FRIDAY 13TH, UNLUCKY FOR BOURNEMOUTH
Everybody has heard of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Irish parliamentary organisation who were renowned for their acts of terrorism throughout Ireland and Britain between 1939 and 1998. But not everyone knows about their attack on Bournemouth in August 1993 in which 4 shops were set ablaze and the pier was nearly destroyed.
7 bombs were placed around Bournemouth town centre, 5 of which were incendiary devices that were detonated between 3 and 4:30 am on Friday 13th of August. The final 2 were explosive devices, one which caused serious damage to the pier and the other larger one that thankfully failed to detonate under the pier theatre.
Most of the damage was suffered at Maples & Co Furniture store on St Peters Road where 2 firebombs went off in its basement. The following week the store reopened, still bearing the scars of the fire for a clearance sale. Unfortunately, the store could not recover from this fatal blow and went into liquidation just 4 years later.
2 more devices were placed in Tracks clothing store and Waterstone’s book shop within the Bournemouth shopping arcade that links Old Christchurch Road and Gervis Place. With the rich history that this arcade has, dating back to 1866 it is a blessing that more damage was not done to this incredible structure.
The IRA often targeted stores that sold fabric or paper goods so that it was much easier to start a fire once the incendiary devices had detonated. It is believed that such devices were put in place to take the attention of the fire services away from their main target, the pier.
Renate’s clothing store, located inside The Avenue shopping centre on Commercial Road was also hit by a firebomb.
At roughly 4:30 am the final bomb, this time an explosive, went off among a group of deckchairs on the pier and caused a lot of damage to its west side. Later that morning a second bomb was recovered from under the theatre, a larger device that if detonated is likely to have destroyed the pier altogether. The IRA later confirmed that it was only due to a technical fault that this second device did not detonate.
Whilst 800 people were enjoying Marc Camoletti’s “Don’t Dress For Dinner,” the cast, the crew and the audience had no idea of the bomb that was placed just a few feet beneath them.
After the incident, the cast would often joke about their “explosive” performance that night
After the attack, Dorset Police and Scotland Yard worked tirelessly to find out who was at fault for the incident, but despite hours of video footage and appeals to the public in the search for people of interest, no individual culprits were ever caught.
BOURNEMOUTH FAR FROM ALONE ON THE SOUTH COAST
This attack on Bournemouth is not an isolated incident, although the IRA primarily targeted major cities such as London and Manchester, Dorset police believed that these events that occurred in Bournemouth were meant to be part of a larger campaign against seaside towns that were previously foiled in June 1985. On the day of the Bournemouth attack, police in Brighton evacuated the Palace Pier as well as their local branches of both Maples and Waterstones.
Brighton has by far suffered the worst of the IRA attacks on south coast seaside towns. The 12th of October 1984 saw the devastating destruction of part of The Grand Hotel on Brighton seafront during a Conservative Party Conference, aimed at the assassination of then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Although Mrs. Thatcher escaped unharmed, 5 people were killed and 31 were injured.
On the 13 of August 1994, exactly a year after Bournemouth, a semtex device was again found in Brighton but was dealt with in a controlled explosion. However, another bomb that was attached to a bicycle left outside Woolworths in Bognor Regis did explode as the IRA planned and damaged 15 shops, thankfully nobody was injured.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The impact of the IRA bombings in Bournemouth has had a varied effect on the public, here are just a few that shared their experiences of the incident:
If there is one thing to be admired in the aftermath of these attacks on the south coast, it is the courage of the shop owners and the public. To echo the words of Mrs. Thatcher that “life must go on,” making the attacks not a haunting fear but a distant memory.
FURTHUR INFORMATION:
BBC News Coverage of Brighton bombing 1984
How the Brighton bombing 30 years ago portended peace
11 things you might not know about Bournemouth and Boscombe piers
All photographs courtesy of D. Perriton
Special thank you to “Bournemouth History” group on Facebook