Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Battle of Newry Road
The Battle of Newry Road was a running gun battle between British Army helicopters and Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) armed trucks, fought along the lanes east of Crossmaglen, County Armagh, on 23 September 1993. The engagement began when an IRA motorized team from the South Armagh Brigade attempted to ambush three helicopters lifting off from the British Army base at Crossmaglen, one of them carrying the 3rd Infantry Brigade Commander.
According to British Army reports, the IRA carried out 23 attacks on helicopters in south County Armagh during the Troubles. Until the early 1990s, when the Westland Lynx were fitted with heavy machine guns, all British helicopters in Northern Ireland flew unarmed.
Following two attacks with rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) in 1974 and 1976, the introduction by the South Armagh Brigade of M60 machine guns increased its firepower. In February 1978, in the follow-up of a shooting between British troops and IRA members, a Gazelle helicopter crashed when its pilot attempted to avoid machine-gun fire, killing a Royal Green Jackets Lieutenant Colonel on board. A year later, a Scout helicopter was hit nine times while flying over Glassdrumman. A Grenadier Guards Major was wounded, but the pilot managed to land the machine safely.
One Gazelle was damaged in January 1980 and another in May 1981, both near the village of Cullaville. In another incident, an RAF Wessex was hit nine times over Croslieve mountain, west of Forkhill, in 1982, by rounds fired from an M60 and a .50 Browning machine gun, allegedly recovered by the IRA from an Allied aircraft that crashed on Lough Neagh during World War II. The same weapons were fired at the same Wessex (serial number XR506) flying over Aughanduff Mountain in May 1983. This time, the machine was hit by 23 rounds and received severe damage.
The Libyan shipments of weapons for the IRA in the mid-1980s included 18 DShKs 12.7 mm machine guns, which further enhanced the anti-aircraft capabilities of the South Armagh Brigade. These weapons were used for the first time against a British Army helicopter in June 1988, when an Army Air Corps Lynx was hit by 15 rounds and brought down by an IRA unit near Cashel Lough Upper.
Another incident occurred on 20 February 1990, when an IRA team composed of at least 20 volunteers attempted to attack a helicopter at Newtownhamilton, but their efforts were thwarted when a van, a car, and several masked men manning a light machine gun were spotted by an RAF Wessex on a reconnaissance mission. After a hot pursuit in which some vehicles and some IRA volunteers escaped, three of the men were tracked to Silverbridge, where the Wessex landed three soldiers and two Royal Ulster Constabulary constables. The men were arrested, but the security patrol was suddenly overwhelmed by a stone-throwing crowd of 40 residents, who forcibly released the suspects. One of the men arrested was Jim Martin, who had recently been part of a scheme to smuggle Surface-to-air missiles from the United States. He was still at large and living in the area at the time of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. In later searches in the area, security forces recovered two AK-47 and a Heckler & Koch rifles and two light machine guns. The AK-47s had been used in the 1989 Jonesborough ambush the killing of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan in 1989.
On 13 February 1991 a Lynx helicopter was severely damaged and brought down near Crossmaglen by an IRA unit using a heavy machine gun and two GPMG machine guns. The machine was hit by eight DShK rounds and two GPMG rounds, and eventually crash-landed near Silverbridge. The crew were rescued unhurt by a second Lynx.
On 11 June 1993, the South Armagh Brigade attempted to shoot down a Puma helicopter taking off from the Crossmaglen base with an improvised mortar. The barrack buster, fired from the back of a local baker's delivery van, exploded on the helipad shortly after the pilot had managed to take off. Two Lynx helicopters escorting the Puma failed to prevent the attack. The IRA action was carried out to coincide with a one-day visit to Northern Ireland by Queen Elizabeth.
Hub AI
Battle of Newry Road AI simulator
(@Battle of Newry Road_simulator)
Battle of Newry Road
The Battle of Newry Road was a running gun battle between British Army helicopters and Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) armed trucks, fought along the lanes east of Crossmaglen, County Armagh, on 23 September 1993. The engagement began when an IRA motorized team from the South Armagh Brigade attempted to ambush three helicopters lifting off from the British Army base at Crossmaglen, one of them carrying the 3rd Infantry Brigade Commander.
According to British Army reports, the IRA carried out 23 attacks on helicopters in south County Armagh during the Troubles. Until the early 1990s, when the Westland Lynx were fitted with heavy machine guns, all British helicopters in Northern Ireland flew unarmed.
Following two attacks with rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) in 1974 and 1976, the introduction by the South Armagh Brigade of M60 machine guns increased its firepower. In February 1978, in the follow-up of a shooting between British troops and IRA members, a Gazelle helicopter crashed when its pilot attempted to avoid machine-gun fire, killing a Royal Green Jackets Lieutenant Colonel on board. A year later, a Scout helicopter was hit nine times while flying over Glassdrumman. A Grenadier Guards Major was wounded, but the pilot managed to land the machine safely.
One Gazelle was damaged in January 1980 and another in May 1981, both near the village of Cullaville. In another incident, an RAF Wessex was hit nine times over Croslieve mountain, west of Forkhill, in 1982, by rounds fired from an M60 and a .50 Browning machine gun, allegedly recovered by the IRA from an Allied aircraft that crashed on Lough Neagh during World War II. The same weapons were fired at the same Wessex (serial number XR506) flying over Aughanduff Mountain in May 1983. This time, the machine was hit by 23 rounds and received severe damage.
The Libyan shipments of weapons for the IRA in the mid-1980s included 18 DShKs 12.7 mm machine guns, which further enhanced the anti-aircraft capabilities of the South Armagh Brigade. These weapons were used for the first time against a British Army helicopter in June 1988, when an Army Air Corps Lynx was hit by 15 rounds and brought down by an IRA unit near Cashel Lough Upper.
Another incident occurred on 20 February 1990, when an IRA team composed of at least 20 volunteers attempted to attack a helicopter at Newtownhamilton, but their efforts were thwarted when a van, a car, and several masked men manning a light machine gun were spotted by an RAF Wessex on a reconnaissance mission. After a hot pursuit in which some vehicles and some IRA volunteers escaped, three of the men were tracked to Silverbridge, where the Wessex landed three soldiers and two Royal Ulster Constabulary constables. The men were arrested, but the security patrol was suddenly overwhelmed by a stone-throwing crowd of 40 residents, who forcibly released the suspects. One of the men arrested was Jim Martin, who had recently been part of a scheme to smuggle Surface-to-air missiles from the United States. He was still at large and living in the area at the time of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. In later searches in the area, security forces recovered two AK-47 and a Heckler & Koch rifles and two light machine guns. The AK-47s had been used in the 1989 Jonesborough ambush the killing of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan in 1989.
On 13 February 1991 a Lynx helicopter was severely damaged and brought down near Crossmaglen by an IRA unit using a heavy machine gun and two GPMG machine guns. The machine was hit by eight DShK rounds and two GPMG rounds, and eventually crash-landed near Silverbridge. The crew were rescued unhurt by a second Lynx.
On 11 June 1993, the South Armagh Brigade attempted to shoot down a Puma helicopter taking off from the Crossmaglen base with an improvised mortar. The barrack buster, fired from the back of a local baker's delivery van, exploded on the helipad shortly after the pilot had managed to take off. Two Lynx helicopters escorting the Puma failed to prevent the attack. The IRA action was carried out to coincide with a one-day visit to Northern Ireland by Queen Elizabeth.