WThe 1973 Old Bailey bombing was a car bomb attack carried out by the Provisional IRA (IRA) which took place outside the Old Bailey Courthouse in London on the 8 March 1973. The attack was carried out by an 11-person active service unit (ASU) from the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade. The unit also exploded a second bomb which went off outside the Ministry of Agriculture near Whitehall in London at around the same time the bomb at the Old Bailey went off. This was the Provisional IRA's first major attack in England since the Troubles began in the late 1960s. One British civilian died of a heart attack attributed to the bombing, estimates of the injured range from 180 to 220 from the two bombings. Two additional bombs were found and defused. Nine people from Belfast were convicted six months later for the bombing, one person managed to escape and one was acquitted for providing information to the police.
WThe 1973 Westminster bombing was a car bomb that exploded on Thorney Street, off Horseferry Road, in Millbank, London on 18 December 1973. The explosion injured up to 60 people. The bomb was planted in a car that was stolen, and it was parked in front of the Home Office building when it exploded on Tuesday morning. Two telephone warnings were given within half an hour before the blast. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was responsible for the attack, and was assumed to have been in retaliation to the jailing of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade members who bombed the Old Bailey earlier in the year. A day earlier, the IRA sent two parcel bombs that targeted two politicians.
WOn 25 and 27 November 1974 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) placed several bombs in pillar boxes and one in a hedge behind a pillar box. This was a new tactic used by the IRA in England, although a similar tactic had been used in Northern Ireland during The Troubles several times previously. 40 people were wounded from five explosions in several districts.
WThe 1974 Tower of London bombing happened on 17 July 1974 with the explosion of a 10-14 lb bomb in the White Tower of the Tower of London. The blast left one person dead and injured 41 people, with many having lost limbs and suffering severe facial injuries. The victim who lost her life was Dorothy Household. At the time the Tower was busy with tourists. A dozen of the injuries were children. A scaffolding company working on the tower when the bomb detonated were able to act immediately to form the evacuation, ensuring the wounded were taken out of the building to safety and could gain urgent medical attention. The bomb was placed next to a wooden carriage of an 18th-century bronze cannon inside the Mortar Room. The gun carriage was destroyed.
WOn Thursday 9 October 1975, a bomb attack just outside Green Park Underground station in the City of Westminster, London, left one man dead and injured 20 others. The attack was carried out by volunteers from the Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang. The attack occurred during a period of heightened activity by the IRA in England and in particular London and surrounding areas, since the Caterham Arms pub bombing two months earlier in August 1975.
WOn 14 May 1990, a bomb attack on the headquarters of the Royal Army Educational Corps in Eltham, southeast London injured seven people. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility in a statement from Belfast, its first in a mainland bombing campaign targeting 'soft' military targets. Three men and three women, all civilians, were taken to a nearby hospital in Greenwich. A seventh person did not require hospital treatment. The bomb was plastic, up to 10 lb and hidden in a flowerbed at Eltham Palace - which could have easily killed many. Casualties were kept low by thin nylon film on the windows, which protected it from the flying glass. The attack caused extensive damage to the building and parked cars. The Corps left the centre in Eltham in 1992. Two days later, an IRA bomb in a military facility at Wembley killed a soldier.
WOn Friday 28 February 1992, the Provisional IRA (IRA) exploded a bomb inside London Bridge station during the morning rush hour, causing extensive damage and wounding 29 people. A day later, a device exploded at the Crown Prosecution Service in London, injuring a further two people.
WThe 1992 Staples Corner bombing occurred on 11 April 1992 when the Provisional IRA detonated a large van bomb near the Staples Corner junction in North West London, England.
