Aldershot Barracks: IRA bombing 40th anniversary marked

A car packed with explosives blasted the officers' mess at Aldershot barracks

The 40th anniversary of an IRA bomb attack on a Hampshire barracks that left seven dead has been marked with a ceremony.

Wreaths were laid at the memorial site, in the former Montgomery Lines barracks, in Aldershot.

The ceremony, which was open to the public, included a two-minute silence and prayers.

The IRA bombed the officers' mess at 16 Parachute Brigade HQ on 22 February 1972, leaving a further 19 injured.

About 50 people attended the ceremony and included some of the relatives of those who died.

The Mayor of Rushmoor Alex Crawford and garrison commander Col Tim Forster were among those who paid their respects.

Memorial garden

The BBC's Steve Humphrey, reporting from Aldershot, said there were "some prayers for the people who were killed and injured followed by a ceremony with wreaths laid by the Army, Rushmoor council and relatives".

He added a bugler from the Irish Guards played the Last Post, followed by a two-minute silence.

The victims were Catholic priest Gerard Weston, gardener John Hasler and five women who worked in catering: Mary Bosley, Jill Mansfield, Joan Lunn, Sheri Munton and Margaret Grant.

Their names are etched on top of the square slab memorial where the wreaths were laid.

Developers, who have bought the land with a plan to build 4,000 homes, were at the ceremony to lay a wreath.

Representatives of Graingers said the memorial garden to the victims would be kept as part of the planned housing development.