Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A ‘Balcombe Street Siege’ terrorist incident Q.G.M. awarded to Constable B. C. Court, Metropolitan Police, for his bravery in attempting to apprehend four IRA gunmen running amok through the streets of London on 6 December 1975. The six-day siege that ensued gripped the nation ‘with marksmen on rooftops, in adjoining flats and outside the building, both sides prepared for a long battle of nerves. Television and radio crews set up their camps.

One reporter who was covering the events for radio was Jon Snow, now a Channel 4 newsreader. “I think we all fell victim to Balcombe Street fever,” he recalled.’

The IRA men, upon surrender and trial, received unprecedented sentences, and the Metropolitan Police who ended their terror spree were recognised with the award of 3 George Medals, and 5 Queen’s Gallantry Medals

Queen’s Gallantry Medal (Barry Charles Court) remnants of adhesive to reverse, good very fine £7,000-£9,000

Sothebys, May 2000 (when sold alongside the recipient’s Police Long Service Medal).

Q.G.M. London Gazette 18 October 1977 (jointly listed with Inspector H. Dowswell, Sergeant M. P. McVeigh, Inspector J. F. Purnell all of the Metropolitan Police and all for the award of the George Medal; and with Constables A. S. Claiden, R. Fenton, S. P. Knight and Sergeant P. W. Mansfield all of the Metropolitan Police and all for the award of the Queen’s Gallantry Medal):

‘On 6th December 1975, several shots were fired from a passing car into a restaurant and Inspector Purnell and Sergeant McVeigh, who were unarmed and on plain clothes duty in the vicinity, went quickly towards the scene. They saw the suspect car and as Sergeant McVeigh broadcast a report, Inspector Purnell hailed a passing taxi and asked the driver to follow the vehicle. A chase followed and as the taxi got close to the car it turned into a side turning, began to slow and then stopped. The Inspector told the taxi driver to stop about 20 yards from the car and both officers got out. The driver saw four men running away pursued by the two officers; he heard shots and stopped his cab to broadcast a description of what was taking place to police through the cab radio system.

After leaving the taxi the officers had seen the men first walk and then run up the road. As the men ran they fired shots at both the officers who pursued them for some distance. At one point the gunmen dropped a bag and as Inspector Purnell ran past the bag he saw that it contained weapons. Police cars then began to appear; the men fired at them and then turned round and ran back towards Inspector Purnell and Sergeant McVeigh. The gunmen split into two pairs and as they approached, Inspector Purnell armed himself with a gun barrel from the bag; both officers then had to take cover as the men were shooting as they ran. Three men were seen to run down some steps into a side street and the fourth took another direction. Having instructed Sergeant McVeigh to broadcast details over his radio, Inspector Purnell followed the direction which the single running man had taken. He chased the man for some way but he eluded him, managed to join up with the other three gunners and they entered a block of flats where they forced their way into a flat and held the occupants hostage.

Meanwhile the first police vehicle to arrive at the scene was a transit van driven by Constable Court with Constable Knight and Claiden amongst the passengers. They had been alerted by radio of the incident and saw the suspects running along the road pursued by Inspector Purnell and Sergeant McVeigh. Constable Court drove his vehicle past the men, stopping about 5 yards in front of them to cut off their escape. As soon as the van stopped Constable Court heard a bang and knew that one of the men was shooting at him. At the same time Constables Knight and Claiden, who were armed, left the van and began to return fire. Constable Court realised that bullets were entering his van and for the safety of the remaining unarmed officers who were still in the vehicle and had taken cover on the floor he began to move away to avoid injury to them; as he did this he could see the men running away, but firing their weapons at Constables Knight and Claiden who were pursuing them. As they gave chase the two officers saw the gunmen fire on a second police vehicle when it arrived at the scene.

In the second vehicle were Inspector Dowswell, Sergeant Mansfield and Constable Fenton who were in plain clothes and unarmed. They had received a radio message of the incident and heard shots being fired as they approached. When they arrived they saw the four men standing by a gate. The siren of the police car was sounding and the men broke up into two pairs, ran past the car firing at it as they went. Inspector Dowswell, Sergeant Mansfield and Constable Fenton all left the car and pursued the men until they reached the top of the steps where the gunmen had turned off, one of the gunmen deliberately stopped and fired a shot at them. Inspector Dowswell then ran on and with Constable Knight continued to follow three of the men until they entered the block of flats.

All the officers involved in this incident displayed outstanding bravery and devotion to duty when they faced these armed and ruthless terrorists who did not hesitate to use their weapons.’

The above incident describes the drive-by shooting at Scott’s Restaurant in Mayfair by an IRA unit, leading to their pursuit by the police and ultimately the ‘Balcombe Street Siege’. The following article which appeared in The Daily Express in December 2015 sketches the necessary details of an event that was televised and gripped the nation at the time:

‘It was just before 10pm on Saturday December 6, 1975. John and Sheila Matthews, a married couple in their 50s, were watching an episode of the US detective series Kojak in their council flat in Balcombe Street, Marylebone, London.

Little did they know but they would soon be involved in their very own crime drama. As shots rang out on screen there was a bang on the front door. John went to open it and four armed men barged in.

