Paul Marlowe

Paul Marlowe (c. 1945 – 16 October 1976) was a Volunteer in the Provisional IRA's Belfast Brigade. He held the rank of Training Officer when he and two other volunteers, Frank Fitzsimons and Joey Surgenor, were killed when a bomb they were planting exploded prematurely at Belfast gasworks in October 1976. Marlowe was 31 and had a wife and three children when he died.

Early life Paul Marlowe was born in Ardoyne, in north Belfast, an Irish nationalist enclave, surrounded by Loyalist areas in 1945. His father drove lorries on the Shore Road. Marlowe grew up in Duneden Park, and was the youngest of three children. He had an elder brother, Con, and a sister, Margaret. Marlowe was educated at Holy Cross Boys' School and subsequently St Gabriel's school. Around the age of 13, he joined the Air Training Corps and drilled with the B-Specials on the Divis, and learnt gliding. Once a month they were flown to Sydenham for orienteering and manoeuvres, occasionally being dropped from a Shackleton bomber. He moved to England in the early 1960s. To escape unemployment, and then as a paratrooper serving with the Parachute Regiment A fellow volunteer, John O'Carroll, has described the circumstances of Marlowe's leaving the SAS:

He came out of the jungle mucked to the eyeballs and tried to get into the officers’ mess. They wouldn't let him in, so he threw smoke grenades and then fired shots at them as they scrambled out. England and joined the Irish Republican Army in 1969 Marlowe decided to side with the Provisional IRA when they split with the Official IRA in December 1969. He has been described as "very politically aware but he had no time for politicians. His idea was to get the war finished first and keep as many volunteers alive as possible. There would be time for politics after that." having been instrumental in restructuring the Brigade's training process. as well as map reading, compass navigation and abseiling. Marlowe was credited introducing the IRA to the Claymore mine —and developing their own version.

Marlowe was Interned in 1971 for a short period, Marlowe helped organised Adams' proposed escape attempt. Adams decided to smuggle himself out under a food lorry, concealed in the chassis; Marlowe constructed a harness to carry him, hooked beneath the lorry, which was also experimented on by Brendan Hughes in the latter's bunkbed. On his release Marlowe became a member of the Belfast Brigade's 1st Battalion staff as a training officer. Fellow volunteer Kieran Conway has described Marlowe as "tall, lean [and] super-fit". The fire was visible away.

At his inquest, held in November 1977, it was reported that the blasts had occurred from the gasometer and from the army post. Parts of one body were found away, and at first police investigators were uncertain as to the number of victims. Timers, detonators, and a rucksack were also found.