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Today in History - 27th August

27th August 1979 - Lord Mountbatten assassinated by the IRA

46 years ago today, Lord Mountbatten, a close relative of the British Royal Family, was killed, when a bomb planted on his fishing boat by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), exploded off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland. Also killed by the blast were Mountbatten's grandson Nicolas, Paul Maxwell, a 15-year-old local boy who occasionally assisted Mountbatten on his boat, and Doreen Knatchbull, the elderly mother of Mountbatten's son-in-law.

Mountbatten's killing caused shock in Britain, with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher labelling it a 'cowardly crime.' The bombing also caused outrage in Ireland, with many being shocked at the killing of a teenage boy and an elderly woman. As a result, the Irish government increased its co-operation with Britain in its efforts against the IRA.

The assassination came at the height of the Troubles, the conflict between the British army, as well as Protestant paramilitary groups, who sought to preserve British rule in Northern Ireland, and Irish Catholic paramilitary groups, who demanded that the northern six counties of Ireland be reunited with the rest of the island.

Mountbatten was chosen as a target due to his status as a high profile British aristocrat, close to the Royal Family. He was the uncle of Prince Phillip and the second cousin of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II's father. At his funeral, then-Prince Charles described Mountbatten as the 'grandfather (he) never had.' Mountbatten was also seen as a figurehead of British imperialism, due to the fact that he served as the Viceroy of India during the subcontinent's independence process. In a statement released after the assassination, the IRA described Mountbatten as a 'legitimate target,' and said that his death was retaliation for British military actions in Northern Ireland.

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