WThe 1993 Camden Town bombing occurred on 27 February 1993, when a bomb exploded in Camden High Street, injuring 18 people. The Provisional IRA was responsible, planting the explosive in a litter bin and targeting people on the busiest day of the week, Saturday, after midday. One of the injured was Swedish tourist Jenny Erikson, 22. The IRA gave a coded telephone warning that a bomb was planted at a Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food store in the north end of High Street, near Camden Lock Market. Police unknowingly moved people towards the bomb's path in the south end 400 yards away. Scotland Yard chief Bernard Luckhurst said the misleading warnings of the bomb were "clearly designed" to kill or injure as many as it could. One eyewitness described scenes of "utter chaos".
WThe Finchley Road bombings occurred on 2 October 1993, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated three time bombs on Finchley Road, a major dual carriageway, London. Telephoned warnings sent six minutes beforehand, at approximately 00:26 UTC, but five people were injured from falling glass as a result of the blasts, and damage was caused to a number of shops and flats in the area. The three bombs were planted outside a Domino's Pizza restaurant, one outside a travel agents and the final one outside offices of the St. Pancras Building Society. Later, anti-terrorist officers discovered and subsequently detonated a fourth bomb in a controlled environment 1 mile north of the initial bombings in Golders Green. Two days later, on 4 October, the IRA exploded four more bombs in north London, two exploded in Tottenham Lane and two more in Archway Road resulting in 4 injuries.
WThe 1993 Harrods bombing occurred on 28 January 1993 when a bomb exploded near the Harrods department store in London, England. At 9:14, two telephoned warnings were issued, saying that two bombs had been planted: one outside and one inside Harrods. The store was due to open at 10:00. Police cordoned off the area and began a search. However, some bystanders ignored the police cordon. At about 9:40, a package containing 1 lb of Semtex exploded in a litter bin at the front of the store. It injured four people and damaged the shopfront. The cost of damage and lost sales was estimated at £1 million. Harrods was previously targeted in 1974 and 1983, but the 1993 bomb was much smaller than the 1983 one.
WThe Aldwych bus bombing occurred on 18 February 1996 when an improvised explosive device being carried by Irish republican Edward O'Brien detonated prematurely on a number 171 bus in Aldwych, in the West End of London. The 2 kg Semtex bomb detonated as he sat near the door of the bus.
WThe Bishopsgate bombing occurred on 24 April 1993, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a powerful truck bomb on Bishopsgate, a major thoroughfare in London's financial district, the City of London. Telephoned warnings were sent about an hour beforehand, but a news photographer was killed in the blast and 44 people were injured, with fatalities minimised due to it occurring on a Saturday. The blast destroyed the nearby St Ethelburga's church and wrecked Liverpool Street station and the NatWest Tower.
WThe Chelsea Barracks bombing was an attack carried out by a London-based Active Service Unit (ASU) of the Provisional IRA on 10 October 1981, using remote-controlled nail bomb. The bomb targeted a bus carrying British Army soldiers just outside Chelsea Barracks. The blast killed two civilians and injured 40 people, among them 23 soldiers.
WThe London Docklands bombing occurred on 9 February 1996, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a powerful truck bomb in South Quay. The blast killed two people and devastated a wide area, causing an estimated £150 million worth of damage. The IRA had sent warnings 90 minutes beforehand, but the area was not fully evacuated. As well as the two people who were killed, more than 100 were injured, some permanently.
WThe Downing Street mortar attack was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 7 February 1991. The IRA launched three homemade mortar shells at 10 Downing Street, London, the headquarters of the British government in an attempt to assassinate prime minister John Major and his war Cabinet, who were meeting to discuss the Gulf War.
WOn 24 April 1996, the Provisional IRA planted two powerful bombs underneath Hammersmith Bridge in west London. Although the detonators caused two small explosions, the bomb itself failed to explode. The bomb was located on the south side of the bridge and contained 30 lb of Semtex high explosives, which according to an explosives expert had the ability to blow up the entire bridge. The IRA gave two telephone warnings, the first at 22:22. Police located the device afterwards before it caused small explosions around 22:50. Scotland Yard said it was "meant to kill, cause injury and major structural damage to Hammersmith Bridge".
