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Rose Dugdale
Bridget Rose Dugdale (25 March 1941 – 18 March 2024) was an English debutante who rebelled against her wealthy upbringing, becoming a volunteer in the militant Irish republican organisation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). As an IRA member, she took part in the theft of paintings worth IR£8 million, a bomb attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) station using a hijacked helicopter, and developed a rocket launcher and an explosive.
Dugdale was born into a wealthy English family on 25 March 1941. Her millionaire father was a former officer and an underwriter at Lloyd's of London who owned Yarty Farm, a 600-acre (2.4 km2) estate at Membury near Axminster in Devon. Her mother, Caroline Edith Sutton "Carol" Mosley (née Timmis), was firstly married to John Arthur Noel Mosley with whom she had two sons, Dugdale's elder half-brothers, Timothy John Oswald Mosley and Simon James Mosley.
The Dugdales also owned a house in London, near Chelsea Hospital and Dugdale was educated at the nearby Miss Ironside's School for Girls in Kensington, west London. She was a popular pupil, with fellow pupil Virginia Ironside stating: "Everyone adored this generous, clever and dashing millionaire's daughter, who was life and laughter". After completing her early education Dugdale was sent abroad to attend a finishing school. Then, in 1958, she was presented as a debutante at the start of the social season. Her debutante ball was held in 1959, with Dugdale describing it as "one of those pornographic affairs which cost about what 60 old-age pensioners receive in six months".
Later in 1959, Dugdale began reading philosophy, politics and economics at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. While studying there, she began what newspapers would later describe as a "lunge to the left", when she and Jenny Grove, a fellow student, gatecrashed the Oxford Union wearing wigs and men's clothing in protest at the Union's refusal to admit women undergraduates as members, encouraged from the gallery by another student, Sarah Caudwell. After completing her studies at Oxford, she travelled to the United States attending Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she obtained a master's degree in philosophy, submitting a thesis on Ludwig Wittgenstein. She also studied at the University of London, obtaining a PhD in economics.
By the early 1970s, Dugdale had become politically radicalised due to the 1968 student protests, and she had also been inspired after visiting Cuba. By 1972, she had devoted herself to helping the poor, after resigning from her job as an economist for the government, selling her house in Chelsea, and moving into a flat in Tottenham with her lover, Walter Heaton, who described himself as a "revolutionary socialist". Heaton was a court-martialled former guardsman and militant shop steward who was married with two daughters, and had been imprisoned for several minor criminal offences including burglary, obstructing the police and fraudulent consumption of electricity. Dugdale cashed in her share of the family syndicate at Lloyd's, estimated to be £150,000, and distributed the money to poor people in north London. The couple had an interest in the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, and together ran the Tottenham Claimants Union from a corner shop. They took frequent trips to Northern Irish cities to participate in demonstrations organized by the IRA, and came into contact with the group's militant arm.
In June 1973, the couple were arrested for committing a burglary at the Dugdale family home in Devon. Paintings and silverware valued at £82,000 were stolen, and police believe the proceeds were destined to be sent to the IRA by Heaton. At their trial at Exeter Crown Court, Dugdale assumed responsibility for her own defense and claimed to have been coerced; she pleaded not guilty and then spent the rest of the trial publicly denouncing her family and background. Her father appeared as a witness for the prosecution and was cross-examined by Dugdale, who said to him: "I love you, but hate everything you stand for". The couple were found guilty, prompting Dugdale to address the jury: "In finding me guilty you have turned me from an intellectual recalcitrant into a freedom fighter. I know no finer title". Heaton was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. By contrast, Dugdale received only a two-year suspended sentence as the judge considered the risk of her committing any further criminal acts to be "extremely remote".
In the months following the trial, Dugdale travelled to Ireland and formally joined an IRA active service unit operating along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In January 1974, Dugdale and several fellow IRA members, including Eddie Gallagher, hijacked a helicopter in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Dugdale and Gallagher then used the helicopter to drop improvised bombs in milk churns on the RUC station in Strabane in Northern Ireland, the first helicopter bombing raid in the history of the British Isles. Dugdale in later life, when asked what the best day in her life had been, said that it was the day of the Strabane attack. The bombs failed to explode, and Dugdale became wanted for questioning regarding the bombing with her picture in police stations across Britain and Ireland. A warrant was subsequently issued for her arrest by Manchester Magistrates Court on 23 February 1974 on charges of conspiring to smuggle arms.
On 26 April 1974, Dugdale took part in a raid on Russborough House in County Wicklow, the home of Sir Alfred Beit, 2nd Baronet. Dugdale and three other IRA members forced their way into the house, and pistol-whipped Beit and his wife before tying and gagging the couple.
