Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army Actions (1970-1979)

1971

6 February 1971: A British soldier on security duties, Gunner Robert Curtis, was killed by Billy Reid in a gun battle in North Belfast. Curtis was the first British soldier to die in Ireland since the 1920s. An IRA volunteer was shot dead in a shootout with the British Army in the Bone area of Belfast and the British Army shot dead a Catholic civilian. Eight British soldiers and five civilians were also injured in various gun battles around Belfast.
9 February 1971: An IRA landmine killed five men near a BBC transmitter on Brougher Mountain in County Tyrone. Two of the dead were BBC engineers, the other three were construction workers. It was believed their vehicle was mistaken for a British Army landrover. British mobile patrols frequently inspected the transmitter.
15 February 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while taking part in a mobile-patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. Two British Army scout cars came under sniper fire and had a bomb thrown at them. The soldier was shot in the head.
26 February 1971: Two RUC officers who were attached to the Special Patrol Group (RUC) were killed in a gun battle with the IRA in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
8 March 1971: An IRA volunteer was shot dead by the Official IRA in the Lower Falls area of Belfast. This was part of an ongoing dispute between the IRA and the OIRA. In response the IRA shot and seriously injured a member of the OIRA.
9 March 1971: The IRA kidnapped three off-duty Scottish soldiers in Belfast and brought them to a mountain road outside the city, lined them up, and shot each of them in the head. They were the first off-duty soldiers to be killed in the conflict.
21 April 1971: The Royal Navy survey launch Stork, attached to HMS Hecate, was towed to open seas and sunk by an IRA unit in Baltimore, Republic of Ireland.
15 May 1971: IRA volunteer Billy Reid was killed during a gun battle between the IRA and the British Army on Academy Street, Belfast. Two British soldiers were wounded in the incident.
25 May 1971: A bomb was thrown into Springfield Road British Army/RUC base in Belfast, killing army Sergeant Michael Willetts as he shielded civilians from the blast with his body. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross. Seven RUC officers, two British soldiers and 18 civilians were injured.
27 June 1971: The first reported and recorded IRA operations in Tyrone that involved the use of firearms occurred within a short space of time in the east and west of the county. In the first operation a number of shots were fired from a passing commandered car at a British Army sentry on duty at Pomeroy RUC barracks. This attack occurred at around 1:30am. Shortly afterwards a British Army mobile patrol was ambushed near Victoria Bridge. No hits were reported in either incident.
12 July 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper at a British observation post on Northumberland Street in Belfast. The IRA claimed his death was in retaliation for the killings of two civilians in Derry by the British Army the previous week.
14 July 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA ambush on a mobile-patrol in the Andersonstown area of Belfast. Three IRA gunmen using automatic weapons fired at least 35 shots at the patrol.
8 August 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA sniper attack while on foot-patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. The IRA said he was shot in retaliation for the shooting dead of a civilian by the British Army the day before on the Springfield Road.
9 August 1971: 343 suspects were detained as internment was introduced. In the following two days 17 people were killed in gun battles between the IRA and British Army. The IRA killed one British soldier and one UDR soldier while the British Army shot dead one IRA volunteer and 14 civilians. Between 1971 and 1975, 1,981 people were interned; 1,874 were Catholic/republican, while only 107 were Protestant/loyalist.
9 August 1971: A UDR soldier was killed in a joint Provisional and Official IRA ambush in Clady, Tyrone.
11 August 1971: An IRA volunteer was shot dead by the British Army while carrying out a bomb attack on their patrol in the Andersonstown area of Belfast.
16 August 1971: The commander of the Provisionals' Belfast Brigade, Joe Cahill, gave a press conference claiming only 30 IRA volunteers had been interned.
18 August 1971: An IRA volunteer was shot dead during a gun battle between the IRA and the British Army in the Creggan area of Derry City.
23 August 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper on Flax Street in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. The soldier was shot in the head as he exited a British armoured vehicle. Another British soldier from the same regiment was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Ardoyne during a gun attack on an observation post. He had been shot in the mouth. The Daily Express published a picture of the dead soldier, George Crozier, on its front page the next day.
25 August 1971: A civilian was killed when the IRA bombed the NIES office on Malone Road in Belfast. An inadequate warning was given.
29 August 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper near Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The soldier was travelling in a British patrol consisting of two armoured vehicles when they accidentally crossed the border into County Monaghan. When attempting to turn back angry locals blocked their way and set one of the vehicles on fire. After eventually managing to get back across the border the patrol had to stop to change a damaged wheel. While this was happening a six man unit from the IRA's Monaghan Brigade arrived on the scene and took up sniping positions in nearby fields. One soldier was killed after being shot in the neck and another injured when he was struck in the shoulder.
31 August 1971: A British soldier was killed when he was shot by an IRA sniper in Stockmans Lane in the Andersonstown area of Belfast. A single shot was fired by a sniper which passed through the shoulder strap of another soldiers flak-jacket before hitting the other soldier in the head.
