IRA Midland Brigade Mechanised Active Service Unit.

This is the start of a small 500pt Bolt Action army for operation Sea Lion. The first unit is the leadership team.

“Contacts between Abwehr agents and the IRA started in 1937.In 1938, Seamus O’Donovan conceived the S-Plan to conduct a bombing campaign on the British mainland against military, industrial and civilian targets including newspapers and the Natural History Museum.

For some reason the IRA has always considered the British Museum of Natural History to be a hated enemy.

O’Donovan, aka Agent V-Held, held the IRA rank of Director of Chemicals (i.e. bombs). The IRA declared war in January 1939 in its self- appointed role as the official government of all Ireland.

Through 1939 and 1940, the IRA carried out some 300 bombings in Britain, killing seven, injuring 96, but causing no impact to Britain’s war capability.

In July, 1940, an exasperated Admiral Canaris sent a message to the IRA, “The Pfalzgraf Section very urgently requests its Irish friends and IRA members to be so good as to make considerably better efforts to carry out the S-Plan, which they received some time last summer, and to be more effectual against military as opposed.to civilian objectives.

Shortly afterwards Canaris ordered the IRA to cease these pointless attacks and build up their strength on the island of Britain. IRA active service units would assist the German invasion of Britain and in return Germany would unify Ireland under an IRA government.” Page 38 Bolt Action Campaign Gigant publication.

The figures are all from Footsore Miniatures Inter-War period range using the brigands and IRA figure packs.

To call the army list an “active service unit” is a bit of a stretch as these normally consisted of only up to ten men.

The figures are all from Footsore Miniatures Inter-War period range using the brigands and IRA figure packs. The leader with Brolley is the Westwind Productions Mr Smythe character from their Weird War 2 range.