IRA terrorists and British bomb disposal experts tell behind-the-scenes stories of a deadly cat-and- mouse game that pits ingenious IRA explosives officers against the most creative bomb squad in the world. A Windfall Films production for WGBH in association with Channel 4 (UK). Original Channel 4 Equinox episode, "The Men with Nine Lives", November 24, 1996
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00:01Tonight on NOVA, an IRA bomb has been planted.
00:09Go back up the street. It is not safe. Move.
00:13Someone must defuse it, quickly, safely.
00:17It's the most incredible power I've ever seen unleashed, and all from striking a box of matches.
00:23In this deadly cat and mouse game, science is the key to survival.
00:27Bomb Squad.
00:51Major funding for NOVA is provided by the Park Foundation.
00:55Dedicated to education and quality television.
01:00And by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.
01:05Approaching a terrorist bomb requires a special kind of courage.
01:12This soldier is a member of an elite corps of the British Army, which disarms terrorist bombs.
01:18It is the busiest bomb squad in the world.
01:21It is the busiest bomb squad in the world.
01:22Since the Irish Republican Army began using bombs in 1972, this unit has been called to over 30,000 people.
01:25It is the busiest bomb squad in the world.
01:26It is the busiest bomb squad in the world.
01:27It is the busiest bomb squad in the world.
01:33terrorist bombs. It is the busiest bomb squad in the world.
01:44Since the Irish Republican Army began using bombs in 1972,
01:49this unit has been called to over 30,000 incidents in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.
01:55The IRA's bombing campaign instigated a deadly game of cat and mouse
02:05that has led to highly sophisticated counter-terrorist tactics.
02:09But ultimately, it is a war of nerves. One man against the bomb.
02:15This final approach is often described as the long walk.
02:33Eventually, he is so close to the bomb, his body armor cannot save him.
02:38Beyond this point, only his training and experience will protect him.
02:45I see you all come and answer the door.
02:56Do you want to keep an eye down the side?
03:12Get off me, kag!
03:15Get off me, pig!
03:17Pig!
03:19Twist me hand!
03:21Get off me!
03:23In this exercise, a small homemade bomb has accidentally gone off in the bedroom of a bomb maker's house.
03:29The bomb disposal technician must ensure there is no risk of other devices detonating.
03:34Are we in charge here?
03:35Hello, yes.
03:36How you doing? Let's try now.
03:48There is a constant fear of booby traps.
03:51These soldiers learn to live with the unpredictable danger.
03:54Hence their nickname, Felix, after the cat with nine lives.
04:01These buildings have seen some of the most fiendish plots to catch the bomb disposal man off guard.
04:12Situated deep inside an army base, the location of this specially built town is secret.
04:17It's part of the Felix Training Center, where soldiers learn to outwit the terrorist.
04:24Stomboi! Firing!
04:26To get inside the mind of the enemy, they must learn the secrets of a long list of lethal devices.
04:40This is a terrorist bomb factory staffed by the British Army.
04:46These men are manufacturing do-it-yourself bombs to exact terrorist specifications.
04:52The Semtex blocks and detonators contain no explosives, but the circuits are real,
04:58so they can test the skills of the people who must defuse them.
05:01They are taught never to underestimate the cold-blooded precision of IRA bombs.
05:18In 1984, the IRA planted a huge bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton on the south coast of England.
05:25It had been left months before, and was time to go off when the Conservative Party conference was in town.
05:32Five people died, and many more suffered terrible injuries.
05:39Seven years later, 10 Downing Street was the target.
05:45The IRA launched a mortar bomb at the Prime Minister's residence, striking at the heart of government.
05:51Go back up the street! It is not safe! Move!
05:56It was the climax of a violent campaign that had brought terror to the streets of London from Northern Ireland.
06:02Since the 70s, more than 3,000 people have been killed.
06:08The catalyst for the bombing campaign was the British Army's violent suppression of a civil rights march
06:20in 1972.
06:25Northern Ireland was on the verge of civil war.
06:28Protestants wanted to remain under British rule.
06:32Catholics supported a united Ireland.
06:35On this day, what started as a peaceful demonstration turned into a riot.
06:40Do not fire back for the moment!
06:4213 Catholic civilians were shot dead by the British Army.
06:49It became known as Bloody Sunday.
06:52The provisional IRA vowed revenge.
06:57They sealed off the Catholic areas and recruited angry teenagers.
07:01It was easy for a schoolboy to become an IRA recruit.
07:04I had enough imagination to imagine I was like Michael Collins or Eamon de Valera.
07:16The problem is, imagination doesn't allow for victims.
07:19It doesn't allow for civil rights and human rights.
07:21You're dealing with teenagers who are imagining this is a great war like in a movie, you know?
