1973 Westminster bombing
The 1973 Westminster bombing was a car bomb that exploded on Thorney Street, off Horseferry Road, in Millbank, London on 18 December 1973.[1] 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.[2][3]
| 1973 Westminster bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Troubles | |
 Thorney Street, looking south from the location of the blast | |
| Location | City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°29′38.36″N 0°7′33.94″W |
| Date | 18 December 1973 08:50 (UTC) |
Attack type | Car bomb |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 60 |
| Perpetrator | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
Background
The Troubles had been raging for four years in Northern Ireland and to a lesser extent in the Republic of Ireland since the Battle of the Bogside in Derry in August 1969.[4] Great Britain had been relatively untouched from the violence up until the beginning of 1973 when the IRA Army Council had drawn up plans for a bombing campaign to take place in England.
References
- "BOMB INCIDENTS (LONDON) (Hansard, 18 December 1973)". api.parliament.uk.
- https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/18157/internationalter00pete.pdf?sequence=1
- Carlton, David; Schaerf, Carlo (17 April 2015). International Terrorism and World Security. Routledge. ISBN 9781317480471 – via Google Books.
- "BBC ON THIS DAY - 12 - 1969: Police use tear gas in Bogside". News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
