• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Pub Bombings

Status
Not open for further replies.
V

Villan

Guest
One of my earliest memories as a child was being in a working mens club in Handsworth when news broke of the bombings. A family sitting just a few seats away ran crying out of the room. I always wondered if they had a family member caught up in the tragedy. When I was old enough to drink in the city I always refused to go into these pubs. The question I want to raise is did anyone know anyone injured in the blasts or where were you when you heard the news.
 
I was working at LEWIS,s at the time and knew of one young lady who was killed in the city centre pub bombings . she would have been about 19 at the time . I was out in Halesowen drinking that night and got home to very relieved parents.

That period of time was very tense ,with many bomb scares at the store and often the city centre was closed down, for ages.

You never knew what you were going to come up against.

I think there were two or three pubs bombed one was under the rotunda another was about three doors up from the cinema in new st .

Can,t remember many others .

It was not a nice period in my life.
 
There were two pubs bombed that night: The Mulberry Bush, under the Rotunda, and The Tavern In The Town, as you say, Colin, close to the Odeon on New Street.

I was living in a small town on in the northwest of the Repulic of Ireland when it happened. The first I knew about it was when neighbours came round to offer their sympathies and any help we might need (ringing Brum etc. as phones were prolific at that time). It was a great learning experience to find that these people were just as shocked and outraged by this terrible act mindless violence as we were.

There is a monument to the dead in St Philip's Churchyard. You will see from the names inscribed on it that there were a number of Irish amongst the victims.

It is also worth noting that Dublin and Monaghan had been subjected to a similar act of barbarism when 33 people were killed in car bombings on 17th May 1974.
 
Kandor one of our members wrote very movingly of his experience and injuries he suffered in the pub bombings. If you look under his postings I am sure you will find his account.
 
yes have read that experience . as you say a bit harrowing.

It was a hard time for everyone . we had an irish lady working with us who was afraid to come to work for about two months afterwards.

I think she stayed in the house ..


There was a family on our estate who were reputed to be part of a terrorist group who were hounded out.

I cannot pass judgement but i can understand how people might feel but is not a good idea to take law into your own hands.

Thank heaven we dont have the same intensity of fear to live through again .

And yet this was a mere trifle in relation to what the family had to endure during WW2 .
 
Pub Bombings revisited.

I said after writing my second story on The Birmingham Pub bombings that because of a young girl I sat next to in the Burns unit at Bath Row, I was too ashamed to write further on the subject...
I realise now that such a stance is silly, I can turn to anyone here and read one of their postings which are in many cases far worse than anything I've experienced, so here it is then, an insight into a survivor of one of Birminghams worst nights.
First of all, whenever I say I was actually in there, peoples' usual response is, 'You must have been very frightened'
Well, no, I wasn't, there was actually nothing to fear at all, Just imagine you're reading this right now, then imagine the next minute you are lying on the ground in rubble...where's the fear? there is none, fear comes with anticipation, The Tavern went up that quickly, we had no time for fear and straight after that, there is only shock and pain.
Trust me on this, there is no greater overriding urge than survival, all you want to do is get up and get out...and thats how it was for me. but fear? no...
A friend of mine who was in there that night said she saw a bright red light,
I can't say I did myself, another saw a bright white light and then said all the glasses seemed to shift slightly then crystalize, I cant say I saw that one either.
I was actually blinking at the time which left me with 'Panda eyes', this meant my eyes and the surrounding area stayed my natural skin colour while all the rest of my face was burned red, plus all my hair burned off.
I've been back down the Tavern many times, the people that were in there that night still call it that, to us, it will always be 'The Tavern in the Town'
I remember the pictures they put in the Evening Mail and other such papers, there were people with bandaged faces, those with dressings on their legs and arms...I personally have two friends who carry no obvious wounds but even today are injured..
My one friend talks about it every single day...every single day....just imagine his mind...
My other friend is a near recluse..and this from being one of the most sociable men I knew.
The Pub Bombings gave my Dad his first heart attack, the start of a chain that eventually killed him.
On another note I met many good friends in the Tavern
I also fell in love with my wife there.
Roz had the guides cut to her left hand, she also suffered a broken nose and a deep cut to her wrist.
Cosmetic surgery took care of her facial scars but the one on her wrist still troubles her.
Ohh...and if she reads this, She is the best thing that's ever happened to me, I mean it, I love her very much.
I carry only one legacy over from those days and it's this,
People think it cant happen to them...I know different, I know it can, for it did
And even today, 30 years later, I can't stay in a place where there is an unattended bag or parcel...thats what it did to me, and that, is my story of the Tavern.