07:25Like Full Metal Jacket or something, you know?
07:28Or the specialist.
07:30You know, like Man from Uncle, Ilia Kuriak and Napoleon Solo.
07:33It was a feat of imagination and it was the puncturing of imagination at court and in prison
07:38that brought reality to bear.
07:40And that's where I now live in reality.
07:43Shane O'Docherty has spent most of his adult life in prison for his bombing activities.
07:48He is one of the few convicted IRA bombers to have written letters of apology to his victims while serving his sentence.
08:01He now renounces violence, but he carries with him chilling memories of his acts of terror.
08:09When I was the Brigade Explosives Officer for Derry at the age of 19,
08:12this nice-looking house, one of its upper rooms was my secret bomb factory.
08:21This was the place from which I made the timing devices for any of the bombs that would have worked in the city,
08:28any of the incendiary devices, any booby traps.
08:31And in fact, I used to be able to sit at that upper window at night and say incendiary devices will be going off in shops in the city centre.
08:37And because we're on a raised part of the city here, we could see them.
08:41And within half an hour, the fire brigade next door would be racing off, so we could time things to the minute, you know.
08:46We were all the time trying to improve the devices and try to avoid Felix ever getting time to get there and defuse it.
08:52So, you know, you're always trying to avoid the scenario where army bomb disposal guy got there and got time to work on it.
08:59There have been many technical advances in the size and complexity of improvised bombs, as one of the army's chief counter-terrorist officers recalls.
09:11It developed from some very crude early days, beginning in the early 70s with a massive uncoordinated campaign of bombing attacks
09:23to now some quite sophisticated techniques using modern electronics, to which we eventually produced some solutions.
09:30We lost operators in doing that early development work.
09:35As we produced a solution, they often produced a counter-measure.
09:40They produced a new threat, we produced a solution and so on.
09:43So it has been a game of technological leapfrog over the years.
09:46Fire in!
09:47Fire in!
09:52Fire in!
09:56It was a game the bomb disposal man didn't always win.
10:0020 lost their lives tackling IRA bombs.
10:04Many more have been maimed and injured.
10:08It's hard to understand what motivates a bomber.
10:11Shane O'Docherty had his first experience when he was 15.
10:15two IRA men asked him to hide a bomb they had failed to plant they showed him
10:21how to use it they said well it uh it's a fuse bomb you like these matches at
10:29the top of the fused there's a fizz and you got three minutes so I thought about
10:34it all evening thought you know how many people get this kind of chance to go from
10:38you know being a nobody in the IRA to actually getting a chance to do a
10:42prominent job and get in there and be up front so I decided to kind of break the
10:46rules and take the bomb to its target myself so at about 3 or 4 a.m. I sneaked
10:52out of bed down to the back shed took this bomb fearfully you could probably
10:56have heard my heartbeat in London it was painfully fast heartbeat and I carried it
11:01down the back alley here and up to the doorway of this building you know
11:06trembling with fear I nevertheless rubbed the matches on the fuse there was a fizz
11:11and I got the hell out of there then there was this incredible boom and there
11:17was a vast pool of gray dust and plaster in the air and an eerie silence and I
11:24looked at it and thought you know it's the most incredible power I'd ever seen
11:28unleashed and all from striking a box of matches in the late 60s at the beginning
11:33of the current IRA campaign devices were pretty crude and simple a good example is a
11:38tin can nail bomb basically a tin can filled with explosives nails wrapped
11:44around it and we've got a short piece of burning fuse here to give the delay and a
11:47detonator and the terrorists would simply light the fuse and throw this in the
11:51direction of a patrol or maybe into a security forces base where it would
11:56explode obviously as its drawbacks if the fuse goes out it's not going to
12:00explode the guy has to be quite close to the area in order to deliver that
12:05device and so the terrorists obviously looking for better ways of getting a
12:09device to an area with minimum risk to himself and one of the things they came
12:15up with was a simple electrical circuit normally consisting of a battery a timer
12:21of some description and that simple electrical circuit can then be
12:25incorporated into his devices which means it's much more reliable the
12:30terrorists can deliver it quite a long time before he wants it to go off and he
12:33doesn't have to be in the area when the device functions that was one leap
12:37forward like the arrival of batteries and clocks and electric detonators but
12:41then of course very quickly after the army began to defuse these simple timing
12:46devices so then we had to you know figure ways to deter the army bomb squad from
12:50defusing them during their 55 minute run until they exploded so groups of EO's as
12:57we call our people like explosives officers came together to discuss how do we
13:00stop this you know and that's when the ingenuity came out and you find that a
13:04lot of people had a lot of ingenuity
13:11the IRA started to booby trap bombs with anti handling devices if the package was
