA achieved its objective, it was a tactical error to try to leave so quickly, as British security forces would be extra vigilant at escape routes from England to Ireland. The IRA General Headquarters realised this mistake. Instead, they decided that instead of sending over a large 10-person ASU for just one day of spectacular bombing, they would use smaller sleeper cells of three or four volunteers to carry out several bombings over a number of months. IRA attacks in England for the rest of 1973 soon started to become more professional and sophisticated. The following attack was on 18 August 1973 when two IRA firebombs exploded at
Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...
Department store, causing some damage but no injuries or deaths. This was the start of their prolonged bombing campaign in England. Just four days later an IRA book bomb exploded at the Conservative Party Central Office in London, injuring several people but none seriously. A few weeks later IRA bombs went off at King's Cross and Euston stations causing 13 injuries and wide spread damage, and panic in central London. From then on IRA bombs became a regular occurrence in London and other major English cities. By 1974, England saw an average of one attack – successful or otherwise – every three days. These attacks included the Birmingham pub bombings on 21 July which were possibly the first major attacks on the Midlands.


Trial

The Balcombe Street four came to trial at the
Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
on 24 January 1977. On 9 February 1977, the jury acquitted the defendants on twenty-six of the hundred indictments. On the remaining charges, the Balcombe Street Four were found guilty and each received a thirty-year minimum sentence. All were released on 14 April 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.


Aftermath

In follow-up raids after the siege, police discovered crossword puzzles in Brian Keenan's handwriting and his fingerprints on a list of bomb parts. A warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested by the
Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
at Banbridge in March 1979 on charges relating to the London campaign in the mid-1970s.Bowyer Bell, J. (1997). The Secret Army: The IRA. Transaction Publishers. pp. 472–473. .


Type of attacks

Most of the attacks carried out by the unit were bombings, but the unit was also involved in several shooting incidents. The gang used several different methods to deliver and detonate their bombs. The unit's favoured method was using hand-thrown bombs. The unit made and used a series of these grenade-like devices. These were small devices with around of gelignite in them with a short fuse attached. The fuse would be lit and then thrown at its target by one volunteer while another volunteer would keep lookout. This method was used in the Woolwich pub bombing of November 1974 and the Waltons bombing of November 1975. Another common method was making either a
time bomb A time bomb (or a timebomb, time-bomb) is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use (or attempted use) of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare. They ar ...
or an
incendiary device Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
with a timer on it, which would then be planted inside a pub, club, hotel, or other site. This method was used in the Guildford pub bombings of October 1974 and the Hilton bombing of September 1975. The unit also detonated a
car 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 ...
at Selfridge's department store on Oxford Street in December 1974. Booby-trap bombs were occasionally used. During these attacks, the unit would also place a second, hidden bomb with a timer nearby with the intent of killing or injuring security services reacting to the initial bombing. On several occasions, the unit fired shots from rifles and submachine guns (usually Sten guns and M1 carbines) into hotels and restaurants, as in the attacks on the Carlton Tower Hotel and the Portman Hotel in January 1975. The gang also shot and killed several people, the most famous of whom was ''Guinness Book of Records'' founder
Ross McWhirter Alan Ross McWhirter (12 August 1925 – 27 November 1975) was, with his twin brother, Norris, the cofounder of the 1955 ''Guinness Book of Records'' (known since 2000 as ''Guinness World Records'') and a contributor to the television programm ...
in November 1975. Nineteen people were killed in the ASU's campaign: 16 from bombings and three in shootings. Six of the dead were
British military The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...
personnel, one was a London police officer, one was a member of the bomb squad, and 11 were civilians.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang 1974 in London 1975 in London 1970s trials Explosions in London Murder trials Provisional Irish Republican Army Provisional Irish Republican Army actions in London Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1974 Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1975 Trials in London