| 1939 Coventry Bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of S-Plan | |
 The aftermath of the 1939 Coventry City Centre Bombing | |
| Location | Broadgate, Coventry, England |
| Coordinates | 52°24′30.68″N 1°30′35.95″W / 52.4085222°N 1.5099861°W |
| Date | 25 August 1939 14:32 (GMT) |
| Target | Public proprietors and patrons |
Attack type | Bicycle bomb |
| Deaths | 5[1] |
| Injured | 70 (12 seriously) |
| Perpetrator | Irish Republican Army (IRA) |
The 1939 Coventry bombing was an act of terrorism committed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 25 August 1939 in which a 5.1 lb (2.3 kg) bomb upon a bicycle was placed in Coventry city centre in the West Midlands of England as part of the organisation's 1939–40 S-Plan campaign.[2] The explosion resulted in the deaths of five civilians, with over seventy others injured.[3][4]
Two IRA members were convicted of the bombing and subsequently hanged in 1940, while a third individual, who acknowledged planting the bomb, escaped. Three other individuals accused of conspiracy in the bombing were acquitted and later deported to the Irish Republic under government security measures.[3][5]
The 1939 Coventry bombing was one of few instances within the S-Plan campaign in which civilians were killed, although republican sources later insisted that civilians were not the intended target(s) of the bombing, which had originally been intended to occur at a police station.[4] The atrocity itself was soon overshadowed by Britain's entry into World War II, which occurred less than two weeks later.[6]
- ^ "Horror in Coventry: IRA Bombs Kills Five". The Sunday Mail. 27 August 1939. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
- ^ "Blamed on I. R. A.: Coventry Bomb". The News. 26 August 1939. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
BBCwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
telegraphwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
IT-newswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Memorial to 1939 Broadgate Bombing". coventry.gov.uk. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2023.