ON THIS DAY IN 1976, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead a part-time British Army officer at his civilian place of work.  Lieutenant Joseph Wilson had worked at the same Protestant supermarket in the town of Armagh for 20 years and had survived a previous attempt to kill him there.  On the day of the murder a young man entered the store and joined the queue for Lt Wilson's meat counter.  He asked the UDR man for some salami, but as the lieutenant turned around the man shot him three times in the back.  Lt Wilson collapsed and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.  The gunman fled the scene and escaped in a Hillman Avenger that had been hijacked earlier.

13 months prior to his murder, Lt Wilson had got into his car after finishing a shift when a gunman approached and fired a revolver into his windscreen.  He escaped that day, but a newspaper report following his death described him as a 'marked man'.  Earlier in the Troubles he testified in court against several Official IRA members, who were subsequently jailed for a theft from his home.

Lieutenant Joseph Wilson of 2 UDR

Lt Wilson was 53 and served in 2nd Battalion the Ulster Defence Regiment, based in Armagh.  He came from Lisdown, just outside the town, and was survived by his wife and nine children.  He was buried with full military honours at Knappagh Presbyterian Church.  The following year his UDR company unveiled a plaque inside the church in his memory.  In 1984 Lt Wilson's son-in-law was murdered by the IRA in a bomb attack.

ON THIS DAY IN 2003, CORBYN'S MATES...

An unidentified Palestinian group killed three Americans in a bomb attack in the Gaza Strip.  The men were travelling in a vehicle convoy carrying US diplomats, consisting of three armour-plated jeeps and a Palestinian police escort.  It was three miles inside the Gaza Strip when just after 10am a huge explosion struck the middle vehicle.  Witnesses described how the vehicle was blown into the air and landed upside down with debris and body parts spread over a large area.  The engine and front axle were torn off and one of the bodies ended up 40 feet away.  The bomb, which had been buried in the dirt road, left a crater approximately 15 feet wide.  A command wire reportedly led from the road to an abandoned building 200 feet away.

No-one claimed responsibility for the attack.  Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad released statements denying involvement, fearing that it would alienate support for their cause.  The diplomatic mission had been on its way to Gaza City to interview applicants for scholarships in the US.  The three fatalities were all security personnel and were travelling in the same jeep as one of the diplomats.  Miraculously the diplomat survived and was initially treated at a Palestinian hospital before being transferred to an Israeli hospital.

Following the explosion American investigators arrived at the scene.  The bombing had occurred near a Palestinian refugee camp and groups of youngsters gathered and pelted the Americans with stones and the chanted "Allahu akbar" (God is great).  Palestinian police pushed the mob back, but ultimately the investigators had to withdraw after hurriedly retrieving the bodies.

Palestinian investigators at the scene, the wrecked jeep can be seen
in the background

The three victims were employed by US security contractor DynCorp.  John Branchizio, 37, was a former Navy SEAL from San Antonio, Texas.  A divorcee, he was survived by his eight-year-old son.  John Linde, 30, was a former US Marine from Washington, Missouri.  He was survived by his wife.  The third victim was 31-year-old New Yorker Mark Parson.

ON THIS DAY IN 1978, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead a pensioner on the outskirts of Newry.  The 74-year-old was travelling in a car driven by his son-in-law when they were ambushed on Quay Street.  Shots were fired by at least three gunmen, but despite both men having been struck the driver continued.  The son-in-law intended to drive directly to Daisy Hill Hospital on the other side of town, but the car broke down at the junction of River Street and William Street.  The terrorists pursued the car and further shots were fired before the gunmen fled in a Ford Cortina.

Around 25 rounds were fired during the attack.  Joseph Skelly was hit in the head and back and died two hours later in hospital.  His 53-year-old son-in-law was hit in the back and remained seriously ill in hospital, but survived.  A van driver was also injured during the shooting when one of the bullets hit his vehicle and showered him in broken glass.  Two female pedestrians were treated for shock.

Mr Skelly was in a business partnership with his son-in-law and he regularly helped out at their brass lamp manufacturers on Greenbank Industrial Estate.  They had been at work on the day of the attack and were on their way home for lunch when it happened.  Mr Skelly, a father of three, lived with his daughter and son-in-law following the death of his wife.  His son-in-law was a former RUC reservist, but the attack was described as sectarian in nature.  The murder was the fourth in Newry over an 18-month period, all of which were of prominent Protestants in the largely Catholic border town.  The murders were seen as an attempt to drive out the minority Protestant population.

Joseph Skelly

A 22-year-old man from the Irish Republic was later convicted of three of the Newry murders, including that of Joseph Skelly.  As he was led from the dock he shouted "Up the Provos".

