Letter: Commemorative Service, 40th Anniversary of Guildford Pub Bombings

Published on: 22 Sep, 2014
Updated on: 22 Sep, 2014

From Revd Brian Roberts

The fortieth anniversary of the Guildford Pub Bombings falls on Sunday 5th October 2014.

The Horse & Groom pub shortly after the IRA bomb attack on October 5th 1974.

There will be a short service of commemoration at 4pm on this anniversary, held outdoors in Quakers’ Acre, in North Street, next to the Guildford Library and opposite the building which was formerly the Horse and Groom, one of the pubs attacked that evening. The other pub was the Seven Stars in Swan Lane.

There is a plaque in Quakers’ Acre which names the five people who were killed: Paul Craig; Guardsmen William Forsyth and John Hunter of the Scots Guards; and Privates Ann Hamilton and Caroline Slater of the Women’s Royal Army Corps.

The service will remember the five who died and the many who were injured, pay tribute to the courageous work of the emergency services who helped, acknowledge with gratitude the duty of those in the armed forces who were the targets, and express our longing for peace and reconciliation now widely shared.

Responses to Letter: Commemorative Service, 40th Anniversary of Guildford Pub Bombings

Anthony Taylor Reply

October 4, 2014 at 6:21 am

I was there that night and was in the Horse and Groom half an hour before it was blown up. I went with my WRAC girlfriend to see the Exorcist at the cinema and 30 minutes later the first bomb went off and shortly after the second.

I spent the rest of the night escorting WRAC personnel back to the Queen Elizabeth Barracks and then being interviewed by the SIB [Special Investigation Branch – the Royal Military Police’s CID equivalent].

I will be attending the memorial service at 4pm. God rest their souls.

Tony Taylor