The 1972 Aldershot Bombing occurred on February 22, 1972 in Aldershot, Hampshire, just three weeks after Bloody Sunday. It was the Official Irish Republican Army's largest attack in Britain during the Troubles and one of the last major actions of their armed campaign before their ceasefire in June of that year. February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Hampshire (abbr. ... Derry civil rights association banner stained with Bernard McGuigans blood after shootings On Sunday January 30, 1972, in an incident since known as Bloody Sunday, 14 people were killed and 13 others wounded by British paratroopers after a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of... The term Official IRA relates to one of the two elements of the Irish Republican Army - the other being the Provisional IRA - that emerged from the ideological split in the Irish Republican movement in 1969-70. ... The Troubles is a term used to describe two periods of violence in Ireland during the twentieth century. ...

Their target was the headquarters of the Parachute Regiment, which had been heavily involved in the Bloody Sunday (1972) shootings in Derry. A Ford Cortina with a large bomb hidden inside was left in the base car park, deliberately positioned outside the officer's mess. The Parachute Regiments display team, the Red Devils at an American airshow The Parachute Regiment is the main body of elite airborne troops of the British Army. ... Derry civil rights association banner stained with Bernard McGuigans blood after shootings On Sunday January 30, 1972, in an incident since known as Bloody Sunday, 14 people were killed and 13 others wounded by British paratroopers after a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... The Ford Cortina was a midsize car sold by Ford of Britain. ...

The time-release bomb exploded suddenly on the morning of the 22nd, and the blast destroyed the officer's mess and wrecked several nearby army office buildings in an explosion which could be heard over a mile away. The soldiers who were the intended targets of the bomb were not present, as the regiment itself was stationed abroad and most staff officers were in their offices, not in the mess. Nonetheless, seven people were killed, including an elderly gardener, five cleaning staff just leaving the premises and a Roman Catholic army priest. Nineteen people were also wounded by the explosion. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Roman Catholic priests in traditional clerical clothing. ...

Authorities were shocked and concerned by this first major attack in Britain, and lax security at many bases was tightened up in an effort to prevent a repeat of the attack. The day after the explosion, the Official IRA claimed full responsibility, calling the attack revenge for Bloody Sunday (1972) and announcing that this would be just the start of a protracted bombing campaign on the mainland. However the fact that the bomb had killed only civilians, including a Catholic priest brought severe criticism on the OIRA and this was one of a numbr of factors that caused their leadership to halt their armed campaign later that year. Derry civil rights association banner stained with Bernard McGuigans blood after shootings On Sunday January 30, 1972, in an incident since known as Bloody Sunday, 14 people were killed and 13 others wounded by British paratroopers after a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of...

The larger and more militant, Provisional IRA continued to attack targets in Britain (see Balcombe Street Gang). In 1989, they bombed a Royal Marine barracks killing 11 soldiers (See 1989 Deal barracks bombing). The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the London Metropolitan Police lasting from December 6 to December 12, 1975. ... The ruins of the recreation center The 1989 Deal barracks bombing took place on September 22, 1989 in the army barracks of Deal, Kent, England. ...

In November 1972, Noel Jenkinson, a known Republican activist ^[1], was convicted of the murders and received a lengthy jail term, dying in prison of heart failure four years later.

The dead

• Thelma Bosley
• Margaret Grant
• John Haslar
• Joan Lunn
• Jill Mansfield
• Cherie Munton
• Padre Gerry Weston, M.B.E.

External links

• BBC account of the incident

References

1. ↑  Republican News Letter,.[2]