13:17moved a tilt switch would trigger the electrical circuit and set off the bomb
13:22the army became adept at using a hook and line to pull suspect parcels away from
13:28buildings
13:29they then placed a small amount of explosive next to the package it provided
13:45enough force to blow the bomb circuit apart but not enough to set off the main charge
13:50the idea of putting your bomb inside a wooden box screwed down all the way around
13:59meant that first of all it couldn't be easily seen what was going on inside it that was the first part and
14:08and then people were saying you know well hell you know it's an army bomb disposal team
14:12let's give them something to work for like let's uh let's not aim just for the for the building in
14:17which we're trying to get our bomb to explode
14:19that's reason enough to put an anti handling device on but then they thought you know
14:22let's take out instead of trying to shoot a soldier on the border or shoot a soldier
14:25walking up the street in Derry let's try and take out the ATO
14:28the IRA started targeting the bomb disposal man himself
14:37but these booby-trapped devices were much more dangerous to plant
14:42the best way of delivering such a bomb was in a car
14:46the army needed to react quickly to this new threat
14:53some of the first experiments to defeat the car bomb
14:56used foam to try to dampen the blast
15:05the car is filled with foam
15:07and on firing the charge there are hardly any visible effects
15:16in this demonstration
15:17foam produced by the two standard firefighting generators
15:21is delivered through polythene tubes directed towards a car bomb
15:24thirty meters away
15:27the far end of the street is closed off with nylon mesh screens
15:31the car and the street are smothered in foam
15:34which arises to a height of about ten feet
15:37one of the countermeasures that was introduced to try and deal with the problem of car bombs
15:42was filling the street with high density foam
15:44to try and attenuate the blast from the car bomb
15:48the vehicle would drive up towards the car bomb
15:51it was one of our pig vehicles
15:53and it had a nozzle on the top and it would spew this high density foam into the street
15:56it was known as foaming pig
15:58it was like your washing machine had gone awry
16:02and there's all this foam all over the place
16:04and the whole street would fill up with foam
16:05with the intention of stopping the damage
16:09unfortunately it wasn't much of a success
16:12it didn't actually reduce the blast damage too much
16:15and if the device failed to function
16:17then someone had the problem of wading through all this foam
16:20to try and find where the bomb was in order to deal with it
16:23so all in all it wasn't much of a success
16:27an inventive colonel who was thinking about the car bomb problem in his backyard
16:32came up with an original approach
16:35he had developed an unusual way of cutting grass
16:39by tethering his lawn mower to a stake
16:42in a flash of inspiration he imagined using long ropes
16:47to steer a remote controlled tow hook towards a suspect car bomb
16:50the operator would be far enough away to escape any blast if the bomb was accidentally triggered
16:57the first prototype was built from garden machinery
17:01and was nicknamed wheelbarrow
17:03in one of its first uses it went to the star garage in Belfast
17:09where a suspect car was positioned near forty other cars and the garage itself
17:16the rope was attached to a truck which towed the suspicious car to a safe place where the bomb could be destroyed
17:27so its first use saved the cost of forty cars and possibly a garage
17:35and at that time the actual cost of the wheelbarrow was 250 pounds
17:40the mark two wheelbarrow had a remotely controlled arm
17:48which meant it could tackle a car bomb where it was parked
17:52Peter Gurney, a former chief of the London bomb squad
17:56was one of the first people to try it out in Belfast
17:59this machine was really the first of the car bomb killers
18:12because it had on the front an attachment to break a car window
18:18now the idea was that you drove up until this part actually came in contact with the car window
18:25once that was forced in this would spring out and break the car window
18:32a lot of trouble with the early ones on these because they tended to skid up a window
18:40and you would find yourself unable to break the window
18:43so you had to withdraw the wheelbarrow
18:45and then Colonel Miller modified them by fitting the little tungsten carbide tip in there
18:50which actually digs into the glass and stops it skidding
18:52it delivered an explosive charge that was designed to disrupt the car bomb components without detonating the bomb
19:02the tube of explosive was called candle
19:06candle consists of 108 grams of aluminized explosive
19:11contained in a plastic tube and initiated by an electric detonator
19:14when candle is fired the car is opened up and there is a high probability that the IED will be completely disrupted
19:25this is what came to be known as a controlled explosion
19:32I got a very soft spot for this particular model
19:36it did save my neck many times in Belfast
19:39I'm sure it saved an awful lot of operators lives
19:42the early models all had long umbilical cords to control their movement
19:49sometimes these would become jammed in doorways
19:51so they fired a metal spike into the floor to hold the door open
20:00this was the first wheelbarrow to have a television camera enabling the operator to hunt for the bomb
