27/08/2026
The Warrenpoint ambush (also called the Warrenpoint massacre) was a guerrilla attack by the Provisional IRA that killed 18 British soldiers on August 27, 1979.
It took place at Narrow Water Castle outside Warrenpoint, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was the deadliest single incident for the British Army during the Troubles.
The IRA’s South Armagh Brigade carried out the attack using a “double-tap” bombing tactic designed to target both the initial target and the subsequent first responders.
The First Blast (4:40 PM): An 800-pound remote-controlled fertiliser bomb, hidden among straw bales on a parked flatbed trailer, detonated as a three-vehicle military convoy from the Parachute Regiment drove past. The explosion flipped the final four-ton lorry, instantly killing six paratroopers.
The Second Blast (5:12 PM): Anticipating how the British military would respond, the IRA predicted that reinforcements would establish an incident command post at a nearby stone gate lodge. Exactly 32 minutes later, a second 800-pound bomb hidden inside the granite structure was detonated. This second blast killed 12 more soldiers (10 from the Parachute Regiment and two from the Queen’s Own Highlanders).
Lest We Forget 🇬🇧🥀
