Braver Men Walk Away Read online

  Korean jet, 186

  letter, 137, 152–3

  Lockerbie, 151, 185

  Malatya City, 162–3

  nail, 116–17

  New Addington Police Station parcel, 157–9, 161–2

  Nite Bite Snack Bar, 119

  Old Bailey car, 146

  Oxford Street, 191–202

  Paddington Green Police Station, 94–6

  Pan Am jumbo, 185

  parcel, 99, 157–9, 162–3, 169

  public’s offers of help with, 135–6

  QE2 hoax, 100

  Reubens Hotel, 173–5

  Staples Corner, 213–14

  Swissair jet, 98

  warnings, 149–50, 193, 211

  Wimpy Bar, 191–202

  Bomb Data Centres, 130–1

  booby-traps, 87, 117, 121–3, 167, 174, 188–9, 198

  Bourne and Hollingsworth bomb hoax, 192–3

  Brahmer, Alan, 101–2

  Bramley, Ammunition Repair Methods Development Unit, 85

  Bramley School of Ammunition, 34–7

  Brighton bomb, the Grand Hotel, 3, 171–3, 175

  British Army on the Rhine (BAOR), 27, 37–8, 169

  British Forces Broadcasting Service, car bomb alert, 144–6

  Brogan, Tom, 197–8

  Bungalow, The (Met’s Explosives Office premises), 128–39

  Butler, Edward, IRA terrorist, 169

  Byford, Sir Lawrence, 163

  ‘Candle’ charge, 111–13

  Cannon Row Police Station, 1, 128–9

  car bombs, 104, 106–12, 139, 140–7, 165, 214

  Clarke, Andy, 129, 144–5, 214–15

  Clary, Peter, 153

  Conservative Party Conference, 1984, 171–3

  Conventional Munitions Disposal (CMD), 38, 85–7, 94, 128, 133

  Czechoslovakia, 22, 151

  Damascus, 181

  Dean Stanley Street car bomb, 144–6

  Debenhams, Oxford Street, 192–201

  Doherty, Hugh, 169

  Downing Street, mortar attack on, 1–8, 130, 191

  Duggan, Harry, IRA terrorist, 169

  Edgson, Audrey, 169

  Egypt, 56–80

  El Al flight, attempted bombing of, 176–85

  equipment, bomb-disposal, 91, 132–3

  explosives

  commercial, 143, 151–2

  co-op mixture, 107, 142

  plastic, 151–2

  sniffer dogs, 168, 200

  Explosives Office, 1, 207–9

  Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD), 84, 86, 94, 96–7, 103, 105, 107, 117, 132, 207–8

  false alarms, 105, 154, 157, 218

  Fletcher, WPC Yvonne, 188–90

  Forensic Explosives Laboratory, the, 172–3

  Frankfurt Airport, 185

  Froude, Major Phil, 37–40, 55

  fuzes, bomb, 4, 41–2, 59–62, 67

  Gaddafi, Colonel, and the IRA, 151

  Gieves & Hawkes, Savile Row, explosion at, 132–3

  Girdwood Park Barracks, Belfast, 104, 113

  Glasgow, IRA safe house, 173

  Goad, Maureen, 156

  Goad, Roger, 82, 129, 135–6, 139, 153–6, 164, 169

  Grand Hotel, bomb at, 171–3, 175

  Great Scotland Yard car bomb explosion, 146

  Greek Embassy bomb, 81, 91–4

  Gurney, Sheridan, 216

  Gurney, Timothy, 82, 216

  Gurney, Vivienne, 82, 216

  Hamilton-Fairey, Gordon, murder of, 169

  Hammersmith Broadway bomb alert, 136–7

  Harrods, bomb explosion, 210–12, 214

  IRA incendiary device at, 147

  Harvey Nichols, IRA incendiary device at, 147

  Haydar, Dr, Syrian Ambassador, 181

  Heathrow Airport, 99–100, 178

  Henderson, Don, 129

  Hilton Hotel, IRA murder at, 169

  Hindawi, Nezar Nawaf Mansour, 176–85

  hoaxes, bomb, 84, 100, 105, 150, 157, 213, 218

  Horse Guards Parade, 3, 6–7

  Horsham, Surrey charitable association, attack on, 160

  Howorth, Anne, 204–5

  Howorth, Ken, 82, 129, 133–5, 139, 164, 188, 194–206

  Howorth, Steven, 204

  Howorth, Sue, 204

  Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD), 86–7, 106, 108, 110–11, 130–1

  incendiary devices, 107, 147–8, 169, 213

  IRA (Irish Republican Army)

  bomb attacks (see also names of individual incidents and locations), 126–7

  bomb-makers, 65, 165–75

  car-bomb campaign, 104, 106–12, 139–47, 165, 214

  ‘coded calls’ system, 150

  and hoax calls, 213

  incendiary device campaigns, 107, 147–8, 169, 213

  letter-bomb campaign, 137–8, 152–3

  in London, 140–56, 173–5, 191–202, 213–14

  propaganda, and the media, 151

  seaside resorts bombing campaign, 173–4

  shootings, 121–3, 213

  strategies and tactics, 204, 213

  Israeli Bomb Squad, 130

  Iranian Embassy siege, 186–90

  Kensington Church Street, IRA murder at, 153–6, 164, 169

  Korean jet, bombing of, 186

  Lascelles, Thomas David, 161–2

  letter bombs, 137, 152–3

  Liberty, IRA incendiary device at, 147

  Libya, 65–80

  Colonel Gaddafi and the IRA, 151

  terrorist training centres, 170

  Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Peoples’ Bureau of the Socialist People’s, 188

