Welcome to Tales of The Troubles. In this instalment, we will look at all the key events that took place in December 1971. I hope you like it, and as always, please comment on anything you’ve particularly liked or anything you would like to see. Enjoy!
5 World Events
A lot was going on in the world in December 1971. Below are 5 key events that, if you lived through this period, may help transport you back to this period in time. If not, it may help add some context to how the world outside of The Troubles looked.
In Baseball, the Chicago Cubs released longtime star and future Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, ending his 19-year MLB career. They went on to announce that Banks will serve as a coach on manager Leo Durocher's staff. Banks finished his career with 512 home runs and 1,636 RBI.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono release their single "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in the US.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is founded as a film and television production company by George Lucas in San Francisco, California.
Stanley Kubrick's X-rated film "A Clockwork Orange", based on the book by Anthony Burgess and starring Malcolm McDowell, premieres.
Ajax forward Johan Cruyff wins the award for best European football player (Ballon d'Or) ahead of Inter Milan’s Sandro Mazzola and Manchester United’s George Best. He was the first Dutch national and Ajax player to win the award.
Shootings
December 1971 had 12 fatal shootings, with the IRA reportedly responsible for 10 and the British Army reportedly responsible for 2.
A teenage girl died four days after being shot during a gun attack on members of the RUC on the 2nd of December.
On the 7th of December, an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment was shot dead by members of the Irish Republican Army. Denis Wilson (31) was shot at his home, Curlagh, near Caledon, County Tyrone.
Sean Russell (30), an off-duty member of the UDR, was shot dead by members of the IRA in his home in Ballymurphy, Belfast, on the 8th of December. Russell was the first Catholic member of the UDR to be killed in the conflict.
On the 8th of December, British Army soldier Jeremy Snow (35) died four days after being shot by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol in the New Lodge area of Belfast.
Kenneth Smyth (28), an Ulster Defence Regiment member, and Daniel McCormick (29), a former UDR member, were killed by the Irish Republican Army whilst travelling to work near Strabane, County Tyrone.
On Sunday, the 12th of December, John (Jack) Barnhill, then an Ulster Unionist Party member of the Northern Ireland Senate, was shot dead by the Official Irish Republican Army at his home in Strabane. He was the first politician to be killed in the conflict.
Martin McShane (16) was shot dead by British soldiers outside a youth centre in Coalisland, County Tyrone, on the 13th of December.
British soldier Anthony Aspinwall (22), from the Gloucestershire Regiment, was shot dead by an IRA sniper in the Lower Falls area of Belfast whilst on foot patrol on the 16th of December.
On the 20th of December, civilian Margaret McCorry (20) was shot by an IRA sniper during a gun attack on a British Army mobile patrol on the Crumlin Road, Belfast.
IRA volunteer Gerald McDade (23) was shot dead by the British Army after being captured in the Ardoyne area of Belfast on the 21st of December.
British soldier Richard Ham (20) was shot dead while on British Army foot patrol on the Foyle Road, Brandywell, Derry/Londonderry by the IRA on the 29th of December.
Bombings
There were 7 bomb-related incidents in December 1971, with 26 deaths and a further 36 people injured. It’s reported that the IRA were responsible for 5 of these incidents, whilst the UVF were responsible for 2.
On the 4th of December, Loyalist paramilitaries exploded a bomb at The Tramore Bar, better known as McGurk's Bar, in North Queen Street, north Belfast. The bomb had been planted by the Ulster Volunteer Force. Four of those killed were women (including the owner's wife and 14-year-old daughter). This attack was the highest death toll from a single incident in Belfast during The Troubles and was the second-highest death toll caused by a UVF attack. Only one of the bombers, the driver of the getaway car, was ever convicted. According to him (Robert Campbell), they were told not to return until the job was done. Campbell said that their target had not been McGurk's but another pub nearby. It is believed this was a pub called The Gem, which was allegedly linked to the Official IRA. The 50 pounds (23 kg) bomb was disguised as a brown parcel, which they placed in a car and drove to their target. Campbell says they stopped near The Gem at about 7:30 pm but could not gain access to it because there were security guards outside. After waiting for almost an hour, they drove a short distance to McGurk's. At around 8:45 pm, one of them placed the bomb in the porch entrance on Great George's Street and rushed back to the car. It exploded just moments after they drove off. Campbell implied that McGurk's had been chosen only because it was "the nearest Catholic pub". The blast caused the building to collapse. Bystanders immediately rushed to free the dead and wounded from the rubble, and firefighters, paramedics, police and soldiers were also quickly on the scene. Fifteen Catholic civilians had been killed, including two children, and a further seventeen wounded. The rescue effort lasted many hours.
