were killed. On 2 December, three republican prisoners escaped from Crumlin Road prison, not far from McGurk's. Security was tightened and there was a heavy RUC and British Army presence in the area over the next two days. Eyewitnesses asserted that the checkpoints around McGurk's were removed just an hour before the attack. Bombing On the evening of Saturday 4 December 1971, a four-man UVF team met in the Shankill area of Belfast and were ordered to bomb a pub on North Queen Street. According to the only convicted bomber—Robert Campbell—they were told not to return until the job was done. Campbell said that their target had not been McGurk's, but another pub nearby. It is believed this was a pub called The Gem, which was allegedly linked to the Official IRA."McGurk’s Bar Bombing" , Hansard, 14 July 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2009 The bomb was disguised as a brown parcel, which they placed in a car and drove to their target. Campbell says they stopped near The Gem at about 7:30pm, but could not gain access to it because there were security guards outside. After waiting for almost an hour, they drove a short distance to McGurk's. At about 8:45pm, one of them placed the bomb in the porch entrance on Great George's Street and rushed back to the car. It exploded just moments after they drove off. Campbell implied that McGurk's had been chosen only because it was "the nearest Catholic pub". The blast caused the building to collapse. Bystanders immediately rushed to free the dead and wounded from the rubble. Firefighters, paramedics, police and soldiers were quickly on the scene. Fifteen Catholic civilians had been killed—including two children—and a further seventeen wounded. The rescue effort lasted many hours. Within two hours of the blast, a sectarian clash had erupted nearby at the New Lodge–Tiger's Bay interface. The British Army and RUC moved in and a gun battle developed. A British Army officer, Major Jeremy Snow, was shot by the IRA on New Lodge Road and died of his wounds on 8 December.Sutton Index of Deaths: 1971 . CAIN. Two RUC officers and five civilians were also wounded by gunfire. Eventually, five companies of troops were sent into the district and they searched almost 50 houses. Meanwhile, the UVF team had driven to a nearby pickup point where they dumped their car. They walked to the area of