Sister remembers soldier killed in Yorkshire IRA attack 50 years on

The sister of a soldier killed in an IRA atrocity 50 years ago has said her family remains devastated by his death.

Terence Griffin was killed along with 11 others, including two children, in the M62 coach bombing in Yorkshire on February 4, 1974.

Griffin was travelling with other service personnel and family members from Manchester to Catterick when the IRA bomb hidden in the luggage compartment of their coach exploded.

Ms Norton said her family was “completely devastated by Terence’s killing but there is no hate in me”.

Remembering her brother, she added: “He was always good fun, laughing and joking.

“But above all he was kind and that’s not just something a sister would say anyway.

"It’s what his friends and colleagues in the army said as well.”

Ms Norton said her brother had done two tours of duty in Northern Ireland and her family was worried about his safety.

She added: “But we never thought anything would happen when he was on leave. He never planned to be travelling by coach because he just didn’t like it.

“But there was a train strike and the coach was laid on.”

She said: “My mum and dad, Terence and my two sisters Kathleen and Barbara were so close and this devastated us all.

Ms Norton added: “It will be hard at the memorial service but having the support of others who have gone through the same experience will be a great help.

“I will always keep Terence’s name and memory alive."

Mo Norton will join other families and representatives of the Wave Trauma Centre at a memorial service on Sunday at Hartshead Moor Services in Yorkshire where many of the casualties were taken after the explosion.

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