A Provisional IRA car bomb injured up to 60 people outside the London Home Office, marking one of several IRA attacks in England during the Troubles.
Key Facts
- Date
- 18 December 1973
- Location
- Thorney Street, off Horseferry Road, Millbank
- Injured
- Up to 60 people
- Target
- Home Office building
- Warnings given
- Two telephone warnings within 30 minutes before blast
- Perpetrator
- Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Provisional IRA carried out a series of bombings in England during the Troubles. The Westminster attack was believed to be retaliation for the imprisonment of Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade members who had bombed the Old Bailey earlier in 1973. The day before, the IRA also sent parcel bombs targeting two politicians.
On 18 December 1973, a car bomb planted in a stolen vehicle exploded on Thorney Street, off Horseferry Road in Millbank, London. The device was detonated outside the Home Office building on a Tuesday morning. Two telephone warnings had been issued within the half-hour preceding the explosion.
The blast injured up to 60 people. The attack was one of numerous IRA car bombings carried out across Northern Ireland and England throughout the Troubles, underscoring the vulnerability of high-profile government locations in central London to paramilitary operations.