IRA Bombing Victims Remembered 48 Years On

Members of the community and military personnel have attended a service to remember those who lost their lives 48 years ago when the Official Irish Republican Army (Official IRA) bombed the 16th Parachute Brigade officers' mess. 

The bombing was the first attack on mainland Britain during the Northern Ireland troubles and killed seven people, injuring 19 more.

On 22 February 1972, the British Army’s 16th Parachute Brigade Headquarters in Montgomery Lines, Aldershot, was attacked by the Official IRA. 

Operatives from the Official IRA parked a 1971 light blue Ford Cortina containing a 280-pound time bomb outside the officer's mess which exploded at 12:40 pm.

This was the first major action against the British Army on English soil in retaliation for Bloody Sunday which saw 13 people die after troops opened fire on civil rights demonstrators, with another victim dying in hospital.

The huge explosion ripped through the mess, demolishing sections of the building, killing seven and injuring 19.

Soldiers were the intended targets but were not present as the regiment was stationed abroad and most staff officers were in their offices rather than the mess.

Those who lost their lives were British Army officer, Captain Gerry Weston, a Roman Catholic Chaplain who had recently returned from service in Ulster, gardener John Hasler and five female cleaners: Mary Bosley, Jill Mansfield, Joan Lunn, Sheri Munton and Margaret Grant.

There is now a memorial stone by the site of the explosion and although the land where the barracks once lay has been bought by developers and new homes are being built, there will be a memorial garden to the victims as part of the housing development.