Army Medical Services Monument

The history of the Army Medical Services monument and woodland at the Hartshead Moor Services M62 the memorial which remembers the 1974 coach bombing which killed members of the British Armed Forces



This commemorates an attack by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on members of the British Army, Royal Air Force and their families travelling on a coach on the M62 on 4 February 1974. They were being transferred from their bases of Catterick and Darlington by bus because there was a train strike.

Nine soldiers and three civilians died after a bomb hidden in the luggage compartment exploded when they were near the Hartshead Moor Motorway service area on the M62. Their units were the Royal Artillery (two killed), Royal Corps of Signals (three) and the 2nd battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (four). One whole family of husband Corporal Clifford Houghton, his wife Linda and their children Lee aged five and Robert aged two died. More than fifty were seriously injured.




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A memorial was built at the entrance hall of the westbound area of the Hartshead Moor services because this was the site of the first aid station for the wounded. A memorial garden was created in 2005 to commemorate those who lost their lives. A plaque, unveiled in Oldham in 2010 has the names of the dead and casualties engraved upon it.

A larger second memorial was built and dedicated to the Army Medical Services in September 2013. A dedication service, led by the Right Reverend Glyn Webster, Bishop of Beverley, was held next to the memorial garden at Hartshead Moor Services. This land was donated by Welcome Break. Over 400 attended which included relatives of the victims and senior serving representatives from each Corps and Regiment affected in attendance. Each was remembered with four fruit trees being planted in their memory. An English oak tree was also planted in honour of an employee at Marshalls plc, who donated the monument, for his 37 year service.

Other VIPs in attendance included the Vice Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Timothy Hare. It was built by stonemason Scott Williams and officially opened on behalf of the Director General Army Medical Services by Colonel Phil Harrison, Corps Colonel, Army Medical Services (AMS).

The Army Medical Services Monument at the Hartshead Moor Services commemorates their four services of RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps), QARANC (Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps), RADC (Royal Army Dental Corps) and RAVC (Royal Army Veterinary Corps). Captain Eddy Hardaker, from the Reserve 207 Field Hospital which recruits from the Blackburn, Bury and Stockport area and has its HQ in Manchester, led the memorial project. Funding for the woodland and memorial came from the Life for a Life Memorial Forests charity based in Oldham.


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