The
TROUBLES A CHRONOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND CONFLICT
JANUARY - FEBRUARY
1974
It can often be a contentious issue of debate of when and how Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’ began, who and what is to blame, and even which event in case led us to where we are now. You can go back 30 years, or even 300 years and beyond for in reality Ireland has been engaged in conflict with England for centuries. Therefore, in order to compile a chronological record of the modern Troubles - the term usually given to the most recent conflict, we must mark a defining point of start, which we have taken as partition itself and from which we began in. In turn again, we feel it is equally important to give you the reader some understanding why events spiralled as they did into a bloody civil war. This is not another view of the Troubles, this has been done and redone. This is the historical recording of events compiled by people from different parts of Belfast who lived through them. Our objective as local historians is to compile what we hope will be as near as possible a definitive reference to events as they unfolded through the last three decades. In terms of research we have used as much material as possible and from diverse perspectives. We are confident that we have covered events as they were reported at the time. If however you feel that we have either left something out or indeed got something wrong we are more than happy to hear from you. As mentioned above this series of publications is the historical recording of the Troubles and all corrections are more than welcome. GLENRAVEL PROJECT ASHTON CENTRE CHURCHILL STREET BELFAST BT15 2BP Tel: (028) 9020 2100 • Fax: (028) 9020 2227 E-Mail: glenravel@ashtoncentre.com This is designed to create a better historical understanding of what has become known as ‘The Troubles.’ Therefore for educational purposes you are more than welcome to use any material from them. All that we ask is that the source is acknowledged and a copy of the material sent to us after publication. We use material that has been placed in the public domain. We try to acknowledge all the copyright holders but sometimes this is not possible. If you claim credit for something that has appeared in this publication then we will be happy to know about it so that we can make the appropriate acknowledgements.
For back issues of the single Troubles Magazine visit the Glenravel stall every Friday morning at St George's Market. You may also obtain them at our website at www.troublesmagazine.com where sold out issues can also be downloaded. E-Mail: info@troublesmagazine.com
SOURCE MATERIAL BELFAST NEWSLETTER Various issues for period covered
BELFAST TELEGRAPH Various issues for period covered
IRISH NEWS Various issues for period covered
Wednesday 2nd January 1974 Ormeau Road killing John Whyte of Cooke Street was shot dead, hit by shots apparently intended for an army patrol. Three or four shots were fired at an Wednesday 2nd January 1974 army land rover in McClure Street but they missed their target and Antrim Road Filling Station bombed Two men placed a 25lb bomb in a self-service filling station on the struck Mr Whyte on the head. He died on admission to hospital. Antrim Road, Belfast. The incident occurred at 2.30pm and was nd witnessed by a local youth who alerted the police and the area was Wednesday 2 January 1974 quickly cleared. 18 minutes later the bomb exploded causing Dublin crackdown on the IRA extensive damage to the building and the computerised self-service The Dublin government launched its first post Sunningdale moves petrol delivery system. The two men were described as armed and against the Provisional IRA by announcing an order under which people can be arrested and tried in the Republic for murder committed dressed in denims with skinhead haircuts. in Northern Ireland. The order was made by adapting Section 9 on the Offences against the Person Act (1861). The trial of a person arrested in the 26 counties and accused of murder committed in nd Wednesday 2 January 1974 Northern Ireland could be held within the jurisdiction of the State. Shankill soldier to stay on duty
JANUARY 1974
The soldier involved in the shooting of a man outside a bar on the Shankill Road was not suspended from duty. The dead man was 35 year old Alex Howell and it was reported that the army statements about the killing were contradictory and that a slur had been placed on the dead man and his family by inferring the he was a gunman. The DUP leader Rev. Ian Paisley called for the arrest of the soldier concerned and that he is suspended from duty. Since Mr Howells death there have been calls from the Republican Clubs and the Alliance Party for an inquiry into how he died.
Wednesday 2nd January 1974 Upper North Street blast A 150lb bomb was left in a London type taxi outside McMurrays shoe shop on Upper North Street. The bomb exploded causing widespread blast damage to shops and offices on both sides of the street.
BELOW - An army robot deals with a bomb at the Ardoyne shops in North Belfast.
Later in the same area two soldiers were slightly hurt when their patrol came under fire from the direction of the Unity Flats complex. In a follow up search a .303 rifle and ammunition were found in a drying room at the flats. A bomb exploded at McFauls bar on Silvio Street after a member of staff was abducted by the men who planted the bomb. He was later found beaten up in a nearby entry. The RUC found a shotgun, a rifle and 110 rounds of assorted ammunition in a UDA club at Silverstream Road. Wednesday 2nd January 1974 M2 blast Two RUC members were unhurt after a booby trap attack on the M2 between Greencastle and the Sandyknowles intersection. The patrol had gone to investigate a stolen Ford Anglia, which was from Merville Garden Village and was abandoned on the motorway by two youths who ran off. A section of the motorway was closed as police moved in to inspect the car. The two patrolmen were putting up diversion signs when a bomb exploded in a box used to house emergency signs about 15 ft from the patrol. Shots were also heard in the area but it was not known if they were aimed at the RUC. Wednesday 2nd January 1974 Man shot fro removing bomb The IRA in Derry claimed that they shot and wounded a Derry businessman in the leg at the weekend because the man had carried a primed bomb out of a shop. The IRA statement said, “This action was carried out because the person in question carried out a primed bomb from a shop in Strand Road endangering the lives of other civilians. The same punishment will be inflicted on persons who area guilty of similar actions”. Wednesday 2nd January 1974 Newry shooting A twenty five year old Newry man was shot and his 71 year father assaulted when gunmen burst into their home. The elderly man was struck on the nose with the butt of a rifle and the son was shot in the
thigh. The Official IRA in a statement alleged that the young man had assaulted one of their young volunteers at a New Years Eve dance at Warrenpoint and as a result the Newry Unit went to his home to “chastise him”.
Wednesday 2nd January 1974 Strabane and Moy shootings Six high velocity shots were fired in Main Street Strabane but no one was injured. In Moy a gunman discharged a shot through the window of a Catholic owned shop at Canary, Moy but no one was hurt.
Wednesday 2nd January 1974 Tempo and Draperstown bombs Tempo was evacuated after a duffle bag was found at the front door of the post office in the villages Main Street. The blast caused moderate blast damage to the building and the surrounding area and there were no casualties. Military police and an army bomb disposal team came under heavy fire when they went to investigate an abandoned Ford Escort, stolen earlier from a cinema car park. The gunfire came from derelict buildings and no casualties were reported.
Wednesday 2nd January 1974 Soldier shot in Falls A sniper killed 23-year-old Guardsman Alan Daugherty in the Falls. The soldier was in a personnel carrier in the Beechmount area when a single shot passed through an observation slit and struck him. The same bullet injured another soldier.
BELOW LEFT - IRA car bomb attack in Belfast’s Upper North Street. BELOW RIGHT - The funeral of Mr Alexander Howell who was shot dead on the Shankill Road.
Thursday 3rd January 1974 Belfast rail route hit by bomb Rail services between Belfast and Lisburn were suspended when a lorry containing a bomb was placed underneath the Hilden Bridge near Lisburn. A 15-minute warning was given and the bomb exploded 20 minutes later.
A crowd of about 100 attacked troops with stones and bottles in the Creggan Estate in Derry as the army moved into Leenan Gardens to arrest a wanted man. An army spokesman said rubber bullets and CS gas were used in an effort to break up the rioters. No one was injured.
An explosion was heard in the Bogside area and troops found two hand grenades used for training purposes when they searched garages at Chamberlain Street in the Bogside. Five shots were heard in the Mountainview Anderson Crescent area of the Waterside but security forces were not involved. Troops found two rifles, a pistol land 129 rounds of ammunition An 18-year-old youth from Hillman Street was charged with being hidden in a hedge during a routine search in the nearby Old Corrody in possession of a .303 rifle and seven rounds of ammunition. The Road. weapon was found by troops during a search of Unity flats. Friday 4th January 1974 A joint RUC army patrol came under attack from a crowd at Braehill Reservist’s wife spot car bomb near Silverstream estate. The crowd stoned the patrol and a shot was A part time policeman’s wife spotted a booby trap bomb under her fired. The patrol fired over the heads of the crowd. car in Shimna Road, Newcastle. The 15lb bomb was under her blue Hillman Avenger and she alerted her husband and the area was A soldier received a slight wound to his right cheek when 12 shots evacuated. Three weeks ago Special Branch detective Maurice were fired at a patrol at the junction of Ramoan Gardens-Gartree Rolston aged 37 died when his car exploded outside his house in Place, Andersonstown. Newcastle. Two blast bombs were thrown at an Army patrol at Farset walk in the Divis Flats are. Both exploded but no one was injured. BELOW LEFT - Adding the latest entry on the records Tennent Street police station came under attack when four shots were board at the RUC Press Office. fired at it. There were no injuries. Thursday 3rd January 1974 An 18 year old youth from Spamount Street was accused of having in his possession a quantity of blue sump safety fuse, 19 time switches, 15 grams of explosives and 6 metal connectors.
rd
Thursday 3 January 1974 Derry and Strabane An explosion badly damaged a Foyle Fisheries cabin on the riverbank at Bready outside Strabane. There were no injuries. Five shots were fired at an Army patrol in Meetinghouse Street. There were no casualties. Fire was returned but no hits claimed.
BELOW RIGHT - Car bomb attack near the Suffolk Inn outside Belfast.
Friday 4th January 1974 Belfast A RUC patrol heard a single high velocity shot in the Templemore Street area of east Belfast but it was not known what the intended target was. Four shots were fired at an army post in Lenadoon, Suffolk, but there were no casualties. Four armalite shells were found in a follow up operation. In Suffolk the army found a M1 carbine magazine and live rounds in a stolen car outside the Oliver Plunkett School.
shop near the junction of the Crumlin and Woodvale Roads and gave customers three minutes to clear. Seconds later a cylinder was placed just inside the door of the Belpharm chemist’s shop next door. It was reported the two men wearing masks and carrying a machine gun told customers and staff that the cylinder contained a bomb.
Friday 4th January 1974 Derry incidents An army patrol was fired on twice inside 10 minutes in the Gobnascale area of the Waterside. They returned fire on the second occasion but the gunman escaped. A single shot was fired at Creggan army camp from the area of Lislane Drive. Troops found more than 150 rounds of assorted ammunition and two M1 carbine magazines in a field near the Gobnascale estate.
Saturday 5th January 1974 Arms find Soldiers searching in the Upper Crumlin Road area of Belfast found two rifles, six pistols and a quantity of ammunition.
Friday 4th January 1974 Army find in S Armagh An army sniffer dog led troops to a 25lb bomb and 162 rounds of assorted ammunition in a hedgerow at Mullagh Bane, near Crossmaglen. The bomb, which was ready fused, and may have been intended as a booby trap was dealt with by an army team.
Saturday 5th January 1974 Man shot dead in East Belfast A lone gunman shot 44-year-old Leo McCullagh of Ravenscroft Road in the chest. It was a case of mistaken identity as the gunman was after his son.
Saturday 5th January 1974 14 men set free Fourteen of the 15 men held after Guarda-army raids in the border area were released. They had been detained and questioned in groups at Guarda stations in Buncrana, Dundalk and Monaghan.
Saturday 5th January 1974 RUC ambushed More than 50 shots were fired at police when they were lured into an ambush in East Belfast. The ambush began after two men hijacked a white BMC 1100 car at Bloomfield Avenue. When a similar car was spotted a short time later outside Albertbridge Road Orange Hall with Saturday 5th January 1974 lights on and the doors open police were called to investigate. As an Bomb blasts Ardoyne shop RUC patrol arrived on the scene it came under heavy fire from the A bomb extensively damaged a wallpaper shop in the Ardoyne area direction of nearby Glenallen Street. More than 50 high and low and the army later tackled a suspect cylinder left in a chemists shop velocity shots were fired at them and the RUC men had to jump out next door. Two masked men left the bomb in Lynch’s wallpaper of their vehicle and dive for cover. Despite the heavy fire the police
vehicle was not struck and the area quietened down after troops moved in. Five or six shots were also fired at a police mobile on the Sydenham by pass from the direction of the Oval football stadium but there were no casualties. Sentries on duty at Mountpottinger RUC station reported hearing about 10 shots from the direction of Templemore Avenue and Madrid Street but there was no obvious target. Two shots were fired at an army post in the Templar House flats at the New Lodge Road. A petrol bomb was thrown into a Catholic family’s home at Glensharragh Avenue in the Castlereagh area but there were no injuries.
