Deal barracks bombing

[2] These operations had included an attempt to kill the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984 and a similar attack on a military band in London in 1982.

At 8:22am on 22 September 1989, a 15-pound (6.8 kg) time bomb detonated in the recreational centre changing room at the Royal Marines School of Music.

[3][4][5] The blast destroyed the recreational centre, levelled the three-storey accommodation building next to it and caused extensive damage to the rest of the base and nearby civilian homes.

[4] Leader of the opposition, Neil Kinnock, described the attack as an "awful atrocity" and said, "Even the people who say they support what the IRA calls its cause must be sickened by the way in which such death and injury is mercilessly inflicted".

[4] The Commandant General Royal Marines Lieutenant-General Sir Martin Garrod appeared on television soon after the bombing, condemning the bombers as "thugs, extortionists, torturers, murderers and cowards – the scum of the earth" and "We will emerge stronger and more determined than ever before to end and destroy this foul and dark force of evil.

This arrangement prompted a thorough review of security procedures at all British military bases and the replacement of the firm's employees at Deal with Royal Marine guards.

[1] Every year the Royal Marines Band from Portsmouth visit the memorial bandstand in Deal to pay their respects to those who died in the bombing.

A large carved stone bearing the Globe and Laurel (the cap badge and emblem of the Royal Marines) sits at the entrance of the school.