The old Tavern Pub,
Taught me to sing a love song
It showed me how to laugh and how to cry
It introduced me to some friends of mine,
And brightened up some days,
And helped me make it through some lonely nights
What a friend to have on a cold and lonely night.

The old Tavern Pub,
Gave me lovely lady
It opened up her eyes and ears to me,
It brought us close together and I guess it broke her heart
It opened up, a space for us to be,
What a lovely place and lovely space to be.

The old Tavern pub,
Nearly ended my life, my living
And all the things you know, I love to do
To serenade the stars that shine
On a sunny mountainside
But most of all, to sings my songs for you,
Yes I do you know.......
I love to sing my songs for you.
 
I was in the Police Force at the time of the bombings at Ladywood. My sister-in-law was going to the Odeon that night but instead of waiting in the queue, they decided to go for a quick drink at the Tavern in the Town. Fortunately, it was a quick drink, and just as they left the tavern to return to the Odeon it went up. I feel for you and your mates kandor, at that time I was being sent to about 5 to 8 bomb calls per day! along with my other collegues. It certainly rattles the nerves, I personally had to deal with two carrier bag hoaxes in hagley Rd and a 'bomb' made out of cigar tubes with wires coming out into a box. Eventually my wife said "If you don't get out of that job, I am leaving you". So we emigrated to New Zealand and got out altogether. So Kandor, I KNOW what you mean whenyou talk about bags left un-attended, I still get goose-bumps thinking about it and I try to shut out the vision of seeing the results of the ones that DID go off, particularly one brave bomb disposal guy R.I.P
:cry:
 
Dear Frantic

I think it was totally different for me, (just a one off, I hope), now YOU are a hero, I would buy you a drink anytime and consider it an honour.
Its one thing to do an heroic deed with adrenalin flowing, it's something else to do it in cold blood knowing the possibilities, could I do such a thing? I dont honestly know...
I wish you a full and wonderful life.
 
MOMENT

:wink:
ABSOLUTELY.
(I was there.)
Great thought - all said and done.

What ordinary decent salt of the earth people have been subjected to by fascist tyrants
 
:D Before Col and I came back to New Zealand in late 1970, he worked on the London Underground Trains as a guard, before taking their trains out, both before and after each shift the guards and drivers would have to check for any unaccountable items left on the train. Col (being a young Kiwi at the time) saw this as just routine until one day he found a bag had been left under, one of the seats of his train. The area around the train was cleared and the ‘Bomb disposal team’ blew the bag up (didn't check it, or anything just BOOM), as it turned out it had been harmless. Realising just how serious these left bags and parcels were taken by those in the know, Col said he became a lot more vigilant and even a little paranoid, before that he had only been concerned about working Saturdays on the Soccer trains. We both respect anyone who takes the risks on such accessions in order to save the lives of other people. :)
 
I WAS STAYING IN THE FOX HOTEL IN WOLVERHAMPTON THE COMPANY I WORKED FOR WILLIAMS FURNITURE WAS OPENING A NEW STORE IN WOLVERHAMPTON. WE USED TO GO IN THE TAVERN AND THE MULBERRY BUSH WHEN WE FINISHED WORK WE HAD A BRANCH ACROSS THE ROAD IN THE BULL RING CENTRE AND I OFTEN WONDER I COULD HAVE BEEN IN EITHER ONE OF THOSE PUBS THAT NIGHT. JOHNEDWARD
 
We use to go night clubbing 3 to 4 days a week in town Rebbeccas and Barberellas and met in the pubs mentioned.
My Wife worked at the IMI and On the night of the bombings she was warned not to go into town
It haunts us everytime we see his face but we cannot comment any further for legal reasons
 
I realise reading the above postings how lucky I have been in my life. While there are evil fanatics in our midst we will never be entirely safe and these fanatics are encouraged by inequality and social injustice and of course religious and racial diversity. There were high hopes that a global society would fix all our problems, but it is obvious that it has made it worse. :(
 
for two and a half years i was a full time barmaid at the mullberry bush and had only left 6 months before it happened

i was at home with my then boyfriend when we heard the new flash -- as in those days not everyone had phones in there home we ran to the nearest phone box to call our families and let them know we were alright  -- if it had been the next night ( friday) i might not be writing this -- we had so many friends that we lost that night---
 
I was drinking in the Windsor pub, Cannon Street that night and had arranged to meet my mate Freddie and his wife Wendy in the Tavern. I went down there, had a drink whilst waiting, they seemed a long time coming down there, so I finished my drink then went back to the Windsor to look for Freddie. He was not there, so I went home on the bus. When I got home my wife said that Freddie and Wendy had rung and were worried about my safety. They had got to the Tavern after the bomb, and thought that I was one of the casulties. When my wife told me what had happened, I was in a state of total shock, I had left the Tavern about ten minutes before the bomb went off. . I think that there were two girls that worked in Lewis's that I knew that were killed that night. Never been back to the Tavern since.
 
