1970 Crossmaglen bombing

1970 IRA attack in Northern Ireland October 2013 August 2020 1970 Crossmaglen bombing the Troubles Northern Ireland yes 250 54.0773 -6.6088 5 Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland Royal Ulster Constabulary personnel 54 7 55.72 N 6 34 57.10 W region:GB_type:event inline,title 11 August 1970 12:30 a.m. Booby-trap bomb 2 RUC officers IRA (South Armagh Brigade) collapsed On 11 August 1970, two Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers were killed by a booby-trap bomb planted under a car by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) near Crossmaglen, in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1975/dec/19/army-and-police-casualties Army and police casualties 19 December 1975 Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) 3 July 2017http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/gravestones-book-tribute-to-302-ruc-members-28615659.html Gravestones book tribute to 302 RUC members Belfast Telegraph 10 May 2011 3 July 2017http://www.policememorial.org.uk/index.php?page=royal-ulster-constabulary-70 Police Roll of Honour Trust 3 July 2017 They were the first RUC officers to be killed by republicans during the Troubles and the first security forces to be killed in South Armagh, an IRA stronghold for much of the conflict. Background The conflict known as Troubles had started a year earlier in August 1969 with the Battle of the Bogside followed by the August 1969 riots. The first RUC officer to be killed in the conflict was Victor Arbuckle (29). He was shot dead by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) on 12 October 1969, during street violence in the Shankill area of Belfast. The loyalists "had taken to the streets in protest at the Hunt Report, which recommended the disbandment of the B Specials and disarming of the RUC".McKittrick, David. Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles, Random House, 2001. p. 42 The bombing On the evening of 11 August, two RUC officers based in Crossmaglen—Samuel Donaldson (23) and Robert Millar (26)http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=11&month=08&year=1970 CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths Malcolm Sutton cain.ulst.ac.uk 17 May 2017—went to investigate a red Ford Cortina abandoned on the Lissaraw Road near the village. Unknown to the officers, the car contained a booby-trap bomb, made up of 20 lb (9.1 kg) of gelignite. It exploded when one of the officers attempted to open one of the car doors, badly wounding them and blowing them over a hedge. The blast was heard from Crossmaglen RUC station. The officers died of their wounds the next day. They were the first members of the security forces to be killed by republicans during the conflict.McKittrick, pp.56-57.http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1970.html CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths Malcolm Sutton cain.ulst.ac.uk 17 May 2017 The car had been stolen outside the Ardmore Hotel in Newry on 7 August. The action was planned and executed by an active service unit made up of IRA members from Navan, County Meath and Inniskeen, County Monaghan, both in the Republic of Ireland. The group was led by high-profile republican Seán Mac Stíofáin.Harnden Toby https://archive.org/details/banditcountry00toby/page/56 Bandit Country. The IRA & South Armagh Coronet Books 1999 0-340-71737-8 56 registration Aftermath The next killing of a member of the British security forces was in February 1971, when the IRA shot dead Gunner Robert Curtis in Belfast. Curtis was the first British soldier to be killed in the Troubles.http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=6&month=02&year=1971 CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths Malcolm Sutton cain.ulst.ac.uk 17 May 2017 Crossmaglen would become an Irish republican stronghold and the Provisional IRA carried out many attacks on the British security forces there during the course of the conflict. The bombing was part of a wider campaign of violence by the IRA during the Troubles, and was widely condemned by politicians on both sides of the Irish Sea. See also Drummuckavall Ambush South Armagh Sniper Glasdrumman ambush Operation Conservation Attack on Cloghogue checkpoint References Category:1970 in Northern Ireland Category:1970 murders in the United Kingdom Category:1970s in County Armagh Category:August 1970 in the United Kingdom Category:Car and truck bombings in Northern Ireland 1970 bombing Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 1970 Category:Explosions in County Armagh Category:Murder in County Armagh Category:Provisional IRA bombings in Northern Ireland Category:Terrorist incidents in County Armagh Category:Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1970 Category:1970 murders in Ireland Category:The Troubles in County Armagh Category:1970s murders in Northern Ireland Category:Terrorist incidents in Ireland in the 1970s Category:Car and truck bombings in the 1970s