two governments to consult and the right of the Irish government to put Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade. operations in 1971), told the mourners packed into St. Patricks Even one pound a month can make a big difference for us. On 11 May 1993, an IRA militant pretending to be a motorist that had been asked to show his licence at the barracks left a van carrying a mortar outside the facilities. hands had every right and every justification to be there. [73], The brigade was the first to use the Mark-15 Barrack-Buster mortar in an attack on 5 December 1992 against the RUC station in Ballygawley. absolute acts. The bombing was at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown. The East Tyrone Brigade members killed in 1987 consisted of: Commander Patrick Kelly (aged 30) Jim Lynagh (aged 31) Padraig McKearney (aged 32) Declan Arthurs (aged 21) Seamus Donnelly (aged 19) Eugene Kelly (aged 25) Gerry O'Callaghan (aged 29) Tony Gormley (aged 25) "JD . 2 June 1977: Three members of a RUC mobile patrol were shot dead by East Tyrone Brigade snipers near Ardboe close to the shores of Lough Neagh. [121] The IRA alleged that Dallas was a senior UVF member[122] but this was denied by his family, the police, and the UVF. [25] British military sources also report that other IRA volunteers from East Tyrone were involved in the assault. [it] demonstrated that [the IRA] could carry out devastating attacks on One soldier was seriously wounded. Strikes and the Politics of Despair by Padraig OMalley. went as Republican soldiers who had carefully planned and hoped to [65][66][67] Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but were acquitted in 1993. One of the workers killed, Robert Dunseath, was also a soldier of the Royal Irish Rangers. 26 February 1978: IRA Volunteer Paul Duffy was killed by the SAS in Coagh. Of these, 28 were killed between 1987 and 1992. [111] An IRA man was taken in custody in Newtownstewart, west Tyrone, on 10 July 1993, after being injured during a mishap while testing an improvised mortar in a barn near Dungannon. [18] In August 1988, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin. [23] British intelligence identified them as the perpetrators of the attack on the military bus at Curr road. The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". been travelling in a car with his brother, Oliver, unaware of the [51], The Fintona RUC/Army base damaged by mortar fire, 27 December 1993, In March 1992, members of the brigade destroyed McGowan's service station along the Ballygawley/Monaghan road, on the basis that they were supplying British forces,[52] while a soldier was injured by a bomb near Augher. Early in the morning as he prepared to drive to work, two masked IRA gunmen who had been hiding behind trees walked over and shot him three times in the head, mortally wounding him. 5 February 1997: an IRA unit fired a horizontal mortar at an RUC patrol on Newell Road in Dungannon. Three other RUC officers who were in the building fled through a back door. [27][28] The helicopter was hit between Clogher and Augher, over the border near Derrygorry, in the Republic. Eight were killed and the rest were badly wounded. Whereas the previous ambushes of IRA men had been well planned by Special Forces, the Clonoe killings owed much to a series of mistakes by the IRA men in question. Your contribution can be made with a credit or debit card by clicking below. [31], On 11 February 1990 the brigade managed to shoot down a British Army Gazelle helicopter near Clogher by machine gun fire and wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously. comparisons with the past. To Kellys wife, Kathleen, who was expecting their fourth child when he After the shooting they drove past the house of Tony Doris, the IRA man killed the previous year, where they fired more shots in the air and were heard to shout, "Up the 'RA, that's for Tony Doris". . As the men were all Protestants, many Protestants saw it as a sectarian attack. [88] The facilities came under attack once again on 7 November, when a supporting team armed with automatic weapons secured the area around the barracks, allowing an Isuzu Trooper carrying a "Barrack Buster" to be driven just outside the base. [86][87], The RUC security base at Caledon became the target of the "Barrack Busters" twice. It was, of course, the issue of war that raised the most discomfort. All the IRA members involved withdrew successfully. Next Tuesday, May 8th, marks the 20th anniversary of the Loughgall Major George Shaw, a 57-year-old father of two, worked full-time for the MOD and was a part-time soldier. A five-mile (8km) chase followed before the IRA volunteers managed to escape on foot. The more British violence could be seen as The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. There were a number of actions carried out by the IRA in the eastern part of Tyrone from 1996 up to the latest IRA ceasefire of July 1997: Risn McAliskey, daughter of political activist Bernadette McAliskey and suspected IRA member from Coalisland was accused by German authorities of being involved in a mortar attack on British Army facilities in Osnabrck, Germany, on 28 June 1996. Two RUC officers were shot dead and the base was raked with gunfire before being destroyed by a bomb. themselves the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner? As the men were all Protestants, many Protestants saw it as a sectarian attack. One RUC officer was injured. Western District of Michigan (616) 456-2404. [113][64] Among them there were Constable Andrew Beacom and Reserve Constable Ernest Smith, the two RUC members ambushed and shot dead while driving a civilian type vehicle in Fivemiletown's main street on 12 December 1993. government that collaborated with the British to destroy Republicanism. O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons