In the Altnaveigh landmine attack of 19 May 1981, five

British soldiers The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Br ...

were killed and their armoured vehicle destroyed by a

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

landmine at Altnaveigh, a rural area outside Newry in

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The landmine was detonated remotely when the vehicle passed over it. The attack happened during a period of heightened tension over the

1981 Irish hunger strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republicanism, Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government ...

Background

Since 1970, the IRA had been waging a guerrilla campaign against the British security forces in Northern Ireland. This campaign was particularly intense in the rural south of County Armagh, which borders the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. The IRA's

South Armagh Brigade The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South Ar ...

regularly launched attacks on British Army and

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

(RUC) patrols. In April 1979, four RUC officers were killed and their armoured vehicle destroyed by a roadside bomb in Bessbrook. Later that year, 18 British soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in the

Warrenpoint ambush The Warrenpoint ambush, also known as the Narrow Water ambush, the Warrenpoint massacre or the Narrow Water massacre, was a guerrilla attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 27 August 1979. The IRA's South Armagh Brigade ambus ...

, the deadliest attack on British troops during the conflict. In March 1981, IRA prisoners began a hunger strike in a bid to have political status reinstated. One of the hunger strikers,

Raymond McCreesh Raymond McCreesh ( ga, Réamonn Mac Raois, 25 February 1957 – 21 May 1981) was an Irish volunteer in the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In 1976, he and two other IRA volunteers were captured while attemp ...

, was from Camlough in south County Armagh. There were mass protests and an increase in IRA activity during the strike.

Attack

On 19 May, two British Army Saracen armoured vehicles were travelling along Chancellors Road in the rural area of Altnaveigh, west of Newry. The IRA had planted a landmine in a culvert underneath the road. When the second vehicle passed the spot, the landmine was detonated by radio remote control. The blast destroyed the vehicle, hurled its wrecked engine over the nearby Belfast–Dublin railway line, and left a large crater in the road. The five soldiers in the vehicle were killed outright. They were Paul Bulman (19), Michael Bagshaw (25), Andrew Gavin (19), John King (20) and Grenville Winstone (27). All belonged to the Royal Green Jackets, except driver Paul Bulman of the

Royal Corps of Transport The Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) was a British Army Corps established to manage all matters in relation to the transport of men and material for the Army and the wider Defence community. It was formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1993; its units and ...

. It was the deadliest attack on the British Army since the Warrenpoint ambush. The security forces sealed off the area around the wrecked vehicle and spent several hours searching for possible further bombs before removing the bodies. Helicopters and a spotter plane scoured the countryside for the IRA unit involved. The IRA's South Armagh Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack. It said: "British soldiers should realize that the English public and the English politicians do not give a damn about their lives. You are fighting a war which you cannot win". It is believed the attack was meant to mark the ongoing hunger strike of Raymond McCreesh, from nearby Camlough. McCreesh died on hunger strike two days later.

References

{{PIRA 1981 in Northern Ireland British Army in Operation Banner Explosions in 1981 Explosions in County Armagh May 1981 crimes May 1981 events in the United Kingdom Military actions and engagements during the Troubles (Northern Ireland) Military history of County Armagh Provisional IRA bombings in Northern Ireland Terrorist incidents in County Armagh Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1981 1980s murders in Northern Ireland 1981 crimes in Ireland The Troubles in County Armagh Ambushes in Northern Ireland

Background

Attack

See also

References