ON THIS DAY IN 1990, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA tried to kill a former governor of Gibraltar in a revenge attack.  Two years earlier an SAS operation took place on the island in which three IRA terrorists were shot dead.  The Governor who authorised Operation Flavius was Sir Peter Terry.  After the inquest ruled that the SAS had acted lawfully in killing the unarmed terrorists, Sir Peter told reporters: "Even in this remote place, there is no place for terrorists".  His tenure came to an end in 1989 and he retired with his family back to his native England where they settled in the Staffordshire village of Milford.  Sir Peter was at home when the IRA came calling.

At around 9pm he was sitting in a downstairs armchair when a gunman crept up to a rear window and fired around 20 shots in his direction.  He was struck at least nine times, but miraculously survived, albeit with serious injuries.  His wife, who was in another room, was hit by a stray bullet that penetrated an interior wall.  The couple's daughter was treated for shock.

Sir Peter's injuries were so severe that doctors could not clearly ascertain precisely how many times he had been shot.  Two bullets were lodged millimetres from his brain and his jawbone was shattered by another.  He was also hit in his right side and left leg.  Surgeons said it was a miracle that none of his major organs were struck.

The 63-year-old endured months of reconstructive plastic surgery to rebuild his face and numerous bullet fragments would remain lodged in his body for the rest of his life.  He died in 2017 at the age of 91.  Before he became Governor of Gibraltar he had a distinguished 38 year career in the Royal Air Force and rose through the ranks to become Air Chief Marshal, one of the most senior officers in the RAF.

Sir Peter Terry and his wife pictured before the attack

The deadly SAS operation that had been authorised by Sir Peter Terry set off a chain of events which resulted in a further five deaths.  The joint funeral for those killed on Gibraltar was attacked by a loyalist gunman who killed three mourners.  At the funeral of one of those mourners two British soldiers who strayed into the procession were abducted and shot dead by the IRA.

ON THIS DAY IN 1971, CORBYN'S MATES...

The IRA shot dead three British soldiers in separate attacks across Northern Ireland.  A Royal Artillery sergeant was murdered in Londonderry, a member of the Queen's Regiment was murdered in Belfast and a member of the Light Infantry was murdered near Dungannon in County Tyrone.  All three soldiers were young men in their early twenties and from the mainland.

Sgt Martin Carroll was on duty at the Bligh's Lane army post in the Creggan area of Londonderry.  A perimeter fence was being repaired at the time and the army wanted to keep groups of people away while the job was completed.  At one point Sgt Carroll fired CS gas canisters to disperse a large crowd that was gathering.  While he was outside a single shot was fired from the direction of Eastway Gardens.  The sergeant's brother and half-brother were also serving with the army and were both nearby when they heard the shot.  They raced to his aid, but he lost consciousness and died a short time later from a gunshot to the chest.

The Official IRA later claimed responsibility and said it had acted in retaliation for army "brutality to young children on their way to school".  Earlier that day the principal at the local primary school had complained about the use of CS gas and claimed to have witnessed a Saracen being driven at schoolchildren.  A civilian was shot dead by soldiers outside the same post in the early hours of the next morning during disturbances in which two soldiers and two civilians received gunshot wounds.

Sergeant Martin Leonard Carroll, 23, served with the 45th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, and came from Abergynolwyn in north Wales.  His pregnant wife gave birth to their first child four months after his murder.  Speaking about his death some time later, she noted that Sgt Carroll was a Catholic and of Irish descent on his father's side.

An Official IRA gunman pictured in Londonderry's Bogside, 1972

Private Paul Carter was standing guard outside the Royal Victoria Hospital in west Belfast when he was struck by a burst of gunfire.  Pte Carter was guarding colleagues who were in the process of delivering medical supplies to the hospital.  He was struck twice in the chest by shots that appeared to come from the direction of Dunville Park.  The park was often used by IRA gunmen to fire on soldiers as it provided an easy escape route into the rabbit warren of side streets that backed onto the other side of the park.

The immediate aftermath of the attack on Pte Carter was mired in controversy for many years.  At the time it was claimed that no-one helped the soldier as he lay wounded and that some locals had even tried to steal his rifle.  However, the murder was one of many cases reinvestigated by the Historical Enquiries Team, a unit set up by the police in 2005.  In 2012 they concluded that in actual fact two local men had carried Pte Carter into the casualty department despite a second burst of gunfire while doing so.  The young soldier died from his wounds the following day with his family by his side.  The news that he was not merely left to die in the street gave comfort to his surviving family and his sister told reporters that they had been disappointed with the way in which the army had portrayed events.

