Peter Gurney - Braver Men Walk Away

‘But by the time the photographer gets here,’ I said, ‘there won’t be any evidence to see.’

‘Sorry. It’s procedure. We have to wait.’

And so we waited until the photographer eventually came and took a very expensive and highly scenic set of pictures which showed Horse Guards in winter, covered completely by a smooth, unbroken blanket of pure white snow.

I gave up on the Horse Guards situation and headed back to Whitehall. Here the search team was collecting the evidence, sweeping the road and pavement clear. I contemplated the burnt-out Transit and thought how thoroughly well-prepared this particular terrorist operation had been. Most weapons are fired by line of sight; when using a mortar, however, it is not necessary to see or be seen by a target. The bomb is lobbed high over any intervening obstacle and falls from the sky.

In order to target the Prime Minister and the War Cabinet on the morning of Thursday, 7 February 1991, the bomber had to drive into Whitehall – one of London’s most sensitive areas – and park in exactly the right place and at exactly the correct angle under the very eyes of armed Ministry of Defence police on guard at buildings on either side of the road.

There was no way this could have been done by guesswork; the range and angle would have had to be calculated in advance with the aid of a large scale street map and photographs. To ensure the van was accurately positioned on the day of the attack, the terrorists had probably stuck strips of adhesive tape on the windscreen of the van. The tape would have been lined up with a predetermined point – perhaps buildings opposite – to make certain the van was in line with the target.

Witnesses reported seeing a man leaping from the vehicle shortly before the ‘explosion’ – before the mortars blasted skywards through a hole in the van’s roof. A motorcycle pulled alongside, the man jumped on to the pillion, and the bike roared off again. The incident lasted only a few seconds; the bomber had been working with a firing system which allowed no time for error or delay, knowing full well that any vehicle which parks in Whitehall is going to be almost instantly checked by watching police.

By my calculation, the van was only five degrees or so out of line. Had it not been, then all three mortars would have hit 10 Downing Street.

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