A woman, Mary Thompson (61), died on the 6th of December trying to salvage property from the Salvation Army Citadel in Belfast when a wall fell on her. Earlier, there had been an IRA bomb which started a large fire in an adjoining building.
On the 11th of December, four civilians died in a bomb attack on a furniture shop on the Shankill Road in Belfast. Two of those who were killed in the explosion were children. Those that died were Hugh Bruce (70), Harold King (29), Tracey Munn (2) and Colin Nicholl (1). The babies both died instantly when part of the wall crashed down upon the pram they were sharing. 19 people were injured in the attack. No group claimed credit for the attack, but there was speculation that it may have been planted by the IRA in retaliation for the McGurk's Bar bombing on the 4th of December.
Three members of the Irish Republican Army, James Sheridan (20), John Bateson (19) and Martin Lee (19), were killed when the bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely in King Street, Magherafelt, County Derry on the 18th of December.
On the 18th of December, without warning, the UVF exploded a bomb at the Catholic-owned Murtagh's Bar in Belfast, which killed a Catholic civilian, barman James McCallum (16).
On the 21st of December, publican John Lavery (60) was killed when he picked up and attempted to remove a bomb that had been planted in his pub on the Lisburn Road, Belfast. It was believed that the bomb was planted by the IRA.
IRA volunteer Jack McCabe (55), originally from County Cavan, was killed when a bomb he was assembling exploded accidentally in a garage on Swords Road, Santry, Dublin, on the 30th of December. It had been rumoured that McCabe had been active in the IRA since the 1930s.
Political Developments
Amongst the violence, there were quite a lot of significant political developments that took place in an attempt to gain control and bring peace.
On the 6th of December, Brian Faulkner, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, met with Reginald Maudling, then British Home Secretary, in London.
After an Assembly, attended only by Nationalist politicians, and acting as an alternative to Stormont, met in Dungiven Castle in October, was reported by the press, Sir B. Kelly, then Attorney-General for Northern Ireland, wrote a letter to H. Black, then Secretary to the Northern Ireland Cabinet, on the 13th of December. The letter discussed the course of action to be taken against those that met and the political ramifications. Sir Kelly wrote;
“of course, as I have said to you many times, the most formidable barrier in the way of a prosecution to my mind is; is it in the public interest to bring such a prosecution? Would a trial of this kind give much-needed publicity to an Assembly which already at only its second meeting is declining in attendance and generally in impact? Would such a trial make this Government look 'silly'? It must be remembered that a prosecution for either conspiracy or a breach of the 1879 Act would necessarily be an indictable one, one can see the drama and publicity of Fitt, Hume, Currie, Cooper, indeed all the old Stormont opposition, in the dock with no doubt separate legal representation at a trial which would last for weeks with all its attendant publicity and with no certainty or conviction at the end, what with difficulty or proofs and the vagary of a jury.”
On the 15th of December, on the BBC Radio programme ‘World at One’, British Home Secretary R Moulding was questioned by Ian Mitchell about the ongoing political situation in Northern Ireland. When asked about his priorities now, he said;
"Obviously, nothing can be right until the violence has been suppressed. On the other hand, we cannot wait for the suppression of violence in order to start the talking about the future. That is why I so deeply regret the unwillingness of the SDLP and the nationalists to come and talk to me. Because by refusing even to talk they are going to prolong the agonies of their own people.”
Edward Heath, then British Prime Minister, visited Northern Ireland on the 23rd of December and expressed his determination to end the violence.
On the 31st of December, Edmund Compton, then Northern Ireland Ombudsman, was replaced by John Benn.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this instalment of Tales of The Troubles. Keep an eye on your inbox for the next one!