Assassination of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Part of The Troubles
LocationMullaghmore Peninsula, Ireland
Coordinates54°27′59″N 8°26′55″W / 54.4664°N 8.4486°W / 54.4664; -8.4486
Date27 August 1979; 44 years ago (1979-08-27)
TargetEarl Mountbatten
Attack type
Bombing
WeaponBomb
Deaths
Injured
PerpetratorProvisional IRA
AssailantThomas McMahon
MotiveIrish republicanism
ConvictedThomas McMahon
ChargesMurder
Location:
Map showing Mullaghmore Peninsula (red) within County Sligo, where Mountbatten was killed.
Memorial near Mullaghmore

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, a relative of the British royal family, was assassinated on 27 August 1979 by Thomas McMahon, an Irish republican and volunteer for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Details

McMahon placed a 50lb gelignite bomb on Mountbatten's boat while it was harboured overnight in Mullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland. It was detonated several hours later, after Mountbatten and his family and crew had boarded it and taken it offshore. Mountbatten was found alive by fishermen who rushed to the site of the explosion, but he died before reaching shore. Also killed were Mountbatten's 14-year-old grandson Nicholas Knatchbull, and Paul Maxwell, a teenage boy from Enniskillen serving as crew. The four others aboard – Mountbatten's daughter Patricia; her husband John Knatchbull; their son Timothy (twin brother of Nicholas); and John Knatchbull's mother Doreen – were all seriously injured. Doreen Knatchbull died in hospital the following day.[1][2]

The assassination took place during The Troubles, a conflict between republicans and unionists in Northern Ireland following the Partition of Ireland.[3] The IRA claimed responsibility three days after the bombing, describing the attack as "a discriminate act to bring to the attention of the English people the continuing occupation of our country."[4]

Mountbatten was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, and uncle to her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[5] As Chief of the Defence Staff, Mountbatten served as head of the British Armed Forces from 1959 to 1965,[6] having previously headed the Royal Navy as the First Sea Lord.[7] Sinn Féin vice-president Gerry Adams said that Mountbatten was a military target in a war situation.[8]

Two hours before the explosion, McMahon had been arrested by the Garda Síochána on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle.[9] Paint from Mountbatten's boat, and traces of nitroglycerine, were found on his clothes, and on 23 November 1979 he was convicted of the killings in the Republic of Ireland. His sentence was life imprisonment.[10][11]

The assassination marked an escalation of the conflict, with the IRA committing their deadliest attack on the British Army (the Warrenpoint ambush) on the same day as the assassination.[12] Thatcher changed Britain's approach by treating IRA prisoners as criminals rather than like prisoners of war and was herself the target of an assassination attempt five years later.[13] McMahon was paroled from his life sentence in 1998 after 19 years in prison under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, as part of the Northern Ireland peace process which brought an end to the Troubles after three decades.[14]

Reactions

The killing was condemned by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Jack Lynch. Many international figures offered their condolences to the royal family, including US President Jimmy Carter and Pope John Paul II.[15][16] Three days of state mourning was announced in Burma (Myanmar), while in India where he served as the last Viceroy and first Governor-General, a week of mourning was observed.[17] The Gazette of India published an extraordinary obituary notice, the All India Radio broadcast a short tribute including statements by former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi who called him "an extraordinary personality, a lion, a born leader of men", Tribute to Lord Mountbatten, a television special on DD National was broadcast, led by Prime Minister Charan Singh; it included Indira Gandhi and other Indian leaders.[18] Singh also signed the condolence book at the British High Commission, New Delhi.[19] Providing condolences, the President of India Neelam Sanjiva Reddy said in a message to Queen Elizabeth II "Lord Mountbatten will always occupy a place of honor in India."[20]

The assassination also horrified the Irish American community, who viewed Mountbatten as a hero for his role in defeating the Axis powers during World War II (many American soldiers in the war served under him),[21][22][23] and IRA financial support in America via NORAID dwindled,[24] which was already in steep decline since the Bloody Friday incident of 1972.[25][failed verification][26] The American press condemned the attack, including The Boston Globe, which said "the Provisional army's action against Mountbatten and others engenders no sympathy for their cause" and The New York Times, which suggested that the Republic of Ireland and Britain team up as a means of "how to punish the IRA."[23] The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which succeeded in greatly reducing the IRA arms importation into Ireland from America at the time of the killing, responded by forming the PIRA Squad in order to effectively track down IRA gunrunners engaged in procuring American arms.

