'I saw Birmingham pub bombings victims pulled from the wreckage - I'll never forget it'

Kieran knew she was dead the moment he saw her. As Jane Davis was pulled from the bloody wreckage of the Tavern in the Town, he remembers thinking it strange that she was wearing a polka-dot dress.

Jane Davis was Kieran's ex-girlfriend, she was in the pub with her close friend Maxine Hambleton at the time of the blast. It wasn't until later that Kieran came to a chilling realisation - those polka-dot patterns weren't a design at all, they were holes scorched by the phosphorus packed into the deadly bomb.

Kieran McMahon was only 18 at the time, but he's still triggered by the events of November 21, 1974 - the day 21 futures were 'extinguished and altered forever'. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham pub bombings, we share Kieran's recollections of that fateful night in the hope that future generations will never forget Birmingham's darkest day.

READ MORE: Birmingham pub bombings 50th anniversary - leave a tribute to families still fighting for justice

In 1974, 18-year-old Kieran lived in Castle Bromwich. The son of an Irish immigrant, he recalls how his dad experienced 'regular racisim' at work.

The evening of November 21, 1974 began like any other. Kieran had arranged to meet friends in the city centre at Yates' Wine lodge to play snooker. He would usually then head to The Tavern, but this evening was different. He had planned to meet his new girlfriend, Judy, at Bogarts for some live music.

He had just amicably parted from a previous girlfriend- Jane Davies - someone who he describes as 'a lovely lady, too nice for me.' In the middle of his snooker game, Kieran remembers seeing the table wobble and rattle 'like a ruler being twanged.'

A 'low rumbling roar' would follow - "that's a bomb", he remembers saying. "Almost silently, we put down our cues and drinks and started to leave the building," he said. "As we headed down the three floors to the street exit, we saw others who were doing the same.

"Nobody panicked and hardly anyone uttered a sound. Out in the street we saw another group of people close by outside The Tavern. That was when I noticed people rushing out of The Tavern main door, with a few people rushing in.

"There was not much smoke, but I could see a thick, clinging dust pouring out of the narrow doorway and people coming out were covered in it and some were bloodied."

Kieran remembers being 'fixed to the spot' as he watched rescuers enter the building, something he still 'deeply regrets' to this day. He said: "As the crowd continued to grow, we heard that the nearby Mulberry Bush, at the base of the Rotunda, had also been blown up and there were more bombs around the centre.

"One rough looking guy watching said aloud: 'The Irish b******' ironically in a strong Irish accent. Some of the crowd around heard this and turned on him. They beat him sufficiently that he had to be taken away in one of the black cabs."

It was then Kieran saw Jane. "I saw a young girl being brought out strapped to a door being used as a makeshift stretcher," he says. "I looked and saw it was Jane, and I was sure she was dead."

Jane Davis was one of the youngest victims of the bombs. She was the youngest of three siblings and wanted to be a nuclear physicist when she was older. "At first, I thought it was strange she was wearing a polka-dot dress," Kieran said.

"Then I realised the dots were burn holes from the explosion. It was said the bombers had packed the device with nails and used phosphorous. One blasted through walls and flesh, the other clung to anything it touched and continued to burn."

When Kieran arrived at Bogarts, he found Judy waiting there for him. Not only did she know what happened, her bus had passed the carnage at the Mulberry Bush just minutes before. "In a way, it was a good thing for both of us that we had a moment together and time to pause and have a drink," he said.

"It did seem crazy to trying to be normal after what had happened just down the street. I decided I would go back for the night with Judy to her parents’ house which we did.

"What never occurred to me was that my own parents knew I was in town that night and with no phones then, they did not know what happened to me until I walked through the door later the next day. It was understandably all over the news and victims were not yet identified."

In the aftermath of the attack, the racism experienced by Kieran's father would only intensify. Kieran developed a fear of big crowds and 'simply being outside' - often breaking out in panic in the form of cold sweats and paranoia.

"Many others undoubtedly experienced much worse," he said. "I still wonder if I'd stayed with Jane another two weeks whether she might have been somewhere else on that night, or if indeed, I might have been in The Tavern with her.

"I expect I will go through this reflection again in the future, perhaps remembering another aspect of what occurred or what was left behind. I have never felt hatred towards anyone for it, simply a profound sadness and hope one day we live in a world where no one ever feels motivated or justified to act in such a way again."

Kieran and Judy got married a year after the tragedy but divorced around 10 years later. This week marks the 50th anniversary of the bloodiest night in Birmingham’s recent history. The real bombers have never been caught for what remains Britain’s biggest unsolved mass murder.