Monday 7th January 1974 Blast car in Suffolk injures 2 Police received a phone call that a bomb had been left in a car at the Suffolk Inn. The RUC did not move in immediately and the bomb exploded near the bar injuring two 13 year old boys. Both boys were taken to hospital with facial injuries. Monday 7th January 1974 Strabane bomb Two masked men planted a 50lb bomb, which badly damaged the Melmount service station. A fire started by the blast caused further damage but the area had been cleared after a 10-minute warning and no one was hurt. Five shots were fired at the town’s police station but there were no injuries.
Saturday 5th January 1974 Weapons found In South Armagh the RUC found 25 detonators, fuse, cortex, six hand grenades and various other items packed into wooden boxes and Monday 7th January 1974 hidden in a hedgerow. Belfast stoning A Protestant crowd stoned a group of Catholics returning from St Saturday 5th January 1974 Malachys church in Alfred Street. As a result a Catholic crowd Derry and Strabane incidents gathered at Lavinia Street and the groups began to attack each other. Troops searched a house at Lisfannon Park in the Bogside where Police were stoned when they arrived and the rival crowds dispersed they found an armalite magazine and 73 rounds of ammunition. A after the army arrived. crowd of 50 youths gathered during the search and attacked the troops Police reported that a number of Protestant youths ran through the with stones. One soldier was slightly hurt before the crowd was Silverstream, Benview and Braehill areas of North Belfast smashing dispersed with rubber bullets. windows in houses. 12 rounds of ammunition, 25ft of cortex, detonators, fuse and weapon parts were found on waste ground at Drumleck Drive, Shantallow. In Strabane five shots were fired at an army vehicle checkpoint on the Camels Hump at Lifford Road. There were no casualties and fire was returned. Monday 7th January 1974 Landmine explosion A landmine exploded on a border road near Clady, Co Tyrone but no one was injured. The blast caused a small crater in the road and it was believed the bomb exploded prematurely. Monday 7th January 1974 Granny appeals to kidnappers A 67-year-old grandmother appealed for the release of her son, 18 year old Royal Iris Ranger William Horner. Nothing had been heard from the kidnappers of the soldier since a phone call to a Belfast newspaper told of his abduction. The caller to the Sunday News-just 10 minutes after the kidnapping took place-said he was speaking for an unnamed Protestant extremist group.
FACING PAGE - The Rev. Ian Paisley at a Loyalist rally at Belfast City Hall. RIGHT - IRA bomb attack on the Belfast Courts at Townhall Street.
Monday 7th January 1974 Lurgan shooting A 41-year-old Catholic of Shankill Street, Lurgan was shot in the thigh in an assassination attempt. He was standing at the corner of Church Place and William Street with a group of friends when a gunman opened fire with an automatic weapon from the front seat of a car, which came from the Portadown direction. None of the other men were hit. Monday 7th January 1974 Shooting incidents Machine gun fire was aimed at men of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Regiment manning a vehicle checkpoint at Drumee on the Newcastle to Castlewellan road last night but the were no casualties. Eight shots were fired from Dove Gardens, Derry at an observation post on the city walls but none of the shots hit the post. In South Armagh eleven minor explosions and 12 shots were heard in the Bessbrook area. In Newtownabbey an off duty policeman walking along O’Neill Road was grazed on the nose when a blast and shot were aimed at an army mobile. There were no military casualties. Monday 7th January 1974 Border searches Large-scale searches by security forces on both sides of the border were undertaken in a bid to locate hidden arms and explosives. British troops searched several houses in Armagh ad also the rear of the Republican Club at Ogle Street. At Blackwatertown a home and farm was also searched.
Tuesday 8th January 1974 Soldier freed Soldier William Horner who was kidnapped by a Protestant extremist group was released after “very firm advice” the UDA said. In a statement the UDA said that along with the outlawed UVF they contacted the organisation responsible for the abduction. They advised them that their actions were not in the best interest of the Loyalist population. The militant group holding the Royal Irish Ranger had implied that he would come to harm if demands for a public inquiry into the shooting of a Shankill Road man by a soldier were not met. Tuesday 8th January 1974 Derry café blast A bomb exploded in a Derry restaurant but no one was injured. It was left in the Leprechaun at Strand Road and a 10-minute warning given. The bomb was described a small and some damage was caused at the premises. Tuesday 8th January 1974 Man drove bomb In Andersonstown a van driver was held up by two men, one armed, outside the Ulster Brewery on the Glen Road. The man was held captive in the area while his van was loaded with a 150-200lb bomb. He was then told to drive to Andersonstown RUC station and he was threatened that if he did not do this a gunman hiding in Milltown Cemetery would shoot him. The man did as he was told and when he parked outside the station he warned the sentry and the area was
cleared. The blast followed a short time later and only superficial damage was caused to the building. The RUC diverting traffic away from the bomb were stoned by a crowd. A window was shattered by a .22 bullet on a Citybus as it passed Belvoir Street on the Newtownards Road but none of the passengers was injured. Shots were fired at troops in Andersonstown and the Ardoyne, but there were no casualties. A single shot was fired at an army observation post in Cromac Street. Tuesday 8th January 1974 Newcastle bomb A 5-10lb bomb extensively damaged the Brook Cottage Hotel on the Bryansford Road. The bomb was planted by two men one armed with a pistol, who fired shots into the ceiling before making their getaway.
Wednesday 9th January 1974 Cushendall hotels blasted Bombs damaged two hotels in the Co Antrim village of Cushendall. A four-man gang planted bombs in the Glens of Antrim and Cushendall Hotels. The group split up and two men carried suitcases bombs into both hotels before the group made their getaway in a car which was later found abandoned five miles away. The first blast was at the Glens of Antrim where the explosion blew in a gable wall. A short time later the army carried out a controlled explosion in the other hotel, which caused extensive damage. Both bombs were estimated to contain 30-50lb of explosives.
Wednesday 9th January 1974 Belfast incidents The back door of a Catholic house at Braehill in Ligoniel was damaged by a blast bomb that exploded outside. An incendiary device was thrown through the front door of another home in the same street but only slight damage was caused. Tuesday 8th January 1974 Shooting incidents Bottles were thrown at the RUC at Templemore Avenue and Belvoir In Derry six shots were heard in the Melmore Gardens area of Creggan Street but there were no injuries. but security forces were not involved. Shots were fired at a motorist near the Goodyear roundabout in Lurgan but the man was not hit. Several shots went through the bedroom window of a house in Strabane when gunmen opened fire on troops on the Lifford Road. Also in Strabane an army disposal team defused a 150lb bomb near Clady. Troops were called to the scene when a 50lb bomb exploded causing some damage to a culvert. Wednesday 9th January 1974 Petrol bombs in Newtownabbey Two Roman Catholic families whose homes in Rathcoole were petrol bombed have decided to move from the area. The two houses in Clonbeg Drive were set ablaze when petrol bombs were hurled through the front downstairs windows. Four youths were seen running from the scene. No one was injured in the attacks.
FACING PAGE - An IRA patrol in Clady. BELOW - Members of the RUC examine the remains of a car bomb in Derry.
A 17-year-old youth was admitted to RVH with a gunshot wound to the leg. He was shot from a car while walking along the Hannahstown Road. Five low velocity shots were heard in the Etna Drive area of Ardoyne but the RUC and army were not involved and there were no reports of any casualties. A small bomb exploded near Power Station East inside the Harbour Estate. The blast shattered some windows but there were no injuries. Wednesday 9th January 1974 Derry shootings Four shots were heard in the area of Meenan Drive in the Bogside. Three empty cartridges were later found. A short time later three further shots were heard in nearby Blucher Street but the RUC and army weren’t involved.
were also shattered. A heavy meal tanker parked less that 15 feet on the opposite side of the street absorbed much of the blast and protected the buildings on that side. Thursday 10th January 1974 Man shot in both legs Three armed and masked men burst into the home of a married man in Drumbeg north and shot him through both legs. The man was left bleeding on the floor as the intruders ran off. Thursday 10th January 1974 Derry incidents An army patrol came under fire from a gunman in the Shantallow area. The gunman fired four shots at the patrol which was in Racecourse Road at the time. There were no casualties and no fire was returned. In the Bogside a petrol bomb was thrown at a mobile patrol in Blucher Street but it did not explode. In the Creggan two shots were heard in the area of the Rath roundabout and one shot was heard in the Westway area but the RUC and army were not involved.
Wednesday 9th January 1974 M2 killing award The parents of 16-year-old Henry Cunningham from Carndonagh, Co Donegal, who was shot dead on the M2 were awarded £2250 compensation. They had been seeking £20,000. Henry Cunningham had been returning home from a Glengormley building site when the van in which he was travelling with his brothers came under fire from Donegore Bridge. More than 14 shots ripped through the van Thursday 10th January 1974 and Henry who was sitting in the front seat was hit in the chest. Sons find body of father The body of an Andersonstown upholsterer was discovered by his sons less than 100 yards from his workshop. Mr John Crawford aged Thursday 10th January 1974 53 of Andersonstown Park West was found with a bullet wound in Sons find body of father The body of an Andersonstown upholsterer was discovered by his the head in a ditch alongside the cemetery. It was reported that the sons less than 100 yards from his workshop. Mr John Crawford aged Official IRA claimed that they had carried out the shooting but this 53 of Andersonstown Park West was found with a bullet wound in was later denied. No motive was known for the shooting. the head in a ditch alongside the cemetery. It was reported that the Official IRA claimed that they had carried out the shooting but this Thursday 10th January 1974 was later denied. No motive was known for the shooting. Court blasted A huge van bomb blasted Belfast Magistrates Court minutes after Thursday 10th January 1974 the area was cleared. The 200lb bomb was in a van in Townhall Court blasted Street but only half the bomb exploded. The RUC and prisoners A huge van bomb blasted Belfast Magistrates Court minutes after remained inside the court during the explosion for security reasons. the area was cleared. The 200lb bomb was in a van in Townhall The heavy rear doors of the courthouse, which had been closed to Street but only half the bomb exploded. The RUC and prisoners the public for some time, were blown in, and a glass partition in the remained inside the court during the explosion for security reasons. foyer was reduced to smithereens. Many windows in the courthouse The heavy rear doors of the courthouse, which had been closed to were also shattered. A heavy meal tanker parked less that 15 feet on the public for some time, were blown in, and a glass partition in the the opposite side of the street absorbed much of the blast and protected foyer was reduced to smithereens. Many windows in the courthouse the buildings on that side.
Thursday 10th January 1974 Man shot in both legs Three armed and masked men burst into the home of a married man in Drumbeg north and shot him through both legs. The man was left bleeding on the floor as the intruders ran off.
Friday 11th January 1974 2 killed in car bomb Two people died instantly when a bomb exploded in their car outside army headquarters in Derry. They were believed to be a man and a woman but this was still to be confirmed. A number of others were injured when the car was blasted into smithereens as it travelled down the Limavady Road in the Waterside towards the cit centre. Women and children were treated for shock and some injuries were caused by flying glass from dozens of shattered windows. The car disintegrated as it passed Ebrington Church hurling debris into Ebringdon barracks. Earlier a soldier was wounded in the leg when a gunman fired one shot at a foot patrol in the Creggan Estate.
