Description
Object description
British private served as No 2 in bomb disposal team with No 321 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Northern Ireland, 8/1973-12/1973
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Hebburn, GB, 1955-1972: family; education. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Army Ordnance Corps in GB, 1972-1973: reasons for choosing Royal Army Ordnance Corps; pattern of training; background to reasons for volunteering for tour of Northern Ireland. Recollections of operations as No 2 in bomb disposal team, No 321 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Northern Ireland, 8/1973-12/1973: reasons for 4 month length tours as No 2; psychological profiling; Improvised Explosive Device (IED) course prior to posting; role of No 2; lack of operational training; types of devices encountered in training and during tour; training on anti-tilt and lift devices; role collecting forensic evidence in civilian clothes; posting to Northern Ireland, 8/1973; arrival at Albert Street Mill, Belfast; initial familiarisation operation; uniform worn; incident of being hit by coke bottle during riot.
REEL 2 Continues: move to Lurgan; collecting forensic material after bombing incident; clearing locations for secondary devices; Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA)'s targeting of bomb disposal operators; nature of Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) operations in Lurgan; dealing with car bombs and question of hoax bombs; relations amongst ranks in unit; working routine; composition of unit; use of Land Rover and occasion when crossbow bolt was fired at his vehicle; methods of dealing with car bombs; use of Wheelbarrow Bomb Disposal Robot; inspection of suspect cars on foot; attitude to dealing with car bombs; dealing with bombs in milk churns; locations in which Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) planted bombs; incident when car attempted to slow his vehicle in area known for culvert bombs; description of culvert bombs; aftermath of incident with car and destruction of police station.
REEL 3 Continues: volunteering for foot patrols during quiet periods; relations with civilians encountered on patrol; discovery of Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) sniper on patrol in Omagh; riots in Omagh; collection of car number plates from incidents as souvenirs; attitude to bomb disposal work; question of use of protective netting over dining areas in bases; long-term psychological effects of service.