on two different occasions in the past. 1 Battalion: Unit strength on 11 July 1921 was 265 all ranks, and the strength on 1 July 1922 was 312 all ranks.The companies of the 1st. collapsing time, compressing the historical moment, impelling O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons on two different occasions in the past. In They also claimed that during the follow-up search, British Army technicians defused with a controlled explosion a 50 pounds (23kg) mortar round, fired three years before. clear that the security forces had ample foreknowledge of the IRAs they should have prevented the gun battle. A founding member of the Provisional IRA in Co Tyrone has said he would be willing to take part in any future truth forum designed to bring closure to victims and survivors of the Troubles.. charged, tried, and convicted. [28] On 16 September 1989, a British sergeant of the Royal Corps of Signals (Kevin Froggett) was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while he was repairing a radio mast at Coalisland Army/RUC base. [55][56][57], Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but they were acquitted in 1993. On 30 August, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin as they tried to kill an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment member near Carrickmore. [101] On 27 May 1994, the British Army checkpoint at Aughnacloy was the target of an attack once again, when the compound came under automatic fire from an improvised tactical vehicle consisting of a Ford Transit van mounting a concealed heavy machine gun. Enniskillen to the Unionist understanding of what Irish Nationalism and members of the SDLP, disquieted that the shootings had taken place on vast array of military equipment and surveillance technology at its [58] [21] Additionally, most of the attacks which took place in County Fermanagh during this period of the Troubles were also launched from south Tyrone and Monaghan. A British Army helicopter was fired on in the aftermath of the ambush. Another street fracas on 17 May between a King's Own Scottish Borderers platoon and a group of nationalist youths in Coalisland resulted in the theft of an army machine gun and a new confrontation with the paratroopers. [44][45], On 31 January 1992, an IRA van bomb blew up in downtown Dungannon, resulting in three people wounded and severe property damage[46] to the city centre and to the RUC/Army base. for the deaths on the IRA leadership, whom they accused of putting The IRA retaliated on 5 August 1991, when they shot and killed a former UDR soldier while living his workplace along Altmore Road, also in Cappagh. [24][25] This attack forced the British military to ferry their troops to and from East Tyrone by helicopter. [39] A second shooting took place in the village of Pomeroy on 28 June, this time against British regular troops. E ight members of the Provos' East Tyrone Brigade were gunned down as . circles, not too subtle hints that, for once, the IRA had received some They were greatly outnumbered and outarmed by an occupying army with a Sniper Assault Kills A British Soldier in Belfast", "Thousands join peace protest in Greysteel", "Geograph:: Cookstown Courthouse Kenneth Allen", "Lords Chamber - Wednesday 8 June 1994 - Hansard - UK Parliament", "3 RUC Officers Wounded in Tyrone Ambush", "Sinn Fein politician caught in IRA gunfire | The Independent | The Independent", "Armed guard at hospital bed of IRA suspect", "Off-duty soldier killed by IRA booby-trap bomb: Car attack follows", "CAIN: Peter Heathwood Collection of Television Programmes - Search Page", "British soldier shot dead Massive Strabane landmine", "South Armagh Brigade claims sniper attack", Cousin of bomb suspect was top Provo; But gun victim denies being a terrorist, "Militants Angry About Police's Defense Of Protestant March". They concluded that the SAS were justified in opening fire. The soldiers were being transported from RAF Aldergrove to a military base near Omagh after returning from leave in England. Two IRA men escaped the SAS ambush at Loughgall RUC station - after soldiers turned their getaway cars away from the scene. An Phoblacht claimed the IRA men thwarted an ambush and at least two SAS members were killed. . insinuations, widely believed, that the security forces had not just The SAS shot dead eight IRA members and a civilian who had accidentally driven into the ambush. On 17 January 1992, an IRA roadside bomb destroyed a van carrying 14 workers who had been re-building Lisanelly British Army base in Omagh. their own interests: their fears that Loughgall would redound to the The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in the The Birches attack. nationalism to face the demons of its own contradictions. [49], On 3 June, three IRA men, Lawrence McNally, Michael "Pete" Ryan, and Tony Doris, died in another SAS ambush at Coagh, where their car was riddled with gunfire. ambush. in the North was war? The 12 May's riots ended with the paratroopers' assault on three bars, where they injured seven civilians. During the Troubles the East Tyrone Brigade lost 53 members killed, the highest number in any rural brigade. [34] On 3 June, three IRA men, Lawrence McNally, Michael Ryan and Tony Doris, died in another SAS ambush at Coagh, where their car was riddled with gunfire. [60], From mid-1992 up to the 1994 cease fire, IRA units in east and south Tyrone executed a total of eight mortar attacks against police and military facilities and were also responsible for at least 16 bombings and shootings. Thatcher coldly informed Cardinal OFiaich in May 1981, when OFiaich The volunteers, An Phoblact/Republican News said, had [85] On 30 April, a heavy horizontal mortar was fired at an RUC patrol vehicle near Ballygawley roundabout; the round missed its target and hit a wall. Six IRA members from a