20:08it also had tank tracks which could climb stairs
20:11but the long umbilical which contain wires for steering and setting off the explosive
20:18could be dangerous
20:20as Peter Gurney found out when he was dealing with a suspicious car in Belfast
20:24whilst
20:27pulling the car out unbeknown to myself
20:30the car had actually gone over the top of the control cable
20:33for the robot and it scrubbed all the insulation off the wires
20:35behind the cover of their armored vehicle
20:41Gurney's men attached the explosive candle to the robot arm
20:45unknown to them the bare wires inside the damaged umbilical were touching
20:50so when Gurney flicked the switch to move the robot
20:53he set off the explosive charge
21:00they were standing just a few feet away from the explosion
21:03Gurney escaped lightly
21:06his two colleagues were more seriously injured
21:10with a robot wreck
21:13Gurney risked his life by placing the explosive candle in the suspect car
21:18being this close to a car bomb
21:21is always a last resort
21:23today robots are usually radio controlled
21:34in this army exercise there is the added complication that the bomb the soldiers are trying to locate
21:40is radio controlled too
21:42so to avoid triggering the device with radio signals
21:46the robot trails a wire for firing the weapons that will blow upon the bomb
21:50some aspects of this scenario are off limits to cameras
22:00they have been told the bomb has been planted outside an insurance office
22:06they begin a systematic search starting with the obvious place a trash can
22:21unfortunately it's empty
22:34they have a look around behind the wall and in that area
22:38later they find the bomb in a flower bed
22:39the bomb is blown apart
22:42using one of the most significant weapons in the bomb disposal arsenal
22:46the disrupter
22:48the disrupter was particularly useful for destroying booby trapped under vehicle bombs
22:57initially when the current campaign started the only tool bomb disposal operator had
23:04really a standing knife a few hand tools and ball of string
23:07and some detonating cord
23:09but this of course meant you had to be with the bomb while you were defusing it
23:14which is not a good idea
23:16and we did lose quite a few operators
23:19and then along came the idea of knocking the bomb apart
23:22this technique was called disruption
23:26whereas most guns will be firing a solid projectile
23:31in this case
23:33the barrel is filled most commonly with water
23:36and if we put that in the vertical position
23:41let me hold it for you one
23:43thank you very much
23:45once it's penetrated the case of a bomb
23:48the slug of water which it projects
23:51bursts in all directions
23:53and it tends to burst the bomb open from the inside
23:56the idea, remember, is not to set the bomb off
23:59it's to knock it apart
24:01so you can gather up the components
24:03but not to cause the bomb itself to explode
24:06out comes the pin
24:08of course, whilst this is all going on
24:10you're operating this thing from a safe distance
24:12it's fired electrically
24:13firing
24:19four
24:20three
24:21two
24:22one
24:23shhh
24:29right, that's
24:31there's a battery lying down there
24:32there's a battery, which is closest
24:34here's the other side
24:38our detonator exposed
24:40nearly all terrorist bombs, he says, are electrically initiated
24:45so you aim at
24:47either disable one of the vital components
24:51which is a battery, the power source within the bomb
24:53or destroying the circuitry
24:55which will stop the current getting to the detonator
24:58or in fact blowing the detonator away from the explosive
25:01or vice versa
25:03but disruptors could not penetrate bigger bombs
25:06concealed inside cars
25:07the army had to resort to controlled explosions
25:15which sometimes set off the whole bomb
25:19as the IRA began planting bigger booby trap devices in the trunks of cars
25:24this became an increasingly dangerous problem
25:27what I've got here is a typical example of a booby trap device built into a beer keg
25:33beer kegs were used for quite a while as a container for the main charge and main explosive charge
25:41and they contain about a hundred pounds of explosives
25:44but hidden inside is a booby trap switch
25:48the booster bag on top
25:50which provides the initial kick to get the explosives to function
25:53is connected to this hidden explosive device
25:59and if the operator is inclined to stick his hand in and pull out the booster bag
26:03he will set this device off, setting off the whole of the explosive charge and that will kill him
26:08here we have a beer keg
26:11the beer keg may well contain beer
26:14on the other hand it may be a bomb
26:15the ingenuity of the IRA was matched by the imagination of inventors like Sidney Alford
26:22who devised new countermeasures to remove bombs from car trunks
26:26we have a device which consists of a case
26:30with this semi-cylindrical former
26:33on the back of it
26:34you can see taped detonation cord
26:38when this detonation cord explodes
26:41it will squeeze the contents of this container
26:45and this container contains water
26:49this water will be projected
26:52and it will be projected very fast
26:53propelled by high explosive
27:05the slug of water blasts straight through the gas tank
27:08and without igniting the fuel
27:10lifts the beer keg 50 feet clear of the car
27:13it can then be more completely disarmed
27:17but as scientists produced countermeasures
