Terrorist coach bombing on the M62 victims remembered

M62 Hartshead Moor bombing victims remembered

Scene of the explosion on the M26 1974

A wreath has been laid today to commemorate the 12 victims which also included two young children, killed in a terrorist coach bombing on the M62 on February 4th 1974. The 50lb bomb - planted on board the vehicle in Manchester - destroyed it, killing an entire family-of-four.

Those who died are remembered:
Cpl Terence Griffin, 24, Gnr Leonard Godden, 22, Sgmn Michael Waugh, 23, Sgmn Leslie Walsh, 17, Sgmn Paul Reid, 17, L/Cpl James McShane, 29, Fus Jack Hynes, 20, and Fus Stephen Whalley, 18, all died in the blast.
Linda Houghton, 24, the wife of Cpl Houghton and the couple's two sons Lee, five, and Robert, two, were also killed.

The coach was taking soldiers and their families from Manchester to Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire when it exploded.
The bombing was suspected to have been by the Provisional IRA.
A memorial of Yorkshire stone was unveiled in the garden in 2009 to replace a plaque inside the service station.
The original was moved to the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7870136.stm

The memorial to those killed by an IRA bomb on the M62 motorway being unveiled at the Hartshead Moor services.

 Tributes to coach driver who helped save lives in 1974 attack which killed 12 people

The motorway memorial will also pay tribute to the life of the coach driver who survived the bombing atrocity. Roland Handley was behind the wheel of a coach targeted by the suspected IRA bombers in 1974.

The coach was carrying off-duty service personnel and relatives from Manchester to an Army base at Catterick, North Yorkshire, when a 50lb bomb left in a luggage locker detonated near Bradford as they slept. More than 50 others were injured.
Mr Handley, who was injured by flying glass, was hailed as a hero for bringing the coach safely to a halt. He died, aged 76, after a short illness in January last year in North Yorkshire.
Relatives of the victims join soldiers and veterans every year at a memorial service held around a remembrance plaque at Hartshead Services, off the westbound carriageway of the motorway.
This year a memorial tree will be planted by a charity at the site in Mr Handley’s memory.
The service – to include wreath-laying and the Last Post was held today in their memory.