January 1st last marked the 50th anniversary of the raid on Brookeboro RUC Barracks as a result of which Sean South, from Limerick and Feargal Hanlon, from Monaghan were fatally wounded.
The raid was a failure in all respects. The barracks was not taken and the IRA flying column sustained a set-back, two dead and a handful of other IRA men wounded, that was disproportionate to RUC casualties.
But, as in all wars where attempts at Irish freedom floundered, the Brookeboro Raid has acquired legendary status, thanks to the perceived martyrdom of two young men and the song that was composed in their honour.
Not surprisingly, in the wake the re-enactment of the road on New Year's Day this year and an excellently produced book, a two-part DVD is now out. It too is of excellent quality. Disc 1 sets the Brookeboro Raid on context, as part of 'Operation Harvest' to garner support within the North to getting England out of Ireland.
Disc two is a replay of the 50th commemoration on New Year's day last, the centrepiece being a timely talk at Altawark, where South and O'Hanlon died. It is delivered by the Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams, just a week after a special meeting of the Party's Ard Fheis to decide on entering into the policing arena.
Ironically, his address, in time, will achieve as much status as the interviews with some of the survivors of the Brookeboro Raid. It's a seminal, soul-searching speech where Adams, quite literally, had to square what the Party was proposing with the Ist January, 1956 raid where the enemy was very much the RUC.
Now, if you ever wondered what goes through the mind of a 'freedom fighter' as he takes on an institution, in this case, an armed RUC barracks, in broad daylight, this is the DVD for you. We are told that the Flying Column comprising 14 armed men had 'reasonable' experience, yet they had never worked before as a unit.
The decision to target Brookeboro was taken 'in the field', scotching one author's theory that an informer had forewarned the RUC of the arrival of the Bedford Lorry that they arrived in the sleepy village that morning.
The day before, it seems, they had laid up in a house in the area, their mental preparedness not at all troubled by a shot discharged accidentally by one of their number outside. For the fattest among their number, a far bigger concern was getting something to eat.
But, eat they did and, for two of them, sadly, it was to be their last supper, champ and Donnelly's skinless sausages!
The raid itself, we all know about, how an RUC Sergeant fired on the occupants of the lorry from an upstairs window in the barracks, fatally wounding South and O'Hanlon and seriously wounding a few others. The order to evacuate was given, the two fatally wounded lifted off the lorry and laced in a byre at Altwark Cross, leaving the rest of the column to make their way, by compass across snowy bogland to Monaghan.
Even after 50 years, it is obvious that the former comrades still felt raw at leaving South and O'Hanlon behind, to the mercy of their fast arriving pursuers.
But, with a third of the rest carrying injuries to varying degrees, there was no other option. In fact, the late Daithi O'Chonaill had to 'link' one of the men on the film.
Mercifully, while a Sten gun blast was heard being fired into the byre, the men explained that this was standard procedure before searching a building. It was generally agreed that the two comrades were already dead by then anyway.
Sanctuary of a kind was achieved in Monaghan, although arrests by the Gardai and six months' detention was to follow. Here, the recall is much more lighthearted. They were the second set of arrests in the '56 IRA campaign and the judge, sitting at the first trial, who had insisted that the IRA defendant be given his gun back, is the man they're hoping to have.
They didn't get him. Six months for membership, and no remission, was their fate, but 50 years on, they can joke about what was, at the time, a traumatic episode in their lives.
This double DVD will make an educative, touching and, at times, enjoyable keepsake.
It is technically well produced, images of a Fermanagh nightscape catching the sombre mood and the songs, of which there are several well-known to readers, reflecting, on the one hand, the gravitas of the theme and, on the other, the fun of rebuilding the famous Bedford Lorry.
Copies of the DVD are available at Sinn Fein outlets in Lisnaskea.