27:21the IRA continued to come up with new devices
27:25you were always aware like making these devices
27:29that any one of them could explode and kill you
27:31particularly our kind of homemade devices
27:33or that somebody else's mistake could kill you know
27:37which often happened to IRA volunteers
27:39but no you just didn't think about it
27:41I mean you tried not to think about it
27:43sometimes when you were standing with a thousand pound
27:46lorry bomb or truck bomb
27:48or standing on a landmine of a thousand pounds of explosives
27:50you know it would occur to you
27:52what would it be like if this went off you know
27:54what would death be like in that kind of horrible massive explosion
27:58and in one case when I was blown up by a letter bomb device
28:02and I still have some of the damage on my body from that
28:05I remember seeing the detonator of the device on a table in front of me explode
28:09and all I remember seeing is this incredible rainbow of colours going past me
28:13followed by a ferocious bang that blew me out the window of a house
28:16and a couple of days later I was back in the job again you know
28:27Shane O'Docherty was one of the first IRA bomb makers to experiment with letter bombs
28:33after he blew himself up on this street in Derry
28:36the IRA offered him a more dangerous mission
28:38one of the top GHQ guys came to see me when I was recuperating
28:43how would you feel about going to London and you know really making a splash
28:48and I thought my god you know this is the world sure
28:51so you know it was like something as simple as
28:55two three weeks later
28:57I myself you know I stuck some four ounce packets of black plastic explosive in a rucksack
29:04I stuck some electric detonators in the tube frame of a rucksack
29:08and just took a flight to London with about 500 pounds in my pocket
29:12went to a flat agency got a flat
29:14went out and bought a who's who and some stuff
29:17and you know little batteries and pieces of wire and tape
29:20and aluminium foil and that's it
29:24this is a book bomb which would be wrapped in paper and sent as a parcel through the post
29:29and it's similar to the sort of things that the likes of Shana Doherty would have produced
29:35on unwrapping the device we find that it's been hollowed out
29:39and inside there's maybe three four ounces of Semtex and a booby trap switching mechanism
29:46again containing a safety device for the terrorists so that whilst he's constructing the bomb
29:52he doesn't put his life at unnecessary risk
29:54and these sort of things have been sent right away through the campaign
29:59to all manner of people, army officers, members of parliament
30:03and that three or four ounces of explosive if you're holding it close to your body like this
30:08would certainly be enough to kill you
30:09it's not a manly thing for a politically motivated sort of heroic figure to admit that conscience hurts you know
30:28I mean conscience does hurt me you know
30:30it doesn't give me pride or honour that I hurt civilians, that I hurt innocent people
30:34that I maimed innocent people who while I sit here and move on with my life are still wounded and maimed
30:40it doesn't make me feel good
30:42and it even grew upon me and nobody warned me that it would
30:45that later that hitting so-called legitimate targets hurt my conscience you know
30:49Peter Gurney diffused many of O'Doherty's bombs
30:53letter bombs are all designed to go off when opened
30:56they're essentially anti-handling devices
30:58but fortunately x-ray had come in and we were able to use this to make out what the contents of the letters were
31:05these were a great innovation these machines
31:08the lightweight x-ray machines
31:11this is a suspect package in this case which we put in front of it
31:15stand the x-ray machine about a metre off
31:18and if we move back
31:23that machine has now functioned
31:25to remove the cassette
31:29you pull out the black tab which pulls out the film
31:32then peel away the cover
31:36this is only a very small x-ray but you can see the detonator and the delayed action timer
31:43you can see the battery case in here
31:47obviously the x-ray was taken in that line with the battery pack
31:52you can see the battery pack the detonator is buried in the explosive here
31:56you can just see the edge of the watch and that was the
31:58as I've opened it the two wires have come together
32:00which had been a real bomb would have completed the circuit and caused the bomb to fire
32:05by the end of the 80s the bomb disposal teams were dealing with a new problem
32:09the IRA had developed homemade mortar bombs
32:13which they were firing at army barracks and police stations in Northern Ireland
32:16on February 7th 1991 just after the Gulf War Cabinet had convened at 10 Downing Street
32:26the provisional IRA launched one of its most audacious operations
32:30half a mile away they had parked a van and set a short timer to trigger a set of explosive charges
32:46this was the first mortar attack on mainland Britain
32:49Peter Gurney as head of the London bomb squad was on the scene within minutes
33:01through the flames I could see three large mortar tubes
33:08and about that time I was told there had been an explosion in the garden of number 10
33:13which is in the direction the vehicle was pointing down here somewhere
33:16but only one mortar shell had exploded
33:20all I did was tell people to keep in the heart of the building because there were two bombs possibly unaccounted for
