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IRA terror on Britain's streets 1939-1940

Kirby, Dick2021

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Summary

It is little known today that, in January 1939, the IRA launched a bombing campaign on mainland England. With cynical self-justification, they announced that it was not their intention to harm human life but in just over a year, 265 explosive devices resulted in the deaths of seven innocent people, with 117 injuries and widespread devastation. London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and many other towns and cities were targeted. On 25 August 1939, detectives in London defused three devices set to detonate that afternoon and arrested four terrorists. At the same time an identical bomb exploded in Coventry city centre killing five civilians and injuring 72, the highest body count of the campaign. Numerous arrests were made but ill-trained personnel and additional national security resulting from the threat of Nazi invasion caused the campaign to falter and fade away in early 1940.