It’s that time of the year when tennis at Wimbledon is top of the sporting calendar. In July 1975, Billie Jean King outclassed Evonne Goolagong 6-0, 6-1 to win her 6th Wimbledon singles title. Back over in Northern Ireland, a volley of bullets murdered members of the Miami Showband.
Political Developments in July 1975
Released on the 1st of January 2006, a note detailing a meeting held by the Official Committee on Northern Ireland entitled 'Northern Ireland: Future Policy Options' dealt with the outcome of the Constitutional Convention. The note begins by stressing the need to avoid a clash between the British government and the Protestant population in the region.
" We must also play our hand so as to avoid an outright clash with the majority. At present a repetition of the Ulster Workers Council (UWC) strike is unlikely. The note on contingency planning at Annex A shows however that, if there were determined industrial action by the majority community, the Armed Forces would not be able to sustain essential services: ... action this time would be directed against Westminster. "
On the 11th of July, during the trial of the 'Birmingham Six', the prosecution admitted that the men were physically assaulted while in custody.
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees outlined the government’s response to the IRA truce on the 14th of July. There had been a reduction in British Army patrols, and house searches had been scaled down. He also indicated that in the event of a permanent end to paramilitary violence, security would be returned to a 'peacetime level'.
On the 19th of July, Unionist politician Glenn Barr claimed that the OIRA and PIRA had united to launch attacks on the Scots Guards regiment of the British Army in the Falls Road area of Belfast. The OIRA denied collaborating with the PIRA but stated they reserved the right under the terms of their 1972 ceasefire to "take action in defence and retaliation."
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees announced on the 24th of July that all those interned without trial would be released by Christmas 1975.
Shootings in July 1975
07/07/75 - The INLA fired several shots at a British Army mobile patrol at the junction of Racecourse Road and Ardnamoyle Park in Derry. The "People's Liberation Army, Derry Command" later stated the attack was a response to increased British Army activity in the city, including checkpoints and searches. On the same day, two RUC officers were held up and disarmed in Limavady, County Londonderry. Uniforms, documents, and weapons were seized.
09/07/75 - Three IRA Volunteers were arrested after a brief siege in Hope Street, Liverpool. Det Sergeant Tom Davies was seriously injured when he was shot in the stomach by one of the IRA volunteers. Another officer received more minor injuries when an IRA volunteer fired at the Sergeant but the bullet ricocheted off the ground and hit Davies in the head.
12/07/75 - Purported UDA member James Carberry (20) was found shot dead on Old Templepatrick Road, Ballyutoag, County Antrim. He was a doorman at a UDA club. It is believed the IRA was responsible. Although the Sutton Database lists him as a civilian, Lost Lives lists him as a UDA member.
13/07/75 - The UVF shot dead UDA member Denis Berry (21) in Taughmonagh, Belfast. Loyalist feud.
13/07/75 - Civilian Charles Irvine (16) was shot while travelling in a car, at the junction of Falls Road and Waterford Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.
17/07/75 - The OIRA shot and injured a British soldier in the Newry area.
19/07/75 - The OIRA shot and injured a British soldier in the Newry area. On the 22nd of July, the OIRA claimed the attack and another two days previously were retaliation for the harassment of locals by the Green Howards regiment.
26/07/75 - An INLA sniper shot dead RUC officer Robert McPherson (25) shortly after he left his armoured personnel carrier in Dungiven, County Londonderry. Another RUC officer was seriously injured in the attack.
27/07/75 - The UVF shot dead Mid-Ulster brigadier William, “Billy”, Hanna (46) outside his home in Lurgan. He was also a captain in the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment.
Bombings in July 1975
07/07/75 - Royal Ulster Constabulary officer Andrew Johnston (26) was killed by a booby-trap bomb attached to a desk by the IRA at a school in Lurgan, County Armagh.
17/07/75 - The IRA killed four British soldiers in a remote-controlled bomb attack near Forkhill, County Armagh. While the IRA claimed the attack was in retaliation to the killing of a Catholic earlier in the month, this incident was another serious breach of the truce. The four soldiers who lost their lives were Calvert Brown (25), Edward Garside (34), Robert McCarter (33), and Peter Willis (37). Patrick Thompson was arrested shortly after the incident and later charged. Thompson claimed that he had been assaulted by RUC officers during his interviews. His Crown Court trial took place in March 1976 and he was found guilty of four counts of murder. He was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment as a minimum period, which he appealed on the 9th of April 1976, but lost the case on the 31st of March 1977. Thompson was released on the 5th of March 1992. On the 27th of February 2018, he applied with the Criminal Cases Review Commission before the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions on the 22nd of April 2024.
31/07/75 - The UVF carried out a gun and bomb attack on the members of the Miami Showband. Three members of the band were killed and one was seriously injured during the attack. Two members of the UVF gang were also killed when a bomb they were handling exploded prematurely.
The Miami Showband had been playing at 'The Castle Ballroom' in Banbridge, County Down. Five members of the band left in their minibus and travelled south on the main dual-carriageway. The minibus was stopped by what appeared to be a UDR checkpoint at Buskhill, near Newry. However, the checkpoint was bogus and was being operated by approximately 10 members of the UVF - at least four of whom were also members of the UDR.
The members of the band were ordered out of the van and told to line up by the side of the road. Two UVF men then planted a bomb into the van. The bomb exploded prematurely killing the two UVF members. At this point, the other UVF members opened fire on the band musicians.
Francis (Fran) O'Toole (29), the lead singer of the band and famous for his good looks, was shot 22 times in the face while he lay on his back on the ground. Two other band members Anthony Geraghty (23), who was shot four times in the back, and Brian McCoy (33), shot nine times, both died at the scene. Another member of the group was shot with a 'dum-dum' bullet and seriously injured but survived. The two UVF men who died were Harris Boyle (22) and Wesley Somerville (34). Both were also members of the UDR.
There was speculation after the event that the UVF had tried to hide the bomb on the minibus with the intention of the bomb exploding after the members of the van had resumed their journey. It would then have been claimed that the members of the band were transporting explosives on behalf of the IRA. In 1976 two members of the UDR were sentenced to prison for their part in the attack. They received life sentences but were later released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
On the 14th of December 2011, some details of a Historical Enquires Team report into the incident were released by the families of the three men killed. The HET report found that Robin Jackson (aka 'the Jackal'), a leading mid-Ulster member of the UVF, had been linked by fingerprints to one of the weapons used. Jackson later claimed in police interviews he had been tipped off by a senior RUC officer to lie low after the killings. RUC headquarters was told about this claim, but no action was taken. The HET report said that Jackson claimed that he was told that his fingerprints had been found on a silencer attached to a Luger pistol used in the murders. The HET said the murders raised "disturbing questions about collusive and corrupt behaviour".
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