The M62 Massacre that saw a Stockport woman jailed for life
12.02.2024 - 07:21
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
This week marked the 50th anniversary of an appalling act of terrorism regarded as one of the worst ever committed on British soil.
On February 4, 1974, a bomb exploded on a coach full of passengers travelling along the M62, killing 12 and injuring 38 others. The tragedy, sometimes referred to as the M62 Massacre, was caused by a 25lb bomb hidden inside a luggage locker on a coach load of off-duty British soldiers travelling with their families.
The coach had left Chorlton Street bus station in Manchester around 11pm on February 3 and was travelling along the motorway towards Yorkshire. Just after midnight, with most of the passengers onboard sleeping, the bomb exploded between junctions 26 and 27 in West Riding.
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The blast wiped out a young Army family of Lieutenant Corporal Clifford Horton, his wife Linda and two sons, Lee, 5, and Robert, 2. They had been staying with relatives in New Moston before boarding the coach that night.
The remaining victims - all soldiers - died as the private coach carrying them all back to their units was ripped apart by the blast. The dead included Signalman Michael Waugh, 22, of Partington, Manchester; Signalman Paul Reid, 17, of Wythenshawe; Signalman Leslie Walsh, 17, of Tyldesley, near Wigan; Cpl Cliff Houghton, 23, Lance Cpl James McShane, 28, and Fusilier Jack Hynes, 19, all of Oldham; Gunner Terence Griffin, 24, from Bolton; Fusilier Stephen Whalley, 18, of Middleton, and Gunner Leonard Godden, 22, of Kent.
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One soldier, signalman Neville Maw, aged