Deal barracks bombing The Deal barracks bombing was an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army ( PIRA ) on a Royal Marines barracks in Deal , England . It took place at 8 : 27 am on 22 September 1989 , when the IRA exploded a time bomb at the Royal Marines School of Music building . The building collapsed , killing 11 marines from the Royal Marines Band Service and wounding another 21 . Background . The Royal Marines School of Music is a professional training centre for musicians of the Royal Marines Band Service , the musical army of the Royal Navy . It takes students at school - leavers age of 16 and trains them for 32 months to become both professional musicians and battlefield medics . Originally created at Portsmouth in 1930 , it moved to Deal in 1950 and in 1989 was still there as part of the Walmer Barracks . Throughout the 1980s , the IRA had been waging a paramilitary campaign against targets in Britain and Northern Ireland with the stated aim of achieving the separation of Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom . These operations had included an attempt to kill the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984 and a similar attack on a military band in London in 1982 . Explosion . At 8 : 27am on 22 September 1989 , a 15 lb time bomb detonated in the recreational centre changing room at the Royal Marines School of Music . The blast destroyed the recreational centre , levelled the three - story accommodation building next to it and caused extensive damage to the rest of the base and nearby civilian homes . The blast was heard several kilometres away , shaking windows in the centre of Deal , and created a large pall of smoke over the town . Most of the personnel who used the building as a barracks had already risen and were practising marching on the parade ground when the blast occurred . These marines witnessed the buildings collapse , and many of the teenaged personnel were in a state of shock for days afterwards . Some marines had remained behind in the building , and thus received the full force of the explosion . Many were trapped in the rubble for hours and military heavy lifting equipment was needed to clear much of it . Kent Ambulance Service voluntarily agreed to end its industrial strike action to aid those wounded by the blast . Ten marines died at the scene with most trapped in the collapsed building , although one body was later found on the roof of a nearby house . Another 21 were seriously injured and received treatment at hospitals in Deal and Canterbury . One of these men , 21 - year - old Christopher Nolan , died of his wounds on 18 October 1989 . Three of those killed were buried nearby at the Hamilton Road Cemetery , Deal . Reactions . The IRA claimed responsibility for the bombing , saying it was a continuation of their campaign to rid Northern Ireland of all British troops who had been deployed there since 1969 . Many British people were shocked at the attack , carried out on a ceremonial military band whose only military training was geared towards saving lives . The public were also shocked by the ages of those killed , as many were new recruits to the School and most of those injured were teenagers . The British Government also condemned the IRA ' s attack . Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made a statement from Moscow , where she was on an official visit , saying that she was " shocked and extremely sad " . Leader of the opposition , Neil Kinnock , described the attack as an " awful atrocity " and said , " Even the people who say they support what the IRA calls its cause must be sickened by the way in which such death and injury is mercilessly inflicted " . The Commandant General Royal Marines Lieutenant - General Sir Martin Garrod appeared on television soon after the bombing condemning the bombers as " thugs , extortionists , torturers , murderers and cowards – the scum of the earth " . Further " " We will emerge stronger and more determined than ever before to end and destroy this foul and dark force of evil . " The base ' s security caused controversy as this was partly provided by a private security firm . This arrangement prompted a thorough review of security procedures at all British military bases and the replacement of the firm ' s employees at Deal with Royal Marine guards . One week after the bombing , the staff and students of the School of Music marched through the town of Deal , watched and applauded by thousands of spectators . They maintained gaps in their ranks to mark the positions of those unable to march through death or serious injury . A memorial bandstand was constructed at Walmer Green to the memory of those who " only ever wanted to play music " . A memorial in the Walmer Barracks chapel was destroyed when the building burnt down in 2003 , but the site is now a memorial garden . The surviving barracks at Walmer were converted into flats when the base was decommissioned in the late 1990s , and the School of Music is once again based in Portsmouth . Every year the Royal Marines Band from Portsmouth visit the memorial bandstand in Deal to pay their respects to those who died in the bombing . In July 2009 , a memorial concert and re - dedication ceremony was held at the bandstand on Walmer green , attended by thousands . No one has ever been arrested or convicted in connection with the Deal bombing .