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Rose Dugdale
Bridget Rose Dugdale (25 March 1941 – 18 March 2024) was an English debutante who rebelled against her wealthy upbringing, becoming a volunteer in the militant Irish republican organisation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). As an IRA member, she took part in the theft of paintings worth IR£8 million, a bomb attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) station using a hijacked helicopter, and developed a rocket launcher and an explosive.
Dugdale was born into a wealthy English family on 25 March 1941. Her millionaire father was a former officer and an underwriter at Lloyd's of London who owned Yarty Farm, a 600-acre (2.4 km2) estate at Membury near Axminster in Devon. Her mother, Caroline Edith Sutton "Carol" Mosley (née Timmis), was firstly married to John Arthur Noel Mosley with whom she had two sons, Dugdale's elder half-brothers, Timothy John Oswald Mosley and Simon James Mosley.
The Dugdales also owned a house in London, near Chelsea Hospital and Dugdale was educated at the nearby Miss Ironside's School for Girls in Kensington, west London. She was a popular pupil, with fellow pupil Virginia Ironside stating: "Everyone adored this generous, clever and dashing millionaire's daughter, who was life and laughter". After completing her early education Dugdale was sent abroad to attend a finishing school. Then, in 1958, she was presented as a debutante at the start of the social season. Her debutante ball was held in 1959, with Dugdale describing it as "one of those pornographic affairs which cost about what 60 old-age pensioners receive in six months".
Later in 1959, Dugdale began reading philosophy, politics and economics at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. While studying there, she began what newspapers would later describe as a "lunge to the left", when she and Jenny Grove, a fellow student, gatecrashed the Oxford Union wearing wigs and men's clothing in protest at the Union's refusal to admit women undergraduates as members, encouraged from the gallery by another student, Sarah Caudwell. After completing her studies at Oxford, she travelled to the United States attending Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she obtained a master's degree in philosophy, submitting a thesis on Ludwig Wittgenstein. She also studied at the University of London, obtaining a PhD in economics.
By the early 1970s, Dugdale had become politically radicalised due to the 1968 student protests, and she had also been inspired after visiting Cuba. By 1972, she had devoted herself to helping the poor, after resigning from her job as an economist for the government, selling her house in Chelsea, and moving into a flat in Tottenham with her lover, Walter Heaton, who described himself as a "revolutionary socialist". Heaton was a court-martialled former guardsman and militant shop steward who was married with two daughters, and had been imprisoned for several minor criminal offences including burglary, obstructing the police and fraudulent consumption of electricity. Dugdale cashed in her share of the family syndicate at Lloyd's, estimated to be £150,000, and distributed the money to poor people in north London. The couple had an interest in the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, and together ran the Tottenham Claimants Union from a corner shop. They took frequent trips to Northern Irish cities to participate in demonstrations organized by the IRA, and came into contact with the group's militant arm.
In June 1973, the couple were arrested for committing a burglary at the Dugdale family home in Devon. Paintings and silverware valued at £82,000 were stolen, and police believe the proceeds were destined to be sent to the IRA by Heaton. At their trial at Exeter Crown Court, Dugdale assumed responsibility for her own defense and claimed to have been coerced; she pleaded not guilty and then spent the rest of the trial publicly denouncing her family and background. Her father appeared as a witness for the prosecution and was cross-examined by Dugdale, who said to him: "I love you, but hate everything you stand for". The couple were found guilty, prompting Dugdale to address the jury: "In finding me guilty you have turned me from an intellectual recalcitrant into a freedom fighter. I know no finer title". Heaton was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. By contrast, Dugdale received only a two-year suspended sentence as the judge considered the risk of her committing any further criminal acts to be "extremely remote".
In the months following the trial, Dugdale travelled to Ireland and formally joined an IRA active service unit operating along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In January 1974, Dugdale and several fellow IRA members, including Eddie Gallagher, hijacked a helicopter in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Dugdale and Gallagher then used the helicopter to drop improvised bombs in milk churns on the RUC station in Strabane in Northern Ireland, the first helicopter bombing raid in the history of the British Isles. Dugdale in later life, when asked what the best day in her life had been, said that it was the day of the Strabane attack. The bombs failed to explode, and Dugdale became wanted for questioning regarding the bombing with her picture in police stations across Britain and Ireland. A warrant was subsequently issued for her arrest by Manchester Magistrates Court on 23 February 1974 on charges of conspiring to smuggle arms.
On 26 April 1974, Dugdale took part in a raid on Russborough House in County Wicklow, the home of Sir Alfred Beit, 2nd Baronet. Dugdale and three other IRA members forced their way into the house, and pistol-whipped Beit and his wife before tying and gagging the couple.