Attack on Cloghogue checkpoint

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict = Attack on Cloughogue PVC
partof= The Troubles


caption=
date=1 May 1992
place= near Killeen, County Armagh
territory=
result= British checkpoint complex razed
combatant1=flagicon|IrelandProvisional Irish Republican Army
combatant2=flagicon|UKBritish Army
(Royal Regiment of Fusiliers)
commander1= "Unknown"
commander2= "Unknown"
strength1= At least 2 ASUs
strength2= Approx 6 men
strength3=
casualties1= None
casualties2= 1 dead
casualties3=
notes=The Attack on Cloghogue checkpoint was an elaborate vehicle bomb attack on a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint (PVCP) by members of the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade, on May 1, 1992. The compound, located near Killeen, South Armagh, was obliterated by the explosion.

The attack

During the late hours of 1 May, a party of four IRA volunteers held a family hostage in Killeen and stole a mechanical excavator. This heavy vehicle was to be used to build a makeshift ramp aimed at the railway line crossing the Belfast-Dublin highway. At the same time, other members of the organisation stole a van in Dundalk, which was then loaded with 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) of Semtex. The van was equipped with wheels fitted to run on the rails. The excavator, moving along the ramp, lifted the van onto the railway, which was then driven to a hill some 800 metres north, where a mile-long wire attached to a triggering device was added to the van. Meanwhile, IRA support teams set up roadblocks in order to prevent civilians from approaching the area. Around 2:00 AM, the vehicle was clamped into first gear and directed at the checkpoint. A British patrol heard the noise of a 'train' heading towards the checkpoint, which was immediately alerted. The sentry at Cloghogue, Fusilier Andrew Grundy, spotted the incoming threat, while an IRA member, from the high terrain south of the position, waited for the van to reach its target. At 2:05, the explosive went off, demolishing the British permanent vehicle check point. Fusilier Grundy died almost instantly. The rest of the soldiers, all inside a reinforced concrete facility, survived without injuries, despite the blast. [Harnden, pp. 262-264]

Aftermath

Fusilier Grundy was mentioned in dispatches for his courageous actions, raising the alarm before the explosion. [ [http://www.northumberlandfusiliers.org.uk/catalogue/perfram.htm#prof www.northumberlandfusiliers.com] ]

The official report about this incident stated: "This was a well-planned and well-executed attack indicative of the imaginative, innovative and capable nature of South Armagh PIRA." [Harnden, page 264]

The checkpoint, reduced to rubble, was never re-opened. Another, smaller, PVCP was built a few miles to the west; the new checkpoint cost ₤7 million, only to be removed by 1998. [Harnden, page 265]

Notes

References

* Harnden, Toby: "Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh". Coronet Books, London, 1999.