Notable IRA actions within the brigade's operational area
* 27 October 1971 - two British soldiers, David Tilbury (aged 29) and Angus Stevens (aged 18), were killed in an IRA bomb attack on an observation post at the rear of Rosemount RUC/British Army base, Derry.
*7 July 1972 - Two British Army captains were captured & arrested while off duty by an IRA patrol in Derry's Bogside area. The two officers were interrogated and released unharmed 18 hours later. The British Army set up a
board of inquiry
A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal commission in that ...
on the issue.
* 14 April 1974 – Captain Anthony Pollen of the
Special Reconnaissance Unit was shot dead by the IRA in
Derry while carrying out undercover surveillance on a demonstration in the
Bogside
The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. The large gable-wall murals by the Bogside Artists, Free Derry Corner and the Gasyard Féile (an annual music and arts festival held in a former gasyard) are p ...
area.
* 18 December 1975: two British soldiers, Cyril McDonald (aged 43) and Colin McInnes (aged 20), were killed in a bomb attack on the
sangar they were manning at the
city walls, near
Guildhall Square.
*2 February 1977: Businessman Jeffrey Agate was shot and killed outside his house at Talbot Park, while coming back from his work at the
DuPont factory in
Maydown.
*28 August 1986: Mervyn Bell, a civilian contractor to the British Army, was shot dead by the IRA while sitting in stationary car outside his father's workplace, council depot, Strand Road, Derry. The IRA rejected claims that the killing was sectarian, stating: "The man's religion is of no interest to us. Despite previous warnings he continued to work for the UDR, and that was the reason he was targeted."
*8 March 1989: two British soldiers were killed and six others badly wounded when their vehicle struck a massive IRA landmine on the Buncrana Road in Derry. The second vehicle in the patrol was completely destroyed.
*28 January 1990: a civilian (Charles Love) was killed when he was hit by debris when an IRA bomb exploded on Derry's walls during a march to commemorate Bloody Sunday. The security forces described his death as a "freak accident" as he was a quarter of a mile from the bomb, which was targeting security forces. Love was a member of
Republican Youth. He is commemorated at a
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
-organised march in his home town of
Strabane each year.
*24 October 1990: in a
proxy bomb
The proxy bomb, also known as a human bomb, is a tactic that was used mainly by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Northern Ireland during the conflict known as "the Troubles". It involved forcing people (including off-duty members o ...
attack, the IRA forced a British Army civilian employee (Patrick Gillespie), by holding his family hostage, to deliver a bomb to a British Army checkpoint at Buncrana Road,
Coshquin, County Londonderry (on the County Donegal border). The bomb detonated, killing Gillespie and six British soldiers. As the bomb exploded an IRA unit opened fire from across the border. The military facility was wrecked and several armoured vehicles destroyed by the huge blast. Over 25 houses in a nearby estate were damaged by the bomb.
*29 June 1991: high ranking
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...
commander
Cecil McKnight was shot dead by IRA volunteers in the
Waterside area of Derry. The IRA claimed he had been involved in the assassination of Sinn Féin councillor
Eddie Fullerton.
The IRA unit were pursued by the RUC after the shooting but escaped after they opened fire on an RUC patrol car.
*23 January 1993: an RUC officer was shot and killed while on a foot patrol at Shipquay Street, Derry.
*14 December 1993: two soldiers were wounded by a trip wire bomb blast in a fence at a railway bordering
Ebrington Barracks in Waterside, Derry.
*20 April 1994: an RUC officer was killed when the IRA fired a horizontal mortar at a British Army/RUC mobile patrol in the Waterside area of Derry. Several other RUC officers were injured.
*23 May 1994: an IRA team used a motor boat stolen from Foyle Search and Rescue to cross
Lough Foyle and plant an explosive device on the jetty of the British Army base at Fort George. Two British soldiers were wounded. One of them was permanently blinded by the blast.
[Peter Heathwood]
Peter Heathwood Collection of television programs: 1994
cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
*11 June 1997: an undercover British Army unit on a stationary van received small arms fire from IRA volunteers riding on another van on Foyle Road in Derry. An intensive search recovered the attackers' van at Glendara Park but failed to round up any suspects. No injuries were reported, but 30 families were evacuated from the area as army technical experts performed forensic examinations on the abandoned vehicle.
See also
*
Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign 1969–1997
From 1969 until 1997,Moloney, p. 472 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) conducted an armed paramilitary campaign primarily in Northern Ireland and England, aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland in order to create a united Ire ...
*
Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
*
Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". It is believed to have drawn ...
*
Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derry Brigade
1969 establishments in Northern Ireland
Military history of County Londonderry
The Troubles in Derry (city)
Provisional Irish Republican Army Brigades