Welcome Bardolph, I used to go to the Tavern and The Mulberry Bush often, but on that awful night my husband had arranged to meet his friend at the Tavern. His friend worked for Hill's glass and had been called out as a plate glass widow had been smashed and they had to go and sort it. He rang and gave Michael a rain check so we went to visit his Mom and Dad in Castle Brom. While there we heard a loud bang which we thought was a plane, they lived in the flight path. Then the terrible news started to come over the TV. A night which still haunts many Brummies still.
 
Just reading this thread about the bombings certainly brings back the memories doesn't it........I've got goosebumps all over my arms now & feel quite shivery:(. Another one here who was in the city centre on that night. I'd just walked out of New Street & was about to get my bus home when the boyfriend & I heard this terrible boom...... My parents were at the theatre in town & were cleared out etc. The next day I think it was, I was supposed to be going in to do a shift at BHS Food Hall (my student job) & my Dad drove me into town but said I didnt have to go in if I didnt think I could face it......when I saw body bags etc it really frightened me & so came back home again.

It was very weird going into the 6th form common room that week as one of our 6th formers had been killed & the only one Irish girl we had wouldnt come in as she was frightened of people's reactions to her, how sad eh?
I still get shivers even now just thinking about it although I know it was way back in the past & life goes on........

I know some would say it was nothing compared to what people went through in the war etc but it sends me cold every time I think about it. Sorry......I've rambled on quite a lot there haven't I.

Wendy, you're so right........it does still haunt Brummies doesn't it
 
Yes I remember that Thursday night , I was having a beer in the Market Hotel in Station Street when the 1st bomb went off , I was having my break from New Street Station which i was working 12 hour nights that week 1800 to 0600 , the 2nd bomb went while i was crossing Station Street to return to work ...... pointless cus the Station had to be evacuated as there was another bomb found on platform 1, we spent the whole night in Station Street waiting to return to work . 2 friends i knew from New Street Station died and an old school friend of mine died too ... A very sad night i must say .

This is a interesting read .......... click on this
https://www.birmingham999.co.uk/

ragga :(
 
I was in the coach station, Digbeth, at the time and heard (at least one of ) the bombs go off. Everything went silent, and somehow you knew something disastrous had happened. There were scares galore for the next few days, quite often I couldn't drive my bus to the bus station because 'Town was closed'. Terrifying times.
 
Ragga thanks for the link it was interesting to see what the people who were there had to deal with. I know this post must be difficult for some Kandor included.
 
I have to say I enjoyed reading the Firemans report and looking at the attached photos.
I have seen several such pics of internal damage to the Tavern but to date, just not that one.
The debris all piled up at the bottom of the stairs didn't seem to be that high at the time, in fact I remember I crawled over it pretty easily, sure I got one or two splinters in me as I did so, but with the rest of the stuff I'd got in me, glass, bits of brick and rubble, wood from furniture etc..it didn't really add much more to how I was feeling.
Again I have to point out, nothing was visible anyway, the place was in total darkness and if you add the dust and smoke, well... you moved by sense of touch, not sight, you couldn't smell much either apart from burning wood, hair and flesh, believe it or not, apart from the overwhelming smell of burned hair, the rest of the place smelled like a bacon sandwich...I guess that was people..
The really dangerous part for me getting out was when my arm slipped through a big hole that had been blown out of the stairwell, I have to say, that did hurt a tad.
I never heard any alarms going off as in that said report, but on reflection why would I?
With both my eardrums burst, the only thing I could hear was like the noise of a huge and continuous thunderclap ringing in my ears, that lasted for several days..human voices were totally beyond anything I could take in.
I still wonder why, if so many people arrived so quickly after the explosion, how no one helped me, I guess apart from the three services, most of the others where just trying to put some distance between it.
Also one last time, I can read about the Tavern, hear about the Tavern but I'm not one to let it upset me nor affect me, it all happened too quickly to worry or fret about and this was in the days when adversity truly was met with a 'stiff upper lip' no Counselling back then, least we were never offered any..more of a case of great family support and the knowledge you'd 'got through it'.
Have a good one.
 
Thanks for your personal insight into this terrible time Kandor, it's refreshing how posative you are. A true Neachells lad!:)
 
Hi all,

This is first time I have saw this thread and it has re awakened memories I have tried so very hard to forget.

