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 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 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 murdered a young policeman in a rocket attack in west Belfast.  Constable Samuel Vallely was one of five officers travelling in a police Land Rover when the rocket propelled grenade struck the roof of the vehicle.  It was a Thursday night and the men were passing through the republican New Barnsley area.  A petrol bomb was initially thrown at the Land Rover in order to light it up and provide the trigger man with a target.  A Soviet-made RPG-7 was then fired, lifting the roof off the vehicle and showering those inside with shrapnel.  The driver managed to drive on and take his injured comrades to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.  Constable Vallely died from his injuries a short time later.  One of his colleagues was seriously injured, but survived.

Constable Vallely was the first member of the RUC to die in such an attack, despite many previous attempts by the IRA.  The terrorists had reportedly fired 182 rockets at security forces between 1972 and 1981, 124 of which missed their target.

DUP leader Ian Paisley condemned the New Barnsley attack: "It is wholly unacceptable to the law-abiding community that our security forces are expected to face this battle with their hands tied behind their backs.  The firing of a plastic bullet causes an outcry from republican apologists, but the republicans' use of rockets will not provoke not even a squeak of protest from these quarters".

Constable Vallely

Constable Vallely was 23 and lived in Glengormley, north of Belfast.  He joined the force in 1977.  At the time of his death his wife was pregnant with their second child.  They were planning to emigrate to Canada following the birth, due later that year.

A 37-year-old from west Belfast was later charged with Constable Vallely's murder.

ON THIS DAY IN 1979, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA detonated a huge bomb near the village of Bessbrook, Co Armagh.  The bomb was concealed in a Ford Transit van and wiped out a police patrol consisting of four RUC officers.

Earlier that morning the van had been hijacked south of the border and its dairy delivery driver held captive while the van was taken north.  Having been loaded with a bomb estimated to contain around 1,000 lbs of explosive the van was left parked at the side of Millvale Road.  The terrorists waited in bushes on a hillside overlooking the scene and waited for a patrol to pass by.  The next patrol to pass by was a two-vehicle RUC patrol from the joint RUC-Army barracks at Bessbrook Mill nearby.  The terrorists exploded the van by remote control as the lead vehicle passed alongside it.  The police Land Rover took the full force of the blast and its four occupants were killed instantly.  Eleven civilians travelling along the road at the time were also injured and nearby homes were damaged.  It was said that the explosion was heard up to three miles away.

A policeman travelling in the patrol car behind the Land Rover later described the aftermath of the explosion: "I looked up the road and could see one of the wheels of the Land Rover embedded in the boot of a car which had been travelling immediately in front of the Land Rover.  There was a man and he came running towards us carrying two children under his arms.  One of them I could see was bleeding badly.  I was looking for the Land Rover, but I couldn't see it".

The Land Rover had been obliterated in the explosion and debris scattered up to 400 yards away.  The remains of the four officers had to be identified through dental records and fingerprints.  The bomb was thought to be the largest of its kind deployed by the IRA up to that point.  It was also the biggest single loss of life inflicted on the RUC prior to the 1985 mortar attack on Newry police station.

Constables Paul Gray, Noel Webb, Richard Baird and Robert Lockhart

The four victims were all Protestants.  The youngest was Constable Paul Gray, a 25-year-old originally from Belfast.  He had only joined the RUC eight months earlier and at the time of the attack was due to be married two months later.  The eldest victim was Constable Robert Lockhart and he was also the newest recruit, having joined the force in November 1978.  The 44-year-old was a native of South Armagh and left a wife and three children.  His name was included on a memorial unveiled in 1986 alongside six other local Orangemen murdered by republican terrorists during the course of the Troubles.

The other two men killed were Noel Webb, 30, and Richard Baird, 28.  Constable Webb was a single man from Lurgan with 13 months service under his belt.  Constable Baird was known as 'Allen' and came from Scarva in County Down.  He was survived by his wife and two children and was the most experienced officer with three years of service.  The day after the funeral his younger brother applied to join the RUC and went on to serve for two decades.

