Regents Park remembers its murdered band
NewsOn the morning of July 20, 1982, members of the Provisional IRA set off bombs in two London’s royal parks. In Regents Park, seven bandsmen were killed. No-one was ever charged with the outrage.
Today, the bands will play all afternoon in memory of those who died.
Like all who live near the park, I carry the sound of the blast in my ear.
The killing of these military musicians, while giving a concert in Regents Park, was a heinous and wicked act by the Provisional IRA.
Like you, Norman, the composer George Lloyd lived near the park and I believe also heard the explosion on that day. He later went on to write a piece called ‘Royal Parks’ for brass band. The second movement is entitled ‘In Memorium’, in which he pays tribute to all the young musicians who were killed by terrorists on the 20th July 1982.
https://youtu.be/YX8xzZB2YuA
A fitting tribute to these brave, defenseless musicians. Considering the ridiculously horrific history, sometimes it’s hard to believe that Ireland is still at peace! Amazing!
and don’t forget the Marine bandsmen murdered at Deal.
…nor should we forget the vast number of innocent Irish people who died at the hands of brutal British colonisers over hundreds of years. Quite a number of them were musicians who were deliberately targeted during the good old fashioned British tradition of trying to destroy the native culture of the many countries they invaded to create the ‘great’ British Empire. There’s so much that does not get taught in UK schools about the horrors and atrocities committed during the British conquests of Ireland and other nations. Perspective and context are important for memorial posts like this. Yes, it’s awful the IRA chose such indiscriminate bombing tactics, but ask yourselves why they were doing it in the first place…..
…nor should we forget the Irish people killed by the IRA in bombings, or knee capped, in attempts to maintain discipline and protect their racketeering.