Private Paul Carter, 21, served with 2nd Battalion, the Queen's Regiment, and came from Brighton.  His mother later campaigned for British troops to be withdrawn from Northern Ireland.

Private Paul Carter

Private John Rudman was killed in an IRA ambush at the village of Edendork, County Tyrone.  Pte Rudman was travelling along the main road in a convoy, having been despatched from Dungannon to investigate disturbances in Coalisland.  As the convoy passed through the village it came under small arms fire from both sides of the road.  The terrorists were armed with shotguns, rifles and a Thompson submachine gun.  Pte Rudman, who was travelling in the back of a truck, was struck in the back of the head.  Two other soldiers were wounded during the attack and a bomb was later found nearby and defused.

Private John Ronald Rudman, 21, served with 2nd Battalion the Light Infantry and came from Hartlepool.  His younger brother was also shot dead by the IRA a year later.  Following the murder of Private Thomas Rudman in north Belfast, a third brother serving in Northern Ireland was sent home and not redeployed to the province.  Their mother later described how she had premonitions about her son's deaths and described the man who shot John as having a scar.  She gave his name as 'Seamus'.  Two men were charged with John's murder, but acquitted.  One of them was Seamus Dillon, an IRA man later convicted of two other murders.  Shortly after he was released from prison in 1997 he was himself shot dead by loyalists.

Scene of the attack looking in the direction of the soldiers' travel

ON THIS DAY IN 1978, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead a police reservist at his home in County Tyrone.  Reserve Constable Howard George Donaghy was working on a bungalow he was having built in preparation for his forthcoming marriage.  The property was going up on land owned by his father in the small village of Loughmacrory near Omagh.  On the day of the attack the reservist was being assisted by his brother and his brother's girlfriend when three armed men arrived and surrounded them.

The attackers were carrying rifles and appeared to know who their target was.  R/Con Donaghy's brother was told not to move while the reservist was shot several times in front of him.  After the gunmen fled, his first instinct was to call their mother, a nurse.  R/Con Donaghy was clinging to life when his mother arrived, but he died in her arms a few minutes later.  The 24-year-old was also a post office engineer and had joined the RUC Reserve four years earlier.  He was due to be married in June the following year.

R/Con Howard Donaghy

ON THIS DAY IN 1989, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA murdered a German woman near Dortmund in West Germany.  The 26-year-old was sitting in a car outside the married quarters of the Unna-Massen British Army base.  She was married to a staff sergeant in the army and the car had UK registration plates.  An IRA gunman disguised as a soldier approached the vehicle and opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle.  Heidi Hazell was struck by more than a dozen bullets and was killed instantly.

A soldier who was nearby heard the gunfire and as he went to investigate saw two men escaping in an old black Capri.  The IRA admitted responsibility for the attack and said its members believed Mrs Hazell to be a member of the British Army.  It did not apologise and merely warned that civilians should “keep well clear of British military personnel”.

Heidi Hazell was born Heidi Schnaars in the West German town of Worpswede.  She had been married to a British soldier for three years.  Two decades on her niece Melanie Anan led a campaign for the murder case to be be reopened.  The original murder investigation was closed in 1993, but was reopened in 2015 in light of new evidence.  Germany is not bound by the Good Friday Agreement and initial inquiries centred on five IRA suspects, one of whom was shot dead by the SAS in 1990.  Dessie Grew was killed alongside a Sinn Fein councillor as they tried to retrieve three rifles from a farm building.

Heidi Hazell and her husband

ON THIS DAY IN 1973, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA launched a co-ordinated attack on the border village of Tullyhommon in County Fermanagh.  Two carloads of terrorists crossed the border from the Republic just after 11am and split into two.  One group went to a garage in order to murder the off-duty soldier who owned it, while the other planted bombs at the village post office and a customs post.

Staff at the garage were forced outside at gunpoint and asked to provide their names.  When the owner gave his name one of the terrorists raised his pistol to shoot him.  However, the part-time UDR man was light on his feet and made a run for it while he dodged bullets from his would-be assassins.  He managed to get to his house, a hundred yards away, and returned fire with his personal protection weapon.  A 13-year-old boy from the Irish Republic, who was at the garage, was struck in the arm during the shoot-out.  The UDR man continued to fire at his assailants as they fled back over the border and said at least one of his bullets struck their vehicle.  This was the second time his business had been targeted, having been bombed earlier in the Troubles.

During the botched garage operation the second group was planting their bombs.  They robbed the post office before leaving a bomb concealed in a plastic bag.  They left another bomb at the temporary customs post before returning to the Republic.  The permanent customs building had been destroyed by an earlier bomb and had been replaced by a caravan.  The whole operation was over within 30 minutes and both groups were safely back across the border, despite the best efforts of the garage owner.

