 The ruins of the recreation center At 8:30 GMT, a loud explosion occurred inside the barracks, devastating the recreation center of the Royal Marine School of Music. Ten soldiers were killed instantly, and twenty-two were injured, most of whom were teenagers. People claimed they had heard the blast as far as the center of Deal, nearly 3.2 km (2 miles) away. The bomb, which had been placed in the recreation center changing room, destroyed the three floors of the center, as well as damaging several nearby houses. One soldier would die a month later from injuries sustained in the explosion.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army 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 in the region for nearly twenty years). Many people, including Opposition lawmakers, were somewhat outraged that the military base was being guarded in places by employees of a private security firm. Security would be reviewed at all military installations in the United Kingdom and abroad, including West Germany, where five attacks were carried out by the PIRA against troops stationed there.
The Deal bombing was not the first nor the last to occur in the UK against military outposts. In August 1988, a barracks in north London was bombed, and in April 1990, the headquarters of the Parachute Regiment in Shropshire was destroyed by three explosions.
No one was ever caught or convicted for the bombing in Deal.
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