Attack on Cloghoge checkpoint

Attack on the Romeo One Five PVCP at Cloghoge
Part of The Troubles and Operation Banner
Access to a British Army checkpoint near Newry, late 1980s
Date 1 May 1992 Location north of Cloghoge (near Newry), County Armagh, Northern Ireland Result British checkpoint complex destroyed
Belligerents
Provisional IRA	British Army
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	1st Lt. Andrew Rawding[1]
Strength
2 active service units	At least 24 soldiers
Casualties and losses
None	1 dead 23 wounded

The Troubles Timeline – Directory Ireland Battle of the Bogside – August 1969 riots – Battle of St Matthew's – Falls Curfew – Scottish soldiers' killings – Operation Demetrius – Ballymurphy massacre – McGurk's bombing – Bloody Sunday – Abercorn bombing – Springhill massacre – Bloody Friday – Operation Motorman – Claudy bombing – Four Square Laundry – Ulster Workers' Council strike – Dublin & Monaghan bombings – Miami Showband killings – Bayardo Bar attack – Drummuckavall ambush – Reavey & O'Dowd killings – Kingsmill massacre – Flagstaff incident – Chlorane Bar attack – Jonesborough Gazelle shootdown – La Mon bombing – Warrenpoint ambush – Dunmurry explosion – Nellie M attack – Hunger strike – Glasdrumman ambush – St Bedan attack – Ballykelly bombing – Maze Prison escape – Newry barracks – Ballygawley barracks – Loughgall ambush – Enniskillen bombing – Milltown Cemetery attack – Corporals killings – Ballygawley bus bomb – 1989 Jonesborough ambush – Derryard checkpoint – Derrygorry Gazelle shootdown – Operation Conservation – RFA Fort Victoria – Proxy bomb attacks – 1991 Cappagh killings – Glenanne barracks – Coagh ambush – Clonoe ambush – Cloghoge checkpoint – Coalisland riots – South Armagh sniper campaign – 1993 Castlerock killings – 1993 Shankill bombing – Greysteel massacre – Crossmaglen Lynx shootdown – Loughinisland massacre – Drumcree conflict – 1997 Coalisland attack – July 1997 riots – Omagh bombing England Aldershot bombing – M62 coach bombing – Guildford bombings – Birmingham bombings – Marylebone siege – Hyde & Regent's Park bombings – Harrods bombing – Brighton bombing – Deal bombing – Downing Street attack – Warrington bombings – Bishopsgate bombing – Docklands bombing – Manchester bombing Elsewhere Operation Flavius, Gibraltar 1988 – Osnabrück barracks 1996

The attack on Cloghoge checkpoint was an unconventional bomb attack carried out on 1 May 1992 by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) against a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint (PVCP-R15).^[2] The IRA's South Armagh Brigade fitted a van with wheels that allowed it to move along a railway line. A large bomb was placed inside the van, which was then driven along the railway line to the target. The compound, just north of the village of Cloghoge in County Armagh, was wrecked by the explosion.

Contents 1 The attack 2 Aftermath 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading

The attack

During the late hours of 30 April, a group of four Provisional IRA members held a family hostage in Killean and stole a mechanical excavator. This heavy vehicle was to be used to build a makeshift ramp aimed at the Dublin–Belfast railway line which drew parallel to the Belfast-Dublin motorway (M1). At the same time, other IRA members stole a Renault Master^[1] van in Dundalk, which was then loaded with 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) of semtex. The van was equipped with wheels fitted to run on the rails. The excavator, moving along the ramp, lifted the van onto the railway, which was then driven to a hill some 800 metres north, where a mile-long wire attached to a triggering device was added to the van. Meanwhile, IRA members in support set up roadblocks on both sides of the border to prevent people from approaching the area.^[3] The IRA unit who set up a bogus checkpoint in the Republic wore Garda Síochána uniforms.^[2]

Around 2:00 AM, the vehicle was clamped into first gear and directed at R15 checkpoint, a permanent vehicle checkpoint on M1 motorway, alongside the railway.^[4] A British Army patrol from the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers heard the noise of a 'train' and spotted the improbable van on the rails heading towards the checkpoint, which was alerted immediately. The sentry at R15, Fusilier Andrew Grundy, spotted the incoming threat and alerted the other soldiers in the checkpoint, who were able to take shelter from the bomb. Grundy tried to disable the device with gunfire, to no avail.^[1] Meanwhile an IRA member, from the high terrain south of the position, waited for the van to reach its target. He would then radioed the men at the end of the wire to set off the bomb. At 2:05, the explosive went off, demolishing the checkpoint. Fusilier Grundy was killed almost instantly,^[3] while 23 troops were injured.^[2] The rest of the soldiers, all inside a reinforced concrete facility, survived despite the massive blast.^[3]

