Aldwych bus bombing

{{Infobox terrorist attack

|partof=the Troubles

|title=Aldwych bus bombing

|image=File:London Central bus T991 (A991 SYE), 1994 Leyland Titan B15, Forest Hill, route 171, 5 May 2001.jpg

|caption=A Leyland Titan double-decker bus identical to the one bombed.

|location=Aldwych, London,
United Kingdom

|date=18 February 1996

|time=22:38

|timezone=UTC

|type=Bombing

|weapon=Improvised explosive device

|fatalities=1 (perpetrator)

|injuries=8

|perp=Provisional Irish Republican Army

}}

{{Campaignbox The Troubles in Britain and Europe|state=collapsed}}

The Aldwych bus bombing occurred on 18 February 1996 in Aldwych, central London, England. Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer Edward O'Brien was carrying a bomb on a bus when it detonated prematurely, killing him and injuring eight other people.

Background

The bus bombing occurred nine days after the Docklands bombing in east London, which marked the end of the IRA's ceasefire and the resumption of its armed campaign in England.{{cite web |author=Peadar Whelan |title=Ed O'Brien remembered |publisher=An Phoblacht | url=http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/17956| access-date=2007-06-13}}IRA Man: Talking with the Rebels by Douglass McFerran ({{ISBN|978-0275955915}}), page 8 On 16 February, an IRA bomb planted in a telephone box on Charing Cross Road, near Leicester Square tube station, was destroyed by a police remote-controlled robot after a telephone warning.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/16/world/ira-bomb-destroyed-in-central-london.html|title=I.R.A. Bomb Destroyed in Central London|first=Sarah|last=Lyall|newspaper=The New York Times |date=16 February 1996}}

=Edward O'Brien=

Edward O'Brien (18 September 1974{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} – 18 February 1996) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer. He died in the bombing when the bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely. O'Brien grew up in Gorey, County Wexford, with his parents and two siblings.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} As a child he attended the local national and secondary schools. He was involved in several sports and was a member of St Enda's GAA Club where he played football and hurling. He also played for Gorey Rangers soccer club and was involved in boxing. He worked in a bakery.Tírghrá, National Commemoration Centre, 2002, paperback); p. 361; {{ISBN|0-9542946-0-2}}

O'Brien joined the IRA in 1992. He went to England to engage in paramilitary activity in an active service unit. Documents later recovered from O'Brien's residence indicated he was working for the IRA in Britain as early as August 1994, collecting information on targets, and assembling bomb-making equipment during a seventeen-month ceasefire.Bennetto, J. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/dead-ira-man-had-hitlist-of-bomb-targets-1305236.html Dead IRA man 'had hit-list' of bomb targets.] The Independent, 17 April 1996. O'Brien may have been responsible for planting a bomb in a London telephone box on 15 February 1996 that was later deactivated by the police.

O'Brien is buried in St Michael's Cemetery in his home town of Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland.

Bombing

At 10:38 pm on 18 February 1996, an improvised explosive device being carried by O'Brien detonated prematurely on a London Central Leyland Titan double-decker bus operating on route 171 in Aldwych, in the West End of London, England.{{cite web |title=Bomb blast destroys London bus |work=BBC News | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/18/newsid_4165000/4165719.stm | access-date=2007-06-13 | date=18 February 1996}}{{cite book | last=English | first=Richard | author-link=Richard English | title=Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA | publisher=Pan Books | year=2003 | page=291 | isbn=0-330-49388-4}} The bus was travelling from Catford to Holborn with ten people on board. Police reported that O'Brien was sitting in the middle of lower floor of the bus when the 2 kg (4 lb) Semtex bomb detonated in his lap.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/armed-guard-on-ira-bus-bomb-suspect-1319854.html|title=Armed guard on IRA bus bomb suspect|work=The Independent|date=20 February 1996|access-date=18 February 2024}}{{cite magazine |last=Williams |first=Mark |url=https://archive.org/details/cbw-issue206/page/n3/mode/2up |date=24 February 1996 |title=Bomber on video? |magazine=Coach & Bus Week |issue=206 |pages=4–5 |location=Peterborough |publisher=Emap |access-date=10 April 2024}}

The bomb killed O'Brien instantly and injured people both inside and outside the bus, including London Central bus driver Robert Newitt, who was permanently deafened. The victims were brought to St Thomas's Hospital and University College Hospital. Three of them were in two cars in front of the bus at the time. The blast could be heard five miles away. Police said they received no warning about the bomb. The attack forced the closure of Charing Cross railway station.

Investigation

It was initially reported by some media that three people were killed, but it then became clear that only the perpetrator was killed.{{cite news |url=https://gulfnews.com/opinion/today-in-history/february-18-1996-ira-bomb-on-london-bus-kills-three-1.1674764 |title=February 18, 1996: IRA bomb on London bus kills three |first=Abdul |last=Kareem |date=17 February 2016 |newspaper=Gulf News }}

A subsequent police search of the London address of O'Brien discovered 15 kg (30 lb) of Semtex, 20 timers, four detonators and ammunition for a 9 mm Walther revolver, along with an incendiary device. The Walther pistol was discovered on him after his death.Lost Lives, {{ISBN|1-84018-504-X}} The police said they were also almost certain that O'Brien was the person who planted the telephone box bomb three days before the bus bombing.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/dead-ira-man-had-hit-list-of-bomb-targets-1305236.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305115619/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/dead-ira-man-had-hit-list-of-bomb-targets-1305236.html |archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Dead IRA man 'had hit-list' of bomb targets|website=Independent.co.uk |date=17 April 1996}}

Another Irishman, Brendan Woolhead, who was in the area at the time of the explosion and suffered a fractured skull, was briefly accused of involvement. His name was cleared and he subsequently won around £200,000 in damages for libel. Woolhead died in October 1996 due to drug detoxification treatment for addiction to heroin.{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/doctor-linked-to-drug-detox-death-danger-to-the-public-26071349.html|title=Doctor linked to drug detox death 'danger to the public' - Independent.ie}}

Later events

In February 2021, in Dáil Éireann, the Tánaiste criticised Sinn Féin for organising a commemoration for O'Brien. The commemoration was organised by Wexford Sinn Féin councillor Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin, and was cancelled on 19 February 2021, "at the request of the family, due to significant online abuse targeting the family".{{Cite news|last1=McGreevy|first1=Ronan|last2=O'Halloran|first2=Marie|title=Online commemoration for IRA volunteer who died in 'bus bomb' is cancelled|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/online-commemoration-for-ira-volunteer-who-died-in-bus-bomb-is-cancelled-1.4488821|access-date=2021-02-19|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Sinn Féin councillor organises commemoration for IRA bomber|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/sinn-fein-councillor-organises-commemoration-for-ira-bomber-40104086.html|access-date=2021-02-19|website=independent|language=en}}