Gary Desmond Martin
Royal Ulster Constabulary
Circumstances
Gary Desmond Martin, 28-year-old Protestant, married with 2 children and an RUC police officer was from Bangor. Const. Martin was killed at 2:50PM when an INLA bomb exploded in a lorry the police were preparing to remove. The lorry was found abandoned and obstucting the thoroughfare near the junction of Glen and Sahw Roads. Const. Martin and his colleagues were diverting traffic from the area before moving it and conducting an inspection of it. The January 1982 inquest was told by an inspector that he had checked the cab but didn't find anything. He said that Const. Martin then volunteered to drive it away and as he was getting into the lorry and put his hand on the seat, the lorry exploded. A mercury-tilt switch had been placed under the seat which detonated the bomb. Const. Martin's bravery was praised by the coroner for his bravery. Const. Martin lived in Bangor with his wife and 2 sons aged 2-years and 6-months and the other son being only 3-months-old. In September 1977, Const. Martin joined the RUC.
Killed at 2:50pm when a terrorist bomb exploded in a lorry that had been abandoned and was obstructing the thoroughfare near the junction of Glen Road and Shaw’s Road in Andersontown, Belfast. Constable Martin and his colleagues diverted traffic from the area before inspecting and moving the lorry. An inspector had checked the cab but didn’t find anything. Constable Martin then volunteered to drive it away and as he was getting into the lorry he put his hand on the seat and the lorry exploded. A mercury-tilt switch had been placed under the seat which detonated the bomb.
