CBS – The World Tonight (missing first minute) – August 28, 1979 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
August 28, 1979 – The IRA was busy, ahead of the funeral of Lord Mountbatten, whom the IRA took credit for assassinating only days earlier. The Irish Republican Army widened its war of terror by setting off a powerful bomb that ripped through the square of the medieval Grand Place in the heart of Brussels just minutes before a British military band was to give a concert. Eleven spectators were hurt including four members of the Duke of Royal Regiment military band. The injuries were not serious police said Mayor Pierre Van Halteren and police said that a telephone caller told officials that the bomb placed underneath an outdoor concert stage was the work of the IRA.
The blast came a day after the IRA added 22 more to its death toll when it killed Earl Mountbatten and blew apart two truck-loads of British soldiers in attacks in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. Three persons aboard boat were fatally injured. The Brussels blast apparently caused by plastic explosives shattered windows throughout the cafe-lined square acclaimed as one of the most perfect examples of medieval and Renaissance architecture left in Europe.
It was the latest in what was a wave of terrorist attacks by the IRA. More were promised to come. British Prime Minister Thatcher called for waging a counter-terror campaign and greatly increased security ahead of the funeral for Mountbatten as well as preparing for a major crackdown on suspected IRA operatives.
Meanwhile, Vice President Walter F. Mondale, during his visit to China offered the Chinese an economic partnership, a line of credit and an assurance that a strong China is in America’s interest. He promised that the Carter administration would submit the Chinese-American trade agreement to Congress by the end of the year, and he offered the aid of U.S. experts in building power dams for China’s development.
And along with the continuing story of potential IRA bombings, that’s a small slice of what happened, this August 28, 1979 as presented by The World Tonight from CBS Radio (with 1 minute missing at the top).
