October 1974 was, what seems like, a long time ago. If you are old enough to remember it, you’ll remember the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” between Mohammad Ali and George Foreman. Ali knocked Fireman out in the 8th round and regained his world heavyweight boxing title with the famous "rope-a-dope" tactic. This was an iconic moment in history, let alone sports history. When it comes to The Troubles, the Guildford Four is a key moment in the conflict. So much so, that they made a movie about it; In The Name of The Father starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson and Pete Postlethwaite.
Political Developments in October 1974
October 1974 was election season again. A general election was held across the UK. The United Ulster Unionist Council won 10 of the 12 seats in Northern Ireland. The SDLP held the seat in West Belfast and an independent Nationalist unseated UUP leader Harry West in Fermanagh / South Tyrone. Enoch Powell was returned for South Down.
Throughout October there were a series of incidents relating to prisoners in Northern Ireland, many of which were driven by political ideations. On the 15th of October, several huts in the Maze Prison were destroyed by fires which Republican prisoners had started. British troops were called into the prison to re-establish control, with an estimated cost of damage coming in at around £1.5m.
The trouble continued into the following day. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees announced that nine Republican prisoners from the Maze Prison had been hospitalised following disturbances at the prison the previous day. Fifteen prison officers and 16 soldiers were also hurt during the disturbances.
The unrest spread to Magilligan Prison where several huts were destroyed, with reports suggesting that the damage was around £200,000.
In Armagh Women's Prison, the governor and three women prison officers were held captive before being released following mediation by clergymen.
Around a week or so after the trouble at the prisons, SDLP leader John Hume said that his party had lost confidence in Merlyn Rees.
Following their success at the general election, Members of Parliament who were part of the United Ulster Unionist Council elected James Molyneaux as their leader on the 22nd of October.
Shootings in October 197
04/10/74 - The UVF shot dead Protestant civilian James Willis (33) near his workplace on Moonstone Street, Belfast. He was mistaken for his Catholic workmate.
05/10/74 - INLA Chief of Staff and leader of the IRSP Seamus Costello (38) is shot dead in his car on North Strand Road by OIRA member James Flynn.
05/10/74 - Civilian Asha Chopra (25) was killed during an IRA sniper attack on an RUC patrol at Greenhaw Road, Shantallow, Derry.
10/10/74 - The "Protestant Action Force" claimed responsibility for shooting dead Catholic civilian Albert Lutton (30) at a house in Newtownabbey.
10/10/74 - The "Protestant Action Force" claimed responsibility for shooting dead Catholic civilian Albert Lutton (30) at a house in Newtownabbey.
11/10/74 - The "Protestant Action Force" claimed responsibility for shooting dead Catholic civilian James Hasty (40) as he walked to work along Brougham Street, Belfast.
12/10/74 - The UDA shot dead Catholic civilian Michael McKenzie (19) and wounded another civilian as they walked along Ellis Street in Carrickfergus.
13/10/74 - The UVF shot dead Catholic civilian Ciaran Murphy (17) and dumped his body in a quarry on Hightown Road, Belfast.
18/10/74 - The "Protestant Action Force" claimed responsibility for shooting, and wounding, 2 Catholic street-sweepers in Belfast.
21/10/74 - The UVF killed Catholic civilians Edward Morgan (27) and Michael Loughran (18) in a drive-by shooting on Falls Road, Belfast. Billy Hutchinson was later convicted for his part in these killings. Hutchinson was to become a leading spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party and helped negotiate the 'Good Friday' Peace Agreement on the 10th of April 1998.
21/10/74 - The IRA kidnapped and shot dead off-duty British Territorial Army soldier Malcolm Gibson (28) in Belfast. He was found shot dead in a derelict house, shortly after being abducted while driving a laundry van, in Velsheda Park, Ardoyne, Belfast.
23/10/74 - British soldier Michael Simpson (21) died three weeks after being shot by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol on Racecourse Road, Shantallow, Derry.
27/10/74 - The "Protestant Action Force" claimed responsibility for killing Catholic civilian Anthony Duffy (18), whose body was found at the back of a farmhouse at Mullantine, near Portadown. He had been beaten, strangled and then shot by UVF members after taking a lift from Lurgan to Portadown, together with a friend who managed to escape. The attack has been linked to the "Glenanne gang".
30/10/74 - Civilian Gordon Catherwood (44) was shot dead by an IRA sniper aiming at the victim's son, a UDR soldier, on Upper Hightown Road, near Belfast, County Antrim.
Bombings in October 1974
05/10/74 - The IRA planted bombs in two public houses in Guildford, Surrey, England, which killed five people ( 4 soldiers and 1 civilian) and injured a further 54. The pubs, the Horse and Groom and the Seven Stars were targeted because off-duty British soldiers frequented them. Those who died were Ann Hamilton (19), Caroline Slater (18), William Forsyth (18), John Hunter (17) and Paul Craig (22). This was the start of a sustained campaign by the IRA unit in London and southern England.
On the 22nd of October 1975, Patrick Armstrong, Gerard Conlon, Paul Hill, and Carole Richardson (who became known as the 'Guildford Four') were found guilty at the Old Bailey of causing explosions. The four were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, following an appeal, the four were released on the 19th of October 1989. The court of appeal decided that the 'confessions' had been fabricated by the police.
05/10/74 - Civilian Eugene McQuaid was killed while in the vicinity of an IRA bomb which exploded prematurely, while travelling on his motorcycle, Killeen, County Armagh.
08/10/74 - RUC officer Arthur Henderson (31) was killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb in an abandoned car, West Street, Stewartstown, County Tyrone.
11/10/74 - The IRA carried out two bomb attacks on clubs in London. At 10:30 pm a hand-thrown bomb with a short fuse was thrown through a basement window of the Victory, an ex-servicemen's club in Seymour Street near Marble Arch. A short time later an identical bomb was thrown into the ground floor bar at the Army and Navy Club in St. James's Square. Only one person was injured in these two attacks.
22/10/74 - The IRA carried out a bomb attack on the Brooks Club, in St James's Square in London. Although the bomb was thrown into an empty dining room, two members of the kitchen staff were severely injured in the blast.
22/10/74 - Catholic civilian Dominic Donnelly (48) was killed and another badly wounded by a booby-trap bomb at a betting shop on Marquis Street, Belfast. The bomb had been hidden in a radio and left at the shop by a UDA member.
24/10/74 - The IRA carried out a bomb attack on a cottage on the grounds of Harrow School in north-west London. No one was injured in the explosion. The time bomb, estimated to have contained 5lbs of explosives, exploded shortly before midnight just outside the cottage which had until just before this date been occupied by the head of the school's Combined Cadet Force. At 11:30 pm a telephone warning about the bomb had been given to the Press Association. This was the first time the unit gave a telephone warning before a bombing occurred.
28/10/74 - The IRA detonated a van bomb outside the British Army base at Ballykinlar, County Down, killing British soldiers Alan Coughlan (22) and Michael Swanick (20).
30/10/74 - IRA volunteer Michael Meenan (16) died when his bomb prematurely exploded at a garage on Strand Road, Derry.
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Some recommended reading based on research for this instalment.