Aftermath

Fusilier G. A. Colman was awarded a GOC commendation for his role in the rescue of the body of Fusilier Grundy and the wounded soldiers.^[1]

The official report about this incident stated: "This was a well-planned and well-executed attack indicative of the imaginative, innovative and capable nature of South Armagh PIRA."^[5]

The checkpoint was never re-opened. Another smaller PVCP was built a few miles to the west; the new checkpoint cost ₤7 million, only to be removed by 1998, after the Good Friday Agreement.^[6]

See also

• Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1990-1999)
• Attack on Derryard checkpoint
• Glenanne barracks bombing
• Drummuckavall Ambush
• Proxy bomb

References

Further reading

• Dunstan, Simon (2002). For England and St. George: A History of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Helion & Company Limited. ISBN 0954006704
• Harnden, Toby (2000). Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh. Coronet Books, London. ISBN 0340717378

The Troubles History of Ireland · History of Northern Ireland · History of the United Kingdom · Irish nationalism · Irish republicanism · Irish unionism · Ulster loyalism Participants in the Troubles Chronology Political Parties Republican paramilitaries Security forces of the United Kingdom Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Loyalist paramilitaries • Provisional IRA • Official IRA • Irish National Liberation Army • Continuity IRA • Real IRA • IPLO • British Army • Royal Air Force • Royal Navy • Ulster Defence Regiment • Royal Irish Regiment • Royal Ulster Constabulary • Ulster Special Constabulary • Garda Síochána • Irish Army • Ulster Defence Association • Ulster Volunteer Force • Loyalist Volunteer Force • Red Hand Commandos • Young Citizen Volunteers • Ulster Young Militants • Ulster Resistance • UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade Linked to • Some RUC and British Army members • Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association formed (1967) • Battle of the Bogside (1969) • Riots across Northern Ireland (1969) • Beginning of Operation Banner (1969) • Social Democratic and Labour Party formed (1970) • Internment without trial begins with Operation Demetrius (1971) • Bloody Sunday by British Army (1972) • Northern Ireland government dissolved. Direct rule from London begins (1972) • Bloody Friday by Provisional IRA (1972) • Power sharing Northern Ireland Assembly set up with SDLP and Ulster Unionist Party in power (1973) • Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape. Three Provisional IRA prisoners escape from Mountjoy Prison by helicopter (1973) • Ulster Workers' Council strike causes power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly to end (1974) • Dublin and Monaghan bombings by UVF with alleged British Army assistance (1974) • Kingsmill massacre by South Armagh Republican Action Force (1976) • Warrenpoint Ambush by Provisional IRA (1979) • 1981 Irish hunger strike by Provisional IRA and INLA members (1981) • Hunger striker Bobby Sands elected MP. Marks turning point as Sinn Féin begins to move towards electoral politics (1981) • Maze Prison escape. 38 Provisional IRA prisoners escape from H-Block 7 of HM Prison Maze (1983) • Brighton hotel bombing by Provisional IRA (1984) • Anglo-Irish Agreement between British and Irish governments (1985) • Remembrance Day bombing by Provisional IRA (1987) • Peace Process begins (1988) • Operation Flavius, Milltown Cemetery attack and Corporals killings (1988) • Bishopsgate bombing (1993) • Downing Street Declaration (1993) • First Provisional IRA ceasefire (1994) • Loyalist ceasefire (1994) • Docklands bombing (1996) • 1996 Manchester bombing (1996) • Second Provisional IRA ceasefire (1997) • Good Friday Agreement (1998) signals the end of the Troubles • Assembly elections held, with SDLP and UUP winning most seats (1998) • Omagh bombing by dissident Real IRA (1998) • Unionist parties: • Democratic Unionist Party • Northern Ireland Unionist Party • Ulster Unionist Party • Progressive Unionist Party • Conservative Party • UK Unionist Party • Traditional Unionist Voice • Nationalist parties: • Democratic Left • Fianna Fáil • Fine Gael • Labour Party • Progressive Democrats • Sinn Féin • Social Democratic & Labour Party • Workers' Party of Ireland • Irish Republican Socialist Party • Republican Sinn Féin • Cross-community parties: • Alliance Party • Historically important parties: • Nationalist Party • Northern Ireland Labour Party • Protestant Unionist Party • Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party • Northern Ireland Women's Coalition • People's Democracy • Republican Labour Party • Anti H-Block • Irish Independence Party  The Troubles at Wiktionary ·  The Troubles at Wikibooks ·  The Troubles at Wikiquote ·  The Troubles at Wikisource ·  The Troubles at Commons ·  The Troubles at Wikinews