While the IRA failed to kill their intended target, they would still claim a military victim that day.  At around midday the device at the caravan exploded, but no-one was hurt.  The device at the post office failed to detonate and a bomb disposal squad was called.  Staff Sergeant Ronald Beckett of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps was tasked with making the bomb safe.  He examined the device and found that it contained around 20-30lbs of explosive and was connected to a ticking clock.  He attempted to disrupt the device remotely and then entered the building armed with wire cutters in case the bomb was still active.  Around two minutes later the device exploded, gutting the post office and killing S/Sgt Beckett.

Staff Sergeant Ron Beckett

S/Sgt Ron Beckett was 36 and came from Hereford.  He was survived by his wife and two daughters.  He had been present during an IRA bombing a month earlier in which another soldier had been killed, Cpl Bryan Criddle.

ON THIS DAY IN 1973, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead a middle-aged woman near the Irish border.  The gunmen were lying in wait at a rural crossroads near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.  The intended target was reportedly a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment who drove a black Hillman Imp and lived near the junction.  The victim, Rita Meeke, drove a dark blue Hillman.  As she turned into the lane where the soldier lived she came to a halt and a witness described how she then tried to reverse back onto the main road.  However, it was too late and the terrorists opened fire.  Mrs Meeke was killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head and police discovered 61 spent cartridges at the scene.  The witness described how three gunmen had opened fire - one with a machine gun, one with a rifle and one with a handgun.

Mrs Meeke, 53, was an insurance agent.  Her husband Stanley had passed away several months earlier.  The Protestant couple owned a farm together and Mrs Meeke had continued to run it after her husband's death.  Mr Meeke was also a Unionist councillor.  On the day of her murder she had been visiting her brother-in-law who was seriously ill in hospital.  She was on her way home from the hospital when she was murdered.

The UDR soldier who had reportedly been the intended target later appeared at the inquest into Mrs Meeke's death.  He explained how he had driven home that day in a borrowed Mini because his own car had a broken exhaust.  No-one was apprehended for the murder and the IRA neither apologised or acknowledged the attack.

ON THIS DAY IN 1995, CORBYN'S MATES...

Hamas bombed a passenger bus in Jerusalem, killing four people and injuring more than a hundred.  A fifth victim died from his injuries almost ten years later.  The suicide bomber struck as the No.26 pulled up outside a high school in the suburb of Ramat Eshkol.  It was 07:53 and the bus was packed with commuters, including many students and a number of police officers travelling to work.  A police chief superintendent and a US citizen were among the dead.

The wreckage of the Number 26 bus

Little is known about the bomber, except that he was named as 26-year-old Sufian Jabarin.  Some early reports suggested that the bomber was female, but Jabarin was a male recruited by Hamas commander Abed al-Majed Duddin.  Duddin was later killed in a shootout with Israeli forces who were trying to arrest him near Hebron in 2009.  Another Hamas commander thought to have been involved in the bus bombing was Mohammed Deif, currently the supreme commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades - Hamas' paramilitary wing.  He is reportedly still at large, having survived numerous Israeli assassination attempts.

The device used in the No.26 bus attack was built by Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas bombmaker based in the West Bank.  Known as 'the Engineer', Ayyash had constructed bombs used in a string of bombings in the mid-nineties, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Israelis.  He was assassinated by the Israeli security service in January 1996, by way of a booby-trapped mobile phone containing a small explosive device.  Following his death Yasser Arafat praised Ayyash and dubbed him a 'martyr'.  In 2010 it was reported that the Palestinian Authority had named a street after him in Ramallah.

The No.26 suicide bomber was reportedly given all the trappings of a state funeral, complete with a 21-gun salute from Arafat's personal guard.  Jabarin's family were also said to have received a financial reward from the Saudi royal family.

The five fatalities of the Number 26 bombing were as follows:

Noam Aizenman, 35, from Jerusalem, a police chief superintendent

Rivka Cohen, 26, from Jerusalem

Joan Davenny, 46, from Connecticut, an American schoolteacher who was visiting Israel

Hannah Naeh, 56, from Jerusalem

Yonah Peter Malina, 28 (at time of attack), a Swiss national who had emigrated to Israel the previous year.  He was paralysed from the neck down and he spent the rest of his life connected to a respirator.  He died on 30 May 2005, aged 38.

ON THIS DAY IN 1976, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead an elderly garage owner in south Belfast.  Four masked terrorists arrived at Creightons petrol station in Finaghy with two bombs.  Initially they attempted to rob the owner, 77-year-old William Creighton.  Mr Creighton resisted and became involved in a struggle during which he was shot.  Two customers who arrived at the pumps were then held at gunpoint until the bombs had been planted.  After the terrorists fled the customers pulled the wounded Mr Creighton to safety before alerting the police.

