| Altnaveigh landmine attack | |
|---|---|
| Part ofthe Troubles andOperation Banner | |
  | |
| Location | 54°31′42″N7°12′39″W / 54.52833°N 7.21083°W /54.52833; -7.21083 Chancellors Road, Altnaveigh,County Armagh,Northern Ireland |
| Date | 19 May 1981 |
| Target | British Army soldiers |
Attack type | Land mine |
| Deaths | 5 |
| Perpetrator | Provisional IRA |
In theAltnaveigh landmine attack of 19 May 1981, fiveBritish soldiers were killed and their armoured vehicle destroyed by aProvisional IRA landmine at Altnaveigh, a rural area outsideNewry inCounty Armagh,Northern Ireland. The landmine was detonated remotely when the vehicle passed over it. The attack happened during a period of heightened tension over the1981 Irish hunger strike.
Since 1970, the IRA had beenwaging 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 theRepublic of Ireland. The IRA'sSouth Armagh Brigade regularly launched attacks on British Army andRoyal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) patrols. In April 1979, four RUC officers were killed and their armoured vehicle destroyed by a roadside bomb inBessbrook.[1] Later that year, 18 British soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in theWarrenpoint ambush,[2] the deadliest attack on British troops during the conflict.[3]
In March 1981, IRA prisoners begana hunger strike in a bid to havepolitical status reinstated. One of the hunger strikers,Raymond McCreesh, was fromCamlough in south County Armagh, the attack occurred two days before McCreesh died on the strike on the 21 May 1981.[4] There were mass protests and an increase in IRA activity during the strike.[4]
On 19 May, two British ArmySaracen armoured vehicles were travelling along Chancellors Road[5] in the rural area of Altnaveigh,[4] west ofNewry. The IRA had planted a 1,000-pound (450 kg) landmine in a culvert underneath the road.[4] When the second vehicle passed the spot, the landmine was detonated by radio remote control.[5] The blast destroyed the vehicle, hurled its wrecked engine over the nearby Belfast–Dublin railway line, and left a large crater in the road.[5]
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).[5] All belonged to theRoyal Green Jackets, except driver Paul Bulman of theRoyal Corps of Transport.[5] It was the deadliest attack on the British Army since the Warrenpoint ambush.[4]
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.[4]
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".[4] 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.[5]
