Loughgall ambush

Loughgall ambush
Part of the Troubles and Operation Banner

Mural commemorating the IRA members killed in the ambush
Date8 May 1987
Location
Loughgall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
54°24′27″N 6°36′40″W / 54.40750°N 6.61111°W / 54.40750; -6.61111
Result British victory
Belligerents

Provisional IRA

 United Kingdom

Commanders and leaders
Patrick Joseph Kelly † Soldier A (Classified)[1]
Strength
8 in attacking unit[2]
4 in support[3]		 24 SAS soldiers[1]
1 RUC uniformed officer[1][4]
2 RUC HMSU officers[1][4]
Casualties and losses
8 killed 1 soldier injured[1]
2 constables injured[1]
1 civilian killed and 1 wounded by SAS[1]
Loughgall ambush is located in Northern Ireland
Loughgall ambush
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Location within Northern Ireland

The Loughgall ambush took place on 8 May 1987 in the village of Loughgall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. An eight-man unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base in the village. An IRA member drove a digger with a bomb in its bucket through the perimeter fence, while the rest of the unit arrived in a van and fired on the building. The bomb exploded and destroyed almost half of the base. Soldiers from the British Army's Special Air Service (SAS) then returned fire both from within the base and from hidden positions around it in a pre-planned ambush, killing all of the attackers.[1] Two of them were subsequently found to have been unarmed when they were killed.[1][5]

A civilian was also killed and another wounded by the SAS after unwittingly driving into the ambush zone and being mistaken for IRA attackers.[1]

The joint British Army/RUC operation was codenamed Operation Judy.[6][7] It was the IRA's biggest loss of life in a single incident during the Troubles.[8]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Case of Kelly and Others v. The United Kingdom [2001] ECHR 328, [2001] ECHR 328, [2001] Inquest LR 125 (4 May 2001), European Court of Human Rights
  2. ^ O'Brien, Brendan (1995). The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin. Syracuse University Press. p. 141. ISBN 0-8156-0319-3.
  3. ^ Murray, Raymond (1990). The SAS in Ireland. Mercier Press, pp. 380–383. ISBN 0-85342-938-3.
  4. ^ a b Matchett, William (14 November 2016). "LOUGHGALL: How the SAS wiped out 'invincible' IRA unit in just 10 minutes". Belfast News Letter. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Loughgall – a Search for the Truth". Pat Finucane Centre. Loughgall Truth & Justice Campaign. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  6. ^ Brown, Andrew. The Difficult War: Perspectives on Insurgency and Special Operations Forces. Dundurn, 2009. pp. 132–133
  7. ^ MacKenzie, Alastair. Special Force: The Untold Story of 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS). p. 319
  8. ^ "Ten cases of special forces in action". BBC News, 5 May 2011.