What is Christmas Raid?
The '''Christmas Raid''' or ''Magazine fort raid'' happened on the 23 December 1939. The [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) stole a lot of weapons and ammunitions (''bullets'') from the [[Irish Army]]. Although the theft from the Magazine Fort building in [[Phoenix Park]] was successful, most of what was stolen was recovered by the Irish Army a few days later. Several IRA volunteers were arrested. ==Reasons for raid== The reason for the raid was that the IRA had many [[Thompson submachine gun]]s. They found it hard to get the [[.45 ACP]] bullets used in these guns in Europe. Because the Irish Army also used the Thompson and had large supplies of bullets, the IRA decided to steal some. ==The raid== Around 2030, the gate bell rang, and the Military Police officer on guard opened the gate a little for a [[civilian]] who said he had a parcel to deliver to the officer-in-charge. The unidentified man told the MP to open the gate fully and put his hands up. At this point, the IRA team appeared from both inside and outside the fort, confiscating the weapons of the sentry and MP.<ref>Stephan Enno P.65</ref><ref>The IRA By Tim Pat Coogan, {{ISBN|0-312-29416-6}}, page 135</ref> The two hostages were then forced to act as [[human shield]]s for the two intruders to the guardroom where the remaining soldiers were caught by surprise and gave up without a fight. The captives heard 'many' heavy lorries coming and going from the depot. At 2210 hrs the IRA locked the prisoners in the so-called 'C' Magazine area which the raiders had completely emptied. It was 2250, by the time a party of soldiers was sent from Portobello [[Barracks]] to find out what was happening at the fort. They managed to catch two of the raiders. A total of 1,084,000 rounds of ammunition had been taken and removed in thirteen lorries with no casualties. Over the next three to four days a large, nationwide hunt was organised to find the stolen items. On 1 January 1940, it was reported that almost three-quarters of the ammun