IRA Bombing Kills 11, Wounds 22 : Blast Destroys Royal Marines School of Music Barracks

At least 11 people were killed and 22 wounded today when an Irish Republican Army bomb tore through a military base in southeast England in one of the IRA’s deadliest attacks on mainland Britain this decade.

The bombing at the Royal Marines’ School of Music in the quiet seaside town of Deal southeast of London came after a warning by the guerrilla group of a “bloody summer” to mark the 20th anniversary of the deployment of British troops on the streets of Northern Ireland.

British Defense Secretary Tom King called the bombing an “appalling outrage committed against unarmed bandsmen” and vowed “terrorism is not going to win.”

IRA Claimed Responsibility

In Dublin, an IRA statement claimed responsibility for the attack.

Music from the Royal Marines, who perform in their distinctive dark blue uniforms and white pith-helmets, had barely faded when a powerful explosion reverberated through the town 70 miles southeast of London, residents said.

“I heard music playing and then it went bang and there was glass everywhere. . . . I heard a Marine scream out: ‘The band is under there,’ ” local resident Simon Mitford said.

The explosion shattered one of three barracks at the base, which King said had been guarded by a civilian security firm.

Columns of black smoke rose into the sky as the building burned and then collapsed.