Thursday 10th January 1974 Derry incidents An army patrol came under fire from a gunman in the Shantallow area. The gunman fired four shots at the patrol which was in Racecourse Road at the time. There were no casualties and no fire was returned. In the Bogside a petrol bomb was thrown at a mobile patrol in Blucher Street but it did not explode. In the Creggan two shots were heard in the area of the Rath roundabout Friday 11th January 1974 and one shot was heard in the Westway area but the RUC and army 10 hurt in coast hotel bomb were not involved. Ten people were taken to hospital after a bomb exploded in the hallway of the Carrick-a-rede Hotel at Ballintoy. No warning was Thursday 10th January 1974 given but shots were heard shortly before the blast. The bomb blew Belfast shootings down a rear wall and caused extensive damage. Ten people were A single high velocity shot was fired at an army foot patrol at the taken to hospital with lacerations and shock. junction of Newington Street and Limestone Road but no soldiers were hit. Friday 11th January 1974 Troops returned fire when three shots were fired at them in Belfast incidents Andersonstown and no hits were claimed. A UDR man was hit in the leg when shots were fired at his mobile Three men one of them armed with a pistol called at a house in North patrol as it stopped at traffic lights at the Newtownards Road. Police Road where he was forced to hand over a legally held .22 rifle. believe the shots came from the direction of nearby monumental Several shots were heard near Palace Barracks but troops were not sculptor’s yard. The part time soldier was taken to hospital. involved.
BELOW - The wrecked Carrick-a-Rede Hotel following an IRA bomb attack. RIGHT - A protest outside the home of Gerry Fitt calling for an end to the rent and rates strike.
Two beer keg bombs each containing 50-100lb of explosives exploded at a railway bridge in Finaghy Road North. Phone calls received by the RUC and the Irish News stated that two men had been seen carrying something on to the Railway Bridge and the RUC went to investigate. Train services were suspended and minor damage was caused to the line. A 150lb bomb was detonated off Donegall Quay when an army expert carried out a controlled explosion. The incident caused commuter mayhem as the area was sealed off. The Fiat car containing the bomb was found in a customer car park and the car had been hijacked on the Glen Road.
Saturday 12th January 1974 Loyalist groups merger It was reported that there was strong pressure at all levels in the United Ulster Unionist Council for the Democratic Unionist, Vanguard Unionist and Unionist Parties to merge in a single restructured Unionist Party. The move was thought to be boosted by rumours that Rev Ian Paisley supported the idea of Unionist unity. Saturday 12th January 1974 Stones thrown Trouble flared on the Shankill Road, Belfast, after police stopped a car and detained the occupants. A crowd gathered and bottles and stones were thrown at a police car at the Northumberland Street junction. Bus services to the area were suspended and traffic built up as the RUC diverted motorists.
Friday 11th January 1974 Lurgan shooting Gunmen tried to kill an off duty member of the UDR as he left work at Victoria Street in Lurgan. At least 18 shots were fired at the man Saturday 12th January 1974 from a blue car but he was not hit. Bomb left at dry cleaners In Dungannon two men left a small bomb on the counter of the Ulster Friday 11th January 1974 Drycleaners at Scotch Street. The shop and the surrounding area Derry shots were evacuated before part of the bomb went off. The army dealt Three shots were fired at an army mobile patrol on Racecourse Road with the remainder of the charge. from the direction of Carrabane Walk but there were no casualties. Fire was returned. Saturday 12th January 1974 Newry bomb A car bomb caused some damage to a newsagents and stationers at the junction of Sugar Island and Sugarhouse Quay. An adjoining Friday 11th January 1974 post office and other shops were slightly damaged by the blast. There Hoax bombs in Dublin Traffic was in chaos in Dublin when army explosives teams rushed had been three separate telephone warnings before the explosion and to three locations following a warning that bombs had been planted police had evacuated the area. The blast in the car came a few minutes by the Provisional IRA. After three hours biscuit tins with wires after the army carried out a controlled explosion, which set fire to the vehicle. attached were detonated in controlled explosions by the army.
Saturday 12th January 1974 Belfast incidents Troops found 400lb of explosives when they searched a house in the Roden Street area. An army foot patrol discovered an incendiary at Seftons handkerchief factory at Ormeau Avenue. The device was defused. Two Catholic homes in Glengormley came under attack from petrol bombers. One house was undamaged as the bombs failed to ignite but the other house was damaged as flames swept through the house.
Saturday 12th January 1974 Conspiracy charge A 32-year-old joiner and a 16-year-old juvenile were in court charged with possessing an armalite rifle loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition at Ballymurphy Road with intent and conspiring to murder members of the RUC. Monday 14th January 1974 UDA to join road protest Ulster industry faced disruption as roadblocks and strikes are to be set up as the UDA and other loyalist groups protest against the visit of two Irish judges for the first meeting of the Commission on Law Enforcement.
Saturday 12th January 1974 Suspect car in Ahoghill The army blew up a suspect car on the Ballylummin Road. The car, which had false registration plates, had been stolen earlier from Ballymena. A parcel with wires attached was in the back seat. The Monday 14th January 1974 bomb contained 20lb of explosives. Guns found in victims home Guns and ammunition were found in the home of a 43 year old Belfast man after he was found shot dead in Ardoyne. Christopher Daly Saturday 12th January 1974 from the Limestone Road was found lying in an entry off Balholm Blast victims were workers at army post Drive after a shot was heard. He was killed by a shotgun blast to the The two victims of the car bomb in Derry outside the army head. He was the second member of the Catholic Ex Servicemen’s headquarters were employed as cleaners at the army post. They were Association to be shot dead in Belfast in four days. The RUC found named as 53-year-old Mrs Cecilia Byrne and 46-year-old John Patrick a Thompson sub machine gun, a sawn off shotgun a sniper sight and Dunne. Mr Dunne was giving Mrs Byrne a driving lesson when the 500 rounds of ammunition. Mr Daly was shot where he was found car exploded s they approached the army post. Both were killed and there were no immediate clues as to who shot him. instantly. Monday 14th January 1974 Belfast explosives charge FACING PAGE - car bomb attack on McGettigan’s A 55-year-old man appeared in court charged with possessing 400lb public house, Lower Market Street, Omagh. of explosives and nine detonators at his home in Pisa Street. The BELOW - Bomb attack on the Maxol Filling Station man was remanded in custody.
on Belfast’s Antrim Road
Monday 14th January 1974 Bomb in Tyrone café defused The army defused a 20lb bomb planted in a Strabane restaurant. Soldiers set off two controlled explosions before defusing the bomb, and there was very slight damage to the building in Bridge Street. Three masked men had walked into the restaurant and left a parcel, which they said was a bomb. People from surrounding houses were evacuated for the night.
Monday 14th January 1974 Belfast shops set on fire One fireman was burned on the arms and leg as he and colleagues tackled a blaze in Telerentals on the Antrim Road. Inflammable liquid had been sprinkled on the ground floor of the building. Another fireman was slightly injured while fighting a blaze, which gutted a religious bookshop on the Falls Road. Other fires were in Hughes Bakery and offices on the Falls. In Carnlough three single decker Ulster buses were destroyed by fire. Again inflammable liquid had been sprinkled over the buses.
Monday 14th January 1974 The customs post at Middletown was set fire. The extent of the damage was not known. Electricity supplies in Crossmaglen were interrupted after two blasts in the area. In Enniskillen a bomb damaged part of the new electricity showrooms at Killynure on the outskirts of Enniskillen. A warning had been given and a bungalow nearby was evacuated. The explosion wrecked about a 30ft section of the building and showered debris on the Enniskillen to Tempo Road.
Monday 14th January 1974 Invalid woman injured An invalid woman received cuts and severe shock when a massive car bomb went off only yards from her home in Omagh. The woman refused to leave her home in Campsie when the area was being cleared but when the bomb went off she was showered with glass from broken windows. The bomb had been left in a stolen van in the Market Yard entry and it wrecked McGettigans public house on one side of the entry and Sloan’s confectionery shop on the other. Four other shops were also badly damaged and many may have to be demolished. They included Mills confectionery shop, Anderson’s hardware and Monday 14th January 1974 McAleers travel agency. A number of cars were wrecked by the 200lb Derry incidents bomb and the force of the blast left one vehicle upside down on top Three shots were fired at a mobile patrol in the Carnhall Estate. The of a demolished building. patrol returned fire but did not hit the gunman. Three empty cartridges were found at the ambush point. A single shot was fired at troops manning a vehicle checkpoint on Craigavon Bridge. Two shots were fired at a mobile patrol on Racecourse Road from the area of St Patrick’s school. Fire was returned.
BELOW - Mr John Whyte who was shot dead on the Ormeau Road in Belfast. BELOW RIGHT - Andrew Jordan who was abducted and shot dead by the UVF.
Tuesday 15th January 1974 Border blast A bridge spanning the Tyrone Monaghan border was blown up when the army detonated a bomb. Troops suspected that the bridge at Mullinavale near Fivemiletown had been booby-trapped. An army sniffer dog was slightly injured when one device blew up. The bombs were believed to have been planted after a demonstration near the bridge on Sunday.
Four or five shots were fired at the police station in Draperstown. One of the windows was shattered but no one was hurt. A 40lb cylinder type bomb was placed beside a GPO repeater station at Ballyboley near Ballyclare. The army fired at the device, which disintegrated and was rendered harmless.
Wednesday 16th January 1974 UDA demonstration UDA supporters blocked nearly 40 roads and streets in Belfast and Tuesday 15th January 1974 thousands attended a loyalist rally at the City Hall as a protest against Day of finds and arrests by security forces the Irish judges attending the Anglo-Irish Commission on law In Newry a car travelling from the direction of the border was stopped enforcement. Thousands of workers including men employed at three at a vehicle check point on the Newry-Dublin road and 100lb of power stations downed tools to take part in the demonstrations. Nearly explosives were found. Two men were helping the police with their every main road into Belfast was affected; some blocked with vehicles inquiries. while traffic on others was stopped by human chains. In Belfast a routine army patrol found 65lb of explosives hidden at the edge of the Stewartstown Road. Two youths had been reported Wednesday 16th January 1974 acting suspiciously at the scene hours before. 3 wounded in shootings In Rathcoole the RUC found a number of rounds of ammunition in a A 30-year-old man was admitted to the RVH with a bullet wound in house in Woodland Terrace. A man was arrested at the scene. the right leg and his condition was said to be serious. The shooting After an army search in Rush Park, Newtownabbey, a man was was carried out in the South Link area of Andersonstown. helping police with inquiries after they found a number of rounds of One of two men walking up the Lisburn Road in Belfast was hit ammunition. when a gunman walked out of an entry and fired at them. The man, A workman found a box containing suspicious looking objects on aged 22, was hit once in the thigh and was taken to the nearby City waste ground in the Mount Street area of Greencastle. They were Hospital, where his condition is not serious. five homemade mortar bombs and a quantity of shotgun cartridges In Newtownards a nightshift worker waiting to go on duty at the was also found. Short Bros factory in Corry Street was injured in the head and neck In Crossmaglen an army patrol found four live rounds and a couple when a shotgun was fired through the door of his car. He was taken of empty cases outside the Town Hall. to Ards Hospital but his condition was not serious. Army experts checked a suspected landmine under the Ballygawley Road. The road was closed to all traffic. Wednesday 16th January 1974 Bombs in Portadown and Cookstown BELOW - UDA road block across Belfast’s Shankill Two car bombs went off at bridges around the town of Portadown but they caused little damage. No one was hurt. The first at Ballybay Road
Road Bridge, two miles along the Loughgall Road was between 30 and 50 lb. Later between 20 and 50 lb of explosives in another car went off under the railway bridge at Annagh on the Tandragee Road. The bridge was not damaged. In Cookstown the Dunleath Bar and nearby premises were badly damaged by a 150lb bomb that rocked the town shortly after 10pm. A warning was phoned to the exchange beforehand and the area was evacuated and sealed off before the explosion blasted the buildings in Church Street. No one was injured. During the night security forces received at least 15 calls reporting suspect bombs in the Portadown, Tandragee and Dungannon areas. Police and soldiers were tied up all night trying to check these. Thursday 17th January 1974 UVF claim to have missing man A statement from the UVF stated that they were holding the kidnapped 32-year-old Protestant. The man was abducted on his way home from work in Carrickfergus and UVF said that he would be released later unharmed. The kidnapped man was out on bail on charges of possessing five rifles and almost 4000 rounds of ammunition with intent at a garage near his home. The man had two workmates in his car and when he stopped to let one of them off his car was rushed by two gunmen. He was forced to drive to Woodburn rubbish tip where his colleagues were bundled out and tied up. He was then forced to drive off again and has not been seen since.
