The 1973 Westminster bombing was a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

that exploded on Thorney Street, off Horseferry Road, in

Millbank Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the Millb ...

, London on 18 December 1973. The explosion injured up to 60 people. The bomb was planted in a stolen car 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, which was assumed to have been in retaliation for the jailing of the

Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's brigades, based in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The nucleus of the Belfast Brigade emerged in the divisions within Belfast republicans in the closing month ...

members who bombed the Old Bailey earlier in the year. A day earlier, the IRA sent two

parcel bomb A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the mail, postal service, and designed ...

s that targeted two politicians. It was one of many IRA car bombings in Northern Ireland and England during the Troubles.

Aftermath

In the week following the Westminster

, several more IRA bombs exploded in London. The day after the Westminster bombing on 19 December, one person was injured when an IRA letterbomb exploded at a London postal sorting office. Five days later on Christmas Eve 1973, the IRA bombed two London pubs, first the North Star public house, where six people were injured & the second at the Swiss Cottage Tavern, in which an unspecified number of people were injured. The last bombs exploded on Boxing Day 1973 when the Stage Door public house was bombed injuring one person, on the same day another bomb exploded at Sloane Square station there were no injuries in this attack.

References

{{PIRA Westminster bombing Westminster bombing Westminster bombing Westminster bombing Crime in Westminster Provisional IRA bombings in London Attacks on buildings and structures in London Westminster bombing Westminster bombing Building bombings in London

Aftermath

See also

References