Strand Bar bombing

Strand Bar bombing
Part of the Troubles
An entrance to Short Strand
Location	Anderson Street, Short Strand, Belfast
Coordinates	54.59805, -5.90936
Date	12 April 1975 21:00 (GMT)
Target	Irish Republicans, Irish Nationalists Irish Catholics
Attack type	Time bomb
Weapons	Explosives and a pistol
Deaths	6
Injured	~50
Perpetrator	Red Hand Commando (a group linked to Ulster Volunteer Force)

The Strand Bar Bombing was a gun and bomb attack carried out by the Loyalist Paramilitary organisation the Red Hand Commando, a group closely linked to (& possibly under the control of)^[1] the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) ) in Belfast in 1975. The blast destroyed most of the building and killed six civilians and injured about 50 more.^[2]

Background[]

The Provisional IRA (PIRA) and British government entered into a truce and talks in February 1975.^[3] This led Loyalists to believe they were about to be sold into a United Ireland and this provoked the Loyalist paramilitaries, the UDA and UVF, into stepping up their sectarian campaigns against the nationalist community. On 15 March two people were killed and 15 others injured in an attack on Conway's Bar.^[4] A week before the Strand Bar attack on 5 April, the UVF using a covername " The Protestant Action Force " bombed McLaughlin's Bar in the New Lodge area of Belfast killing two more Catholic civilians. In retaliation for the McLaughlin's bar bombing the Republican Action Force blew up a Protestant owned pub the same day, killing 5 and injuring 60 people, which was the worst bombing of the year so far.^[5][6]

Strand Bar attack[]

The UVF's Belfast Brigade Staff (its ruling body) argued for the need to hit back even harder after the Mountainview Tavern attack as a show of strength to the Republicans.

The attack was a no-warning bombing When the UVF decided to strike the bar was packed with many elderly people in the bar. A white car stopped right outside the bar door and UVF members threw the bomb in. Right after the bomb had been thrown in a burst of shots was directed inside the pub, probably to deter anybody from trying to escape and the explosion came just seconds after the shots of gunfire. People trying to rescue others were hindered when a wall fell down and several more people were injured. Some of the 50 or so injured were badly mutilated with some losing legs and arms. Witness say they saw the white car speed off in to the direction of Loyalist East Belfast.

The people killed in the attack were Mary McAleavey (57), Elizabeth Carson (64), Marie Bennett (42), Agnes McAnoy (62), Arthur Penn (33) and Michael Mulligan (33) ^[7]

Aftermath[]

At the same time as the gun & bomb attack, a member of the Official IRA was killed by the Irish National Liberation Army along The Falls Road in Belfast bringing the number of dead to seven for the day. This killing was part of an on-going feud between the INLA and OIRA.^[8] The Loyalist paramilitary onslaught against the Nationalist and Catholic community continued at an ever growing pace and became more brutal as time went on. Republicans retaliated with attacks on Protestant civilians

• Nine days later, on 21 April, three Catholics, two brothers and a sister were killed when the UVF booby-trapped their family home in Dunganon in Tyrone.^[9]
• Six days later, on 27 April, three Catholic civilians were shot dead near a social club near Lurgan.^[10]
• On 23 May two Catholics were shot dead by the UVF near Lurgan.^[11]
• 10 Days later, on 3 June, the South Armagh Republican Action Force killed two Protestant civilians and a UDR soldier in Killen, South Armagh.^[12]

Tensions were high as Northern Ireland seemed liked it was braced for an onslaught from both sides. Some of the worst attacks happened that summer and autumn like the UVF McGleenan's Bar bombing which killed three, the Miami Showband killings which killed another 3 civilians, the Bayardo Bar attack by the PIRA which people believe was in response to the Miami attacks, the Tullyvallen Orange Hall massacre by the IRA which killed 5 people, the Belfast and Coleraine attacks, 1975 by the UVF which killed 12 (8 of whom were civilians), the Drummuckavall Ambush where the IRA killed 3 British soldiers in an ambush and the Donnelly's Bar and Kay's Tavern attacks which killed 5 and injured 26 carried out by the UVF with help from the UDR.^{[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]}

See also[]

• McGurk's Bar bombing
• Rose & Crown Bar bombing
• 1975 Conway's Bar attack
• Hillcrest Bar bombing
• Chlorane Bar
• Biddy Mulligan's pub bombing

References[]

News report[]

• "UVF Strand Bar Gun & Bomb attack - 12 April 1975 - YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 3 March 2017.