On 13/08/55 the IRA raided the barracks of the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers at Arborfield, near Reading, tied up the guards and got away with a truck full of weapons. Not for long, though -- they were caught soon after. About 10 years later I heard an elderly Irishman singing a ballad about the event to the 'Villikins and Dinah' tune. Unfortunately he only had one verse: On the thirteenth of August in the year 55, A few of our lads with success did contrive To raid Arborfield barracks by the moon's yellow light, And tied up the guard under cover of night. I have subsequently been told that it was originally a poem published in a Republican newspaper and perhaps written by a fellow called Eamon McShonigle. Anyone out there got the rest of the words?
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