23. This number represents the insane number of bombs that exploded and caused significant damage in a single day (out of 24 in total) during The Troubles in Northern Ireland in April 1972, and it got me thinking of a famous reference to 23.
Instantly, what comes to mind is the greatest basketball, and quite possibly athlete, of all time; Michael Jordan. Jordan wore the number 23 for the Chicago Bulls, and the story behind it is much simpler than I would have imagined. I thought that maybe it was a birthday, a house number, or something else significant to his life outside of the court, but then Jordan himself explained the reasoning behind choosing 23;
“My brother wore No. 45 which was my number,” he explained in an interview. “So when we was on the same team, we couldn’t wear the same number. So I chose half of what his jersey was, which was 22.5, which I would rather have 23.”
Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, The Scarman Tribunal Report was published on the 6th of April 1972. The report looked into the causes of violence during the summer of 1969 and subsequently found that the Royal Ulster Constabulary had been seriously at fault on several occasions. You can read the report in full here.
Four days later, on the 10th of April, Lord Widgery submitted the report of his findings to Home Secretary Reginald Maudling. You may recall from February 1972’s instalment, Lord Widgery (then Lord Chief Justice) was tasked to undertake an inquiry into the 13 deaths on 'Bloody Sunday' on the 30th of January 1972.
It wasn’t until the 18th of April that the Widgery Report was published. The findings of the report caused outrage among the people of Derry, and was referred to as the "Widgery Whitewash". It was to lead to a 26-year campaign for a new independent inquiry.
On Wednesday the 19th of April, British Prime Minister Edward Heath confirmed that the plan to conduct an arrest operation, in the event of a riot during the march on the 30th of January 1972, was known to British government Ministers in advance.
With Bloody Sunday sharply in focus, The Sunday Times Insight Team published their account of the events of that horrific day. Spending a few months in the Boside area of Derry, they interviewed members of the Provisional and Official IRA, as well as hundreds of eyewitnesses. So, while Lord Widgery exonerated the British Army, Insight presented a different picture in its 12,000-word piece. You can read the article in full here.
Naturally, not everyone was happy with the outcome of the Widgery Report, and as a result, further unrest hit the streets of Northern Ireland, causing chaos, destruction and death. There were 18 shootings in April 1972.
05/04/72 - A soldier at a vehicle checkpoint was hit in the arm by an IRA sniper at Abercorn Road, Derry.
06/04/72 - A teenager was shot and wounded by IRA gunmen in the protestant area of Tates Avenue, Belfast.
07/04/72 - An airborne British army patrol was ambushed in County Londonderry, between the Creggan estate and the border, by an IRA unit. An hour-long gun battle ensued, with no casualties reported from either side.
08/04/72 - British soldier Peter Sime (22) was on foot patrol when he was killed in an IRA sniper attack on the Springfield Road, Belfast.
11/04/72 - An IRA volunteer fired a Thompson sub-machine gun at a passing British army patrol at the junction of Eastway and Lone Moor Road. The patrol returned fire. No injuries were reported.
15/04/72 - An unarmed Joe McCann, a prominent member of the Official Irish Republican Army, was shot dead by British soldiers at Joy Street in the Market area of Belfast close to his home. His funeral was one of the largest Republican funerals to be held in Belfast. Following McCann's death, a number of people were killed during disturbances in Belfast and Derry. The Official IRA carried out a number of attacks on the British Army and killed two soldiers in Derry.
15/04/72 - Nicholas Hull, a member of the British Army, was shot dead by the Official IRA in the Divis area of Belfast.
15/04/72 - Sean McConville (17), a Catholic man, was shot dead by members of a Loyalist paramilitary group on the Crumlin Road, Belfast. This shooting was the first of an intense series of random shootings of innocent Catholics by Loyalist paramilitaries.
15/04/72 - At approximately 8:00 am, two brothers were shot and injured in the Whiterock Road area of West Belfast. On the 1st of December 2015, the PSNI listed this shooting as one of nine incidents it was investigating in relation to the activities of the British Army's Military Reaction Force.
16/04/72 - Two British soldiers were shot dead by the Official Irish Republican Army in separate incidents in Derry. It’s believed these attacks were retaliation for the killing of Joe McCann.
17/04/72 - A British Army officer and three soldiers were shot and wounded by an IRA unit at Divis Flats, Belfast. A nine-year-old boy was also injured.
17/04/72 - 20-year-old student teacher Patrick McGee was killed by the British Army in the course of an exchange of fire with an IRA unit in Divis Flats.