BELOW - UDA road block in Hillsborough FACING PAGE - Burnt out buses in East Belfast following riots by members of the UDA
Thursday 17th January 1974 Portadown bomb At Lylo outside Portadown a 20lb bomb damaged the side wall of a Roman Catholic school. The blast also damaged part of the school toilets and broke windows including some stained glass ones, in the nearby church.
Friday 18th January 1974 Belfast incidents Youths surrounded a member of an army foot patrol in the Divis flats complex and grabbed his radio. In the ensuing struggle the soldier’s rifle went off accidentally and the youths made off, dropping the radio a few yards away. The windscreen of a police Land rover was broken when stones were Thursday 17th January 1974 thrown at it at the McClure Street-Ormeau Road junction. Strabane shooting A petrol bomb was thrown through the window of a Catholic occupied A single shot was fired at an army vehicle at Columban Avenue. The house at Belmont Avenue West but caused only slight damage. shot struck the vehicle but there were no casualties. Three shots were fired at the Fort Monagh army base in Turf Lodge but there were no casualties.
Thursday 17th January 1974 Man had rifle Two twenty year old men were charged with the possession of explosive substances, a .303 rifle and 64 rounds of .303 ammunition at Newry. Both men were remanded.
Friday 18th January 1974 UDR man shot 22 year old Private Robert Noel Jameson was shot dead as he got off a bus at Trillick, his mother finding her son a few minutes later dying from a bullet wound in the back of the neck.
Friday 18th January 1974 Man accused of murder A 26-year-old machine operator was charged with a murder in East Belfast of Hugh Martin of Eskdale Gardens. Mr Martin aged 56, died after being shot outside the Tip-Top bakery at Lichfield Avenue. The accused was remanded.
Friday 18th January 1974 Shootings Six shots were fired in Derry but the RUC were not involved and there were no reports of casualties. Trouble broke out in the Brandywell after a local SDLP councillor Daniel Feeney was struck by a soldier when he arrived on the scene where two women were being held for questioning.
Friday 18th January 1974 Gunmen wound fireman in leg A young Newry fireman was shot as he was taken from his home as short time before he was due to report to the fire station. Three men knocked on his door and then forced him to drive off with them. At Helens Terrace a short distance away they shot him and then made theirescape.
Friday 18th January 1974 Pensioner killed A 73-year-old man died when gunmen attacked a pub at Cappagh Co Tyrone. Three other men including the owner Francis Boyle were injured. Two masked men walked into the bar and one of them opened fire indiscriminately with an automatic weapon on three men seated
at a table and a fourth customer who had just walked in to the bar. Saturday 19th January 1974 The men then drove off at speed leaving Mr Daniel Hughes dead and Kidnapped man returned a 27-year-old man with serious chest and stomach wounds. Carrickfergus man Robert Bell turned up safe in Belfast after being held by the UVF for 48 hours. The 32-year-old man walked into Friday 18th January 1974 Tennent Street police station and said that he had been set free in the Pistols found after tip off area. The outlawed UVF had said he was being held by them to Police found two air pistols and almost 700 rounds of ammunition in assist them in their inquiries into the seizure by the RUC of what a hedge at Newtownabbey. The find on the Doagh Road followed they described as “war materials” in Carrickfergus. Mr Bell was information received and as well as the weapons and ammunition a cleared by the UVF of any charge or suspicion. rifle cleaning kit was discovered. Monday 21st January 1974 th Car bomb near city centre Saturday 19 January 1974 Strabane hit by bomb and gun attack A car bomb exploded near the junction of Castle Street and King A suitcase bomb was left at Bannigans pub in Strabane and when Street. The vehicle a BMC 1300 immediately went on fire and burnt police came to clear the area they came under attack from gunmen. out. The only reported damage was a broken window in a nearby No police were injured and the pub was extensively damaged when pub. the bomb went off 23 minutes later. Monday 21st January 1974 th Man on shotgun charge Saturday 19 January 1974 Pub shooting A 40-year-old lorry driver from Tamery Street, East Belfast, was Three customers were injured, one seriously when a pub in Trillick charged with having a shotgun outside his home. He was also charged came under fire. Three men in an Austin Cambridge drove into the with possessing ammunition with intent and was remanded in custody. village and pulled up outside McCourts bar in Main Street. Two men got out and went over to the pub and opened fire through the Monday 21st January 1974 window with an automatic weapon, possibly a sub machine gun. UDA threaten no buses In Larne four shots were fired through the downstairs window of a No public transport will be permitted to run in Belfast unless bus Catholic occupied house in the Craigyhill estate but no one was hurt. services to East Belfast are restored immediately the UDA threatened in a statement. The UDA accused Citybus of penalising the people Saturday 19th January 1974 of East Belfast by their withdrawal of bus services after a weekend Belfast incidents of rioting, which saw six buses, destroyed at a cost of £70,00. More than 30 houses suffered blast damage after a car bomb exploded at Marshall Street in the Corporation Street area. Two warning calls were made about the bomb to the Irish News and the area was evacuated before the blast. The car was left outside the Academy Shirt Factory and it along with other nearby business premises suffered blast damage. A sewage pumping station at River Terrace in the Ormeau Road area was damaged by a 10lb bomb. There were no casualties. A blast bomb exploded outside a Catholic occupied house at Deerpark Road and although no one was hurt a woman in the house had to be treated for shock after the blast. Saturday 19th January 1974 In Dungannon two men carried a bomb into the Dunowen Restaurant in the Square and told a female employee that it would go off in 20 minutes. The area was evacuated and the army defused the 20lb device.
RIGHT - Burnt out shops in Templemore Avenue following UDA violence
Monday 21st January 1974 Five injured by bomb in letterbox Two anonymous phone calls were made to the Samaritans by a female about a bomb outside the Europa Hotel. The first call did not give a precise location and the second call gave precise instructions. Five people were injured when the bomb exploded in a mailbox. The device, which consisted of 10lb of commercial gelignite, blew jagged pieces of metal over a wide area. None of the injured was seriously hurt. Four are members of the RUC and the fifth victim was a hotel manager.
unprecedented scenes of disorder. Those removed had been named by the speaker and after attempts to persuade the named members to leave had failed, a large force of police moved in to the Assembly building and began carrying out the Loyalist members. Several men were injured and over 400 police were on duty at the assembly to keep order.
Tuesday 22nd January 1974 Girls had gun parts hidden in coats Two teenage girls were jailed for four years when they were found guilty of hiding parts of a rifle underneath their coats in the Divis area of Belfast. The girls had been stopped by soldiers of the Monday 21st January 1974 Gloucestershire Regiment as they were walking away from a building Belfast incidents Trouble flared in the Lower Falls area after a rally calling for the in St Judes Walk. return of the London car bombers to Northern Ireland. A small section of the protesters attacked Hastings Street police station with stones and bottles. Some of the crowd threw missiles, which damaged an Tuesday 22nd January 1974 army canteen in another part of Hastings Street. UDA to protect buses Two shots were heard in Divis Flats but there were no reports of Bus services to East Belfast resumed as the UDA gave Citybus an casualties. assurance that no more buses would be targeted in the East End. 500 Youths attacked Springfield Road police station and another group UDA members would be patrolling the streets to ensure order and to of youth attacked an army RUC patrol in the Ormeau Road area with prevent youths from rioting. stones but no one was hurt. Shots were fired from the direction of Oceanic Avenue at police directing traffic way from a suspect device on the Antrim Road. There Tuesday 22nd January 1974 were no casualties and the car that had been abandoned near the Derry shop blast Capitol cinema was found to be harmless. A Derry newsagents shop was damaged by a bomb blast. The bomb had been left in a duffel bag in the shop of A J Hinds in Strand Road Monday 21st January 1974 and a 15-minute warning was telephoned to police. The area was Dungannon arms find cleared before the bomb went off and no one was hurt. Police found three rifles, including an armalite, a .45 revolver and 128 rounds of ammunition when they searched a hedge at Gorestown. In Derry troops found 100lb of explosives and items of bomb-making equipment in a search of a house in Calbe Street, in the Bogside area. Tuesday 22nd January 1974 A single shot was fired at an army patrol in the Ballycolman area of Soldier dies in Derry Strabane but there were no casualties and fire was not returned. A The dead soldier was named by the army as Sgt John Haughey aged bomb left by three masked gunmen failed to explode. 32, a father of three from Manchester who was serving with 94 Children in Dunmurry found a .303 rifle in a field. Locating Regiment, Royal Artillery. He received severe chest and A car bomb exploded under a railway bridge at Whitehouse in stomach injuries when a 10lb bomb hidden between an electricity Newtownabbey. No damage was caused. Two youths left the vehicle, distribution box and a wall at the junction of Lone Moor road and which had been hijacked in Glengormley. The bomb shattered Stanley’s Walk exploded as his patrol was passing. A second member windows in nearby houses. of the patrol suffered temporary deafness and another soldier was In Sugar Island, Newry, a 100-200lb bomb destroyed the street leaving blown to the ground but uninjured. The blast shattered windows in many of the residents homeless. The bomb consisted of a large beer many houses in the area and there was some disruption of electricity keg on the rear seat of a car parked outside the Savoury Bakery shop supplies. Eight people taken into custody by troops in a house near near the post office. the scene were later released. On the Creggan estate troops opened fire at a gunman but no hits ere Tuesday 22nd January 1974 reported. Furious scenes halt assembly An attempt by 10 youths to hijack a bus in the William Street area Several members of the Loyalist Coalition, among them the Rev. Ian was foiled when an army foot patrol arrived on the scene. The bus Paisley, were carried bodily from Parliament Buildings by police in was recovered.
Tuesday 22nd January 1974 Ballyronan pub bombs Three pubs, two of them owned by Catholics, were damaged by the 50-100lb car bomb blast in the village. There had been a warning phone call and the area was evacuated before the blast. Four families have been left homeless.
In Clones two men who were unloading pigs were slightly injured in the blast at a bacon factory. Most of the 30 pigs were killed by the blast.
