Attack on RUC Birches barracks
| Attack on The Birches RUC barracks | |
|---|---|
| Part of The Troubles | |
| Location | The Birches, County Armagh, Northern Ireland |
| Coordinates | 54°27′45.02″N 7°1′50″W / 54.4625056°N 7.03056°WCoordinates: 54°27′45.02″N 7°1′50″W / 54.4625056°N 7.03056°W |
| Date | 11 August 1986 |
|
Attack type
|
shooting, bombing |
| Weapons |
automatic rifles explosive charge |
| Deaths | 0 |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
0 |
| Perpetrator | Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade |
On 11 August 1986 the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base at The Birches, County Armagh. The base was first raked with gunfire before being completely destroyed by a bomb, which was driven through the gate of the base in the bucket of a JCB driven IRA Volunteer Declan Arthurs.
In the wake of the 1981 Irish hunger strike in which ten Irish Republican prisoners died the IRA's East Tyrone brigade became one of the most active brigades during the Irish conflict in 1980's. Two of the Brigades most successful and high-profile attacks occurred in Ballygawley, County Tyrone. The first in 1983 killed four members of the Ulster Defence Regiment in the Ballygawley Land Mine Attack. The next attack in December 1985 the Attack on Ballygawley barracks destroyed the RUC base in Ballygawley and two RUC officers were killed and another three were injured during the attack.
The attack on The Birches barracks would be similar to the attack on Ballygawley barracks in December 1985 but a JCB digger would be used by the bomb team to deliver the bomb to its target. The RUC station was umanned at the time and nobody was hurt in the IRA assault on the station.
The IRA stragey in East Tyrone developed by Jim Lynagh and Padraig McKearney was to first destroy British Army and RUC bases and threaten construction workers who did repairs for British bases forcing the enemy to give up ground to the IRA.
The IRA Active Service Unit (ASU) was split into two teams, a gun team led by the East Tyrone brigade commander Patrick Joseph Kelly first raked the base with gunfire using an array of automatic rifles including AR-18 Armalites, AK-47's and Heckler & Koch rifles, then a second team headed by Declan Arthurs loaded a 200lb bomb into the bucket of a digger which was then driven through the perimeter fence of the station were the fuse on the bomb was then lit and exploded destroying most of the barracks as the IRA team retreated to safety.
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