Around ten minutes later the bombs exploded.  The area was being cleared by security forces at the time and a police officer and four military police were injured by flying glass.  Windows in nearby houses were shattered and the resulting fire largely destroyed the garage.  It took firemen over an hour to extinguish the flames.

Mr Creighton had been looking after the garage while his son was on holiday and died on his way to hospital.  Locals were furious.  It was the second time the Protestant business had been bombed by the IRA.  Creightons was one of the targets during Bloody Friday in 1972, when the IRA exploded more than 20 bombs across Belfast.  No-one was killed at Creightons that day, although nine people were killed elsewhere.

Two men were later charged with Mr Creighton's murder, having been arrested during a siege nearby.  Creightons of Finaghy was attacked again in April 2019, when an incendiary device exploded causing damage to six vehicles.  The 'New IRA' claimed the attack and also threatened to kill company directors of 11 businesses it accused of working with the police (including Creightons).

Creightons of Finaghy as it appears today

ON THIS DAY IN 1972, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA murdered two British soldiers in the Andersonstown district of west Belfast.  The army had commandeered the Casement Park sports stadium almost two weeks earlier and were still working on improving its defences.  One of those killed in the attack was the base commander, Major David Storrey.  The new base was situated in the heart of a republican area and was under attack on almost a daily basis.  A soldier had been shot and paralysed by a sniper while working on the perimeter fencing three days before Major Storrey's murder.

It was the persistent sniper activity that led to a detachment of troops being sent out to monitor the housing estate beyond the Main Stand.  On the fateful morning, just after 9am, Major Storrey left the stadium to check on the patrol.  He had only just returned to active service after being injured and hospitalised in rioting a week earlier.  Accompanying him was a Royal Engineer by the name of Craftsman Brian Hope.  As they were crossing a small stream that ran behind the houses a bomb exploded, killing Craftsman Hope.  When other soldiers arrived they found Major Storrey lying next to the stream, still breathing.  He died two hours later in hospital.

The homemade bomb was thought to contain around 35lbs of explosives and had nuts and bolts packed around it.  The explosion shattered several windows in the surrounding houses.  Some locals discreetly voiced annoyance that the bomb had been left in an area where their children often played.

Soldiers amid the rubble of rioting near Casement Park on 6 August 1972

36-year-old Major David Anthony Storrey served with the 19th Regiment Royal Artillery.  He came from Ascot in Berkshire and was survived by his wife and three children.  Craftsman Brian Hope, 20, was affectionately known as 'Bob'.  He was a mechanic attached to Major Storrey's regiment.

ON THIS DAY IN 1985, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA tried to fire a home-made grenade launcher at a police Land Rover in Londonderry.  The attempted attack took place at around 10am as the RUC vehicle turned into William Street.  The device jammed and then exploded, killing one terrorist and badly injuring the second.  Two passers-by reportedly took the injured terrorists to hospital, but were stopped at the entrance by police who then escorted them to the emergency department.  21-year-old Charles English was dead on arrival.

The wounded terrorist was Eddie McSheffrey.  He survived, but was killed two years later in another explosion.  He and an accomplice were blown up by their own bomb as they were transporting it to an unidentified target in Londonderry.

Charles English came from the republican Bogside area of the city and had joined the IRA following the death of his brother in 1981.  Gary English and another man had been struck and killed by an army Land Rover during rioting.

The funeral of Charles English was preceded by rioting in which soldiers and police were attacked with stones and petrol bombs near 'Free Derry Corner'.  Three masked gunman fired dozens of shots over English's coffin which had been carried into City Cemetary by, among others, Martin McGuinness and his brother William.  A senior figure from the US based Irish Northern Aid Committee (NORAID) also attended the funeral despite being banned from entering the country.  Martin Galvin slipped into Northern Ireland from the Republic reportedly disguised in a cap and glasses.  NORAID was primarily involved in fundraising for the Provisional IRA.

Martin McGuinness and his brother William (right) carry the coffin of Charles English

ON THIS DAY IN 1972, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA exploded three car bombs in the village of Claudy, Co Londonderry, killing nine civilians.  It was one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles and became known as Bloody Monday.  It was also one of the few terrorist acts for which the IRA continues to deny responsibility, although it is generally accepted that Provos were responsible.

The bombers parked the devices around the centre of the village shortly before 10am when the Main Street was busy with shoppers, after which they drove to Dungiven in a failed attempt to telephone a warning.  Along the way they stopped and tried to use a public telephone in the village of Feeny, but it was out of order.  When they reached Dungiven two of the terrorists went into separate shops, but the phones had been cut off following a recent bomb attack on the local telephone exchange.  One of the shop assistants had to physically go to the local police station to warn the RUC, but by this time the first bomb had already exploded.