In January 1981 a 27-year-old from the republican stronghold of Crossmaglen was found guilty of the four murders and seven other terror-related offences.  Patrick Traynor received life sentences for each murder and an additional 12 years for the other offences.

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

The Provisional IRA ambushed an RUC patrol in a country lane near the village of Aghagallon in County Armagh.  At around 15:20 hours the two constables had stopped their patrol car to investigate a suspicious vehicle.  As they were about to get out and inspect the car, gunmen opened fire from inside the vehicle.  Constable William Wylie was struck in the thigh and managed to return fire, but was hit again and died at the scene.  His colleague, Reserve Constable Ronald Macaulay, was struck in the chest.  Despite his injuries he managed to engage the terrorists in a firefight for around 15 minutes before they fled across fields.  He was also struck in the arm and stomach during the gun battle.  He was rushed to hospital, but died from his wounds four weeks later on March 25.

The funeral of Constable Wylie

In December 1973 three men were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life with a recommendation they serve 25 years.  Two of them came from nearby Lurgan, while a third came from the Republic.  The three men had dismissed their defence team earlier in the trial and sat with their backs to the court.  As they were sent down they shouted "Up the Provos".  A fourth man, also from Lurgan, was found not guilty of murder.  Unlike the others he had retained the services of his lawyer, but was found guilty of possessing illegal firearms and sentenced to seven years.

One of the men convicted of the policemen's murders was returned to prison in 2010 when he was reported to have become involved in the Continuity IRA.  IRA convicts who are found to have resumed paramilitary activity can be automatically returned to prison without trial.  However, Martin Corey was released two years later after successfully suing the British government over his imprisonment.  The 61-year-old's case relied on the European Convention on Human Rights.

The two policemen murdered by Corey and his accomplices were posthumously awarded the Queen's Police Medal for gallantry.  Constable William Raymond Wylie, 26, came from Lisburn and was survived by his wife and six-month-old child.  He joined the force in 1971.  R/Constable Ronald Macauley, 43, came from the village of Aghalee, less than two miles from where he was shot.

Const Wylie and R/Const Macauley

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

The Provisional IRA attempted to plant a booby-trap bomb underneath a van belonging to an RUC reservist.  The terrorist was attaching the device shortly after 23:00 hrs in the village of Drumquin, Co Tyrone.  The bomb exploded prematurely leaving him with severe injuries.  He lost both arms and an eye, his injuries so severe that his father struggled to identify him as he lay dying in hospital.  He was pronounced dead in Tyrone County Hospital the following day.

The bomber was Glasgow-born James Joseph Connolly, from Castlederg, 8 miles to the north of Drumquin.  The 20-year-old builder worked for the same construction firm as his target, a part-time RUC man who was reportedly a plumber.  He was treated for shock at the scene of the bombing.  A pistol found nearby was later shown to have been used in two IRA murders the previous year, that of an RUC reservist and a UDR reservist.

The IRA confirmed Connolly was a member of its West Tyrone Brigade and his funeral in Castlederg was attended by both Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.  In paying tribute to the dead terrorist Adams bizarrely blamed the British state for his death saying it was a "terrible indictment".

In 2014 Sinn Fein held an event in Castlederg to mark the 25th anniversary of Connolly's death, but drew sharp criticism from his family.  The family wanted to hold a non-political memorial and had repeatedly requested that the republican event be cancelled, but said Sinn Fein did not even respond and proceeded anyway.  Sinn Fein were also accused of adding Connolly's name to a republican monument without consulting the family.

IRA bomber James Connolly

ON THIS DAY IN 1979, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead an off duty RUC reservist as he crossed the Irish border to buy a Christmas turkey.  Reserve Constable Stanley Hazelton was also a garage owner in his hometown of Dungannon, Co Tyrone.  His business was destroyed by a bomb in 1976 in an earlier attempt to kill him, but he later rebuilt the premises.