Wednesday 23rd January 1974 Booby trap in Aughnacloy A booby trap bomb packed into a fire extinguisher was found attached Tuesday 22nd January 1974 to the car of a Catholic teacher in the village a short time before the Belfast incidents funeral of UDR man Cormac McCabe. His wife spotted the 15lb A petrol bomb was thrown through a window at Capital Cars on the bomb with wires leading from it and the army later removed the device Antrim Road. A small fire was quickly brought under control. with the help of a robot and blew it up. There were more incidents of youths and children stoning buses in the Springfield Rod area and also on the Sydenham by pass. Thursday 24th January 1974 Car Bomb goes off Tuesday 22nd January 1974 A city centre Chinese Restaurant owner took delivery of two bags of potatoes and seconds later a bomb exploded in the fruit and vegetable Strabane shooting A single shot was fired at troops on the Camels Hump but there were lorry parked outside his front door in Lower North Street. The bomb no casualties and troops returned fire but claimed no hits. was concealed in the back of the lorry, which was packed with produce, and driven through the army checkpoint into the controlled Wednesday 23rd January 1974 area behind the security gates. The 50lb bomb blast scattered fruit and vegetables over the roadway and smashed windows in Blast traced An explosion heard in the Lisnaskea area last night was traced this surrounding premises. morning to the quarries of Clarke and Sons at Slush Hill where the offices were badly damaged. Thursday 24th January 1974 IRA air attack Wednesday 23rd January 1974 A helicopter hijacked by three men and a girl claiming to be journalists on their way Tory Island was involved in an air attack on Strabane Woman shot in Belfast Mrs Anne Duffy was hit in her left shoulder as she answered a knock RUC station. Two milk churns containing explosives were dropped on the door of her home at Deerpark Road. Four shorts were fired from the helicopter but neither exploded. Two churns were also through the door but Mrs Duffy the wife of John Duffy the SDLP dropped in a Donegal lake and the hijackers were dropped off at secretary luckily escaped with a flesh wound. Her husband was in Cloughfin near the border. the house at the time but was unhurt. Another gun attack came in nearby Alliance Avenue when a 40-year- Thursday 24th January 1974 old man received a shoulder wound. The man was watching TV Gunfire and bombs in a relatively quiet day with his children when a brick was thrown through a window and Two youths left two parcels at the side of the Mountainview filling was followed by a number of shots, one of which hit him, another station on the Crumlin Road. As they ran off one bomb exploded narrowly missed his children. causing little damage. An army expert made the second device Nail bombs exploded outside two Catholic houses at Braehill Road harmless. but although doors were damaged and some windows smashed no Six shots were fired at soldiers in an observation post in Alliance one was injured. Avenue. No one was hurt and the soldiers did not return fire. Troops searched flats in Norglen Parade in Turf Lodge and found Wednesday 23rd January 1974 guns and ammunition. The find included a revolver, a semi automatic In Dungannon troops defused a 35lb bomb planted by two masked shotgun, two SLR magazines, two boxes of shotgun cartridges and gunmen in the premises of Calderwood and Hamilton, electrical 100 rounds of ammunition, some of them armour piercing and several ammunition clips. wholesalers at Victoria Road. In Strabane six shots were fired at an army mobile patrol in the Bridge In Dungannon a shot was fired at an army post in Ann Street. Soldiers End area. returned fire but didn’t claim a hit. Members of a joint UDR-army patrol came under fire in Fermanagh as they were dismounting from their vehicles close to the border. A Friday 25th January 1974 soldier returned one shot at a man seen running across a field about Stationblast 400 years away. Later troops found a 150lb culvert mine on a minor A 30-year-old floor tiler was charged with bombing Andersonstown road close by. police station. The man from the Glen Road area denied the charge.
The blast caused more damage to surrounding buildings that to the policestation. Bus services to several parts of West Belfast were suspended after three buses were hijacked in the West and a number of brewery lorries were hijacked in the same area. Shots were fired at an army mobile patrol in Kennedy Way but there were no casualties. Some soldiers were slightly cut when gunmen who fired about 10 shots at their land rover near Casement Park shattered the vehicles windscreen. A youth and a girl left an incendiary device in the Fountain Bar of Fountain Street. The device was spotted and was later defused. A similar device was left in Hannigans Bar close by and went off. Flames were spotted and the fire was extinguished before the Fire Brigade arrived. A single shot was fired at an army patrol in Fairfield Street in the Ardoyne area but no one was hurt. Friday 25th January 1974 Abducted man home A 26-year-old Protestant man abducted by gunmen from his Hillman Street home has turned up safe and well. The man arrived back at his house after calls from his 21-year-old wife that whoever was holding her husband to release him.
In Crossmaglen in Co Armagh another mine of 400lb of explosives and a smaller booby trap were found by an army patrol and blown up. In the Fermanagh village of Garrison families and shopkeepers had to leave after a radio-controlled bomb was planted at the Post Office Saturday 26th January 1974 Carbine hidden up coat A policeman told the court in Belfast that when an army patrol stopped and searched two men on a motorcycle in Belfast they found them to have arms and ammunition. Both men were charged with having an M1 carbine, two magazines, 21 rounds of ammunition, a .45 automatic pistol and magazine with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property. One man had an M1 carbine hidden up his coat and the other man was concealing a .45 revolver. Saturday 26th January 1974 Car blown up by army An army disposal expert blew up a stolen car with false number plates in Queens Square. The area had been cleared but the vehicle was found to contain no explosives.
BELOW - The remains of the Athletic Stores in Wellington Place following a fire bomb attack. Friday 25th January 1974 BELOW RIGHT - Fire fighters battle to save the Hart Mine blast One soldier was killed and two others injured when a landmine blew and Churchill building in Queen Street follwing an up near the shores of Lough Neagh and the border village of Garrison IRA fire bomb attack.
was evacuated. The soldier died instantly in the explosion behind a hayshed off the road between Toomebridge and Ballyronan. He was one of a party of troops searching the area.
Saturday 26th January 1974 Seven bombs charge A 21-year-old man was charged at a court in Derry with the unlawful possession of seven bombs. The man refused to recognise the court and was remanded in custody.
Monday 28th January 1974 Bombers hit Strabane A bomb caused extensive damage to he interior of McKee’s grocery shop in Barrack Street. A 5-10lb bomb had been left on the counter by three masked gunmen who rifled the till before leaving. Three armed men planted a 50lb bomb at the Bridgend post office in Cunningham’s shop but it only partially exploded, causing slight Saturday 26th January 1974 damage. A 50-100lb car bomb left outside the town’s main post office UDR men fired on in Castle Street also failed to go off properly. Only part of the charge Three shots were fired at a UDR patrol in the Cavehill Road area of exploded and started a fire that burned out the car but damage to Belfast. There were no casualties. nearby buildings was slight.
Monday 28th January 1974 IRA to end UDR killings The IRA has called off it campaign against off duty UDR men. This decision was taken at a meeting of the IRA army council and is a response to the Desmond Boal initiative on an amalgamated Ireland. The IRA expects their decision will result in the ending of the sectarian killings of Catholics and it hopes there will be a reciprocal statement confirming this from militant Loyalist groups in the near future.
Monday 28th January 1974 Newry bomb attack Two people were cut by flying glass when a bomb exploded in a taxi at Margaret Square in Newry town centre. The taxi had been stopped earlier by gunmen and the driver ordered out by the men who then put the 200lb bomb in the back seat. The bombers held the driver captive and on his release he alerted the police. The bomb badly damaged the community services centre and many shops. In Forkhill a car hijacked in Newry blew up on the outskirts of the BELOW - A CIE bus which was hijacked and set ablaze village but there were no reports of casualties or damage.
in Dublin’s Ballyfermot by republicians
Monday 28th January 1974 Incidents around Ulster Ye olde bar in Main Street Newcastle was targeted when a call was received warning of a milk churn outside the bar. The bomb exploded causing extensive damage to the bar but no one was hurt. In Belfast troops were fired on from the direction of Holy Cross Church in Ardoyne. The army also carried out a controlled explosion on a Mini abandoned outside Mackies at Forfar Street. In Swatragh up to 20 shots were fired at an army mobile patrol from a derelict house but there were no casualties. In Donegal Gardai found three rifles in a search of the Glencolumbkille area. In Moy four weapons and 110 rounds of assorted ammunition were discovered by police hidden in a sand quarry on the outskirts of the village. In Armagh a bomb-making factory was uncovered in the Shambles area after soldiers accidentally stumbled over a detonator and some fuse wire lying in an alley. In a subsequent search of a nearby house the army found 75 lb of bomb making material, a half pint of nitro benzine, 53 feet of detonating cord, 10 feet of fuse wire and 13 detonators. Tuesday 29th January 1974 Woman killed in RAF bus attack An elderly woman was killed and two RAF men injured when gunmen ambushed a bus carrying airmen through Newcastle. The vehicle carrying over 20 men was on its way to Bishopscourt when it was raked by gunfire. The body of Mrs Witherington was found lying in a pool of blood on her bed after neighbours noticed a bullet hole in the upstairs window on her home after the attack. They knocked on
the door and when they received no reply the police were called and found the widow with a bullet wound in the chest. Tuesday 29th January 1974 Tyrone bombs and shootings The police station on the Omagh Road, Newtownstewart was evacuated after reports of a bomb outside the building. A stolen Ford corsair was found and the bomb had been left outside the home of a 79-year-old widow. A small bang was heard to come from the car, but the 200lb bomb did not explode and after several hours it was defused safely. In Dungannon a 19-year-old man came under fire from a machinegun as he was driving his car near the Ballygawley roundabout. Two men in a car fired a shot at a commercial travellers vehicle and when he stopped his car one of the gunmen got out and climbed in beside him, the traveller was forced to drive with him and then the gunman stole his briefcase containing about ÂŁ1700.
Tuesday 29th January 1974 Belfast incidents A 16-year-old youth was hit in the foot when a shot was fired at Rushfield Avenue in the Ormeau Road, area. The youth was not seriouslyhurt. A 26-year-old man was taken to the Ulster Hospital with gunshot wounds to his knee after an incident at Ebrington A man was pushing his car on the Whiterock Road when a London type taxi drove up and one of the occupants fired a shot at the man. Two youths fired shots at two harbour policemen on duty at Princess Dock gates.
Wednesday 30th January 1974 14 held by Gardai and RUC Fourteen men were still being questioned by the RUC and Gardai after a series of arrests in Strabane and Lifford. In Strabane three men were detained after a rifle and ammunition were found in a car. Another five men were being questioned after an incident in which some people inside a church hall were held at gunpoint for a time. Gardai were holding six men from Northern Ireland who were detained in Lifford.
Wednesday 30th January 1974 Man shot In Strabane a man was admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound to the knee and in Belfast three or four low velocity shots were fired at a RUC land rover in Cromac Street but no one injured and fire was not returned.
Wednesday 30th January 1974 RUC man killed in Derry Constable William Baggley, a father of three, was shot dead in the Waterside area. Witnesses said that the gunmen continued to fire at the man, as he lay injured on the ground. Another RUC man was injured during the attack. Wednesday 30th January 1974 Castlederg bomb A reserve policeman was injured by flying debris when a car bomb exploded without warning outside the post office in the Tyrone village of Castlederg. There was no warning before the car bomb exploded but the postmaster spotted the device and the area evacuated. The 50-100lb bomb exploded and extensively damaged the Post Office and a shop across the road and several other buildings were also damaged.
RIGHT - The hut in which Terence McCafferty and James McCloskey were killed
Terence McCafferty
James McCloskey
Wednesday 30th January 1974 Priest drives away suspect cars A priest drove away two of the four suspect vehicles that were hijacked and placed across main roads in the Shantallow area of Derry. The priest drove away a van from near the homes of old age pensioners in the estate a short time after the hijacks had placed it in position in a road blocking operation, which sealed off a large portion of the Shantallow area.
Thursday 31st January 1974 Workers killed in Newtownabbey Two workmen were killed and three others wounded when they were shot in a burst of machinegun fire while they played a lunchtime fame of cards at Newtownabbey. The men worked for Northern Ireland Electricity and were laying cable to a community centre being built at Rush Park estate, off the Doagh Road. The two dead men along with eight others were in a shelter when two masked men came to the entrance. One of the gunmen appeared to be armed with a Sterling sub machine gun and the other with a revolver. The gunmen had identified the two dead men as Roman Catholic and they were made to kneel before being shot.
Thursday 31st January 1974 Man killed on his doorstep Mr Thomas Walker was shot four times by a gunman who called at his home in Gosford Place in the McClure Street area of the Ormeau Road. His father answered the door and when the deceased came to the door he was shot five times from close range. Mr Walker died a short time later. The gunman escaped in a Cortina. Shots were fired at New Barnsley police station, at troops in Lenadoon, at Divismore, Annadale Street, and Antrim Road and in the New Lodge area. A pipe bomb was found in the garden of a house in Whitecliff parade. Thursday 31st January 1974 Shootings and bombs In Derry a petrol bomb was thrown at troops at Free Derry Corner as an army bomb disposal officer was dealing with a suspect car. A controlled explosion was used but nothing was found in the vehicle. Four of five shots were fired at a foot patrol in Greenwalk, Creggan and a single shot was fired at a patrol in Racecourse Road, Shantallow. Fire was returned but no one was hurt. In Crossmaglen shots were fired at an army patrol. Some of them pierced a soldier’s flak jacket but he was not hurt.
