Images by Jackie Clowes
CADETS and Royal British Legion branches from Saddleworth, Oldham and beyond paid their respects at the 50th anniversary memorial service for the M62 coach bombing.
Hundreds of people were in attendance at the poignant ceremony on Sunday, February 4, including cadets from 2200 Oldham Squadron, 250 Halifax Squadron and 59 Huddersfield Squadron for the event at Hartshead Moor Services, close to where the attack happened.
Standards from many local Royal British Legion branches and other ex-service associations along with veterans, bike units, and local dignitaries, including Civic Mayor of Oldham, Cllr Zahid Chauhan, also took part in the parade.
The service marked half a century since the incident on February 4, 1974 when a commissioned coach taking off duty Armed Forces Personnel back to Catterick Garrison was attacked.
Shortly after midnight when the coach was between J26 and J27 the bomb, which was concealed in a suitcase in the luggage department, detonated.
The explosion killed 11 people and wounded over 30 others, one of whom died four days later.
Among the dead were nine soldiers – two from the Royal Artillery, three from the Royal Corps of Signals and four from the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. 12 others suffered severe injuries, including a six-year-old boy, who was badly burned.
Four of the servicemen killed were teenagers and all but one of the serving personnel killed in the explosion hailed from Greater Manchester.
One member of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers killed in the explosion was 23-year-old Corporal Clifford Haughton, whose wife, Linda, also 23, and sons Lee, 5, and Robert, 2, were also killed.
All four had been sitting directly above the bomb, and all were killed instantly.
It’s quite extraordinary that nowhere in the article are the group who were responsible for the bombing referred to , (The Provisional IRA.)