33:27and should these bombs either fire and then detonate in the area
33:32people will be safer in the heart of the building rather than outside on the streets
33:38I think comes being led through the garden
33:41one quick look around and quite obvious that the bomb had gone off
33:44at the bottom end here
33:47where there had once been a cherry tree there was a smoking crater
33:51the blast had showered the Cabinet Office with glass and debris
33:55shrapnel damage is still visible on the garden walls
34:03this is a type of mortar that was used in the attack on Downing Street
34:06it's what we call the Mark 10
34:07it consists of a steel tube filled with explosives loaded into a slightly larger steel tube
34:14and it's launched by a propulsion charge in the base
34:18on launching this pin which is held by a wire is pulled out
34:22and this spring-loaded arming pin pops out
34:26allowing the working parts of the fuse to detonate when it strikes a target
34:30and out it comes
34:33two of the three mortar bombs failed to explode
34:37landing on the other side of the wall near a statue of Lord Mountbatten
34:41himself a victim of a terrorist bomb
34:44working alone to avoid placing others at risk
34:47Peter Gurney locked the bomb between his legs and tried to remove the fuse
34:53and then slowly I became aware that it was getting quite hot
34:58and there was a great scream of anguish
35:01my balls were on fire
35:04the bomb was almost red hot
35:06and I got off it rather quickly
35:10found some snow which was beginning to snow at the time
35:13packed into my trousers and then sat on the bomb again
35:15and eventually managed to get the four bolts out
35:19I then found that the bomb had actually burnt
35:22the filling had burnt out
35:24leaving the casing very very hot indeed
35:27and it was in fact an empty bomb
35:29but anybody who saw me at the time must have wondered what on earth was going on
35:33because I would sit on the bomb, take a couple of turns on a nut
35:36then jump up and rush around
35:38and come back and then have another go at the fuse
35:41I was somewhat disappointed having got the fuse out to find it was empty
35:45that's an odd reaction, why?
35:48well in fact I've gone through all the sort of danger and excitement of getting the fuse off
35:53and then to find out like opening a Christmas package and finding there's nothing inside
35:57it turned out the explosive in both mortar bombs had burned away without detonating
36:02In bomb disposal training young soldiers learn from the experiences of veterans like Peter Gurney
36:12To qualify for duty in Northern Ireland the men must get through this course
36:17it has one of the highest failure rates in the British Army
36:19We believe that a knowledge of terrorist tactics will aid your threat assessment
36:26it will make you better at assessing the threat when you arrive at a scene
36:30and what you will find is certain lessons that have been learned over the last 25 years
36:35they will be illustrated and amplified by the things we talk about
36:39because there are jobs that we can actually specifically point to which led us then on that tag
36:43One of the most dreaded tactics was the hostage bomb
36:50The IRA would tie a hostage into a van loaded with explosives and order him to drive to an army barracks
36:56Luckily in this case the driver was freed by a sentry just before the explosion
37:04In two similar incidents on the same day the hostages were killed
37:09To teach soldiers how to deal with such incidents
37:13exercises are staged to test their ability to assess hidden danger
37:17In this case a radio receiver has been wired up to a trunk full of homemade explosives
37:21The cable for that runs around the back
37:25Along here joins up with the one from the front
37:28Around here and onto the detonator there
37:31Something you saw is going to give you a really bad day
37:38When the bomb disposal crew arrive on the scene
37:41They are briefed by an instructor playing a police officer
37:44He tells them there is a hostage strapped in the car
37:46He's just had a car driving to our station up there and there is a woman tied in the front seat
37:54And she says there is a bomb in the car
37:56What about is this car?
37:57Up at the RUC station
37:59She is sat at the gates of the station at the moment
38:01A knife, a pair of snips, a pair of bolt croppers and a scalpel
38:06Okay, she is sat in the bloody passenger seat there
38:08Yeah
38:09It is a Fiat Black Fiat Panda
38:11And there is a box on the back parcel shelf
38:15Scalpel?
38:16Yeah
38:18Okay
38:20We are back in a mow, Inspector
38:21This incident is a bomb disposal man's worst nightmare
38:25There is no time to put on a protective suit or send in a remote controlled robot
38:30In this situation, as the IRA is well aware
38:34The bomb disposal man must risk his own life to save the victim
38:39If the car is booby-trapped, pulling the door open might set off the bomb
38:46Can you get me off quick? I'm stuck in here
38:48Yeah, okay
38:50Don't move whatever you do
38:51No, stay where you are, please
39:16He searches for the detonator
39:17The small explosive tube which sets off the main charge
39:21And forms the vital link between the electronic circuit and the bags of explosive
39:31By cutting it out, he can reduce the immediate risk
39:35But they could still be secondary devices concealed in the car
39:47He's found a wire connected to the driver's door
40:01If opened, it could set off an explosive charge
40:04Yes, you can come out this side, okay?