FEBRUARY 1974
Friday 1st February 1974 Irish Cabinet at Hillsborough The Republics Prime Minister Mr Cosgrove and seven of his Ministers were flown by helicopter to Northern Ireland for a surprise summit meeting with their opposite numbers in the Assembly Executive. The conference-amounting almost to a meeting of two Cabinets and an unprecedented event on Irish soil-was at the former residence of the Northern Ireland Governor at Hillsborough. Three Irish army air corps helicopters, which brought the Dublin ministers and their officials, were met on the border by a British army helicopter, which escorted them until touch down on the lawns of Hillsborough Castle. With Mr Faulkner in the discussions were Mr Gerry Fitt, Mr Oliver Napier, Mr John Hume, Mr Paddy Devlin, Mr Herbert Kirk, Mr Leslie Morrell and Mr Roy Bradford. With Mr Cosgrave were Mr Corish, Dr Conor Cruise O’Brien, Mr Garret Fitzgerald, Mr James Tully, Mr Patrick Cooney, Mr Richie Ryan and Mr Declan Costello. Friday 1st February 1974 Derry area sealed off A large section of the business centre of Derry was evacuated as army bomb disposal experts moved in to tackle what was regarded as potentially the most dangerous security situation yet seen in the city, a suspected bomb in an underground petrol tank in a Strand Road garage. All buildings within a 200-yard radius of the garage were cleared and huge traffic jams built up. Strand Road and the dockside were closed to traffic. Friday 1st February 1974 Door to door hunt for killers An RUC murder squad started house to house inquiries in the Rush Park area of Newtownabbey after two Catholic men were killed while working in the area. Friday 1st February 1974 Army deal with van bomb in Belfast An army team detonated part of a 100lb bomb in a van in Belfast. The controlled explosions were carried out before 30lb of the charge exploded. The remaining 70lb of explosives were burned off harmlessly. The bomb was in a suitcase in a yellow Ford Escort van parked in Hope Street off Great Victoria Street. Dozens of windows in Hope Street and office buildings in Great Victoria Street were shattered.
FACING PAGE - The cars in which 16 year Thomas Donaghy was killed and Margaret McErlean fatally wonded (she died a week later) in a UDA gun attack outside Abbey Meats RIGHT - Mr Peter Carty who was shot dead by the UDA in the Balmoral Service Station (above right)
Friday 1st February 1974 RUC recruitment The RUC numbers have increased from 4086 to 4391 and the RUC reserves from 1284 to 2514. Saturday 2nd February 1974 Guns found An M1 carbine and a sawn off shotgun were found by troops in a search at Silverstream Avenue in the Ballysillan area. One man was arrested.
Saturday 2nd February 1974 Newry Post Office damaged by bomb The head post office in Newry was badly damaged by a bomb. The bomb was carried into the post office in a duffle bag on top of which was a football jersey. It was placed on the counter and the man who left it disappeared in the small crowd that was there at the time. This was the fourth successive weekend that bomb damage was caused to the post office. A large area was evacuated and an army technical officer kept a wide cordon. The bomb exploded a short time later and postal deliveries were not affected. Saturday 2nd February 1974 Belcoo rocket fire Six Russian made rockets were fired at the police station but all struck the perimeter fence and three exploded harmlessly in a field. Shrapnel from one of the missiles damaged a covered stairway leading to an army-sandbagged post and, as the missiles were fired, the gunmen opened fire from two positions. Troops in the station returned more than 100 rounds before the gunmen made off into the darkness. Saturday 2nd February 1974 Belfast incidents Police are investigating the incident in which a 33-year-old Protestant was shot in the right leg at a house in Ritchie Street in the York Road area. Four soldiers were slightly injured when about 20 youths threw stones and bottles at an army patrol in the New Lodge area. Shots were heard in the Dee Street, Greencastle and Antrim Road areas but there were no reports of any casualties or damage.
Saturday 2nd February 1974 Newtownards shooting A 26-year-old Catholic reported that he thought a shot was fired at him as he walked down Prices Lane after leaving a bar. He noticed that he was being followed by two youths and after hearing a loud crack behind him he ran to the end of the entry where he came across a police patrol. Monday 4th February 1974 Rifle Charge man remanded A 17-year-old Belfast youth was remanded in custody charged with possessing an armalite rifle at Leeson Street.
Monday 4th February 1974 Shankill arms find Eight guns and a quantity of explosives were found when troops searched a house in the Shankill. The haul in Weir Street included two SLR rifles, two Garand rifles, one pistol, three revolvers, a telescopic sight, six magazines, and 648 rounds of assorted ammunition and eight bags of explosives.
Monday 4th February 1974 Trouble in New Lodge Youths hurled blast bombs at troops as trouble erupted in the New Lodge area. Two lorries were set on fire and one of them blocked the New Lodge Road. Minutes earlier groups of youths toured the area telling local shopkeepers to close the doors. The youths told one shopkeeper that there would be trouble and that it was a continuation
BELOW LEFT - The remains of a car bomb which exploded in Belfast’s Hope Street. BELOW & FACING PAGE - Devastated shops in Market Square Dungannon following an IRA car bomb attack
of yesterday’s demonstration, which followed the unveiling of a plaque to several people killed in the area. Youths stopped a furniture removal lorry and jammed it across the bottom of the New Lodge Road near the junction with North Queen Street.
The area around Great Victoria Street railway station was evacuated after a man purporting to represent the UVF rang the News Letter and said there was a bomb in a manhole opposite the recently bombed station. No bomb was found.
Monday 4th February 1974 Gangs get explosives Police on both sides of the border were hunting the gangs who escaped with a total over five tons of bomb making materials in two separate raids. In Belfast the UFF got away with half a ton of sodium nitrate after a raid on Ewarts Mill in the Ligoniel area. In Co Offaly six men from the IRA got away with over 5 tons of nitrate fertiliser after a raid on a Bord na Mona plant.
Bomb making materials were found in a house in Knockwood Park in East Belfast. A 43-year-old motorist was injured when a bomb exploded without warning in a mailbox opposite the Bayardo Bar on the Shankill Road.
Monday 4th February 1974 Tyrone car bomb A car bomb, which went off in the village of Augher, damaged a number of shops and houses. The car had been hijacked earlier and was left at the gable wall of the McLarnes grocery shop on the Clogher Road. A warning was phoned and the bomb went off smashing many windows. Monday 4th February 1974 Belfast shootings and bombs Four or five shots were fired at a foot patrol at Hillman Street but there were no casualties. Troops were stoned by a group of 40 youths and a police land rover was stoned by a Loyalist crowd at Duncairn Gardens. A blast bomb was thrown at an army patrol in Glenrosa Street but there were no injuries.
The small bomb destroyed the mailbox and damaged nearby shops. Tuesday 5th February 1974 Later the army carried out a controlled explosion on a suspect letter Letter boxes to be shut in another mailbox at Percy Street. The post office announced that all letterboxes in Belfast would be closed to prevent bomb attacks. The move follows a spate of letterbox Monday 4th February 1974 bomb attacks in West Belfast and in the lower Falls. Derry acid attack In the Creggan estate a bottle of acid was thrown at an army patrol Tuesday 5th February 1974 and smashed against an armoured vehicle. There was one minor Bomb defused military casualty who returned to duty later that day. The army defused a bomb planted in a garage at the Monaghan Road Two gunmen fired six shots at a mobile army patrol at Carnhill Estate, in Newry. Derry and 30 youths stoned the army patrol near the community Tuesday 5th February 1974 centre. Rubber bullets were fired to disperse the crowd. Murder hunt 43-year-old Mr Vincent Clarke, a coal merchant from Whiterock Gardens was shot dead. Mr Clarke, a father of three, was about to Monday 4th February 1974 In Newry a car bomb at CARS showrooms on the Warrenpoint Road get out of his car when a dark coloured BMC1100 with four men in it failed to explode after two controlled explosions were carried out in came up the street and four shots were fired. Mr Clarke slumped the vehicle. The building was damaged by the controlled explosions. over the bonnet of his car as he was hit in the stomach and die almost immediately. Mr Clarke’s brother Robert was shot dead at a builders yard off the Donegall Road 6 months ago.
Tuesday 5th February 1974 Omagh shops blasted A bomb went off in Lower Market Street caused extensive damage to a dozen shops and shattering windows in buildings up to 100 yards away. The bomb was between 100 and 200lb and had been left in a Morris Minor van outside a television shop. People living above the shops were left homeless and electricity supplies were also hit.
Tuesday 5th February 1974 Late night letter bomb A letter bomb exploded after the occupier of a house in North Belfast found a bulky envelope. The bomb had been put through the letterbox of a house at Glenside Parade but the occupants were suspicious and they lifted the package and threw it into the back yard. It exploded harmlessly.
Tuesday 5th February 1974 Belfast night of bombs 12 people were hurt when a 5lb bomb exploded without warning inside a mailbox at Divis Flats. The box was wrecked and several passengers on a bus were injured. Three of the injured had serious shrapnel wounds. A short time later a bomb exploded in a mailbox on the Shankill Road. Three girls were treated for shock. A blast bomb was thrown at troops after rioting in the New Lodge area. Two incendiaries exploded at the Elephant Bar in North Street and extensive damage was caused to a landing and stairway. Coyles Bar in Gresham Street was also damaged in another incendiary attack.
Wednesday 6th February 1974 Troops under fire Troops came under fire at Oakham Street off the Falls Road. Eight shots were fired at a mobile patrol and fire was not returned. A hand grenade was found in a gutter on the Crumlin Road and in Derry troops were stoned in the Creggan Estate. A foot patrol was stoned by youths in Eastway Gardens and later the Blighs Lane army post came under stone attack. In both incidents the troops fired rubber bullets to disperse youths.
Wednesday 6th February 1974 Bombs hit firms in Tyrone Two bombs badly damaged a mill and a timber yard at Coalisland and in Newry business premises were damaged after a car bomb blew up outside a garage. Tuesday 5th February 1974 Warnings were received about the Coalisland bombs and a large area In Dungannon the arm defused a 50lb bomb planted at the British around both premises was cleared and the bombs went of shortly Legion club in Scotch Street. The area had been evacuated. afterwards. No one was injured. Shots were heard in the Ballybean Estate but there were no reports In Newry the car containing two bombs was parked outside a garage of casualties. in Edward Street. It exploded blowing a gas cylinder containing 80lb of explosives onto the pavement. The army defused the cylinder.
FACING PAGE - The remains of Traynor’s Bar on the Moy-Armagh Road in which Patrick Molloy and Jack Wylie were killed in a UVF bomb attack. BELOW - The Woolworth store in Omagh in flames following an IRA fire bomb attack. TOP RIGHT - Rioting at the Boyne Bridge at Belfast’s Sandy Row. BELOW RIGHT - Rioting on the New Lodge Road
In Derry a bomb of 10lb caused slight damage to a Strand Road supermarket. 60 rounds of ammunition and a small amount of chemical explosive were found by troops in a search of gardens in the Melmore area of the Creggan. In Bangor a gas cylinder bomb was found in a derelict council house. The area was sealed off and the army carried out a controlled explosion, which damaged the house. The army defused a gas cylinder bomb in a telephone box outside the Glenowen Inn on the Glen Road.
A 60-100lb bomb in a beer keg planted outside St Brigids Church in Derryvolgie Avenue failed to explode and did not cause any damage. Two men who made off in an old car planted the bomb. 20 youths stoned troops for a time in the Braehill area of Ligoniel but there were no casualties. A large quantity of arms and ammunition were handed in to police after they were found in a plastic bag at Ballysillan playing fields. In a follow up operation the RUC found 82 armour piercing rounds and four other bullets.
