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Terrorism & SearchTerrorism: 1972 March IRA Aldershot: mess bomb killing 7 people including 5 women and a priest. Aldershot barrack bomb, which was first in UK and led to considerable security at military establishments. Considerable Surrey Police involvement including Dave Strudwick as SOCO at Aldershot police station fingerprinting a large number of Irishmen that were arrested in the area. Once done they were stamped with an indelible stamp, from where the term: “Have you been stamped?” became in common use for a while in the greater Aldershot area.1973 IRA bomb: there was another explosion but this time a lucky escape. Every summer the Household Cavalry would come from London with their horses and camp out on the Ranges at Stony Castle. This was to be a holiday in the country for the horses. Late one night a small bomb was thrown into a tent close to the road from a passing car on the adjoining road. Fortunately it was a stores tent and no one was hurt but of course it added to the general threat level and concern for the safety of the military establishments and personnel. 5 October 1974: Just before 9pm a massive explosion caused by a terrorist bomb ripped apart the Horse and Groom Public House in North Street, Guildford. Just after 9.30pm a second bomb detonated at the town’s Seven Stars pub. Terrorists targeted the pubs because they were popular with soldiers. Five people died and 65 people were injured. After lengthy enquiries four people were arrested and later convicted of the bombings. In 1989 their convictions were overturned on appeal.1975 27 August IRA bomb: An explosive device was detonated in the dance area of the Caterham Arms, causing severe injuries and extensively damaging the pub. A bomb is placed under a bench seat in the Caterham Arms in Caterham, Surrey, a pub frequented by soldiers from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, whose barracks is nearby – they have just returned from duty in Northern Ireland. No warning is given. Among the casualties are a man who loses his right leg and a soldier who loses both legs and an arm.14th September 1989: Guildford. Bombing at Penguin Books in protest at selling book by Salman Rushdie20th January 1991: Abinger Hammer. Bombing by ALF aimed at Terrier man for local hunt. Click on video to read more about the terrorist threat in Surrey. Surrey Constabulary Search Team The searching for explosive devices became more complex after the explosion of the IRA bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton. In Surrey Special Branch were responsible for VIP visits and armed protection and so for many a year incongruously these low profile officers had at various times a high profile role. With the professionalism of the function, and after a tough fight, Operations Department took over responsibility for the search function and eventually armed protection of VIPs.In 1989 Ins. Clive Barham was appointed full time POLSA for the force and he attended a basic search course run by Inspector Geoff Langley and PS Roy Vass who was then part time search. The course was held at HQ. A month later he attended a POLSA course in Kent following National guidelines for licensing POLSA's. On his return he ran all searches with part time officers. He also carried out a training program to increase the number of search-trained officers. Pete Griffiths attended one of these courses and as the workload increased, (mainly crime), Sgt. Griffiths was posted to the Ops. Room so that it was easier to free him from operational duties at short notce. He was then made search full time and then went on his POLSA course. From 1989 to June 1993 the team did over 450 searches. Working very closely with the dog section, the POLSA's were based at the kennels and drew their teams from normal duties across the county when they were needed. Early into their duties it was obvious that their skills were of great advantage to investigators at crime scenes or for finding missing people in open country searches. Searches in house revealed drugs, pornography and stolen property deeply hidden. At crime scenes a dropped wallet of a murder and the credit card of a rapist were found in the early days.A huge amount of effort went into searching and securing premises before the visit of a Royal or VIP. With the support of Peter Sharp the then DCC a large amount of top of the range equipment was purchased and deployed ensuring the team was well equipped and with their training and leadership extremely effective. Soon after the name change in 1993, shortly before Christmas during a period of IRA activity on the mainland, the team were deployed together with explosives search dogs to Brookwood Railway Station following a coded call from the IRA. A search was undertaken under the direction of Inspector Clive Barham and Sgt. Peter Griffiths. Two explosives devices were found and destroyed by the Army. Both devices were viable and capable of causing considerable injury and damage. The subsequent enquiry was led by Detective Superintendent John Stewardson. 25th August 1975 - The scene outside The Caterham Arms 5th October 1974 - The scene outside The Horse & Groom Surrey Constabulary 'For those who served' 1851 - 1992 Editor: Robert Bartlett. Website Design & Maintenance: Denis Turner. This website was created using MAGIX Website Maker You will need the current version of Adobe Flash Player to view it. 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