Funeral

Main article: Funeral of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

On 5 September 1979, the ceremonial funeral was held at Westminster Abbey under tight security,[27] attended by Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Family, other members of European royal houses, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and all her surviving predecessors. Thousands of people turned out for the funeral procession, which began at Wellington Barracks, including representatives of the three Armies and military contingents from Burma, India, the United States, France and Canada.[27] His coffin was carried in a cavalry armor and accompanied by 118 members of the Royal Navy. The funeral service was televised and the Prince of Wales read Psalm 107.[27] In that address, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan, highlighted several passages from his life in the Royal Navy. After the public ceremony, which he had planned, he was buried in Romsey Abbey. As part of the funeral arrangements for him, his body was embalmed by Desmond Henley.[27]

References

  1. ^ Kennedy, Leslie (2020-12-22). The IRA Assassination of Lord Mountbatten: Facts and Fallout. History Channel. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  2. ^ British socialite whose father, Lord Mountbatten, and son were killed by the IRA. Irish Times (2017-06-17). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  3. ^ Lord Mountbatten death: Who was he and why was he assassinated?. The Independent (2020-12-20). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  4. ^ Statement by I.R.A.. New York Times (1979-08-31). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  5. ^ Hallemann, Caroline (2020-11-13). Who Is Prince Philip's Uncle, Lord Mountbatten?. Town and Country Magazine. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  6. ^ MB1/J Mountbatten Papers: Chief of the Defence Staff, 1959–65. University of Southampton. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  7. ^ MB1/I Mountbatten Papers: First Sea Lord, 1955-9. University of Southampton. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  8. ^ NORTHERN IRELAND: It is Clearly a War Situation. Time (1979-11-19). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  9. ^ On This Day: 27 August 1979: IRA bomb kills Lord Mountbatten. BBC. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  10. ^ Killer of Lord Mountbatten enjoys freedom, 30 years on from IRA murder. Daily Telegraph (2009-08-09). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  11. ^ King, Victoria (2009-12-30). Files show US-UK tensions over Northern Ireland in 1979. BBC. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  12. ^ Timeline: Long road to Northern Irish settlement. Reuters (2011-05-17). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  13. ^ Lord Mountbatten’s assassination and its impact on IRA’s push for independence. Indian Express (2020-11-18). Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  14. ^ This Day in History: 1979 November 23 1979: IRA member sentenced for Mountbatten's assassination. History Channel. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  15. ^ Seward, Ingrid (2015). The Queen's Speech: An Intimate Portrait of the Queen in her Own Words. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4711-5097-5.
  16. ^ Death of Mountbatten: Taoiseach John Lynch message to MT (condolences and condemnation). Margaret Thatcher.org. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  17. ^ Summary of World Broadcasts: Far East. British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service. 1979. pp. A-9.
  18. ^ Ankit, Rakesh (2 October 2021). "Mountbatten and India, 1964–79: after Nehru". Contemporary British History. 35 (4): 569–596. doi:10.1080/13619462.2021.1944113. ISSN 1361-9462. S2CID 237793636.
  19. ^ "Prime Minister Ch. Charan Singh signing condolence book for Earl Mountbatten at British High Commission in Delhi". charansingh.org. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  20. ^ "India Orders Mourning For Slain British Hero". The New York Times. 28 August 1979. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  21. ^ Jim Rooney (2019). A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney's Story: From the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule. AMTZ Chiloé Publishing, LLC. p. 136-137. ISBN 9-7817-3340-4921 – via Google Books.
  22. ^ James Adams (10 April 2017). The Financing of Terror. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-5210-0362-6.
  23. ^ a b Andrew J. Wilson (1 January 1995). Irish America and the Ulster Conflict: 1968-1995. Catholic University of America Press. p. 152. ISBN 0-8132-08351.
  24. ^ Ely Karmon (June 2005). Coalitions Between Terrorist Organizations Revolutionaries, Nationalists and Islamists. Brill Publishers. p. 280. ISBN 9-7890-4740-7386 – via Google Books.
  25. ^ Dan Collins (23 December 1981). "Noraid denies IRA connection". United Press International.
  26. ^ Linda Charlton (24 September 1979). "Fund‐Raising by a Group in U.S. Called Vital to I.R.A. Operations". The New York Times.
  27. ^ a b c d "LOUIS, 1st EARL MOUNTBATTEN OF BURMA 1979: A Royal Ceremonial Funeral". Lord Mountbatten. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
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