The first device had been parked outside McElhinney's Bar on Main Street and detonated at around 10:15.  Three people were killed instantly, including an eight year old girl.  A 15-year-old boy was among three others who died from their injuries in the days and weeks that followed.

By the time the shop assistant walked into Dungiven RUC station the second device had been discovered and a policeman was clearing the area.  The second bomb was located in a mini van outside the post office on Main Street and members of the public were being ushered down Church Street, unbeknownst to everyone in the direction of the third bomb.  The third device was parked outside the Beaufort Hotel, hidden inside another mini van.  At around 10:30 both bombs exploded almost simultaneously.

Due to the swift action of the police officer no-one was hurt by the post office explosion, although there was extensive damage to property.  However, the bomb outside the hotel on Church Street killed three people, including a 16-year-old boy who had been injured in the first explosion.

Claudy was a mixed village and the victims reflected this.  Five Catholics and four Protestants were killed.  The IRA vehemently denied involvement and later claimed to have carried out an internal inquiry which supposedly found that none of its units were responsible.  However, one name continued to crop up in relation to the attack - Father James Chesney, a Catholic priest.  Chesney was not only suspected of involvement, but he was thought to be the quartermaster of the 'Derry Brigade' of the IRA.  Chesney had provided an alibi for another man strongly suspected of involvement and when he was stopped at a checkpoint in September 1972 a sniffer dog found traces of explosives in his car.  Strangely the priest was never arrested or questioned and the following year he was conveniently transferred to another parish on the other side of the Irish border.

The controversy surrounding Chesney's alleged involvement and his apparent immunity led to a further investigation in 2002, by which time the priest had passed away.  This investigation later revealed that collusion between the British government and the Catholic Church compromised the initial RUC investigation.  Both parties feared that the arrest of a Catholic priest in relation to a terrorist atrocity would lead to further sectarian clashes in the province.

Belfast mural showing a priest wearing a balaclava and holding a bomb

No-one was ever charged over the Claudy bombings.  The IRA continues to deny involvement and in 2002 Martin McGuinness denied all knowledge of Father Chesney, despite both men holding senior positions in the same IRA 'brigade'.  When a service was held in 2017 to mark the 45th anniversary of the atrocity Sinn Fein stayed away.

30 civilians were injured in the Claudy bombings.  The nine fatalities were as follows.

McElhinney's Bar bomb

Elizabeth McElhinney, 59, Catholic.  A local nurse and shopkeeper, she was operating a petrol pump and was killed instantly.  She was survived by her husband.

Joseph McCluskey, 39, Catholic.  He had taken his four-year-old son into the village to buy a newspaper and was killed instantly.  He was survived by his seven children, including his son who survived the blast.

Kathryn Eakin, 8, Protestant.  She was cleaning the windows outside her family's grocery store and was killed instantly.  Her mother said at least one of the bombers would have seen her in the street when they parked the device.

Rose McLaughlin, 52, Catholic.  A shopkeeper, she was chatting to a customer when she was hit by shrapnel.  She died three days later from her injuries, survived by her husband and eight children.

Patrick Connolly, 15, Catholic.  He was in Rose McLaughlin's shop and was also struck by shrapnel.  He died eight days later.

Arthur Hone, 38, Catholic.  He was standing in Elizabeth McElhinney's shop and was struck by shrapnel.  He died from his injuries almost two weeks later, survived by his wife and two children.

Beaufort Hotel bomb

David Miller, 60, Protestant.  He'd been helping the injured from the first explosion when he was directed into the path of the third bomb.  He was killed instantly.

James McClelland, 65, Protestant.  He had also been helping injured victims and was killed instantly by the third bomb.

William Temple, 16, Protestant.  He came from Donemana in Co Tyrone, but had travelled to Claudy to carry out his milk round that included the village.  He was injured in the first explosion, but died instantly when the third bomb exploded.

The nine victims of the Claudy bombs

Londonderry poet and songwriter James Simmons recalls the bombings in his piece 'The Ballad of Claudy'.