I was a victim of the Pub Bombings, I was outside the Tavern (just about to go in) when it exploded , I had already heard rumours that the Rotunda had been hit by a bomb and I was rushing into the Tavern to meet my friends to tell them we needed to go home.

My friend never made it , she was one of the youngest victims, I remember
the chaos and carnage the screams were the worst memories, I was one of the lucky ones, I escaped with just a few phospherous burns and a perforated eardrum, others were horrifically injured, I can re-live this now as I am typing.

Please God - never let this happen to our children..

Please - put this to rest.......

RIP all the innocent victims

Dianne
 
when the bomb at the mulberry bush went off i was on the top deck of a bus at the stop by st martins, bull ring, the bus shook and we thought something had hit it, by the time it got to the rotunda there were police there and we realised there must have been an explosion, the bus was supposed to go up new st and into high st, but when it got to new st it was closed off, so the driver let us off at the top of carrs lane, as we were walking down carrs lane the bomb in the tavern in the town went off alarms in the shops went off and we became very frightened and caught the next bus out of town, i will never forget the sadness and anger i felt as the news unfolded that night.
 
My brother and his (soon to be) wife were in the Odean cinema at the time of the blasts.

Both blasts were heard very clearly. The cinema was quickly evacuated.

Just as an aside (and I suppose quite trivial really, but maybe of interest to some) the film playing was "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" with "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" as the support feature.


Cheers
Lefty
 
hi there, my! this brings back some awful memories. I was 19 at the time and going out with a girl when it happened. I remember being at her house on our own when the news came through about the bombings. I was watching the TV when they announced the name of the pubs involved and my girl friend burst into tears, she cried out that one of her work mates had gone to the tavern to have a night out. I assured her that she would be alright. How wrong could i be, the girl in question had been killed that night, she was a bubbly lass and i had met her a number of times, oh what fun she was. The next few nights were the most upsetting i can remember, there were real fears of reprisals. Thankfully everyone kept their heads and the terrible situation began to dilute. At times i remember that girl and even now over 30yrs later i can see her beaming smile,what a waste:(
 
We used to use the Tavern as a meeting place before we went to either the Windsor or the Alhambra, there was always a few guys in there who we used to chat to. If I remember rightly one was called Lenny, another Molly, Graham, who we went down to work in St Ives with and another one called Joe who we went to the Isle of Wight Festival with. I was working away from Brum when the bombs went off but I remember comin home for a while and seeing the animosity to the Irish families who had lived and grown up alongside us
..Anyone remember Molly and Lenny and the others?
 
Memories of the night of the Pub Bombings.
Yes all those years ago but it is still quite clear for me. I was 30 minutes away from being in the Tavern in the Town.
I had planned to meet my friend Bob Hill, at this home in Nechells (I stayed in Erdington at that time) I drove to his house. His father came to the door and asked me to come in and wait as Bob had not yet returned from his work. I sat in the living room with his Mom and Dad.
Bob eventually arrived home, then after a quick wash and change, we headed off to the city in his van. As we reached the town, we were stopped as a police car was blocking the Inner Ring Road from approaching traffic. We were turned away, and headed for a pub back in the Nechells direction, there was some local radio report that said keep out of the city but no details were given as to why.
Once there we heard the news that the Tavern had been blown up. We were shocked as was everyone, but we were even more so with the knowledge that if Bob had been home from work on time, we would have been in the Tavern at the time of the explosion.
I think of the many things that have happened to me in my life, and consider how things would have been if I had not been delayed that night.
One of my collegues had a brother who was in there that night, he wasnt killed fortunately, but he still has the memory.....
 
Dianne said:
Hi all,

This is first time I have saw this thread and it has re awakened memories I have tried so very hard to forget.

I was a victim of the Pub Bombings, I was outside the Tavern (just about to go in) when it exploded , I had already heard rumours that the Rotunda had been hit by a bomb and I was rushing into the Tavern to meet my friends to tell them we needed to go home.

My friend never made it , she was one of the youngest victims, I remember
the chaos and carnage the screams were the worst memories, I was one of the lucky ones, I escaped with just a few phospherous burns and a perforated eardrum, others were horrifically injured, I can re-live this now as I am typing.

Please God - never let this happen to our children..

Please - put this to rest.......

RIP all the innocent victims

Dianne
Click to expand...
don't know if you still post here Dianne, or not

thanks for sharing this
I am really sorry you lost your young friend

I, and my friends were only 15 yet used to frequent city centre pubs in 1974 [yes, I know, we shouldn't have]
it could have been us :(

I hope you can continue to get over it
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top