This is a timeline of the events and actions during the Troubles that were carried out in Great Britain, the vast majority of which were carried out by Irish Republican paramilitaries. The Provisional IRA were by far the most active group, but both the Official IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army carried out a number of attacks, which included bombings and shootings. Ulster Loyalist paramilitary groups also carried out a small number of violent actions.
List of actions/attacks 1970s 1972 22 February - 1972 Aldershot bombing The Official Irish Republican Army carried out a car bomb attack at the headquarters of the British Army's 16th Parachute Brigade and was claimed as a revenge attack for Bloody Sunday. Seven civilian staff (mostly female cleaners) were killed and 19 were wounded.CAIN: A Chronology of the Conflict - 1972
1973 8 March - 1973 Old Bailey bombing - The Provisional IRA conducted their first operations in England exploding two car bombs in the center of London. One bomb exploded outside the Old Bailey Courthouse, injuring 180 people and one man later died from a heart attack, the bomb exploded near Whitehall injuring about 30 other people, bringing the total injured for the day to over 200. Eight members of the IRA team were convicted for their roles in the bombings & received long prison terms, including Gerry Kelly and sisters Marian and Dolours Price.CAIN: A Chronology of the Conflict - 1973 3 April - A bomb exploded at a London sorting office in Paddington. A caller claimed the bombing was carried out by a group called "The Avengers" and said that they were not the IRA, but did belong to the Irish Republican movement.https://issuu.com/glenravel/docs/troubles20/60 pp.42 18 August - The Provisional IRA began their first sustained bombing campaign in England, using mainly letter bombs sent by mail & firebombs planted in major cities around England. Between the 18 August - 28 September more than 40 bombs exploded in London, Birmingham and Manchester, other bombs were found and defused, 29 people were injured from the bombing campaign.David Carlton, Carlo Schaerf - International Terrorism and World Security pp.45 18 August - The IRA detonated two firebombs (incendiary devices) at Harrods Department store in London causing slight damage. 20 August - The IRA planted three incendiary devices in shops in New Street, Birmingham. No injuries. 21 August - Book bombs were received at a number of locations including the Old Bailey, the RAF Association in Chiswick, the Union Jack Club in Waterloo and the Northern Ireland Information Office in Central London. Ten incendiary devices were also discovered at a number of West End stores as well as one at Baker Street tube station (which was targeted again just over a week later), but none ignited. 22 August - A book bomb exploded at the Conservative Central Office in Westminster. 24 August - Two people are injured from a letter bomb sent to the London Stock Exchange. They were the first victims of the renewed IRA campaign in England. 25 August - Two men were injured when an IRA bomb exploded in the Bank of England in London. Another bomb was defused in a shop in Oxford Street. 27 August - An IRA letter bomb blew off the left hand of a female secretary in the British Embassy in Washington. 29 August - The IRA planted two bombs in Solihull and an incendiary device in Harrods in London. 30 August - Two Provisional IRA bombs exploded in Solihull town centre causing large damage but no injuries. 31 August - A bomb exploded in Old Quebec Street, Marble Arch damaging two hotels. September - The IRA detonate dozens of firebombs and letter bombs in cities around England during the month of September 1973 injuring over 20 people. 2 September - Two incendiary devices planted by the IRA in Birmingham were defused, one in Sherlock Street and the other Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston.
8 September - A bomb exploded at the ticket office in London Victoria station, five people were injured in the blast. 9 September - Several shops in Manchester were damaged by IRA firebombs. 10 September - King's Cross station and Euston station bombings The IRA detonated bombs at Kings Cross railway station and Euston railway station, 13 people were injured in total from both bombs. 12 September - Two Police officers were injured when an IRA bomb exploded at the offices of the Royal Naval Association in London. A woman collapsed and died during an evacuation following a hoax bomb alert at Euston Station in London. 12 September - The IRA exploded a bomb in a shopping-bag outside the offices of the Prudential Assurance Company, injuring six people, in Oxford Street in London. 13 September - An IRA bomb exploded at a Servicemen's headquarters in London. 15 September - A Provisional IRA device exploded in Oxford Street, London. 20 September - An IRA bomb exploded at the headquarters of the Duke of York barracks in Chelsea, London injuring five people, three civilians and two soldiers. 23 September - A British Army Captain died trying to defuse an IRA bomb planted in Birmingham city on Highfield Road. Captain Ronald Wilkinson (30) a member of the Hereford-based Royal Army Ordnance Corps Inspection and Disposal Unit was seriously injured when the bomb blew up in his face while trying to defuse it on the 17 September 1973, he died six days later in hospital on the 23 September. He was the first person to be killed directly from a Provisional IRA bomb planted in England. 2 October - An IRA firebomb caused damage to Heathrow Airport, another bomb exploded at Colchester, Essex.McGladdery p. 237 4 October: Four people were injured when an IRA bomb exploded at a British Army careers office in London. 17 December - Brigadier MJP O'Cock injured his right hand when a postal device exploded at Collier House in London. 18 December - 1973 Westminster bombing: A bomb exploded in Thorney Street, which leads off Horseferry Road. The bomb was planted in a car which was known to have been stolen in London, and was parked outside Horseferry House, a building occupied by the Home Office, and opposite Thames House, which is mainly occupied by the Department of Trade and Industry. Both these buildings, and others nearby, were extensively damaged. At least 40 people were injured. 19 December - A person was injured when a postal device exploded at the GPO sorting office in London. 23 December: In a number of incidents bombs exploded at Kensington police station, Hammersmith offices of builders, George Wimpey and the White Lion public house on Tottenham Court Road. 24 December - The Provisional IRA left two packages which exploded almost simultaneously in the late evening on Christmas Eve. One was in the doorway of the North Star public house, at the junction of College Crescent and Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage, which exploded injuring six people, and the other exploded on the upstairs verandah of the nearby Swiss Cottage Tavern where an unspecified number of people were injured.McGladdery, Gary (2006). The Provisional IRA in England. Irish Academic Press. p. 237 26 December - One person was injured when a bomb exploded at the Stage Door public house in London. A telephone kiosk was also badly damaged by a blast at Sloane Square tube station.
