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 The research behind the book started in
1999 when I wrote a paper on the Balcombe Street
and Iranian Embassy sieges that took place
in London in 1975 and 1980. The paper was part of my doctoral
research into conflict and negotiation under the direction of Professor Sinaia Nathanson
of Tufts University's Psychology department, and was intended to be a
comparative analysis of both siege events. I
was persuaded to submit the paper to a peer review journal for publication
and so the document was submitted to
"The Journal of Police Crisis
Negotiation", a Haworth Press publication, where the paper was published in
2004. The journal editor in chief, Dr. Jim Greenstone, discussed with me the prospect of turning the paper into a larger project on the Balcombe Street siege, but it was recognized that the research required for
such a project would be far more extensive than for the academic paper.
The key to the research project for the book was a contact made with Lord Peter Imbert in July of 2006.
I wrote to Lord Imbert seeking his agreement to take part in an interview
about his role as a negotiator at the Balcombe Street siege. In his reply
letter, Lord Imbert offered to meet with me in London
in November 2006. Expecting a brief meeting, I met with Lord Imbert at Westminster Hall on the
afternoon of November 14th 2006
As it turned out, the meeting with Lord Imbert far exceeded my expectations. Following a lengthy and
detailed interview, Lord Imbert then took me out for a road trip,
with his personal driver Mike, to the various sites of terror activity
conducted by the ASU, culminating in a stop outside number 22b Balcombe
Street, where Lord Imbert explained the logistics behind the siege. The
meeting was the first in a series of conversations with Lord Imbert that
included his personal review of the siege chapters of the book to check for
accuracy. Through the contact of Lord Imbert, I also interviewed
John Purnell GM QPM, who also offered a meeting in London where he took me on a guided tour that retraced the steps he and Sergeant Phil McVeigh
took on the night of December 6th 1975 as they pursued the IRA
team.
The contacts snowballed as John Purnell put
me in touch with former Flying Squad detective Bob Fenton, who along
with Henry Dowswell, Phil Mansfield and Peter Cook, took part in the fracas
in Rossmore Road after Purnell and McVeigh had chased the four IRA men into
the street that would eventually lead them to Balcombe Street. Bob Fenton is
now the Secretary of the Association of Ex CID Officers of the Metropolitan
Police and sent out emails to thousands of members, on my behalf,
in search of further participants of the investigation into the terror
campaign and the later siege. Some came forward but requested anonymity.
Others, such as Ron Chapman, Derek Wilson, Alec Edwards and David Waghorn,
to name but a few, helped me immensely with their recollections and
generous donations of time.
The research also could not have been
conducted without the help of the staff at the British Newspaper Library at
Collingdale and Erin O'Connor at the BBC written archives who tirelessly
helped in tracking down tidbits of information. I also had help
from Kate Parsons of the Press Association and Alan Moss of History by the
Yard for their help in researching images for the book. Several members of
Scotland Yard's SO15 Counter Terrorism Command deserve a mention for the
help and time they extended to me, but by the nature of their work
they have to remain anonymous.
The biggest supporter of the research was
my wife, Monica Hatch, who demonstrated her apparently endless
patience in dealing with the piles of paper that accumulated around the
house and my office as work on the manuscript continued over many months.
Monica demonstrated considerable resilience in listening to my retelling, on numerous occasions, of the key elements of the story
to anyone who asked the dreaded question "so, what's the book about?" Monica
also dedicated many hours to the development of The Road to Balcombe Street
website, and the quality of her work shows in the finished product.
In its final form, The Road to Balcombe
Street is intended for the general reader and the level of detail and
background that went into the manuscript gives it the feel of a fast paced
adventure story. It should not be forgotten that this is, in reality, a
documentary and as such could not have been written without the help and
assistance of literally dozens of participants.
Dr. Steve Moysey
August 2007 |
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