Friday 8th February 1974 Welsh Guards attacked Thursday 7th February 1974 In Newry foot patrols of the Welsh Guards came under fire in different Hijacking in Derry parts of the town but no one was hit. Both automatic and single Eight vehicles were hijacked in Derry and left partially blocking roads shots were heard over a 35-minute period. Fire was returned. in the Shantallow area. Troops fearing booby traps allowed the In Derry shots were fired at an army patrol returning to Creggan vehicles to stay where they were. camp at the camp gate. The patrol returned fire but no hits were Gunmen fired at an army checkpoint at the bottom of Bishop Street claimed. and troops returned fire. An armoured army vehicle was shot at as it passed the junction of Lonemoor Road and Letterkenny Road. Friday 8th February 1974 IRA deny plot The Provisional IRA denied an allegation by the SDLP that there Thursday 7th February 1974 was an IRA plot to assassinate some of the SDLP leaders. In a Belfast shootings and blast bombs statement issued through the Republican publicity bureau the IRA Three high velocity shots were fired at troops carrying out a foot said the SDLP allegation was “without foundation”. The statement patrol at Edlingham Street. There were no hits and the soldiers concluded that the public could expect more similar wild allegations returned fire. from the SDLP in view of the party’s “political bankruptcy”. A blast bomb was thrown at a grocery store at Ligoniel Road. No one was hurt. Saturday 9th February 1974 Another blast bomb was thrown at a Catholic occupied house at Blast damages Belfast restaurant Squires Hill Road and caused moderate damage to the room in which A bomb estimated at 2-5lb and taped up in a cardboard box damaged it landed. a rear wall and a ceiling in the Skandia Restaurant at College Square Children handed in two rounds of ammunition they found in the Old East. The area had been cleared after a warning and there was no Lodge area. The police carried out a search of the area and found a structural damage. further 329 rounds. Saturday 9th February 1974 Friday 8th February 1974 Customs post blast Blasts rock border area Two gunmen carried a bomb with the fuse alight into a temporary Twelve explosions rocked the South Armagh border, as a large scale customs caravan at Killeen, and ordered staff out. The 10lb bomb IRA operation took placed. Two bombs were planted in a supermarket exploded soon after wrecking the caravan and another one parked at Culloville and a few miles away two bombs damaged pylons nearby. carrying the North South electricity link. The eight blasts left craters in a field and were thought to have been caused by landmines meant Saturday 9th February 1974 for army patrols. Widespread automatic gunfire was also heard in Shots heard the area throughout the operation. Four shots were fired at a security vehicle checkpoint in Bridge End Strabane but no one was hurt. Also in Strabane the army dealt with Friday 8th February 1974 60lb of homemade explosives found on the road between Sion Mills Belfast arms find and Strabane. 23 zip guns were found in a derelict house at Highpark Drive off the In Lurgan two high velocity shots were fired at an army mobile patrol West Circular Road. The arms find also included 30 rounds of .22 in the Kilwilkie estate. One shot hit the land rover but no one was ammunition and 12 rounds of assorted ammunition. hurt and the soldiers returned fire.
Monday 11th February 1974 Tyrone girl hit by 12 bullets A young Tyrone girl is critically ill after a machinegun attack near her home at Moy. 12 bullets hit the 20 year old and her boyfriend had the tip of his finger blown off during the attack. The girls’ father rushed to scene when he heard the shots and found the boyfriend carrying the badly injured girl. The girl was able to have 11 of the bullets removed.
In Derry four shots were fired at an army foot patrol in the Greenwalk area of Creggan. Fire was not returned and three soldiers received minor injuries when a blast bomb was thrown over a wall at the gasworks in Lecky Road. Troops found 176 rounds of assorted ammunition during a routine search in the Teghnevin area.
Monday 11th February 1974 Belfast blast bomb Monday 11th February 1974 A blast bomb was thrown at St Gall’s youth club in the Upper Falls but no one was hurt. Worker killed in ambush Hooded gunmen opened fire on a car full of Roman Catholic workers A man telephoned the News Letter warning of a bomb at Crangles killing a 16-year-old boy and wounding four of his colleagues. The bar on the Cavehill Road. The army defused the 50-100lb bomb and attack happened outside the Abbey Meat Packers in Glenville Road said that paraffin had been sprinkled all over the bar. where the men worked and the gunmen sped off after the attack. The injured men were all from the Bawnmore Estate, a few miles away. Monday 11th February 1974 Two in court Monday 11th February 1974 A 35-year-old labourer of Ramoan Drive was in court charged with Omagh hit hard by bomb possessing explosives in the city. A 25-year-old fitter of Rockville Four major shops in the main street and the Crown Buildings, which Street was in court charged with possessing five bullets at his home. house Government offices, were destroyed in a huge bomb attack in Omagh. Incendiary devices started fires, which swept through the Tuesday 12th February 1974 buildings and at one point over 70 fire fighters were at the scene. At Whiteabbey murder car the same time a 500lb bomb exploded outside the Crown Buildings. Police found the car used in the attack on Catholic workers in The bomb had been in a van left at the side of the building and Whiteabbey lying abandoned in Newtownabbeys Rushpark Estate. witnesses saw two men run away. Tuesday 12th February 1974 Monday 11th February 1974 Arms find in Donegal Armagh shootings Gardai found seven rockets, an armalite rifle and 4000 rounds of Three soldiers, two from the Welsh Guards were wounded in attacks ammunition on a beach in Culdaff, Co Donegal. in the Armagh area. Troops operating a checkpoint in Crossmaglen came under fire and one soldier was hit on the foot. Fire was returned Tuesday 12th February 1974 but no hits claimed. Gunmen then opened fire from the Culloville Belfast Bombs and shootings direction and one soldier was hit on the shoulder and the other was The army carried out a controlled explosion on a cardboard box hit on the ankle. Fire was returned and a hit was claimed by the containing 114 sticks of gelignite in York Street. patrol. Three shots were fired at a gateman on duty at the SPD depot on the In a follow up operation the army defused a 75lb booby trap bomb Springfield Road. No one was hit. planted in a ditch with detonation wires running across the border. The army found 300 rounds of ammunition when they searched a A grocery store at Killylea Road in Armagh was badly damaged by school in the Beechmount area. an explosion but noone was hurt. 200 rounds of ammunition were found during a search at a house at Ainsworth Drive. Monday 11th February 1974 At Lurgan a rocket fired at either the police or an army post exploded harmlessly and landed in High Street without causing any damage. Tuesday 12th February 1974 In Portaferry a reserve constable driving a police car was hit in the Derry incidents shoulder and hand when a gunman fired ten shots at the car. A 10 lb bomb in a gas cylinder with a anti handling device fitted to it was neutralised by the army. The device contained six-inch nails In Magherafelt the army said 50-60 shots were fired at a UDR patrol was found under corrugated sheeting in the garden of a house at in the Ballymaguigan area and the UDR returned fire. Leenan Gardens. In Coagh shots were fired from a passing car at the home of an RUC Seven shots were fired at a mobile patrol on the Creggan estate but man and a former UDR member in the village. there were no casualties.
Tuesday 12th February 1974 Bar Bombed A bomb planted outside the Dunleath Bar at Church Street Cookstown extensively damaged the building but the area had been evacuated and no one was hurt. In Enniskillen an attempt was made to wreck the tourist information office in Townhall Street but the bomb in a duffel bag failed to go off. Only the detonator exploded scattering the “sugar” explosives across the street. Only one window was broken by the blast. In Lurgan six shots were fired at an UDR-Army mobile patrol at North Street but although several bullets hit the vehicle no one was hurt. Four hundred primers and 30 rounds of ammunition were among a find by troops at an unoccupied house in the area. An unattended car at Campsie Road was blown up in a controlled explosion.
Wednesday 13th February 1974 UDR patrol attack 40-50 shots were fired at a UDR patrol near the village of Portglenone by gunmen lying in ambush positions. One of the vehicles was struck there were no casualties and the patrol returned fire. Wednesday 13th February 1974 Showroom Bombed In Newry an old television set was used to house a bomb carried into Wylie and Haslett’s electrical showroom at Canal Street. The men with the bomb told staff and customers that they had five minutes to get out, electrical stock and the building were damaged in the blast. A number of rockets and a .303 rifle were found during a police search at a field near the local Church in Portaferry. Wednesday 13th February 1974 Belfast bombs A blast bomb was thrown at the rear of a grocery store on the Oldpark Road and one person was injured. At Ladybrooke Park in Finaghy troops found a pistol, a sporting rifle, and 229 rounds of ammunition on waste ground.
Wednesday 13th February 1974 Belfast arms find Troops found five rifles and a large quantity of ammunition when they searched a derelict house in Dover Street, Shankilll Road. Thursday 14th February 1974 Barman shot in Whiteabbey Wednesday 13th February 1974 A 59-year-old Roman Catholic man was shot and seriously wounded in Whiteabbey. The barman was hit in the arm after gunmen fired Manager killed Two gunmen shot 57-year-old Peter Carty dead at his Lisburn Road from a passing car as he came out of a grocers shop. Garage. Mr Carty had just appeared in a pre-recorded Ulster Television interview, 20 minutes before he was killed. Thursday 14th February 1974 Night of bombs Wednesday 13th February 1974 In Derry a 100-200lb bomb in a car damaged a supermarket tin Greenhaw Road in the Shantallow district. Explosives arrest Four men were charged with possession of explosives in Belfast. A bomb exploded in Hillsborough at the home of a prison officer but The men were charged with having the explosives in Great Patrick the man and his daughter were uninjured. A bomb exploded in a Street with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property. garage next to the officer’s home in Cromlyn Park. A 20lb bomb in a duffle bag exploded in Main Street, Newcastle causing extensive damage to Walworth’s store. A beer keg bomb partially exploded at the back of Alliance Avenue Wednesday 13th February 1974 Workers shelter wrecked in bomb in Belfast. There was little damage but a follow up search of the area A bomb blew up a hut in the grounds of Belfast Zoo and injured a revealed bomb-making material in a house on Alliance Road. passing motorist on the Antrim Road. It was thought the bomb was intended for a passing army patrol. The workman’s hut was completely destroyed and part of the zoo wall was blown on to the car. The motorist was taken to hospital with facial injuries and an injured eye. No animals were injured in the explosion.
FACING PAGE - A woman being rescued following a no warning bomb attack on the Spa Inn in the New Lodge area of North Belfast. 82 year old Hugh Devlin was killed in the blast.
Tony O’Connor
Hugh Duffy
The Sheddings bar in Carnlough was badly damaged after two armed men left a suitcase bomb in the building. There were no injuries. The army defused a 50-100lb car bomb parked in Marcus Street Newry. The bomb had been packed in a gas cylinder. Troops found ammunition and radios after a search of a house at Black Mountain Parade, Belfast.
The 100lb bomb blew a large hole in one wall of the bar and the injured woman was walking past the bar when she received face and leg injuries.
Friday 15th February 1974 Woman hurt in Belfast bomb blast A 34-year-old woman was injured when a beer keg bomb exploded outside a West Belfast bar. The bomb was outside McElhattons Bar in Durham Street and caused severe structural damage to the building.
Friday 15th February 1974 Two caught dumping ammunition Soldiers arrested two youths who were about to dump a shotgun butt and trigger mechanism down a rubbish chute. The youths were caught in the New Barnsley area.
Friday 15th February 1974 Dungannon bomb Dungannon was blasted by a 700lb bomb, which wrecked most of Thursday 14th February 1974 Market Square. Both sides of the square were completely destroyed Revolver charge with hundreds of windows shattered and pieces of shrapnel blasted A 24-year-old man charged with possessing a loaded revolver in into walls and doors blown off. In the centre of the square is a fourMashona Street was remanded. foot deep crater, which was all that remains of the huge van bomb.
Saturday 16th February 1974 Post Office van bomb A large bomb exploded in Omagh. Eight buildings were damaged in the 100-200lb bomb on Market Street and about 20 others suffered varying degrees of damage. The van used had been hijacked in Mountfield and the driver was held at gunpoint while the van was loaded with the bomb. The Post Office driver then took the vehicle to Lower Market Street in the centre of Omagh and shouted a warning. The area was evacuated and no one was injured in the blast.
were made by local representatives to the British Government to saturate Whiteabbey with army patrols due to the UFF sectarian assassinations in the area.
