Gransha Hospital shootings

Gransha hospital shootings
Part of the Troubles and Operation Banner
Location	Clooney Road, Eglinton Derry, Ireland
Coordinates	54°34′27.45″N 5°59′7.87″W
Date	6 December 1984
Target	Provisional IRA Volunteers
Attack type	Shooting,
Deaths	2
Victim	William Fleming Danny Doherty
Perpetrators	British Army Special Air Service (SAS)

On Thursday 6 December 1984 two Provisional IRA Volunteers, William Fleming (19) and Danny Doherty (23) were shot dead after they had been ambushed in the grounds of the Gransha Hospital just of Clooney Road Derry by the British Armies Special Air Service (SAS). British undercover soldiers from the 14 Intelligence Company also took part in the killings.

Background

In 1984 the The Irish ConfliCt had been raging for 15 years. By the late 1970s IRA activity had reduced. Loyalist Paramilitaries were barely active anymore, carrying out a handful of attacks a year. But the IRA was going through a reorganization process, instead of using the old larger battalion structure the IRA would now use a cell structure, where 3 - 8 volunteers who knew each other well would make up these new units. The Process finished in 1979, The South Armagh Brigade was the only exception to the rule as they were considered "liberated" anyway by the IRA Army Council. Between 1979 - 1983 The IRA carried out a number of high-profile operations like the 1979 Warrenpoint ambush which killed 18 British soldiers, the 1980 Antrim Road Standoff in which IRA volunteers with an M60 killed a high ranking SAS officer, the 1981 Bessbrook Landmine Attack in which 5 British soldiers were killed, 1982 in England the Hyde and Regent's Park bombings which killed 11 soldiers and injured 50, also in England a year later in 1983 the Harrods bombing which killed 6 people and injured dozens more, also in 1983 was the Maze Prison escape in which 38 Irish Republican prisoners escaped from Europe's most secure jail. Also, in between this period, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) killed 11 British soldiers and 6 civilians in the Ballykelly bombing in 1982.

But the IRA's most infamous attack was the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing which was an attempt to kill the then British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher. Five people were killed in the attack, among them were Sir Anthony Berry, also Margaret Tebbit (the wife of Norman Tebbit, who was then President of the Board of Trade were left permanently disabled and Thatcher narrowly escaped with very small injuries. Thatcher wanted a strong military response against the new more aggressive IRA leadership

Kesh Ambush

Just four days before the Gransha shootings on 2 December 1984 two other IRA volunteers were killed by the SAS in the Kesh ambush in Fermanagh. Those killed were Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde (27) and Kieran Fleming (26) the older brother of William Fleming who was killed just four days after his older brother.

The Attack

On 6 December 1984, Fleming and Doherty were riding around on a motorbike in the grounds of Gransha Psychiatric Hospital, approximately four miles from Derry city centre. The hospital was also the administrative headquarters of the Western Health and Social Services Board. It was reported at the time that the pair had gone to the hospital in an attempt to assassinate an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment who was employed there, and had intended to carry it out during a staff shift change at 8 a.m. The SAS were aware that an IRA operation had been planned to take place in the vicinity of the hospital after receiving a tip-off from an intelligence source. An SAS unit from the Londonderry Detachment of 14 Intelligence Company, without the knowledge of the Royal Ulster Constabulary or the hospital authorities, located troops at the site keeping watch for two weeks prior to 6 December. However, they had minimal prior information as to how the attack was to be executed and when.

At 8 a.m., Fleming and Doherty were spotted on the motorbike by the SAS sentries who were located within an unmarked car, which proceeded to ram it, dislodging Fleming from the pillion seat and causing the motorcycle to go out of control. Fleming was then approached by two other SAS troopers who opened fire and killed him, claiming subsequently that he was armed and they considered him a direct threat. The motorcycle meanwhile had struck a kerb and thrown Doherty to the ground, where he was opened fire upon by the British Army soldiers and also killed. Subsequent forensic evidence showed that six bullets struck Doherty whilst he was on the ground, and Fleming's autopsy showed that he had four gunshot wounds to his head and 56 to his trunk and torso. During the inquest into the shootings, the coroner stated that Doherty had three gunshot wounds to the head and a further twenty one shots to his body.

Aftermath

The funerals of both Fleming and Doherty took place on the same day: 10 December. Fighting broke out between police and mourners at the house of William Fleming before his coffin left the house in the Waterside area of Derry. Fleming's coffin met up with Doherty's when it left his home from the Creggan. The funeral was the largest in Derry City since the death of INLA hunger striker Patsy O'Hara three years earlier. Both coffins had been dressed in the customary fashion with Irish tricolours and a colour party of four IRA volunteers in full IRA uniform fired volleys of shots over the coffins from automatic rifles to the sound of cheer from the mourners.

In excess of 3,000 mourners followed the funeral procession to the City Cemetery in Derry where Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness gave the graveside oration, and stated: '"We are an occupied country and those brave enough to fight repression deserve nothing but respect and unfailing support from us all. Only the IRA can bring Britain to the negotiating table."

File:William Fleming - Danny Doherty IRA funeral.jpg

Uniformed IRA volunteers fire a volley of shots over the coffins of Fleming & Doherty

The guerrilla war between the IRA and the British forces continued for the rest of the 1980s and without stoppage. At the beginning of 1985 the SAS shot dead 3 IRA Volunteers in an ambush in Strabane County Tyrone, less than a week later the IRA hit back when nine RUC officers were killed in the 1985 Newry mortar attack. In 1987 the SAS killed eight IRA volunteers in the Loughgall ambush, in March 1988 the SAS shot dead three more IRA volunteers in Gibraltar during Operation Flavius then in the middle of 1988 the IRA killed 14 British soldiers in two separate attacks, first the Lisburn van bombing killed six soldiers in June and in August the Ballygawley bus bombing killed a further eight and injured nearly 30.

See also

• Kesh ambush
• Clonoe Ambush
• Coagh Ambush

External links

• Funeral of IRA volunteers William Fleming and Danny Doherty - 10th December 1984 on YouTube