The Sperrins surround it, the Faughan flows by

At each end of Main Street the hills and the sky

The small town of Claudy at ease in the sun

Last July in the morning, a new day begun

How peaceful and pretty, if the moment could stop

McIlhenny is straightening things in his shop

His wife is outside serving petrol and then

A child takes a cloth to a big window-pane

And McCloskey is taking the weight off his feet

McClelland and Miller are sweeping the street

Delivering milk at the Beaufort Hotel

Young Temple's enjoying his first job quite well

And Mrs. McLaughlin is scrubbing her floor

Artie Hone's crossing the street to a door

Mrs. Brown, looking around for her cat

Goes off up an entry, what's strange about that

Not much, but before she comes back to the road

The strange car parked outside her house will explode

And all of the people I've mentioned outside

Will be waiting to die or already have died

An explosion too loud for your eardrums to bear

Young children squealing like pigs in the square

All faces chalk-white or streaked with bright red

And the glass, and the dust, and the terrible dead

For an old lady's legs are blown off, and the head

Of a man's hanging open, and still he's not dead

He is shrieking for mercy while his son stands and stares

And stares, and then suddenly - quick - disappears

And Christ, little Katherine Aiken is dead

Mrs. McLaughlin is pierced through the head

Meanwhile to Dungiven the killers have gone

And they're finding it hard to get through on the phone

ON THIS DAY IN 1987, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA murdered an off duty policeman in his home in Ballymena, Co Antrim.  Constable Norman Kennedy was on sick leave at the time and was watching television with his wife when the gunmen broke in.  Just after midnight two masked terrorists smashed down his back door with a sledgehammer and burst into the living room.  One was armed with a submachine gun and the other a revolver.  The policeman had no time to react and was shot ten times.  His distraught wife was unhurt during the shooting, after which the terrorists fled.  Their 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter were upstairs asleep at the time.

The murder was a cruel twist as the family had been forced to leave their previous home by loyalist paramilitaries.  Ten months earlier the family had to leave the town of Limavady, 30 miles away in Co Londonderry, after loyalist protests against the Anglo-Irish Agreement led to dozens of police officers being displaced.  Const Kennedy's sister told journalists:  "When they left Limavady we thought his troubles were behind him.  Then this happens".

Constable Norman Kennedy

Constable Kennedy was 41.  The IRA claimed responsibility for his murder later the same day.

ON THIS DAY IN 1981, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead a Protestant man in Maghera, Co Londonderry.  43-year-old John Hazlett, a local handyman, was killed outside a shop in Bank Square.  He was helping to renovate the property.  Just after 09:30 in the morning a blue van pulled up outside from which a gunman emerged and fired six times at Mr Hazlett.  The handyman died almost instantly.  The van, which had been hijacked, was later found abandoned.

Neighbours told reporters that Mr Hazlett was not politically active and the police said there was no obvious motive for the IRA to have killed him.  An IRA statement later claimed that the murder was "an accident due to mistaken identity".  This led to the suggestion that the terrorists' original target was a former part-time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment who had also been working on the renovation, but who wasn't there on the day of the attack.  It was never never proven that this was their intention, although as the man was no longer a serving soldier it appears that either way the IRA were out to kill a Protestant civilian that day.

The IRA statement was condemned at Mr Hazlett's funeral.

"Such a dastardly deed as has taken place can never be excused, even by someone making the profound observation 'We have made a mistake'.  Friends, some mistakes are so permanent and so final that they cannot be rectified.  Apologies cannot exchange the coffin for the chair, they cannot give sparkle to a tear-dimmed eye, nor bring joy to a desolate and broken-hearted family".

Presbyterian minister at John Hazlett's funeral

John Hazlett was survived by his wife and two children.

ON THIS DAY IN 1984, CORBYN'S MATES

The Provisional IRA murdered two British soldiers in a landmine attack near the Irish border.  Eight members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were patrolling near the village of Castlederg in County Tyrone when the 200lb device was detonated.  The mid-morning attack was carried out from the safety of the Irish Republic, a few hundred yards away.  After triggering the device the terrorists opened fire on the stricken UDR patrol as they radioed for help.

Private Norman McKinley, 32, was killed instantly in the explosion.  His colleague, Corporal Heather Kerrigan, died en route to hospital.  She was 20.  Both soldiers were local Protestants and came from Castlederg.  Cpl Kerrigan's brother was also part of the patrol and was seriously injured.

David Kerrigan holds a picture of his murdered sister

Cpl Kerrigan's brother-in-law, also a member of the UDR, was murdered by the IRA four months earlier.  No-one was ever brought to justice for any of these murders, but in 2016 David Kerrigan told the media that he believed Martin McGuinness had information about the landmine attack.  Mr Kerrigan said that nothing happened on the Tyrone-Donegal border without McGuinness knowing about it.  McGuinness died a year later.

In 2014 - following a service to mark the 30th anniversary of the attack - a makeshift memorial was vandalised and a sign erected in its place that read "IRA 2 UDR 0".  The police removed the sign and said they were treating it as a hate crime.  Mr Kerrigan said the memorial was also desecrated five years earlier on the 25th anniversary of the soldiers' deaths.

