Ballygawley bus bomb: Survivors and families mark 35th anniversary

Ex-soldiers who survived a 1988 bomb which killed eight of their colleagues returned to the scene in County Tyrone on Sunday to mark the 35th anniversary.

The soldiers were travelling on a bus when a Provisional IRA bomb exploded on the Ballygawley to Omagh road on 20 August 1988.

The eight soldiers who lost their lives were all between the ages of 18 and 21.

One of the survivors, Richard Jutsum, said their thoughts were always with their young friends who died.

The troops were off duty at the time and were attached to the 1st Light Infantry Regiment.

Twenty-eight others suffered physical and psychological injuries in the attack.

The unmarked bus was blown into a nearby field by the force of the explosion.

The group of survivors who returned to the scene for roadside memorial on Sunday were joined by relatives of some of the soldiers who died.

They laid wreaths in tribute to their young colleagues who lost their lives.

Some of the first responders and medical staff who treated the wounded were also in attendance.

Mr Jutsum, who was a 26-year-old corporal on board the bus at the time of the bomb, was among those who attended the memorial service.

"You have grief for the loss and losing all your mates, your friends," he said.

"But at the same time you're sort of relieved that at least some of us survived and we're able to do services like this to remember them."

Mr Jutsum recalled the terrifying scene that confronted him after the bomb exploded.

"It's really weird - it was an overwhelming sense of not being in control - not enough of us to do first aid, not enough to get people off the coach.

"We were all injured to various extents, nobody was fully functioning.

"It was very, very fearful really" he added.

The bomb detonated after midnight and Mr Jutsum remembered how difficult it was for the survivors to see what was going on in the darkness.

"The only thing that was a light were the wheels of the coach. They were burning and that was what gave the little ambient light there was."

Samantha Foster's brother, Private Mark Norsworthy, was 18 years old when he died in the bus bombing.

"He was such a character, had a heart of gold, he would do anything for anybody," she said.

Mrs Foster said her mother has never gotten over the loss of her teenage son,

"My mum didn't cope very well, she still doesn't now. She won't come over [to Ballygawley]."

Mrs Foster said it "seems like yesterday" when she was told her brother died, not 35 years ago, but she added that it was nice to come back to County Tyrone and remember her brother.

Mr Jutsum said he thinks often about those that died and the attack plays heavy on his mind.

"I think about one or two of the guys most days actually - wondering what lives they would have lived.

"If we could turn back time, we'd give anything to be able to and just go on a different road.

"But they are always with us, our thoughts are always with them, our thoughts are always with the families."