40:07Come on
40:10Here's the camera, let's go
40:11Let's go
40:24Very, very good
40:26That was very good, pleased with that
40:32Once the area is clear, the crew can send in a remote controlled robot to finish off the job
40:38Stand by, firing
40:42Stand by, firing
40:45As the IRA's booby traps became more elaborate, the army relied on robots to play an increasingly important role in assessing dangerous situations
40:54The wheelbarrow has come a long way in 25 years
40:55As the IRA's booby traps became more elaborate, the army relied on robots to play an increasingly important role in assessing dangerous situations
41:08The wheelbarrow has come a long way in 25 years
41:12In 7 out of 10 incidents, it acts as the eyes and hands of the operator, so that he can work on the bomb from the safety zone
41:21It carries a pair of roving cameras to locate the device, and a pair of disruptors to destroy it
41:32For more cramped situations, wheelbarrow has a smaller brother called Buckeye, that can maneuver in narrow places like the aisles of trains or steep staircases
41:41But the ultimate tool is still a long way off
41:46The Holy Grail must be a form of hand-held device, rather like a Dandere ray gun, which will detect, will perhaps diagnose, and ultimately dispose of terrorist devices or criminal devices
42:00Until that day engineers will continue to improve the versatility of robots
42:03One of the key problems is trying to fit the tools, cameras, and weapons on the end of the arm
42:14They are all competing for the same space
42:17Perhaps robots will eventually have a selection of different tools and attachments that can be carried on board
42:23The ultimate attachment would be a hand
42:31Future designs may use a virtual reality gauntlet, so the operator can slip his hand into a glove and feel, as well as see what he is doing
42:40But even today's robots are remarkably sophisticated tools
42:47They were being used so much in Northern Ireland, that the IRA began to revise its tactics
42:59If the bomb disposal team are going to send in a robot anyway, who cares?
43:04Then you've got to think, where are they going to send the robot in from?
43:07What street corner, what part of the street are they going to use as their operations point, you know?
43:12So what manhole cover, what building, what wall of a building can you conceal something in?
43:18The bomb was now a lure
43:22The bomb disposal squad had become the real target
43:26In this exercise, the house is being booby-trapped with trip wires and pressure mats
43:32The crew is told that there has been an explosion, but they know this could be a trap to entice them into the building
43:43Is there a commander?
43:44That's right, hi, Sam, Murphy, April Irish, how do you do?
43:47Nothing must be taken for granted when training for duty in Northern Ireland
43:51Step back, Leicester bleep run you over
43:54Somebody said there'd been an explosion
43:56That's right, yeah, there's been an explosion
43:58This officer's identity is concealed for security reasons
44:02Just to the front of the ICP there, you can probably see the dirt in the road
44:06Firing point in this house up here on the right hand side
44:11OK!
44:13We've had a good look around and we found a battery pack in there as well on an item of furniture
44:18Right, OK, we've got an explosion, when did the explosion actually take place?
44:22Right, it was a while ago actually, it was about 6.20
44:25To have such a small explosion that nobody gets killed
44:28Especially when they had the potential to put something really big out and catch them
44:31She's going to put a device out of you as well quickly
44:34Yeah, so I've got a feeling that there might be something
44:37A big bomb in the bloody chest of drawers or something like that
44:40So we'll have to have a look-see
44:42They decide to send in a robot to inspect the house
44:45Getting through the doors
44:47We'll see if we can get in with wheelbarrow
44:49And if we can't, then I might use buckeye
44:51But you should be able to get in with Barrow, to be honest
44:53Once a safe path has been cleared by wheelbarrow, he puts on an armoured suit before checking out the house
45:06Just as a soldier never goes on duty without his rifle
45:22So a bomb disposal man always takes a disrupter
45:30Inside this house, three booby trap bombs have been laid
45:33Each is designed to kill the bomb disposal man
45:40Using a metal detector, he locates a pressure mat under the carpet
45:44If he stood on the mat, it would complete an electric circuit triggering a bomb
45:49He scans each doorway with a thin metal wand and a flashlight, searching for trip wires
46:03Often these are thin fishing lines which are very hard to see
46:07By focusing his eyes along the wand, he can concentrate his attention
46:14Meticulously following these procedures, searching according to a well-defined plan
46:20Prepares him for the dangers he may soon have to face in Northern Ireland
46:27He catches the glint of light from a fishing line
46:31And follows it to a homemade bomb hidden round the corner
46:34I suppose had you come through the whole house and set all three devices off without finding them
46:43Then yeah, you'd be a bit worried about going across there
46:46The whole idea is, if you look properly, use all the services you put them properly
46:51Then the only thing that's going to get killed at the end of the day is plain bad luck
46:57Good morning, I'm Captain Atkinson, Grim Reaper
