'Claudy bombs made at Swatragh'

ON August 9, 1972, that mornings edition of the Londonderry Sentinel ran article suggesting the bombs that destroyed Claudy a week earlier were made in the County Londonderry village of Swatragh.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Aug 2010, 16:37 BST

The Article said: Men of the Royal Green Jackets and the RUC on Monday found near Swatragh evidence which proved that a derelict house at Craigvale had been the "factory" where the IRA had made the three bombs that on Monday of last week, wrecked the village of Claudy near Londonderry and caused seven deaths (two more people subsequently died); 30 people were also injured in the blast.

Army Headquarters in Londonderry announced that the security forces had found-1 Thompson submachine gun, 1 .45 Colt revolver, three 40lb bombs ready for use, 2 cwt of high explosive mixture, 1 bag of fertiliser, 400 rounds of ammunition, a cross-bow, a drum of soduim chlorate, a small quantity of nitro benzine and 10 detonators.

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The search began when troops found a car, that had been stolen from the Loup, Magherafelt, just before the blast. The car contained a combat jacket. Another car stolen from the Loup had been used to hold one of the killer bombs.

After the discovery, a police spokesman said: "By finding these, the security forces could have saved a lot of lives.

It looks as if this is the factory where the bombs were made for the Claudy explosions.

It looks pretty conclusive that the bombs found today were ready for use.