M62 bombing by IRA: Sister of soldier killed 50 years ago says she remains ‘devastated’ by his death

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

Among the fatalities were an entire family; Cpl Clifford Haughton and his wife Linda, both 23, and their two sons, Lee, aged five, and his brother Robert, who was only two.

Bombardier Griffin of the Royal Artillery 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.

Mr Griffin’s sister Mo Norton will join other families and representatives of the Wave Trauma Centre at a memorial service on Sunday at Hartshead Moor Services, West Yorkshire, where many of the casualties were taken after the explosion.

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

She was speaking ahead the 50th anniversary of the atrocity.

Talking about her brother, Ms Norton 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.”

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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.

“My father had been in the RAF for 30 years and he was inconsolable because he felt guilty that he had signed the papers when Terence joined up as soon as he left school.

“It was completely misplaced but he was never the same again. He was only 55 years old when he died.”

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.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on Sunday.”