Little Armalite

Last updated

An Armalite AR-18, the subject of the song AR-18.jpg
An Armalite AR-18, the subject of the song

"Little Armalite" (also known as "My Little Armalite" or "Me Little Armalite") is an Irish rebel song which praises the Armalite AR-18 rifle that was widely used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) as part of the paramilitary's armed campaign in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. [1] [2] One recording of the song, by Wolfhound, was released on 7" in 1975. [3] [4]

Contents

Background

The song dates from the early 1970's, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) illegally imported various forms of weaponry, including the Armalite AR-18 rifle, from the United States. The ArmaLite AR-18 was for many years the most lethal weapon available to the IRA; for this reason, it became an iconic symbol of the IRA's armed campaign. After the song was released, ArmaLite purportedly purchased 1,000 copies of a recording of it and distributed among their salesmen to boost weapons purchases. [5] [6] Writer Jim Dooley described "Little Armalite" as a "amusing and boastful rallying song". [7] Historian Marc Mulholland described the song as embodying "sentiments of revenge [which] loomed large in the motivations of IRA volunteers". [8]

Lyrics

And it's down Along the Falls Road, that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on my left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

I was stopped by a soldier, he said, You are a swine,
He hit me with his rifle and he kicked me in the groin,
I begged and I pleaded, all my manners were polite
But all the time I'm thinking of me little Armalite.

And it's down in The Bogside that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on my left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

Well this brave RUC man came marching up into our street
Six hundred British soldiers he had lined up at his feet
"Come out, ya cowardly Fenians", come on out and fight".
He cried, "I'm only joking", when he heard the Armalite.

And it's down in [Bellaghy that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on my left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

Well the army came to visit me, 'twas in the early hours,
With Saladins and Saracens and Ferret armoured cars
They thought they had me cornered, but I gave them all a fright
With the armour piercing bullets of my little Armalite.

And it's down in the New Lodge that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on my left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

Well when Pryor came to Belfast to see the battles won, The generals they had told him "we've got them on the run",
But corporals and privates on patrol at night,
Said, Remember Narrow Water and the bloody Armalite.

And it's down in Crossmaglen, that's where I long to be,
Lying in the dark with a Provo company,
A comrade on me left and another on me right
And a clip of ammunition for my little Armalite.

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">ArmaLite AR-15</span> American assault rifle

    The ArmaLite AR-15 is a gas-operated assault rifle manufactured in the United States between 1959 and 1964. Designed by American gun manufacturer ArmaLite in 1956, it was based on its AR-10 rifle. The ArmaLite AR-15 was designed to be a lightweight rifle and to fire a new high-velocity, lightweight, small-caliber cartridge to allow infantrymen to carry more ammunition.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">ArmaLite AR-10</span> Battle rifle

    The ArmaLite AR-10 is a 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle designed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s and manufactured by ArmaLite. When first introduced in 1956, the AR-10 used an innovative combination of a straight-line barrel/stock design with phenolic composite, a new patent-filed gas-operated bolt and carrier system and forged alloy parts resulting in a small arm significantly easier to control in automatic fire and over 1 lb (0.45 kg) lighter than other infantry rifles of the day. Over its production life, the original AR-10 was built in relatively small numbers, with fewer than 10,000 rifles assembled. However, the ArmaLite AR-10 would become the progenitor for a wide range of firearms.

    The ArmaLite AR-18 is a gas-operated assault rifle chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition. The AR-18 was designed at ArmaLite in California by Arthur Miller, Eugene Stoner, George Sullivan, and Charles Dorchester in 1963 as an alternative to the Colt AR-15 design, a variant of which had just been selected by the U.S. military as the M16. A semi-automatic version known as the AR-180 was later produced for the civilian market. While the AR-18 was never adopted as the standard service rifle of any nation, its production license was sold to companies in Japan and the United Kingdom, and it is said to have influenced many later weapons such as the British SA80, the Singaporean SAR-80 and SR-88, the Belgian FN F2000, the Japanese Howa Type 89 and the German Heckler and Koch G36.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoner 63</span> NATO modular weapon system

    The Stoner 63 is a 5.56×45mm NATO modular weapon system. Using a variety of modular components, it can be configured as an assault rifle, carbine, top-fed light machine gun, belt-fed squad automatic weapon, or as a vehicle mounted weapon. Also known as the M63, XM22, XM23, XM207 or the Mk 23 Mod 0 machine gun, it was designed by Eugene Stoner in the early 1960s. Cadillac Gage was the primary manufacturer of the Stoner 63 during its history. The Stoner 63 saw very limited combat use by United States forces during the Vietnam War. A few were also sold to law enforcement agencies.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Stoner</span> American firearms designer (1922–1997)