The Saturday before Christmas 1979 he crossed the border into Co Monaghan to collect a turkey for the family's Christmas lunch.  Shortly after collecting the turkey he was ambushed by at least two gunmen in a quiet country lane near the village of Glasslough.  The terrorists had lay in wait behind a hedge and sprayed his car with more than 20 bullets.  The ambush appeared to be well planned, but no arrests were made.

R/Constable Hazelton was 48 and left a wife and son.  At his funeral the priest said he had been a good neighbour and that he was well respected in the community.  A plaque and rose bowl were later unveiled in his memory at Carland Presbyterian Church near Dungannon.

Memorial plaque to R/Constable Hazelton

ON THIS DAY IN 1993, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead two policemen in the village of Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone.  The two RUC men were patrolling in an unmarked car in the early hours of the morning.  As they pulled up to the junction at Main Street/Coneen Street, two terrorists armed with automatic weapons attacked from either side, spraying the car with more than 20 bullets.  The IRA later claimed to have fired on an army helicopter that had been deployed following the killings.

The two murdered officers were Andrew Beacom and Ernest Smith.  Constable Beacom, 46, lived on the same street he was murdered and left a widow and three children.  His wife Jean heard the shooting and was one of the first people on the scene, but her husband had already perished.  Constable Beacom had served in the RUC for almost 24 years.

Reserve Constable Smith, 49, came from the village of Augher and was married with two children.  He had been a police reservist for 19 years.

Andrew Beacom and Ernest Smith of the Royal Ulster Constabulary

ON THIS DAY IN 1979, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA ambushed a joint army/police patrol as it left Springfield Road police station in west Belfast.  Several armed terrorists had taken over a house on the corner of Crocus Street and held the family hostage prior to their attack.  They lay in wait for around an hour for a patrol to emerge.  A Land Rover then backed out of the police station under the direction of a policeman, with Warrant Officer David Bellamy providing cover.  As they clambered into the back of the vehicle the gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons.

The gunmen fired from upstairs windows and into the back of the Land Rover while its door was still open.  Some fifty rounds were fired and all three occupants in the back of the vehicle were hit.  Warrant Officer Bellamy was killed instantly.  Two policemen were seriously injured, one of whom - Constable John Davidson - died three weeks later from his injuries.  He had been struck in the head and neck and was on a life support machine prior to his death.  The other policeman survived despite being hit seven times.  A female occupant of the house, five months pregnant, was treated for shock.

Warrant Officer David Bellamy

Warrant Officer David Bellamy served with the Duke of Wellington Regiment and came from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.  The 31-year-old was survived by his wife and two children.  He had been due to give evidence at an inquest into the death of an Official IRA member shot dead in west Belfast in 1975.

Constable John Gerald Davidson was 26 and came from south Belfast.  He was also survived by a wife and two children.

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

The Provisional IRA shot dead a policeman outside the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.  Detective Constable Ronald McAdam was not on duty when he was murdered, having taken his girlfriend to the hospital for a medical appointment.  After dropping her off he told her he was going to place a bet on the Derby and would be back to collect her in about an hour.  He returned as planned and the pair walked out to his unmarked car.  As DC McAdam was getting into the car he was approached from behind and shot in the back three times.  He died on the operating table inside the hospital, the second RUC casualty to die in the Royal Victoria that day.

The hospital was located on the Falls Road, a republican stronghold, but it was not clear how the IRA knew the detective would be there.  A local man was later convicted of DC McAdam's murder, and that of another policeman shot dead in the same area five months later.

DC McAdam was 31 and came from the Cregagh estate in east Belfast.

DC McAdam

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

The Provisional IRA murdered two policemen and an army officer in a bomb attack in south Armagh.  An eight-man joint police/army foot patrol were moving through countryside near the notorious republican stronghold of Crossmaglen.  As they were crossing a ditch the terrorists detonated the bomb by remote control, killing the two RUC officers instantly.  The army officer, a major, died later at Newry's Daisy Hill Hospital.  The five other members of the patrol escaped uninjured.

The terrorists were thought to have been hiding on a hill overlooking the site and had triggered the bomb before fleeing.  The casualties were ferried away by army helicopters, while security forces on the ground struggled to secure the area fearing a second device.