3 September 1971: A UDR soldier was shot dead when an IRA unit attacked Kinawley British Army base in County Fermanagh.
9 September 1971: A British Army bomb-disposal expert was killed attempting to defuse an IRA bomb in Drumankelly, County Antrim.
14 September 1971: A British soldier was shot dead during an IRA attack on a British Army mobile-patrol in Edendork, County Tyrone.
15 September 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA in the grounds of Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
17 September 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot-patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
18 September 1971: An RUC officer was shot dead in an IRA gun attack on his foot-patrol in Strabane, County Tyrone.
23 September 1971: A patrol boat belonging to the Northern Ireland Fishery Conservancy Board was bombed and wrecked by an IRA unit at Derrynver, Lough Neagh.
1 October 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA gun-attack on a British Army foot-patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
2 October 1971: An IRA volunteer died after the bomb he was transporting exploded accidentally outside Lisburn.
11 October 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA while on foot-patrol on the Letterkenny Road in Derry.
15 October 1971: Two RUC officers were shot dead when an IRA unit attacked their patrol car on the Woodvale Road in Belfast.
16 October 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA during riots in the Bogside area of Derry.
17 October 1971: Two British soldiers were killed when their armoured-mobile-patrol was caught in an IRA sniper ambush in Belfast.
23 October 1971: Two unarmed female IRA volunteers were shot dead by the British Army in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.
24 October 1971: An IRA volunteer was shot dead by undercover RUC officers during a bomb attack in Donegall Place, Belfast.
27 October 1971: Two British soldiers were killed when the IRA bombed Rosemount British Army base in Derry.
27 October 1971: An RUC officer was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on patrol near Toome, County Antrim.
27 October 1971: A British soldier was killed when a British Army armoured personnel carrier struck an IRA landmine in Kinawley, County Fermanagh.
29 October 1971: An RUC officer was killed when the IRA bombed the RUC base on Antrim Road in Belfast.
30 October 1971: A British soldier was killed when the IRA bombed a British Army Observation Post on the corner of Cupar Street in Belfast.
31 October 1971: A British soldier was killed in an IRA sniper attack on his patrol in Stockmans Lane, Belfast.
1 November 1971: Two RUC officers were shot dead by an IRA unit while investigating a robbery at Avoca Shopping Centre in Belfast.
2 November 1971: Three civilians were killed when the IRA bombed the Ormeau Road RUC base. The three were drinking in the Red Lion bar which is next-door to the base.
4 November 1971: A British soldier was killed in an IRA sniper attack on Henry Taggart British Army base in Ballymurphy, Belfast.
7 November 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA drive-by attack in Lurgan, County Armagh.
9 November 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper on Foyle Road in Derry City.
11 November 1971: Two RUC officers were shot dead by the IRA in Belfast. They had left the base to go into a shop on the street behind it when they were ambushed by an IRA unit.
18 November 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA while guarding a bus depot in the Short Strand area of Belfast.
24 November 1971: A civilian was killed in the crossfire during an IRA attack on a British Army base in Strabane.
24 November 1971: A British Army bomb disposal expert was killed attempting to defuse a car-bomb in Lurgan, County Armagh.
27 November 1971: Two Customs Officials were killed when IRA snipers attacked Killeen Customs Post near Newry, County Armagh. The soldiers guarding the post were the intended targets.
27 November 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot-patrol in the Falls area of Belfast.
29 November 1971: An off-duty British soldier was shot dead by the IRA near Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
6 December 1971: A civilian was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Belfast. The bomb destroyed a business premises. The damage resulted in one of the walls collapsing in on top of the building next door, crushing a civilian.
7 December 1971: A UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Curlagh, County Tyrone.
8 December 1971: Two British soldiers were killed in separate IRA gun attacks in Belfast.
10 December 1971: A UDR soldier and an ex-soldier were killed when their car was attacked by an IRA unit near Clady. County Tyrone.
11 December 1971: A bomb attack on a furniture shop on the Shankill Road in Belfast killed four Protestant civilians, including two children. No organisation claimed responsibility, but there was speculation that it may have been planted by the IRA in retaliation for the McGurk's Bar bombing of 4 December.
16 December 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.
18 December 1971: Three IRA volunteers died in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, when the bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely.
21 December 1971: A Catholic pub-owner was killed when he picked up and attempted to remove a bomb that had been planted in his pub on Lisburn Road, Belfast. Although Catholic-owned pubs were usually targeted by loyalists, the Sutton database lists the IRA as responsible.
21 December 1971: An unarmed IRA volunteer was shot after being captured by the British Army in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
29 December 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA gun attack on a foot-patrol in the Brandywell area of Derry City.
31 December 1971: An IRA volunteer was killed when a bomb he was assembling exploded accidentally in Santry, Dublin.

Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army Actions (1970-1979) - 1971