Battle of Newry Road facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of Newry Road |
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| Part of the Troubles and Operation Banner | |||||||
 RAF Puma helicopter |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Provisional IRA |
 United Kingdom• .svg){kind=small} British Army |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 5 Improvised tactical vehicles | 5 helicopters 16 soldiers |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 heavy machine gun 2 light machine guns 1 assault rifle |
2 helicopters damaged | ||||||
The Battle of Newry Road was a fierce gunfight. It happened between British Army helicopters and armed trucks used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). This battle took place on 23 September 1993, on the roads east of Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The fight started when an IRA team tried to ambush three helicopters. These helicopters were taking off from a British Army base. One helicopter was carrying a high-ranking British Army commander.
Contents
What Happened Before (1974–1993)
During a period known as the Troubles, the IRA attacked helicopters many times. British Army reports say there were 23 such attacks in south County Armagh. For a long time, British helicopters in Northern Ireland flew without weapons. This changed in the early 1990s when some helicopters got heavy machine guns.
Early Helicopter Attacks
The IRA began attacking helicopters with rifles and rocket launchers in 1974 and 1976. Later, they started using more powerful machine guns. In February 1978, a Gazelle helicopter crashed while trying to avoid machine-gun fire. A soldier on board died. A year later, a Scout helicopter was hit nine times. A soldier was hurt, but the pilot landed safely. Other helicopters were damaged in 1980 and 1981 near Cullaville. In 1982, an RAF Wessex helicopter was hit nine times. This happened over Croslieve mountain. The weapons used were very powerful machine guns. These same weapons hit the same Wessex helicopter again in May 1983. This time, it was hit 23 times and badly damaged.
More Powerful Weapons
In the mid-1980s, the IRA received many new weapons. These included 18 large 12.7mm machine guns. These new weapons made the IRA even better at attacking aircraft. They first used these weapons against a British Army Lynx helicopter in June 1988. The helicopter was hit 15 times and brought down near Cashel Lough Upper.
The 1990 Incident
On 20 February 1990, a large IRA team tried to attack a helicopter. This happened near Newtownhamilton. But a British helicopter on patrol spotted their vehicles and masked men. A chase began, and some IRA members escaped. Three men were tracked to Silverbridge. Soldiers and police landed and arrested them. However, a crowd of 40 local people quickly surrounded the patrol. They threw stones and helped the suspects escape. Later searches found two AK-47 rifles and two light machine guns.
Lynx Helicopter Downed in 1991
On 13 February 1991, a Lynx helicopter was badly damaged. It was brought down near Crossmaglen by an IRA unit. They used a heavy machine gun and two other machine guns. The helicopter was hit by eight large rounds and two smaller ones. It crash-landed near Silverbridge. Luckily, another Lynx helicopter rescued the crew, and they were not hurt.
Mortar Attack in 1993
On 11 June 1993, the IRA tried to shoot down a Puma helicopter. This helicopter was taking off from the Crossmaglen base. They used a homemade mortar, fired from a baker's delivery van. The mortar exploded on the helipad shortly after the helicopter took off. Two Lynx helicopters escorting the Puma could not stop the attack. This IRA action happened during a visit by Queen Elizabeth to Northern Ireland.
The Battle of Newry Road
On 23 September 1993, around 2:00 pm, the IRA set up five armed trucks. They placed them around the Crossmaglen army base. Their targets were a Puma helicopter carrying soldiers and its two escort Lynx helicopters. The Puma had a senior British Army commander on board. He was visiting bases for a farewell trip.
The Start of the Fight
The IRA used two heavy machine guns and three light machine guns. They opened fire from near St. Patrick's Church and a community centre. A commander of one of the Lynx helicopters saw two firing positions. One was from a 4x4 vehicle. The IRA said they fired from a wooded area. They also claimed some of their weapons jammed. They reported that the helicopters were landing when the shooting started. The IRA also said they used rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) in this fight.
The Puma helicopter was hit by a large 12.7mm round almost right away. It quickly climbed higher to get away. The two escort Lynx helicopters were also targeted. Two other Lynx helicopters came to help their friends. One Lynx avoided being hit by flying low to the north. The IRA admitted that the helicopters moved away from the bullets. They also saw the other two helicopters join the fight.
The Chase and Gunfire
Two of the IRA trucks drove east along Newry Road. A 12-mile chase then began. There was a lot of gunfire exchanged during the chase. Republican sources said one helicopter was hit and had to leave the fight. Author Toby Harnden also says that one of the Lynx helicopters was damaged.
The British helicopters first saw two trucks and one car. But they lost sight of the smaller car. One of the trucks turned into a farmyard. Lynx 2 rejoined the battle. It attacked the retreating trucks from the south. The helicopter tried to fire at the trucks twice. But its machine gun jammed the first time. Another Lynx crossed its line of fire the second time. The IRA claimed the helicopters fired "without care" at civilian buildings and cars. They said the helicopters used "rockets and machine gun fire."
On the Ground
The remaining truck stopped in a village street near Crossmaglen. Several men moved weapons into a different van. At this point, Lynx 1 had returned to base to pick up soldiers. It landed eight soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment. These soldiers fired at the van with their small arms. Three masked men got out of the van without being hurt. They hid in a house. They later escaped in another car. The soldiers could not stop them. This was because the men were not carrying weapons. Also, the officer in charge was not sure if they were the same men from the van. Other soldiers were dropped by Lynx 2 near the farm where the other truck had been hidden. But they found that the truck and the men inside had disappeared.
The helicopters fired 200 rounds. The IRA said thousands of rounds were fired in total. The battle lasted between 10 and 30 minutes. The British Army called it the most intense gunfight ever in South Armagh. Authorities found a DShK heavy machine gun, two light machine guns, and an AK-47 rifle. No one was hurt on either side. All the IRA members escaped.
What Happened After
After the battle, the Garda Síochána (Irish police) found two IRA trucks. They were on the southern side of the border. The next year, in 1994, the IRA in South Armagh shot down two more British helicopters. They used homemade mortars.
After this incident, the British Army made their helicopters safer. They improved the armour for the crews. They also made the machine gun mounts better. There were even plans to buy a large airship. This airship would help coordinate operations from a safe height. Within days of the gun battle, Royal Navy Sea King helicopters were sent to the west of the country. This freed up other helicopters to help in South Armagh. On 26 April 1994, Staff Sergeant Shaun Wyatt received an award. He got the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his brave actions during the battle. His medal was later sold for over £100,000 in 2011.
See also
- Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1990-1999)
- List of attacks on British aircraft during The Troubles
- 1993 Fivemiletown ambush
- Improvised tactical vehicles of the Provisional IRA