ON THIS DAY IN 2005, CORBYN'S MATES...

Palestinian Islamic Jihad bombed a busy shopping area in the Israeli city of Netanya.  Suicide bomber Ahmed Abu Khalil blew himself up on a pedestrian crossing near the entrance to the HaSharon shopping mall, a site targeted previously by Hamas in 2001 when a bomber blew himself up outside the entrance.  Five people were killed in both attacks.

The 2005 attack took place just after 18:30 hours, Khalil detonating his device as he passed a group of young females.  Two of them were killed instantly - 16-year-olds Rachel Ben Abu and Nofar Horowitz.  Around 90 other people were injured in the explosion, three of whom died of their injuries in the hours and days that followed.

Khalil was an 18-year-old student from the West Bank.  Police estimated his device to be around 10kg and packed with nails and ball bearings.  As with the 2001 attack they believed the intended target was the shopping mall itself, but the bomber was possibly deterred by the heavy security presence at the entrance and instead blew himself up outside, targeting the group of female shoppers.

Investigators examine the scene of the bombing

The five victims were named as follows.

Rachel Ben Abu, 16, from Tel Aviv.  She was killed instantly alongside her best friend Nofar Horowitz.  She was survived by her mother and two brothers.

Nofar Horowitz, 16, from Tel Aviv.  She was killed instantly alongside her best friend Rachel Ben Abu.  She was survived by her parents and two sisters.

Julia Voloshin, 31, from Netanya.  A restaurant worker, Julia died from her injuries in hospital later that night.  She was survived by her husband.

Anya Lifshitz, 50, from Netanya.  She had gone to the mall with her daughter and 3-year-old granddaughter who were both seriously injured.  Anya died from her injuries the following day.  She was survived by her husband, daughter and granddaughter.

Cpl Moshe Maor Jan, 21, from Tel Aviv.  Cpl Jan was a soldier, but was off duty at the time of the attack.  He died from his injuries two days later and was survived by his wife.

ON THIS DAY IN 1986, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA murdered two British soldiers in a bomb attack near the republican stronghold of Crossmaglen in South Armagh.  The terrorists had hijacked a lorry and abandoned it in a country lane near an army observation post.  The post had been built just a few weeks earlier on a hill less than 500 yards from the Irish border.  Four soldiers came down from the post at around 21:00 to inspect the vehicle.  The lorry trailer had been loaded with a powerful bomb, estimated at between 700 and 1,000 lb, and was detonated by remote control.

Two of the soldiers were killed instantly, while the others escaped with minor injuries.  A civilian received chest injuries.  The blast was so loud it could be heard more than ten miles away in the town of Newry.  The lorry driver later told the inquest how gunmen had taken the vehicle, blindfolded him and left him under a hedge with instructions not to move for half an hour.  He was still there when he heard the explosion.

The slain soldiers were both from the Royal Anglian Regiment's 2nd Battalion.  Private Mitchell Bertram was 20 and came from Cramlington in Northumberland.  He had joined the army three years earlier and was on his second tour of Northern Ireland.  Pte Bertram would have turned 21 the following month.  In 2016 a memorial bench was unveiled in his home town, paid for by a crowdfunding campaign.  Veterans attended the event from as far away as Wiltshire, including the two survivors of the bombing.

Private Carl Davies was 24 and came from Colchester.  He had served in the army for seven years and was on his third tour of Northern Ireland.  During that time he had married a Londonderry woman who was heavily pregnant at the time of the attack with their second child.  Pte Davies is also remembered on the memorial bench in Cramlington alongside Pte Bertram.

Pte Bertram and Pte Davis

Pte Bertram's mother Catherine unveiled the memorial bench to the two
soldiers in 2016

ON THIS DAY IN 1989, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad murdered 16 bus passengers near Jerusalem.  The no.405 bus was travelling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and was packed with commuters.  Abed al-Hadi Ghaneim had boarded the bus and sat near the driver.  As the bus travelled alongside a ravine near the town of Kiryat Ye'arim, Ghaneim left his seat and seized the steering wheel from the driver.  He forced the bus off the road and sent it hurtling down into the ravine.

Some of those who survived the initial crash were trapped inside the wreckage and burned to death after the bus caught fire.  16 passengers were killed, including two Canadians and a US national, and a further 27 were injured.  Although the incident is cited as being the first Palestinian suicide attack, the attacker actually survived and was treated for his injuries in an Israeli hospital.  The 25-year-old from Gaza was later given 16 life sentences, but was released in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas to obtain the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The remains of the no.405 bus

At the time this was the deadliest terrorist attack on Israel in eleven years.