Not even an IRA nail bomb in London’s Hyde Park could stop Sefton

THE Irish Republican Army’s strategy to bring Ulster violence to mainland Britain in the 1980s was grimly realised on the morning of July 20, 1982 in two bomb blasts in central London.

The attacks cost the lives of four soldiers of the Blues and Royals and no fewer than seven of the regiment’s cavalry horses at Hyde Park and, two hours later, seven bandsmen of the Royal Green Jackets at Regent’s Park.

At Hyde Park, the mounted troopers of the Household Cavalry were making their way along South Carriage Drive, when, at 10.40am, a powerful bomb in the boot of a Mini parked nearby was detonated by remote control. It contained 14kg of nails.

One of the most remarkable survivors of this attack was the 19-year-old cavalry mount, Sefton, whose injuries included a severed jugular vein, wounded left eye, and 34 wounds over his body.

Sefton endured eight hours of surgery – a record for horse surgery in 1982, according to Wikipedia.

The war horse became one of the first to be placed in the British Horse Society’s equestrian Hall of Fame and was made horse of the year after he had recovered.

After being retired from the Household Cavalry, Sefton lived out the remainder of his days at the Home of Rest For Horses in Buckinghamshire until, in July 1993, aged 30, he had to be put down due to incurable lameness, a complication arising from his injuries in 1982.

When the following report was published, it wasn’t certain that Sefton would survive. Blues and Royals horse Sefton, 19, is one of the luckiest equine survivors of the latest round of IRA savagery in London.

Sefton was very close to the Hyde Park blast and received a horrifying number of wounds, including a severed jugular vein. Helpers at the scene held the wound together to stop him bleeding to death.

Regimental veterinary officer Major Noel Carding said last night: “Sefton has been with us for about 15 years. He is a good solid old horse. He had galloped away from the explosion and was in shock having lost a lot of blood.

“Once I got him back to the barracks I found that he even had nails that had penetrated the leather of his bridle and were sticking into him. Some of the nails were in him point first, others had gone in head first.

“Apart from the shrapnel this ghastly bomb had contained lead shot which had peppered the horse. He is the worst hit of the survivors.”