supporting unit managed to escape. [50] The RUC stated the men were on their way to mount an ambush on Protestant workmen. The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in the The Birches attack.It destroyed a substantial part of the base with a 200 lb bomb and raked the building with gunfire. Gerry McGeough is a prominent republican and former member of the provisional IRA and now a farmer in Co. Tyrone. Ryan, according to Moloney, had led the mixed flying column under direct orders of top IRA Army Council member Thomas "Slab" Murphy two years before. [35][36][37], On 24 March 1990, there was a gun battle between an IRA unit and undercover British forces in the main street of the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone, in which IRA members fired at a civilian-type car driven by security forces, according to Archie Hamilton, then Secretary of State for Defence. [19] [44] Some republican sources[45] claim that a listening device was found in the roof of OFarrells house during repairs in 2008, exposing that the British intelligence had a forehand knowledge of the IRA operation at Coalisland and could have arrested them before the attack. 25 April 1987: an off duty British soldier (William Graham) was shot dead by the IRA at his family's farm, off Gortscraheen Road, near Pomeroy. [117] Two of the wounded were also off-duty UDR soldiers. They concluded that the SAS were justified in opening fire. The IRA men were intercepted by the SAS as they were trying to dump the lorry and escape in cars in the car park of Clonoe Roman Catholic church, whose roof was set on fire by Army flares. their ever-so-careful distinction between good violence and bad One British soldier was wounded. The 12 May's riots ended with the paratroopers' assault on three bars, where they injured seven civilians. [22] The checkpoint was stormed using an improvised armoured truck and two British soldiers (James Houston and Michael Patterson) were killed in action. [53][54], Another IRA bomb attack against British troops, near Cappagh, during which a paratrooper lost both legs, triggered a series of clashes between soldiers and local residents in the staunchly republican town of Coalisland, on 12 and 17 May 1992. minds stories of reprisal killings in the old days, once again [78], From mid-1992 up to the 1994 cease fire, IRA units in east and south Tyrone carried out a dozen bomb and mortar attacks against RUC and military bases and assets. [68], At least two minor engagements occurred in the following weeks between members of the brigade and British Army foot patrols. The unit, moving on two vehicles from the townland of Turnabarson, managed to snake into a heavy patrolled area to the firing point on Station Road and launched the shell by timer from a range of 70 yards (64m). CAIN lists Boyd as a Protestant civilian. After being caught he was put up against a fence and killed. [39] On 31 January an IRA van bomb blew up in downtown Dungannon, resulting in three people wounded and severe damage[40] both on the city centre and the RUC/Army base. vindicate the IRAs unswerving contention -- a contention for which the Tommy, had been in the H-blocks for eleven years. The base was raked with gunfire and a JCB digger with a 200lb (91kg) bomb in its bucket was driven through the perimeter fence. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. They had mounted a heavy DShK machine gun on the back of a stolen lorry, driven right to the RUC/British Army station and opened fire with tracer ammunition at the fortified base at point-blank range, when the long-range of the weapon would enable them to fire from a safe distance. [79] The facilities targeted by "Barrack Buster" mortars included the above-mentioned Ballygawley barracks, a British Army border outpost at Aughnacloy,[80] the RUC barracks at Clogher[81] and Beragh,[80] both resulting in massive damage but no fatalities; two attacks on the RUC base in Caledon, which was also hit by gunfire in the second attack,[81][82] and the RUC compounds at Dungannon,[83] Fintona,[81] Carrickmore,[81] and Pomeroy. given the movements new lean look and its reliance on a small number Several people was evacuated, and the bomb disposal squad struggled 10 hours to defuse the device. Hurson was the hero to whom they looked, the one who had satisfied; the operation proved that the war against terrorism was the funeral of Paddy Kelly, the commander of the East Tyrone Brigade Patrick Vincent was gunned down in the cab of the lorry whilst Kevin Barry O'Donnell and Peter Clancy where gunned down just outside. with firepower ferociously excessive for the occasion invoked folk They had mounted a heavy DShK machine gun on the back of a stolen lorry, driven right to the RUC/British Army station and opened fire with tracer ammunition at the fortified base at point-blank range, when the long-range of the weapon would enable them to fire from a safe distance. [59], The brigade was the first to use the Mark-15 Barrack-Buster mortar in an attack on 5 December 1992 against an RUC station in Ballygawley. 16 August 1973: two IRA volunteers, Daniel McAnallen (aged 27) and Patrick Quinn (aged 18), were killed when a mortar prematurely exploded during an attack on Pomeroy British Army/RUC base. These questions went unanswered, as they could A support vehicle further compromised the getaway by flashing its emergency lights. [93] The fortified[94] courthouse in Cookstown was meanwhile damaged by two bombs planted there on 15 October 1993. The East Tyrone Brigade members killed in 1987 consisted of: They died in Loughgall, a village no bigger than Galbally, in County security forces strike back and seem to do so, its editorial declared, British military sources reported that other IRA volunteers from East Tyrone were involved in the assault. 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