The murdered policemen came from both communities.  Constable David McBride was a 27-year-old Protestant from Enniskillen.  His brother-in-law had also been a policeman and had been killed in a similar IRA bombing two years earlier.  Constable William Smyth was a 25-year-old Catholic from the village of Cloughy in County Down.  He had been a talented Gaelic footballer, but was not allowed to play professionally because the Gaelic Athletic Association forbade members of the security forces.  In the event of his death he had instructed that his possessions be donated to the cause of Mother Teresa.

Major Andrew French MBE was one of the most senior army officers to be killed during the course of the Troubles.  Major French was the commanding officer of 2nd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment.  The 35-year-old came from Millswood in Suffolk and was laid to rest in his home county.

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

The Provisional IRA murdered a policeman in a rocket attack in west Belfast.  Constable Samuel Vallely was travelling in an armoured Land Rover along with four colleagues, through the Catholic New Barnsley district, when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the vehicle.  The shoulder-launched Soviet-made RPG-7 was launched after the Land Rover was lit up by a petrol bomb.  The RPG hit the side of the vehicle and blew off the roof, but the driver managed to continue and get his injured colleagues to the Royal Victoria Hospital.  PC Vallely died a short time later.  He was the first police officer to be killed by the IRA in a rocket attack on a police vehicle.

23-year-old Constable Vallely was married, with a 16-month-old daughter.  The family home was in Carnmoney on the outskirts of north Belfast.  At the time of his death, Mrs Vallely was pregnant with their second child and gave birth to a boy later that year.  The couple had been planning to emigrate to Canada.

A 37-year-old local man was later charged with the murder of Constable Vallely.

ON THIS DAY IN 1982, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA murdered a policeman in Londonderry.  Constable Alan Caskey was on foot patrol in the Diamond area of the city when a bread van pulled up alongside him and his female colleague.  The WPC approached the cab expecting that the driver was after directions.  As she did so the side door opened and she saw a hooded gunman crouched inside holding a rifle.  The policewoman turned to flee, but was struck in the leg and back knocking her to the ground.  As she played dead further shots were fired and Constable Caskey was fatally wounded.  The van had been hijacked earlier in the day.

Constable Caskey was 21 and had been a police officer for just eight months.  He lived in the village of Desertmartin, where a plaque was later erected in his local parish church (see below).

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

The Provisional IRA murdered a police reservist near his home in County Antrim.  Reserve Constable John Moore was a part-time member of the RUC reserve and owned a farm near the village of Armoy.  He had left home just before 07:00 to tend to some sheep on a neighbouring farm.  Accompanying him was his loyal dog Jip, and a lamb that had been rejected by its mother.  The IRA had concealed a landmine on the lane leading to his farm and this was triggered when R/Con Moore's car struck fishing wire that had been stretched across the lane.  The vehicle was destroyed, everything in it was killed and debris was scattered in a 100 yard radius.

The 57-year-old lived alone, but led an active social life.  He was a regular churchgoer, a mason and attended two indoor bowling clubs.  He and Jip would also entertain local children with the tricks he had taught the dog.  They lived and died together.

R/Con John Moore

ON THIS DAY IN 1980, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA murdered an RUC reservist at Glenbank Industrial Estate in north Belfast.  Reserve Constable Bernard Montgomery had been employed there part time by his brother.  Two IRA gunmen walked into the office and spoke to the victim briefly before shooting him several times in the back as he turned away.  A 63-year-old colleague was also struck by a bullet, but survived.  The murder was witnessed by R/Con Montgomery's grandfather who was also in the office at the time.  The terrorists escaped in a taxi that had been hijacked in the Ardoyne area, where it was also found abandoned later that day.

R/Con Montgomery was 33 and came from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, where he had lived with his wife and four-year-old son.  He had been working for his brother while waiting to join the full time RUC reserve just a few weeks later.  He had been a part-time reservist for just over a year.  R/Con Montgomery was buried in a Presbyterian service at Ballyclare, Co Antrim.

The entrance to Glenbank Ind Est as it looks today