19/04/72 - An off-duty UDR soldier, James Elliott (36), was abducted and killed by the IRA near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh. He was found shot dead by the side of the road, Altnamackan, near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
19/04/72 - Catholic civilian, Martin Owens (22), was found shot dead shortly after being thrown from a car, Horn Drive, Lenadoon, Belfast.
20/04/72 - UDA members walked into a taxi depot on Clifton Street in Belfast and asked for a taxi to Ardoyne. From the location of the depot and the stated destination, they could be sure their driver was a Catholic. They forced the driver, Gerard Donnelly (22) to stop at Harrybrook Street, where they killed him with a shot in the head.
22/04/72 - Francis Rowntree, an 11-year-old Catholic boy, was killed by a 'rubber bullet' fired by the British Army. This was the first death to result from the use of the rubber bullet baton round.
25/04/72 - British soldier, Joseph Gold (29), died four days after being shot in an IRA gun attack on a British Army Vehicle checkpoint, Donegall Road, Belfast.
29/04/72 - Catholic civilian Rosaleen Gavin (8), was killed in the crossfire during an IRA sniper attack on the British Army base at Oldpark Road, Belfast.
Getting back to the 23 bombings I made reference to at the beginning, sadly, it’s hard to believe that they weren’t the only bombings during The Troubles in April 1972...
07/04/72 - Three IRA volunteers, Samuel Hughes, Charles McCrystal, and John McErlean (all aged 17), were killed in a premature bomb explosion in a garage in Bawnmore Park, Belfast.
10/04/72 - Two British soldiers, Eric Blackburn (24) and Brian Thomasson (21) were killed while on foot patrol by an Official IRA bomb attack in Derry.
13/04/72 - The IRA detonated a car bomb on Main Street, Ballymoney, County Antrim. Despite a warning to evacuate the area, a Protestant civilian, Elizabeth McAuley (64), was killed.
13/04/72 - A car showroom was utterly destroyed in Belfast after a car bomb was driven into the parking area by an IRA volunteer, who gave the alarm. No one was injured by the explosion.
14/04/72 - The PIRA exploded 24 bombs in towns and cities across Northern Ireland. There were also 14 shootouts between the PIRA and security forces. In response to this, A.W. Stephens, then Head of Defence Secretariat 10 at the Ministry of Defence, wrote a note providing details of security incidents during the previous 24 hours in Northern Ireland;
Terrorist activity was at a comparatively high level throughout the Provence with a concerted bombing campaign by the IRA apparently designed to impress on the Catholic population their determination to continue the campaign of violence. There was a total of 24 bomb explosions and a further five bombs were defused by Army disposal experts.
18 of the bomb explosions were in rural areas. They included a bomb attack on the Council Office at Newry, where a security guard was shot in the legs, an explosion in a derelict house near Crossmaglen in which three soldiers were slightly injured, an attack on electricity pylons near Crossmaglen and an attack on the Cattle Marketing Office and Newtownhamilton. In addition, four other bombs were defused by Army disposal experts.
There were three explosions in Belfast. The Smithfield bus station was extremely damaged by a 50-100 pound bomb, a car hire firm in Grosvenor Road was also seriously damaged by a 100-pound bomb, and a 15-pound bomb caused minor damage to the Beechlawn Hotel, Dunmurry. A malicious fire at the University Air Squadron building in Belfast caused four civilian casualties, a fourth bomb, in a car on Corporation Street, was dealt with by a trained soldier firing a Carl Gustav anti-tank rocket with an inert warhead at the car under the supervision of a bomb disposal expert, which was the first operational use of this technique, and a considerable success. Only 10 per cent of the 50-pound charge exploded, causing very little damage, the other 90 per cent being scattered harmlessly.
There were three explosions in Londonderry, though no casualties resulted.
There were 14 shooting incidents in the Provence. In Belfast troops were fired on three times, returned fire once and opened fire on a gunman once. In one of the incidents, a soldier was slightly injured. In Londonderry, there were six shooting incidents at the security forces. Fire was returned twice and it is believed that one gunman was hit. There were four shooting incidents in the rural areas. Troops were fired on three times, once from across the border near Garrison, Co. Fermanagh. In the fourth incident, an ex-B Special was fired on near Newtownhamilton but was not injured.
Other incidents in the Provence included a peaceful demonstration in Belfast by 500 Protestant women outside Crumlin Gaol against the release of internees. Two wanted arrests were made in Belfast. There was the usual hooligan activity in both Belfast and Londonderry. There were three armed robberies in the rural areas.
Journalists at the Europa Hotel, Belfast have been told that Frank McManus and Bernadette Devlin are to hold a press conference at twelve o’clock today at which an important announcement is to be made.
Thanks for reading my latest instalment of The Troubles, which I hope you found interesting. Stay tuned for the next instalment on Sunday.