Kings Arms, Woolwich

The Kings Arms is a public house in Woolwich, London that was bombed in 1974 and is now a landmark on the route of the London Marathon.

Standing at 1 Frances Street by Woolwich Dockyard, it was built in the nineteenth century. In the 1881 census it is listed as the Kings Arms Hotel.

A bomb made of 6lb of gelignite with the addition of shrapnel was thrown through the window into the bar on November 7, 1974. Two people were killed in the explosion. Gunner Richard Dunne of the Royal Artillery was aged 42. He was off-duty. Alan Horsley, a sales clerk aged 20, also died. Responsibility for this bombing was subsequently claimed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and specifically by Martin O'Connell (Balcombe Street Gang), who was later known as part of the gang apprehended at the Balcombe Street siege. Some of the Guildford Four were charged with involvement in this bombing.

In 1981 it became one of the pubs on the route of the London Marathon.

References

*An Phoblacht/Republican News, (May 7 1998)