WThe Harrods bombing refers to the car bomb that exploded outside Harrods department store in central London on Saturday 17 December 1983. Members of the Provisional IRA planted the time bomb and sent a warning 37 minutes before it exploded, but the area was not evacuated. The blast killed three police officers and three civilians, injured 90 people, and caused much damage. The IRA Army Council claimed it had not authorised the attack and expressed regret for the civilian casualties. After the bombing, the IRA shifted its emphasis towards attacks on military targets on the mainland.
WOn 9 June 1990, the Provisional IRA detonated a time bomb inside the Armoury House hall of the Honourable Artillery Company's (HAC) military barracks in London, England. Nineteen people, all young civilians and mostly students, were wounded in the blast. All of them suffered minor injuries. At the time the hall was hired for a 21st birthday party of a Cambridge law student, on most other Saturdays the bar is full of Territorial Army (TA) reserve soldiers. The bomb was left on a short timer of only an hour before its explosion shortly before midnight, and no warning was given, but fatalities were avoided because of the hall's roof structure.
WThe Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings were carried out on 20 July 1982 in London, England. Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated two improvised explosive devices during British military ceremonies in Hyde Park and Regent's Park, both in central London.
WThe King's Cross station and Euston station bombings were two bombing attacks on 10 September 1973 by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) that targeted two mainline railway stations in central London. The blasts wounded 13 civilians, some of whom were seriously injured, and also caused large-scale but superficial damage. This was a second wave of bombing attacks launched by the IRA in England in 1973 after the Old Bailey car bombing earlier in the year which had killed one and injured around 200 civilians.
WThe London Stock Exchange bombing occurred on the morning of 20 July 1990 with the explosion of a 5 to 10 lb bomb of high explosives inside the London Stock Exchange building in the City of London, England, planted by the Provisional IRA. The building and surroundings were evacuated after the IRA gave a telephone warning 40 minutes prior to the explosion, and thus nobody was wounded. But the bomb's strength blew a 10-foot hole inside the Stock Exchange Tower, and caused massive damage to the visitors' gallery on the first floor. The bomb was placed in the men's toilets behind the gallery. The gallery and public viewing area was forced to close in 1992.
WOn 18 February 1991 two Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombs exploded at London mainline stations, one at Victoria station and the other at Paddington station, killing one person and injuring 38 other people all at Victoria station. It was the IRA's second major attack in London in February 1991 after the Downing Street mortar attack eleven days earlier which was an attempt to assassinate the British War cabinet and the British prime minister John Major. It was also the first IRA attack against a civilian target in England since the 1983 Harrods bombing, marking a strategic change in their bombing campaign in England.
WOn 10 December 1983 a bomb exploded at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, South East London. The explosion injured five people and caused minor damage to the building. The bomb exploded in a guard room, leaving a crater 15 feet (4.6 m) deep. A Christmas party was underway in the Sergeants' Mess, around 300 yards (270 m) away, when the bomb exploded. The Scottish National Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating that "more will follow", although Scotland Yard believed that the IRA were behind the attack. The IRA later admitted responsibility for the attack.
WThe Talbot Arms pub bombing took place on 30 November 1974, and was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Eight people were injured in the attack, which involved the IRA throwing homemade bombs through the pub's window. Only one of the devices exploded; the other was taken as evidence and used to discover how the unit assembled its devices.
WThe West Ham station attack was a bombing and shooting attack at West Ham station in east London on 15 March 1976. A 5 lb bomb on a Metropolitan line train exploded prematurely in the front carriage of the train, injuring seven passengers. The bomb detonated prior to reaching the City of London, where it was thought the intended target was Liverpool Street station at rush hour. Adrian Vincent Donnelly, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member, then shot Post Office engineer Peter Chalk in the chest, and killed train driver Julius Stephen, who had attempted to catch him. Donelly exited the station to the street and threatened people with his revolver before PC Raymond Kiff caught up with him. Shouting "You English bastards!", Donelly shot himself in the chest, but he survived and was apprehended by Kiff.