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THE TROUBLES
The Informer, which is based on the Liam O’Flaherty novel of the same name. Directed by John Ford and starring Victor MacLaglen , the film is set in Ireland of the 1920’s and tells the story of how a man is tempted to betray this friends in the IRA. LAW claims the film, which won four Oscars, was nothing but IRA propaganda.
Thursday 18th January 1973 Rathcoole arms find The RUC have discovered a quantity of weapons during a search of a house in Rathcoole. The cache was found at Inniskeen Avenue and included a .38 revolver, a .32 automatic pistol and 32 rounds of ammunition, a sub-machine gun sling and a UDA cap. A man is said to be helping the RUC with their inquiries.
Wednesday 17th January 1973 Rathcoole robbery Four armed men have escaped with an estimated £2,000 in “dole money” from a sub-office in Belfast’s Rathcoole estate. The robbers wearing sun glasses and carried two sub Thursday 18th January 1973 machine guns and air rifle and a Lugar pistol. The main Derry rocket attack said that they were members of the UVF. The IRA has fired a Soviet made RPG7 rocket at an Army post adjacent to the Co-op at the junction of Louisa Street Wednesday 17th January 1973 and Oldpark Road. The rocket attack took place under conSoldier shot in Derry ditions of slight fog however the rocket missed its target A soldier has been shot at Lislane Drive in the Creggan and crashed into the Co-op’s wall. Several shots followed area of Derry. The soldier, who was part of a foot patrol, the attack which is the second of its kind in the district was shot in the leg by a single shot. He was taken to hospi- since the RPG7 emerged as another IRA weapon. tal for treatment.
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Wednesday 17 January 1973 Saracen attacked Several windows in Lucan Street in the Falls area of Belfast have been broken in a blast bomb attack. An Army Saracen which was driving down the street at the time is believed to have been the target. No one was hurt in the attack Thursday 18th January 1973 Man shot dead in hospital A man has been shot dead by a soldier in Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital. It is understood that the man, who was aged 25, was among four armed men who carried out a bank raid in the hospital. Five shots were fired at the other raiders and the soldier claims that one of those were also wounded The raid at the Northern Bank began with the four men running into the foyer of the Northern Bank close to the Grosvenor Road., brandishing pistols. They placed a Chaplain in his room and locked the doors. The men had been given two bags of money and it was at this point that a soldier burst into the room and as a raider trained his pistol on him he shouted for women to get down. The soldier began firing and one man was killed instantly, his companions then escaped. One of the mail bags has yet to be accounted for.
Thursday 18th January 1973 Bomb attacks in Derry It has been estimated that £100,000 worth of damage has been caused by a new wave of bomb attacks in Derry. The first explosion occurred at Hassons Young Men’s Shop and five minutes later a second exploded at McManus’s shop. There were vague and warnings of another bomb but it turned out to be incorrect.
Thursday 18th January 1973 Man shot in legs A fourth man has been shot in the legs as a result of raids on private houses. The shooting took place in Churchill Park, Portadown and the gunmen made off on foot. It is believed that the IRA are responsible for the shootings.
Thursday 18th January 1973 Arms find in Armagh A man is being held by the RUC after the car which he was driving was stopped and searched at a UDR checkpoint. The search of the vehicle revealed a M1 Carbine, an Armalite rifle, two .303 rifles and 60 rounds of ammunition. The find was made at a checkpoint on Cathedral Road in Armagh.