Saturday 16th February 1974 Coalisland shooting A Coalisland a soldier fired a shot at a gunman on a roof near the RUC station. Two shots were fired through the window of a house in Millisle but no one was injured. Saturday 16th February 1974 Soldiers found a self-loading rifle, an M1 carbine, two magazines, Three on arms charges two zip guns with a spare barrel, two radios, one telescopic sight, Three men were charged with possessing a .45 revolver converted to four mercury ant-tilt switches, medical equipment and 403 rounds of a .22 calibre, on the Shankill Road. Both men were remanded in assorted ammunition in Benview Avenue in the Shankill area. In a custody. nearby house they also found a Martini-Henry rifle, a .32 revolver, a zip gun and 123 rounds of assorted ammunition. Saturday 16th February 1974 Man cleared A 24-year-old docker was cleared of possessing a .303 rifle in Monday 18th February 1974 Waterville Street. Soldier dies in border blast One soldier died and another was seriously injured in a booby trap blast on the South Armagh border. The soldiers were investigating a Saturday 16th February 1974 suspicious lorry when the explosion happened. Hijacked cars left at Bawnmore Cars and a van were hijacked and left in the Bawnmore Estate at BELOW - Army technical officers checking Belfast’s Whiteabbey in an attempt to seal off the area. All the hijackings were made in the Merville Garden Village area. The Bawnmore Estate Woolworth store for unexploded bombs. residents were searched as they went in and out of the estate. Calls FACING PAGE - The scene after the bombs exploded
Monday 18th February 1974 Girl dies from ambush wounds 18-year-old Margaret McErlean of Bawnmore Park died from injuries received in a UFF ambush on Whiteabbey workers. She was wounded seven times in the attack and died one week after the attack. Thomas Donaghey aged 16 died at the scene of the attack.
In Crumlin an army patrol came under fire close to the shores of Lough Neagh and was struck a number of times. Five shops in Bow Street, Lisburn were targeted with incendiary devices. All the devices went off but the fires were brought under control. Four shots were fired at Creggan Camp from the Fanad Drive area. Troops returned fire but no hits were claimed. Soldiers fired CS gas and rubber bullets at youths in the Creggan, Derry. Monday 18th February 1974 The army found 12 lb of explosives in a shed at Central Drive, Chaos in courts Courts were thrown into chaos as the RUC refused to escort or Creggan. interview prisoners in a protest over the non-jury courts established by the British Government. The RUC are protesting over their Tuesday 19th February 1974 members appearing in these courts, which do not allow a public jury Explosives found or bail. The army found 11 detonators, 30lb of explosives and 13 blast bombs at Joy Street in the Markets area of Belfast. At Kettle Lane in Coalisland 51 rounds of assorted ammunition were Monday 18th February 1974 uncovered. Dee Street bomb The army defused a 50-100lb bomb at the Dee Street Bridge over the Tuesday 19th February 1974 Sydenham by pass. A warning had been given about the beer keg Tyrone bomb defused bomb. Army bomb disposal team defused a 350lb bomb found at Eskragh, near Fintona in Co Tyrone. The bomb, which had been spotted in a Monday 18th February 1974 laneway, was in several bags and had an anti handling device attached Military helicopter fired at to it. In Fermanagh an army helicopter came under fire at Gortoral Bridge BELOW - Car bomb attack on shops in Strabane but there were no casualties.
Wednesday 20th February 1974 Shots fired The army stated that a low velocity shot was fired at a patrol near Sion Mills and they returned fire. In the same area a group of youths threw a petrol bomb and stones at a patrol vehicle. In Magherafelt a single shot was fired at the UDR base in the town but there were no casualties. Thursday 21st February 1974 Man dies in New Lodge pub blast 82-year-old Mr Hugh Thomas Devlin was killed when a no warning bomb exploded in the Spamount Inn on the New Lodge Road. Several other were killed including six children who were playing in the area at the time. According to locals a car pulled up outside the pub and a man placed the bomb in the doorway of the pub, pointed to the owner indicating that it was for him and then sped off in the getaway car. The pub owner was able to raise the alarm however the bomb exploded almost immediately. The man who died was sitting in the lounge area of the pub when the bomb exploded. The damage to the pub and the surrounding area was extensive. Thursday 21st February 1974 Two on gun charges Two men were charged with illegal possession of a .45 revolver and five rounds of ammunition. Both men were remanded. Wednesday 20th February 1974 Postmen ban election mail 1000 postmen refused to deliver election addresses after the Pay Board blocked a lump sum payment. Deliveries affected were Belfast, Bangor, Lisburn and Larne.
Thursday 21stFebruary 1974 Troops attacked In Strabane an army patrol was fired on by three gunmen in the Olympic Drive area. There were no casualties and the troops returned fire and claimed a hit. The troops chased after the gunmen and were fired on again in Townsend Street. Wednesday 20th February 1974 Shots were heard in the Annadale Embankment area and troops were Postman on blast charge An Omagh postman was charged with causing an explosion in Market fired on near Collin Orange Hall on the Glen Road. Twelve shots were fired and no one was injured. Street, Omagh. Wednesday 20th February 1974 Armagh bombing Two men died when a 20lb bomb exploded without warning at Traynors pub just outside Armagh. Three other people including a girl were slightly injured. The two men were 49-year-old Patrick Molloy, a farmer of Allistragh and 49-year-old Jack Wylie, a dealer of Moy. Both men were buried in the rubble.
Friday 22nd February 1974 Belfast bomb Seven passers-by were hurt when a bomb exploded at Mick Rogers pub in Union Street. A warning had been given but the bomb exploded a short time later and the area had not been evacuated. The bar was badly damaged and the upper part of Union Street was devastated by the blast.
Wednesday 20th February 1974 Van bomb in city centre A 200-500lb bomb exploded in Castle Street, Belfast. The bomb had been in a Belfast gas van, driven under duress to the scene. Anderson and McAuley and the Bank Buildings were damaged. Three policemen were injured.
Friday 22nd February 1974 Bombs on the border 25 mortar bombs and 400 rounds were aimed at soldiers on the border between Strabane and Lifford. The intensive attack lasted 25 minutes and the mortars fell shot of their target. It is thought that the gunmen were firing from the car park of a Lifford Hotel.
Friday 22nd February 1974 Fake bomb call A UDR patrol was ambushed while on patrol in Tyrone. The patrol vehicle was blown across the road while they were on route to Augher. The bomb was detonated from the roadside and the explosion damaged a house and shattered windows. Friday 22nd February 1974 Belfast bomb The Cambridge Bar, Bentinck Street was extensively damaged after three men placed a bomb containing up to 200lb at the rear of the premises. The area was evacuated and no injuries were reported.
Monday 25th February 1974 Informer shot A Derry man was found shot and tied up in the Creggan Estate. The man was accused of being an informer and the IRA issued a statement concerning the man “Let this mans fate be a warning to anyone who cooperates with the British occupation forces”.
Monday 25th February 1974 South Down bombs Doherty’s bar in Castlewellan received some structural damage when a bomb in a box was carried in to the premises by a masked man. A warning was given and the RUC were able to evacuate the area before Friday 22nd February 1974 the 30lb exploded. Newry bomb blast A similar sized bomb was carried out of Betty Magills shop in A 15lb bomb damaged a number of cars in Newry. The bomb in a Castlewellan, thrown over a wall, but it did not explode. gas cylinder was planted by two men. A bomb was planted at Newry courthouse and the 15lb bomb caused some damage to the building. Saturday 23rd February 1974 Woolworth’s store damaged Five bombs exploded in the Woolworth’s store in Belfast and fire Monday 25th February 1974 quickly spread throughout the building. The fire brigade were able Derry incidents to contain the fire to the upper floors and the management of the A shot was fired at a mobile patrol in Buncrana Road and no fire was store stated that the store would open as soon as possible. returned. In the Brandywell 10-15 shots were fired at a patrol. Fifteen shots were heard in the area of the city cemetery but no target was Saturday 23rd February 1974 identified. Fire bomb attacks A small explosion at the Balmoral Furnishing Co. was followed by a Monday 25th February 1974 fire but was brought under control. Belfast shots An incendiary bomb was thrown thorough the window of a house in Two shots were fired into a Protestant house at Westland Road but Brougham Street but it failed to explode. no one was hurt. A soldier was slightly hurt when a gunman opened fire on an army patrol. Six shots were fired from a house in Gt James Street. The Monday 25th February 1974 soldier was hit on the left arm. Youths charged The Cathedral Road area of Armagh was evacuated after a suspicious Four youths were charged with the possession of ammunition at car was left at Desert Lane. The army carried out a controlled Carnmoney. They were charged with having an M1 carbine, five explosion. rounds of ammunition and a magazine. The army found two Stirling sub machinegun magazines and 15 rounds of ammunition were found in Drumbeg. Tuesday 26th February 1974 Tyrone arms find Monday 25th February 1974 Soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, searched ground near Ballygawley and found two .303 rifles, 35lb of explosives, nine Troops injured in blast Two soldiers were injured when a booby trap bomb exploded on the detonators and a quantity of fuse wire. shores of Lough Neagh. The blast estimated at between 2-5lb seriously injured one of the soldiers. Tuesday 26th February 1974 City Pub bomb defused Monday 25th February 1974 A double gas cylinder bomb was defused by the army. The bomb Arms found was left in a Ford Corsair in Hill Street and a man calling himself a A 23-year-old man from Sorella Street was charged with possessing Captain Green of the Ulster Freedom Fighters telephoned the News two rifles, a repeating shotgun, magazines, detonators, a m1 carbine Letter to issue a warning. Windows around the Harp bar were and 6000 rounds of ammunition at Vancouver Street. damaged when a controlled explosion blew open the boot.
Tuesday 26th February 1974 Beer keg bombs found Eight beer kegs containing more than 500 lb of explosives were found in South Armagh. As the army moved in they came under fire from over the border.
In Donaghmore 6 to 9 shots were fired at police on duet outside Austin Curries house. Tuesday 26th February 1974 Lisburn houses attacked Two Catholic homes in Ashlea Place were targeted by petrol bombers. The bombs were thrown through the windows of the houses but the householders were able to extinguish the fires.
Tuesday 26th February 1974 Ligoniel car bomb A stolen Ford Escort was used as a car bomb when it was abandoned outside the Terminus Bar. Thirteen people were injured when the bomb exploded and it also caused extensive damage to the front of Tuesday 26th February 1974 the pub and a number of nearby businesses. Shots fired Three shots were fired at troops in the Kilwilkee Estate, Lurgan. There were no casualties but in the follow up operation they found a Tuesday 26th February 1974 Castlewellan Thompson submachine gun and an armalite rifle packed in a box at a Two customers carried a bomb from Herons Bar after two masked nearby playing field. men had planted it. The men pulled the detonator off the device and it exploded a short time later. Wednesday 27th February 1974 McGuinness jailed BELOW - Members of the RUC search for clues Martin McGuinness, aged 23, was jailed in Dublin after being found guilty of being a member of the IRA. He was also found guilty of among the wreckage of the Red Star Bar in Donegall failing to account for his movements on February 10-11.
Quay after a bomb attack.
Wednesday 27th February 1974 Shots fired in Strabane 12 shots were fired at the army checkpoint on Strabane Bridge but no fire was returned.
Two rifles were found ina search of a vacant house in Spamount Street, and in Barrow Street, a double barrel shotgun and a small amount of ammunition were found. Part of a RPG7 rocket was found in a derelict building about two miles from the town.
Wednesday 27th February 1974 Roads blocked 100 people blocked the Ormeau Road in a protest about army harassment. The blockade of the roads caused traffic chaos. Shots were fired at army at the scene.
Thursday 28th February 1974 Pram bomb A man and woman left a pram containing a bomb outside Blighs Lane army post. The bomb-contained 120lb of explosives and no one was injured in the blast.
Wednesday 27th February 1974 Bomb defused The army defused a 50lb bomb found under the axle of a lorry parked outside a house at Caledon. In Portglenone the army found a shotgun and 77 rounds of ammunition in a dug out.
Thursday 28th February 1974 Arms finds Troops found a sten gun, an M1 carbine and 419 rounds of ammunition in a search of Springfield Crescent.
Thursday 28th February 1974 School targeted In Trillick a small bomb caused extensive damage to a new Roman Catholic school, which was being built in the village. Thursday 28th February 1974 In Fermanagh a UDR man received head injuries when a landmine went off close to their vehicle. The vehicle crashed into a deep crater. The mine was in a culvert near to Donagh. Two soldiers were injured when a bomb exploded at an observation post in Strabane.
BELOW - Car bomb attack in Belfast’s Union Street