1974 1 January - Two bombs exploded in Birmingham city centre, causing minor damage. 3 January - Several bombs & incendiary devices explode in Birmingham, damaging the Victoria Law Courts on Corporation Street, the Ikon Gallery Cafe in Brindleyplace & the Royal Navy & Army Information Centre along with several nearby shops but caused no injuries. 5 January - Two bombs exploded within three minutes of each other. The first at Madame Tussauds, the second during the Boat Show at Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Police confirmed a telephone warning had been given shortly before both explosions allowing evacuations at both sites and there were no fatalities or injuries reported. It was later confirmed the devices had been planted by the IRA."More Explosions In London at Madame Tussauds Waxworks and The International Boat Show", ITN Source, 5 January 1974, Retrieved 5 October 2013 6 January - IRA active service units left bombs outside two senior British Army generals' homes. A 30 lb bomb was defused outside the home of General Sir Cecil Hugh Blacker and another exploded outside the empty home of Major General Sir Philip John Newling Ward, causing damage but no injury.J. Bowyer Bell - The Secret Army: The IRA 30 January - Three people were injured in three different IRA letter bombs. The first was sent to the Surrey residence of Judge Buzzard, the second to the Hertfordshire residence of Rt. Hon. Reginald Maudling. And the final device was sent to the offices of the Daily Express in Fleet Street, London.http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxford&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS18577986&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 2 February - The British MP Reginald Maudling had a letter bomb sent to his house by the IRA. It's believed the bomb was constructed by Shane Paul O'Doherty, an IRA expert bomb maker who sent dozens of letter bombs to England between 1973 and 1975.IRA, The Bombs and the Bullets: A History of Deadly Ingenuity - By A. R. Oppenheimer 4 February - M62 coach bombing An IRA bomb exploded aboard a bus carrying British soldiers and several of their family members in Yorkshire, killing nine soldiers and three civilians. At the time it was the highest number of deaths caused by an IRA bomb in England. A young woman named Judith Ward was wrongly convicted of this and other bombings in England and spent 18 years in jail until she was proven innocent in 1992 and released. 12 February - The IRA exploded a 50 lb bomb at the National Defence College at Latimer, Buckinghamshire. Ten people were injured in the blast. 26 March - An IRA unit used 25 lbs of explosives to bomb the British Army Claro Barracks in North Yorkshire causing large structural damage to the barracks.Ruan O'Donnell - Special Category: The IRA In English Prisons Vol. 2: 1978 - 1985 pp.85 7 April - The IRA carried out bombings in Birmingham and Manchester. No deaths or injuries. 9 April - Three IRA Volunteers shot dead John Stevenson, a British Army Commanding Officer of the All Arms Training Area in Otterburn British Army base, he was shot dead in his home near the base in Northumberland, England. 13 April - Kenneth Lennon was found shot dead in Chipstead, Surrey. Nobody claimed responsibility for the killing but Lennon was an IRA informer who had been rumoured to have been working for M16, it's possible an IRA unit tracked him down & shot him. 11 June - The IRA exploded a bomb at Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Strensall, North Yorkshire causing extensive damage but no injuries or deaths. 17 June - Houses of Parliament 1974 bombing The Provisional IRA bombed the British Houses of Parliament causing extensive damage, a large fire and ended up injuring 11 civilians.CAIN: A Chronology of the Conflict - 1974 14 July - The IRA carry out bombings in Birmingham and Manchester. 15 July - The IRA carried out five attacks with incendiary devices around Birmingham and the Black Country. An attack on the Routunda building caused £250,000 worth of damages in broken glass whilst business's in Smethwick, Nechells & Curzon Street were also targeted. 17 July - The Provisional IRA bombed the Tower of London killing one man, injuring 40 people and causing extensive damage to the Tower. 23 July - IRA 1974 British Airways bombing attempt. No deaths or injuries. 23 July - Two IRA firebombs destroyed two stores in Birmingham City. The first exploded at Maples furnishing store on Corporation Street. The second exploded at Levins furniture store at Sparkhill. Several other firebombs were found in a store in the Hall Green area of Birmingham which were defused & made safe.