Twenty-one people were killed by IRA bombs at two Birmingham pubs in 1974. They were:

Neil Marsh, 16

Neil, the youngest of the victims, had been given the name Tommy by his doting grandparents in Jamaica, where he was raised. He was days away from his 17th birthday when he was killed with his friend Paul Davis.

“Tommy died as a child,” said his cousin Danielle Fairweather-Tipping. “Had he lived, he would have been 62 years old this November. He would have most likely lived a life close to his family, and he probably would have got married and had children. His mother would have had the joy of being part of his life, the joy of caring for grandchildren, which she never had.”

Paul Anthony Davies, 17

Paul was killed alongside his friend Neil Marsh. Paul’s children, Michelle and Paul Anthony, spoke at the inquest of their father’s love of reggae and Bruce Lee movies. Michelle told how he would always use their mother to practise his moves on, trying to perfect his Bruce Lee impressions. His son, Paul Anthony, who was born three months after his death, said: “Dad died just a few weeks before his 18th birthday, but I feel his spirit lives on in me. He may be gone but he will never be forgotten.”

John Rowlands, 46

John served in the Royal Navy before training as an electrician at Land Rover in Tyseley, ultimately becoming a foreman. On the night of the bombings, he was at his favourite pub, the Mulberry Bush, where he was often found with his friends. Speaking at the inquest, his son Paul said that he knew exactly where his dad and his friends were standing when they died, leaning up against the bar with their drinks. His other son Stephen said that “without his sense of humour and advice, and his mischievous nature, we lost a great friend as well as a dad”.

Michael William Beasley, 30

Michael drank at the Mulberry Bush most nights. The inquest heard that he led a quiet, yet full and contented life and was soon to be engaged to his girlfriend, Nora. He loved film and and was a regular at the Odeon on New Street where he enjoyed being allowed into the projector room to see the equipment. On the night of his death he found a lucky charm on the bus, which he gave to Mary Jones, the wife of the pub landlord. She survived the bomb and carried the charm with her from that day on.

Stanley James Bodman, 47

Bodman was among the group of friends who were killed standing at the bar at the Mulberry Bush. His children remembered him as the “funniest and kindest person anyone could ever wish to meet”. Reading a statement on behalf of his sister, his son, Paul, told the inquest that the family regularly talked about the risk of a pub bombing because of warnings at the time. “He would always reassure me there was no need to worry, because I used to drink in there regularly with him, because the targets in those days were thought to be political or military targets, not public,” he said. “So we weren’t expecting anything to happen like that in the pubs. We certainly got that wrong.”

James Caddick, 56

Caddick was among the group of friends to be killed by the bar at the Mulberry Bush. He had six daughters from a previous marriage, before meeting Nora Caddick, who was his common law wife. They intended to marry, and lived together in Aston with Nora’s son John. He worked as a market porter.

John Clifford Jones, 51

Jones fought in the second world war, where he was seriously injured, before joining the Post Office. He went on to have four children and his son George remembered him at the inquest as a “modest, unassuming man who took an interest in all that was going on around him”. Gardening was his passion and the Cliff Jones Memorial Trophy is still awarded for the best tended allotment in the city in his honour.

He was killed standing by the bar at the Mulberry Bush with his friends. “Our family still feels the great loss of not being able to share however many more years it may have been,” his son said.

Charles Harper Gray, 44

Gray was born in Keith, Scotland and moved to Birmingham, where he worked as a mechanic at British Leyland. He was described at the inquest as “genial though private, quiet to the point of being shy”. He never missed a day of work and was known for always being well dressed. As long-term lodgers, Charles and his brother Robert stayed in a house owned by a woman called Ma White, whom Charles treated as a mother. It was his first and last visit to Mulberry Bush on the evening of Thursday 21 November.

Pamela Joan Palmer, 19

Pamela Palmer’s sister Pauline remembered how most Saturdays they would go into town with her daughter to do some shopping and have lunch. “My sister would patiently try to feed her niece vegetables, which was an uphill struggle,” she said. Pamela worked in an office but was undertaking further education in order to get a more interesting job, her sister said. On the night of the bombing, Pamela was out having a drink with her boyfriend. Pauline said her sister’s “companionship and kindness is a memory I treasure”.

Trevor Thrupp, 33

Trevor was remembered at the inquest by his son, Paul, who described his infectious laugh and the way he would “cry and fall off the sofa while watching Laurel and Hardy”. Following his death, his daughter, Diane, would see his likeness everywhere, thinking perhaps he hadn’t died and just couldn’t remember where he lived. Paul said that he tells his children about the singularly hardworking man Trevor was. “He would have looked forward to the weddings, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” he said. “But he missed out on all of this as he was taken so tragically at such a young age.”