The siege of Balcombe Street had begun. For the next six days Britain held its breath.

The men who had so violently disturbed the Matthews that night 40 years ago were part of a six-strong group of highly trained and ruthless IRA gunmen, a so-called “active service unit” who had been carrying out a string of attacks in England since the autumn of 1974, including the deadly Guildford pub bombings, for which the authorities later arrested and convicted the wrong men.

Joe O’Connell, Hugh Doherty, Edward Butler and Harry Duggan believed a terror campaign would help bring about the withdrawal of British troops from Ulster and lead to a united Ireland.

After a six-month ceasefire the gunmen recommenced their attacks in August 1975 by bombing another pub frequented by soldiers in Caterham, Surrey. A month later two people were killed when the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane was bombed.

Then on November 12 the men threw a bomb into Scott’s Oyster Bar in Mayfair, killing one. Overall the gang launched more than 40 attacks in and around London. “These bomb attacks are becoming so familiar as to seem almost commonplace. Police believe the public are going to have to be more vigilant than ever,” the BBC reported.

In October the IRA men attempted to kill Sir Hugh Fraser, a Tory MP who had made a speech denouncing them. They placed a bomb under his car but the plot didn’t go according to plan and instead Gordon Hamilton Fairley, Britain’s number one cancer specialist, was killed when he walked past the car with his two dogs.

Television personality and Rightwing political activist Ross McWhirter was the next target. The co-founder of The Guinness Book Of Records, who appeared with his twin brother Norris on the popular children’s programme Record Breakers, publicly announced that he was putting up a £50,000 bounty for the gunmen’s capture.

It was an initiative that was to cost McWhirter his life. On the evening of November 28, 1975, he was shot dead on the doorstep of his north London home. It seemed the IRA cell could strike at will, prompting the police into urgent action.

They swamped the centre of the West End with plain-clothes detectives, with two on each street corner. More than 1,000 policemen were deployed in Operation Comb, the biggest undertaking of its kind London had seen.

At first there was no success but on December 6 the gunmen emerged from their safe house. They drove down Mount Street in Mayfair in their stolen Ford Cortina peppering Scott’s again with machine gun shots.

A frantic chase followed. Police pursued the men in a taxi and then on foot through the streets near Paddington. The men then burst into Balcombe Street and ran up the stairs to number 22b.

Rather than storm the flat, which would probably have meant hostage fatalities, the police decided to be patient. With marksmen on rooftops, in adjoining flats and outside the building, both sides prepared for a long battle of nerves. Television and radio crews set up their camps.

One reporter who was covering the events for radio was Jon Snow, now a Channel 4 newsreader. “I think we all fell victim to Balcombe Street fever,” he recalled.

Communication via a field telephone was established on a first-name basis between O’Connell and Detective Superintendent Peter Imbert, Scotland Yard’s chief negotiator.

O’Connell called himself “Tom” and said his partners were called “Mick” and “Paddy” – a play on “Tom, Dick and Harry” which suggested that despite the grave situation the gunmen still had a sense of humour.

But if they thought charm was going to help get them what they wanted – a plane to take them to Ireland – they were mistaken. During the negotiations O’Connell let slip that the men were confined to the front living room in the Matthews’ flat.
The police knew that lack of drinking water would soon become a problem so they sent a large container of water down by rope from the flat above. O’Connell later allowed Imbert to speak to Mrs Matthews on the phone but things took a turn for the worse when the men threw the telephone out of the window.

Mrs Matthews’ sister went on television to make an appeal to the gunmen. As the hours turned into days the four men and the couple had to get used to living together in the small front room.

Despite the seriousness of the situation there was some normal interaction between the captors and their hostages. The men played the Matthews’ records, though there were disagreements over the choice.

Ironically, one which was played repeatedly was Release Me by Engelbert Humperdinck. But release for the Matthews still looked a long way off. On day four the police were able to meet one of the gunmen’s demands.

They sent in food via the window. Finally on day five there was a major turning point. It was announced on the radio that the SAS was being brought in. This changed the terrorists’ outlook. They had been planning to escape with their hostages but now realised that if they did try to shoot their way out they would be killed.

With phone communication restored O’Connell told Scotland Yard his unit was now ready to discuss terms of surrender. It was arranged that all six people would leave the flat at intervals via the balcony with their hands above their heads and with the guns left in the room.

Sheila Matthews was the first to go. Two gunmen were next, followed by John Matthews. Then the final two gunmen left. The siege was over. The Matthews, who were “shaken but well” after their ordeal, had been released unharmed, an outcome that had seemed unlikely six days earlier.’

The four IRA men were found guilty at their Old Bailey trial in 1977 of seven murders, conspiring to cause explosions, and falsely imprisoning John and Sheila Matthews during the siege. O’Connell, Butler and Duggan each received 12 life sentences, and Doherty received 11. Each of the men were later given a whole life tariff, the only IRA prisoners to receive this tariff.

After serving 23 years in English prisons, the four men were transferred to Portlaoise Prison, County Laois, Republic of Ireland, in early 1998. They were presented by Gerry Adams to the 1998 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis as 'our Nelson Mandelas', and were released in 1999 as part of the Good Friday Agreement.