47:02I think most of you know that
47:04Before I tell you where you're going and what dates you're going
47:07I'd just like to say well done on passing this course
47:09There was a stage last year when I came here
47:12And out of eleven operators, no one actually passed
47:14So to come here today and see seven operators is quite a luxury
47:17So well done. Once I've told you where you're going
47:24They could be sent anywhere in Northern Ireland
47:28One of the most dangerous places has been South Armagh
47:32Where the IRA controls the area and has the freedom to set the most elaborate booby traps
47:38In such dangerous terrain, all operations are carried out by helicopter
47:43The equipment has to be flown in because it's too risky to travel by road
47:48These units are always aware that they might be walking into a trap
47:53With the IRA watching their every move
47:55One of the most notorious incidents happened on the Belfast-Dublin railway line
48:05Right on the border with the Republic of Ireland
48:09One of the most notorious incidents happened on the Belfast-Dublin railway line
48:14Right on the border with the Republic of Ireland
48:19When you go up, you encounter an incredible feeling of loneliness and isolation
48:24You are on your own, particularly down in that area where you're stuck up on an embankment
48:28And there is nothing around you but low hills and dry stone walls
48:39And despite the fact that you're surrounded by one or two companies of infantry
48:45You still feel lonely
48:47He had been called out to investigate an explosion on the track
48:50He quickly spotted another bomb a few yards away and set to work disarming it
48:57Unknown to him, there was a carefully hidden third bomb
49:01Which went off just as he walked past
49:04I was aware of a rushing sound, a roar and what appeared to be a wall of grey
49:09After that I passed out
49:11Those who were watching me say that they saw me fly through the air about 20 feet or so
49:16And then land on the ground again
49:19I came to very very briefly and was promptly knocked down by my number 2
49:25Who rushed forward to check that I was A alive, B in fairly big pieces
49:31After that I didn't really feel like taking very much more interest in the day
49:41The bomb had been triggered remotely by an IRA man
49:44Watching the scene from across the border
49:47When the team returned two days later to check the area
49:51They discovered a fourth device
49:54I started uncovering some of the wires and found four bags
49:58Each containing about 50 pounds of homemade explosive linked to a detonator
50:03I then followed the wires expecting to find maybe a pressure mat
50:08Or a radio control receiver or something like that
50:09I found that the wire ended abruptly one on one railway line
50:14And the other wire from the detonator on the other railway line
50:18At this point I was having a real problem thinking
50:22What on earth is it here?
50:24And then just happened to look up the length of the railway line
50:27And thought, oh Christ, this is a command wire device
50:33What they had done was use the railway lines as an alternative to domestic cable
50:41Which they use as a command wire
50:43At that point I got out very very quickly
50:47Despite wearing the suit I could have beaten Linford Christie at the 100 meters
50:50They quickly blew a hole in the tracks to break the circuit and prevent the IRA from having a second chance to blow up the bomb disposal man
51:00He was awarded a medal for his bravery
51:04There are certainly times when you think, what the hell am I doing here?
51:09Everybody just gets on with their job and does it
51:12Certainly the next month I went on leave
51:15And people said that I was a little bit weird
51:20But then some people say, how could they tell?
51:23To go up against the best IRA units in South Armagh
51:27It's an extremely brave job
51:29I mean in some cases, you know, when working on such devices myself
51:33I would think, you know, I would look at the bravery of these kids or IRA people working on them and think, you know, we're crazy
51:39But to go in there for not a very great wage and for very scant thanks from the community
51:45And risk your life over some of the best devices that the IRA ever did plant
51:50And try and defuse them
51:52I mean, you know, they've got unbelievable courage
51:54And, you know, a lot of people in the IRA would have no trouble at all
51:57Saluting the courage of these people
51:59Because, I mean, it must be one of the bravest things that a human being can take on to take on a bomb
52:03As long as terrorists plant bombs, there will be bomb disposal teams devising new methods of defusing them
52:20In 1995, life almost returned to normal in Northern Ireland with the IRA's cease fire
52:30That was shattered when a huge bomb was planted in London at Canary Wharf in February 1996
52:50Later that year, the IRA struck again, this time at the headquarters of the British Army in Northern Ireland
52:55In late 1997, as peace talks continued under a fragile new cease fire
53:06The men of the bomb squad hoped that the deadly cat and mouse game with the IRA might soon be over
53:12One thing will never change
53:15The universal horror of the terrorist bomb
53:18From bomb defusers to personal assistants
53:33Can robots be trained to navigate cluttered rooms?
53:36Recognize intruders?
53:38Pick up your slippers?
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