Maureen Ann Roberts, 20

Maureen was the only child of Ivy and Douglas Reginald Roberts. She had a job as a wages clerk, which is where she met her boyfriend, Fred Bromley. He was planning on asking her to marry him on her parent’s wedding anniversary, which was due to take place shortly after the bombings. Her parents were saving up to throw her a 21st birthday party the following March. In a statement read to the inquest, her mother, Ivy, said: “People liked our Maureen. And Reg and I loved her very much”.

James Craig, 34

James, known as Jimmy, moved from Northern Ireland to Birmingham when he was 15 and got a job at a local car factory. Despite not being able to read or write, and having a speech impediment, he had “many, many friends”, his brother Bill told the inquest. He had a talent for football and once had a trial for Birmingham City. James was the last to die from the bombings. “He died on the afternoon of Monday 9 December 1974,” his brother said.

Maxine Hambleton, 18

Maxine, known as Maccie, was described as “very intelligent, clever and arty” by her brother Brian. “She would have been the first in our family to have gone to university. But the sad thing is, she died without ever knowing that she had won a place into university,” said her sister Julie. On the night of her death, Maxine had gone into town to distribute her handmade invitations for her housewarming party. Julie added: “Maccie’s death left a void in our hearts, an aching emptiness we will carry in this life forever. We will never know what the future held for her”.

Jane Davis, 17

One of the youngest victims of the bombs and the youngest of three siblings, Jane wanted to be a nuclear physicist, said her brother, Brian, at the inquest. “Jane developed some close friendships with a group of like-minded girls, who, to this day, continue to meet together on or near the anniversary on the bombings,” Brian said. Jane was a “loving, loyal and accomplished young woman with the world at her feet”. She worked part-time in a Birmingham department store, where she met Maxine Hambleton. She was with Maxine in the Tavern in the Town on the evening of her death.

Lynn Bennett, 18

Lynn was remembered to the inquest by her sister, Claire Luckman, as a “loving daughter and the best big sister”. She had a passion for fashion, she said. “I recall her buying some purple hotpants, the height of fashion at the time. Lynn was very petite and looked great in mini-skirts and platforms.” Lynn and her dad were season ticket holders at Birmingham City football club. “Dad never set foot in the football ground again, such was the pain of losing Lynn,” said her sister.

On the night of the bombings, Lynn was in the Tavern in the Town to go on a blind date with Stephen Whalley-Hunt, who she met through NME’s lonely hearts club. He was also killed.

Stephen Whalley-Hunt, 21

A statement from Stephen’s mother was read to the inquest by Julie Hambleton. “Mrs Whalley-Hunt would like to send her apologies but she is elderly and very frail, and this is just too hard for her to face,” said Hambleton before beginning. “Before I had Stephen, I had given birth to two other children, both of whom I lost at birth,” read the statement. “So, when Stephen was born alive and well, my husband and I could not have been happier.

“Whilst I would love the world to know about my son Stephen and the lovely young man he was, it is just too difficult and painful for me to recall any memories I have, because it is too traumatic to remember.”

Desmond Reilly, 20, and Eugene Reilly, 23

Desmond and Eugene were two of four siblings, and were remembered at the inquest by their eldest brother, Sean. Desmond had recently married and had gone to the Tavern in the Town that night to celebrate the news of his wife’s pregnancy with his brother. “[His sister] Mary said Desmond was in great spirits. He was delighted that his wife, Elaine, was pregnant,” Sean said. “Eugene never had the opportunity to get married and have children, and Desmond never got to meet his son,” he said. “Part of us died with them on the day they died.”

Marilyn Nash, 22

Marilyn often went to the Tavern in the Town for a drink after finishing a day’s work as a supervisor at the Miss Selfridge department of Lewis’s department store. On the night she was killed she was with her friend Anne Hayes, who was also killed in the bombings. Marilyn had left school at 15 to start work as a sales assistant.

Anne Hayes, 19

Anne lived with her parents Elsie and Michael her whole life. She left school aged 15 and worked as a hairdresser for three years, before starting work at Lewis’s department store as a shop assistant. She worked in the Miss Selfridge section, which is where she met her close friend Marilyn Nash. On the night of the bombings, Anne was meeting Marilyn at the Tavern in the Town.

Thomas Chaytor, 28

Thomas’s fiancee, Susan Hands, told the inquest that she first met him at the Rackham’s department store in Birmingham in 1971, where he worked. The pair had recently enjoyed a holiday in Malta, which she viewed as “a turning point in our lives together”. Tom started a part-time job at the Tavern in the Town only two or three weeks before the bombing to earn some extra money. “Clearly, after the events in 1974, as a 23-year-old, I had to rebuild my life,” said Susan. “I have no idea how things would have turned out had the bombings not occurred”.