  Lloyd, Robert Anthony, murder of, 169

  Lockerbie bomb, 151, 185

  London

  IRA and, 140–56, 173–5, 213–14

  Long Kesh Internment Centre, 170

  McDonnell, Gerald, IRA terrorist, 173, 175

  McWhirter, Ross, murder of, 169

  Magee, Patrick Joseph, IRA terrorist, 170–5

  Maidenhead Police Station, 165, 167

  Major, Prime Minister John, 1–8

  Malatya city parcel bomb, 162–3

  Manning, PC Damian, 193

  Markov, Georgi, murder of, 169

  Mars-Jones, Mr Justice, 182

  Matthews, John and Sheila, 167–8

  Maudling, Reginald, 152–3

  Memo-Park Timer, 94, 199

  methyl nitrate, 185–6

  Metropolitan Police

  Anti-Terrorist Branch of the 133, 181, 200

  Explosive Office, 87–8, 128–39, 186–90, 207–9

  Miller, Peter, 109–10

  Military Vehicles Experimental Establishment (MVEE), 109

  Mines Anti-Tank, 59–62, 67–9

  Moro, Aldo, murder of, 169

  mortar attack on Downing Street, 1–8

  munitions clearance, 43–52, 63, 65–9

  Murphy, Ann, 175–85

  NAAFI, 19, 27, 78

  National Service, 29–55

  Nelson’s Pillar, Dublin, bomb, 85

  Netheravon, Wiltshire, 10–21

  New Addington Police Station parcel bomb, 157–9, 161–2

  New Scotland Yard, 3, 140–7

  Nite Bite Snack Bar, bombing of the, 119–20

  Northern Ireland (see also Belfast), 85–6, 103–27

  O’Connell, Martin Joseph, IRA terrorist, 168

  O’Dwyer, Ella, IRA terrorist, 173, 175

  Old Bailey, 146, 169, 182–3

  Oxford Street bombs, IRA and, 191–202

  Paddington Green Police Station, bomb attack on, 94–6

  Palestinian terrorists, 94

  Pan Am jumbo, alleged radio bomb on, 185

  Parsons Barracks, Aldershot, 29–30

  PE4 (Plastic Explosive 4), 151–2

  protective clothing, bomb disposal, 88–9, 116, 132–3

  public and IRA bombing campaign, London, 142–3, 149–50

  QE2 bomb-threat hoax, 100

  Queen’s
Picture Gallery, Buckingham Palace, 173

  RAF, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, 100–3

  Red Brigade murders, 169

  Reilly, Detective Constable, 160–1

  Reubens Hotel, bomb at, 173–5

  Reuters News Agency, 193

  Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), 27–8, 42, 113

  Royal Engineers, 188

  Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, 181

  Royal Hampshire Regiment, the, 15

  Royal Marines, Commando Group of, 113

  Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), 106, 173

  ScanRay equipment trials, Swedish, 96–8

  Scotts restaurant, IRA murder at, 169

  seaside resorts, IRA bombing campaign on, 173–4

  secondary devices (see also booby traps), 90, 119

  Semtex (plastic explosive), 151–2, 178, 180, 183, 214

  Severn Bridge bomb hoax, 84

  Sheldrake, John, 82

  Sherry, Peter, IRA terrorist, 173, 175

  sniffer dogs, 168, 200

  Special Boat Service personnel, 102–3

  Special Patrol Group (SPG), 140–1

  Staples corner, IRA bomb explosion at, 213–14

  Stephenson, Detective Inspector, 160

  Sunday Times, 37

  Swan & Edgar, IRA incendiary device at, 147

  Suez Canal, 58, 61–2, 69–70

  Syria, 181–2

  Thatcher, Mrs Margaret (now Baroness), 3, 171–3, 175

  timers, 93–4, 106–7, 116, 170, 173, 180–2, 199

  Times, The, 36–7

  TNT, 63–4, 68

  Treasury Green, 3

  Turkey, 162–4

  Ulster Defence Regiment, 113

  Wallace, PC David, 192–3

  Walton’s Restaurant, IRA murder at, 169

  Wehrmacht ammunition, 51, 53–4

  Welsh extremists campaign, 83–5

  Wiggins, Frank, 56–9, 62

  Wilson, Ronnie, 129

  Wimpy Bar bomb, 191–202

  Winner, Michael, 188

  Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS), 77–8

  X-ray machines and bomb disposal, 91, 96–8, 133, 185

  Yardley, Colonel Alan, 103

  Yemen, murder of President of North, 169

  Acknowledgements

  The author wishes to express his thanks to: Howard Reynolds, without whom this book would not have been written; my wife, Sheridan, who, despite my denials, insisted my life was of interest to others; Sir David Nicholas, Terry Spooner and the Press Association for their immeasurable assistance; Val Hudson and Karen Whitlock at HarperCollins, and Don Short, who not only believed I had a book, but proved it.

  About the Author

  PETER GURNEY was head of the Explosives Section of the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch until he retired in December 1991. He has two children and lives with his wife in south-east England.

  About the Publisher

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