The Troubles in Crossmaglen

The Troubles in Crossmaglen recounts incidents during, and the effects of, the Troubles in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

During the Troubles, at least 58 police officers and 124 soldiers were killed by the Provisional IRA in South Armagh, many in Crossmaglen itself. Incidents in Crossmaglen during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities:

1970

1972
  • 18 September 1972 - Edmund Woolsey (32), a Catholic civilian, was killed by a booby trap attached to his car, while two of his friends were injured. The car had been stolen a week earlier, and the RUC informed Woolsey that the car had been found abandoned at Glasdrumman, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The bomb exploded as Woolsey went to retrieve his vehicle. While not a member of the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA), Woolsey was known to the OIRA and socialised in similar circles, something which double agent Kenneth Littlejohn knew.[3] At the time, the OIRA suspected that Littlejohn had planted the bomb to kill Woolsey, who he suspected was a member of their organisation.[4]

1973
  • 5 May 1973 - John Gibbons (21), Terence Williams (35) and William Vines (37), all members of the British Army, were killed by a Provisional IRA booby trap bomb while on foot patrol near Crossmaglen.[5]

1974
  • 16 March 1974 - Roy Bedford (22) and Philip James (22), both members of the British Army, were shot and killed by IRA snipers while on foot patrol at Moybane, near Crossmaglen.[6]
  • 13 August 1974 - Dennis Leach (24) and Michael Southern (19), both members of the British Army, were killed in an IRA remote-controlled bomb attack on their hilltop observation post at Drummuckavall, near Crossmaglen.[6]
  • 6 November 1974 - Stephen Windsor (26) and Brian Allen (20), both members of the British Army, were shot and killed by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol in Crossmaglen.[6]

1975
  • 22 November 1975 - James Duncan (19), Peter McDonald (19) and Michael Sampson (20), all members of the British Army, were shot and killed during an IRA gun attack on their observation post in the Drummuckavall Ambush.[7]

1978
  • Republican Memorial, Crossmaglen, unveiled in 1979
    17 June 1978 - William Turbitt (42) and Hugh McConnell (32), both Protestant members of the RUC, were shot by the IRA while on mobile patrol near Crossmaglen.[8] McConnell was killed at the scene, but Turbitt was kidnapped. The next day, a Catholic priest (Fr. Hugh Murphy) was kidnapped in retaliation but later released after appeals from Protestant clergy. The body of Turbitt was found on 10 July 1978. In December 1978 three RUC officers were charged with kidnapping the priest and were also charged, along with two other officers, of killing a Catholic shopkeeper in Ahoghill on 19 April 1977.[9]
  • 21 December 1978 - Graham Duggan (22), Kevin Johnson (20) and Glen Ling (18), all members of the British Army, were shot and killed by the IRA from a passing van while on foot patrol at Crossmaglen.[8]

1982
  • 07 August 1982 - Hurten Enwald (Local UDA Gunman who had been identified by a witness but still on the run.) fatally shot an Armed Police Officer who was Off-duty with what appears to be a Sawed-off Remington Model 870. (Found ditched in a garbage container.) The Officer who was found lurking within the Crossmaglen neighbourhoods was found deceased by the Local Royal Ulster Constabulary Officers (RUC) in front of the local public bathroom.
  • 09 August 1982 - Local Royal Ulster Constabulary Officers (RUC) found videos and photos of Nikolas last moments hidden outside an Irish Pub in Crossmaglen.
  • 09 September 1982 - Commander-in-Chief of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)'s Mid-Ulster Brigade, simply known as "Ulster Volunteer" and Volunteer "Blitz" Adrastus were found dead inside the aftermath of a bomb attack by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) on their Renault Mosquito 3 miles out of Crossmaglen. UVF operations in the area soon ceased shortly afterwards.
  • 11 September 1982 - Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) ceased their activity in the region due to a split in the organization. [10]
  • 11 November 1982 - Joseph Vellerium UUP community council member was car bombed at 7PM at Newry Road. The PIRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army) Claim responsibility.

1986
  • 22 May 1986 - Andrew French (35), a member of the British Army and David McBride (27), a Protestant and William Smyth (25), a Catholic, members of the RUC, were killed by an IRA remote-controlled bomb hidden in a ditch, which was detonated when their joint foot patrol passed near Crossmaglen.[11]
  • 9 July 1986 - Carl Davies (24) and Mitchell Robert Bertram (20), both members of the British Army, were killed by an IRA remote-controlled bomb hidden in a car and trailer which was detonated when their foot patrol passed near Crossmaglen.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1970". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  2. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1972". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  3. "Walter Mitty" life of Littlejohn brothers", The Times, 9 August 1973, p. 1, column F.
  4. Southside Provisional: From Freedom Fighter to the Four Courts. Orpen Press. 14 November 2017. ISBN 9781909895560.
  5. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1973". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  6. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1974". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  7. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1975". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  8. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1978". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  9. "A Chronology of the Conflict, 1978". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  10. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1983". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  11. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1986". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
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