THE IRA yesterday returned to London to continue a ruthless campaign
of attacking soft military targets on mainland Britain -- this time in
the constituency of junior Irish Minister Peter Bottomley.
But on this occasion, they adopted a new and worrying tactic for
security forces. The plastic bomb of up to 10lb, possibly Semtex, that
could have killed and maimed scores of people, was buried out of sight
in a flower bed.
As it was, seven people -- all civilians -- were injured in the
explosion at the headquarters of the Royal Army Educational Corps in
Eltham, south London.
''It was a miracle that this was the only cost in human suffering from
this bomb,'' was the initial reaction.
The head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, Commander George
Churchill-Coleman, arrived at the scene almost immediately.
As bomb squad and forensic experts searched the area, he declared:
''This may only be the start of several further devices going off in
different parts of the country.''
He added: ''These people are bent on causing destruction and death.''
The tactic of burying bombs was a new one and those responsible for
looking out for IRA terrorist attacks would now have to take this into
account. He issued the warning to all involved in military security.
Most seriously hurt in yesterday's blast was Mr Peter Hills, a civil
servant who heads the organisation to help soldiers, sailors, and airmen
settle into civilian life once they leave the armed forces.
He suffered two fractured ribs as he was blown across a room shortly
before 10am. ''He was a lucky man,'' said Forces' Minister Mr Archie
Hamilton.
Despite the minimum casualty count on this occasion, the 10lb plastic
bomb was a major device by any standard.
Four men and three women were hurt in the blast.
Extensive damage was caused to the Army training headquarters and to
nearby houses, which were shaken to their foundations. Windows were
blown out and glass flew everywhere.
At least one vehicle in a car park near the centre of the blast was
thrown on its side.
A tangled mass of bricks and debris and broken glass littered the
scene around the car park, and a gaping hole was left in the Army
building.
Police fear that possibly two IRA hit squads may be currently
operating in mainland Britain and at least one more in Europe. But they
do not believe yesterday's attack signalled a new offensive by the IRA.
The Provisional IRA admitted responsibility hours after the bomb had
exploded.
The injury toll within the Army headquarters could have been much
heavier had not bomb-proof film been placed across windows a few weeks
ago to prevent flying glass in just such an incident.
The continued attack on soft targets by the IRA follows the explosion
in Deal, Kent, last year in which 11 young Royal Marine bandsmen lost
their lives and blasts earlier this year outside an Army recruitment
offices in Halifax, Yorkshire, and in the centre of Leicester.
Mr Bottomley, Tory MP for Eltham, was quickly on the scene.
''The people who did this are the dinosaurs of Europe,'' he said.
''The key issue is not whether establishments can be 100% secure.
Clearly, that is impossible.
''The key issue is whether this is an acceptable price to pay for a
so-called cause. The people of Ulster do not believe it is.''
The blast happened as Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey is coming
under increasing pressure to change extradition procedures to ensure
that known terrorists do not find political refuge in the Republic.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article