PIRA kills five people with bombs in Guildford

This clip contains scenes of the aftermath of the bombs; interviews with two women who were in the vicinity; an interview with Sir David Howell, Conservative MP for Guildford, and an account by a Scots Guard who survived the bombing of the Horse and Groom.

The first to describe what they saw are two women, one middle-aged and the other young.

Sir David Howell, who had been Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office in 1972-3 and was the Conservative MP for Guildford at the time of the bombings, was also on the scene. He was horrified and sickened by what he had seen and said the culprits would have to be hunted down.

After the night time scenes of wreckage the report switches to a daytime view of the Horse and Groom – exterior and interior.

A member of the Scots Guards then talks to the reporter from his hospital bed – he describes being blown through the window of the Horse and Groom and hitting his head on the ground outside. Three of his friends were between the soldier and the bomb; they shielded him from the blast. Two of them died - William Forsyth (18) and John Hunter (17). “My mates who were sittin’ closer to it shielded me.”

CONTEXT
On 5 October 1974 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) targeted Guildford, Surrey, because it was situated close to a number of garrison towns. The PIRA planted two six-pound gelignite bombs in two pubs. The first exploded just before 9.00pm in the Horse and Groom, destroying the front of the building and shattering the windows of neighbouring shops.

It killed Paul Craig, a plasterer (22 years old); two members of the Scots Guards, William Forsyth (18) and John Hunter (17); and two members of the Women’s Royal Army Corps, Caroline Jean Slater (18) and Ann Ray Hamilton (19). A further sixty-five persons were wounded.

After the first explosion, other public houses were evacuated, including the Seven Stars where the second bomb exploded at approximately 9.35 p.m. without causing any serious injuries.

TECHNICAL NOTE: PICTURE DISAPPEARS 30” BEFORE THE END

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