The Ballykinlar Raid: 10 February 1940

A ridiculous, if mostly overlooked scandal full of incompetence, balls, guns, the IRA.

This is an absolute doozy. Grab a cuppa. /1

#WW2 #SWW #History

Back in 1939 it became apparent that more garrison troops would be needed in Northern Ireland, and that the War Office deemed it politically sensitive to deploy Welsh rather than English troops to the country.

By Feb 1940 much of 53rd Welsh Division had arrived... /2

and were in a pretty poor state. They'd already had several men killed in road accidents or electrocuted in rotten down mansions requisitioned for military use.

Few had proper uniforms. Fewer had guns.

One bn disembarked a troop ship caked in coal dust.

It was... yeah.... /3

The threadbare Territorial Army Division had the majority of their new kit issued, then immediately recalled and sent off to be reissued to the BEF in France. So there were tons of wooden guns and such.

*THIS IS A BRILL STORY IN OF ITSELF... /4

The War Office's core aim is not to inflame tensions.

The IRA had bombed Coventry on 23 August 1939 and killed a number of civilians w. a bicycle bomb.* This backfired & greatly damaged popular British support for a political solution for the situation.

*A pivotal event. /5

Welsh soldiers were nervous in country as well as many felt the potential for abductions and executions was rife. Officers were fearful, esp as Major Geoffrey Compton-Smith's ghost loomed large: an unlucky RWF officer who'd been executed by the IRA on 30 April 1921. /6

Tensions increased in Northern Ireland in the run up to 10 February, as back on 11 Dec two of the Coventry bombers were found guilty and sentenced to death for their involvement and the other three acquitted.

These men were James McCormick (left) and Peter Barnes (right). /7

As neither had planted the fateful bomb, news of the sentence went down extremely poorly.

Pleas for clemency were ignored and the IRA circulated warnings of reprisals.

This was a horribly messy case and... frankly neither deserved to hang. /8

7 RWF encountered further complexities in this case as one of their officers was related to the judge who passed the sentence in question. He was reassigned on security grounds.*

*In truth he wasn't popular and it was as good an excuse as any to boot him.... /9

Public mood towards Welsh troops was heavily divided between Catholic and Protestant areas and the majority of 53rd Welsh's terriers, conscripts, volunteers and militiamen were stunned to encounter such intensely partisan politics & sectarianism. /10

A strike in the Belfast Docks followed which forced 4 RWF to scramble a substantial security detail to guard a ship loaded with ammunition from any opportunistic looting - and the majority of feared mass disturbances failed to materialise. /11

But as a whole Northern Ireland District did not see fit to tighten security around the camps in Northern Ireland.

It's not like there was any potential for things to kick off at all, nor had their recently been any trouble south of the border... /12

On 23 December 1939 the IRA conducted a raid on the Magazine Fort in Dublin, where they drove off in thirteen lorries with 1,084,000 rounds of ammunition.

Lax security contributed to the success and the objective was achieved without violence. /13

The problem was....

They successfully raided their own country's core arsenal.

Making off with tons of ammo.

Facing no resistance.

Creating a massive national scandal & subjecting Éire to international humiliation. /14

This... was really poorly thought out proving a massive own goal. The majority of rounds were later reacquired by the police on tip offs.*

This also led to the Irish govt pushing through Emergency Powers Act. /15
*Lots of folklore here, how much of it is true is another matter.

NID clearly ignored this worrying series of events and didn't boost security so at 2030, 10 February 1940, only 19 officers & men guarded Ballykinlar camp.

7 IRA members drove in two cars and proceeded unchallenged. They walked up and knocked on the stores' door. /16

The storeman was brand new to the role & opened up to find a man wearing an FS Cap & overalls. Something you'd expect given patchy issue of uniform in NID generally.

The other six IRA men shoved their way in brandishing revolvers and subdued him, grabbing keys for gun chest. /17

They snatched 43 rifles before throwing him into the car as well.

They released him the next morning at 0600 in Belfast, where he awkwardly made his way to a police station to report the raid.

The RUC on door kicking raids but failed to recover any of the stolen rifles. /18

Security measures were greatly tightened afterwards, but news and humiliation spread internationally - going to somewhat offset the IRA's massive own goal in regards to Magazine Fort.

Troops from 53rd Welsh were not guarding Ballykinlar, but their story highlights... /19

how organisational deficiencies and a mix of fresh/poorly trained/equipped troops created a highly porous environment for the IRA to operate in and allow for major security breaches.

It was a colossal balls up that was clearly signposted & should have been avoided. /20

The weapons... went underground, with anecdotal evidence pointing to their much later use by the IRA well into the Troubles.

Ultimately the Ballykinlar Raid was easily preventable and proved to be an incident with lasting consequences. /thread