Birmingham pub bombings: this is my story
Survivors, relatives, and emergency service workers share their memories of Birmingham's darkest day
Fifty years on, the pain and trauma of the Birmingham pub bombings remains as strong as ever for those whose lives were changed by the atrocity.
On the 21st November 1974, 21 people were killed when Provisional IRA bombs went off in the Mulberry Bush pub and the Tavern in the Town in the city centre.
220 people were injured, and many more lives scarred by what happened that night.
The bombings remain the largest unsolved mass murder in British history, with no-one yet held to account for what happened.
As part of our podcast series - we've spoken to survivors, those who helped in the rescue effort, and families of the victims who continue to seek justice.
These are their stories.
Survivor: Bob Mellor
Like many people in Birmingham, on the night of 21 November 1974, Bob Mellor was in the city centre enjoying drinks with friends.
He was in the Tavern in the Town, a place he often visited. He recalls the moment the bomb exploded in the pub.
"All I can remember is the sound - a boom. Within seconds, we were lying on the floor 'cause it had blown us up the hallway, and the darkness and a smell.
"The only way I can describe the smell is like, I don't know what burning flesh smells like, that sort of, a weird smell.
“Everything was flattened…you couldn’t tell what was debris and what was people" he said.
"I shouted to the two girls I was with, were they alright. They said yeah, so I said let's get out. I helped them get out and I said go and get to the ambulance.
"I turned tail, and I said I'm going back in, to see if I can help somebody. And I went back in."
Following the bombings, Bob moved down south - a decision he said he made because of the trauma of what he'd experienced.
"I was very conscious of people with bags, didn't trust anybody. I had to get away, in the end, to get away from it.
"I felt safer down here, with it not being a city. I thought there was more chance of nothing happening down here."
Firefighter: Stewart Knott
Stewart Knott was a firefighter based in Sutton Coldfield. His crew were drafted in after the bombings to help search the Tavern in the Town.
"When I arrived in the city centre that night, as a relief crew in the early morning, the city centre was deserted because it had been closed off. It was very eerie.
"We were tasked with searching the remaining parts of the building that hadn't been searched. We had to pick our way slowly through, it was a bit difficult.
"Occasionally we found some body parts, and then eventually we found the body of a young girl with severe injuries to her legs.
"I can still see her face now, she looked very peaceful with her eyes closed. All rather surreal.
"It was a very emotional task getting this young girl out, because she was so young. . .yes it's difficult just picturing it now.
"I believe she was the last person to be recovered following the bombings. It's all very vivid in my memory still, I'll never forget those scenes."
Bereaved: Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton was aged 11 in 1974, when the pub bombings happened. Her older sister Maxine, 18, had gone into the city centre with her friend, 17-year-old Jane Davis, to meet others at the Tavern in the Town.
Julie recalls the events of that night: "Jane was there to show Maxine and their friends the pictures of their recent trip to France.
"They along with 19 others, never saw the light of day again.
"We discovered what Maxine's injuries were, and they were so significant that they don't think she would have survived for even five seconds.
"But she could have been awake for 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds...we don't know. Lying there in shock, and alone.
"It is overwhelming, and to hear that is too much to bear for one's mental state of mind."
Julie founded and leads the Justice4the21 campaign which secured inquests into the deaths of the 21 victims in 2019.
"It's something that never goes away and something that you never forget.
"And that's why our campaign exists, to be the voice of those who are not here to fight for justice and truth themselves."
The group is pushing for a statutory public inquiry into the bombings, something the Prime Minister has said would need to be "carefully considered."
Julie added: "All we want is justice. As far as I am concerned I will be fighting for the truth to the day I die."
Irishman: Maurice Malone
Maurice Malone is the Chief Executive of the Birmingham Irish Association. His family was one of hundreds across Birmingham, and further, who felt a backlash following the bombings.
"My mother and father were first generation Irish over here from Dublin, came over in search for a better life.
"Everything was going well for them, until everything changed on the 21st November 1974, it changed for them, other families and the wider Irish community.
"My father used to work in the Lucas factory, and the following day after it happened he went into work and that was the end of his job. Him and his friends were encouraged to leave for their own safety.
"The Irish community became very withdrawn, they became a suspect community. People couldn't differentiate between the IRA and the Irish community - it was one and the same.
"It absolutely tore the city apart, it tore the Irish community apart. Friends, families, schools. I was seven when the bombings happened, and my own school life changed completely.
"People who I'd mixed with all of a sudden I couldn't mix with. I couldn't go to their house, and they couldn't come to mine.
"My mom used to take me on the bus every Saturday into the city centre, and that stopped. She wouldn't go out, it was just a terrible time for everybody."
You can hear more stories in the No Justice: The Birmingham Pub Bombings at 50 podcast on the Rayo app.