    Eugene Morrison Stoner was an American machinist and firearms designer who is most associated with the development of the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle that was redesigned and modified by Colt's Patent Firearm Company for the United States military as the M16 rifle.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Derry</span> 1969–1972 no-go area in Northern Ireland

    Free Derry was a self-declared autonomous Irish nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland that existed between 1969 and 1972 during the Troubles. It emerged during the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, which sought to end discrimination against the Irish Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government. The civil rights movement highlighted the sectarianism and police brutality of the overwhelmingly Protestant police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">.276 Pedersen</span> American experimental military rifle cartridge

    The .276 Pedersen (7×51mm) round was an experimental 7 mm cartridge developed for the United States Army. It was used in the Pedersen rifle and early versions of what would become the M1 Garand.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">ArmaLite AR-50</span> Anti-materiel rifle

    The ArmaLite AR-50 is a .50 BMG, single-shot, bolt-action anti-materiel rifle manufactured by ArmaLite.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">ArmaLite AR-7</span> Survival rifle

    The ArmaLite AR-7 Explorer is a semi-automatic firearm in .22 Long Rifle caliber, developed in 1959 from the AR-5 that was adopted by the U.S. Air Force as a pilot and aircrew survival weapon. The AR-7 was adopted and modified by the Israeli Air Force as an aircrew survival weapon in the 1980s.

    Provisional Irish Republican Army arms importation in forms of both firearms and explosives began in the early 1970s during the Troubles. With these weapons it conducted an armed campaign against the British state in Northern Ireland.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Invisible Sun</span> 1981 single by the Police

    "Invisible Sun" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as a single in Europe in September 1981. It was the first single to be released in the United Kingdom from the album Ghost in the Machine and it reached No. 2 on the official chart. The song also reached No. 5 in Ireland and No. 27 in the Netherlands. It was not released as a single in the United States. In most other territories, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was chosen as the lead single from the album.

    The M1941 Johnson Rifle is an American short-recoil operated semi-automatic rifle designed by Melvin Johnson prior to World War II. The M1941 unsuccessfully competed with the contemporary M1 Garand rifle but was used in limited numbers by the US Marines during the Second World War.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Gaughan (Irish republican)</span> Provisional IRA hunger striker (1949-1974)

    Michael Gaughan was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker who died in 1974 in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, England. Gaughan was one of 22 Irish republicans to die while on hunger strike in the 20th century.

    The Boys of the Old Brigade is an Irish rebel song written by Paddy McGuigan about the Irish Republican Army of the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), and the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Karbala-4</span> Iranian offensive in the Iran–Iraq War

    Operation Karbala-4 was an Iranian offensive in the Iran–Iraq War on the southern front. The operation was launched after the failure of Operation Karbala-2 and Operation Karbala-3 to move the Iraqi lines in an effort to capture Iraqi territory.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">STANAG magazine</span> 5.56x45mm NATO firearm magazine standard

    A STANAG magazine or NATO magazine is a type of detachable firearm magazine proposed by NATO in October 1980. Shortly after NATO's acceptance of the 5.56×45mm NATO rifle cartridge, Draft Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4179 was proposed in order to allow NATO members to easily share rifle ammunition and magazines down to the individual soldier level. The U.S. M16 rifle's magazine proportions were proposed for standardization. Many NATO members, but not all, subsequently developed or purchased rifles with the ability to accept this type of magazine. However, the standard was never ratified and remains a "Draft STANAG".

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Attack on Derryard checkpoint</span> 1989 Provisional IRA attack in Northern Ireland

    On 13 December 1989 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint complex manned by the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) near the Northern Ireland–Republic of Ireland border at Derryard townland, a few miles north of Rosslea, County Fermanagh. The IRA unit, firing from the back of an armoured dump truck, attacked the small base with heavy machine-guns, grenades, anti-tank rockets and a flamethrower. A nearby Army patrol arrived at the scene and a fierce firefight erupted. The IRA withdrew after leaving a van bomb inside the complex, but the device did not fully detonate. The assault on the outpost left two soldiers dead and two wounded.

    ArmaLite, or Armalite, is an American small arms engineering company, formed in the early 1950s, in Hollywood, California. Many of its products, as conceived by chief designer Eugene Stoner, relied on unique foam-filled fiberglass butt/stock furniture, and a composite barrel using a steel liner inside an aluminum sleeve, including the iconic AR-15/M16 family. While the original ArmaLite ceased business in the 1980s, the brand was revived in 1996, by Mark Westrom.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">AR-15–style rifle</span> Class of semi-automatic rifles

    An AR-15–style rifle is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on or similar to the Colt AR-15 design. The Colt model removed the selective fire feature of its predecessor, the original ArmaLite AR-15, itself a scaled-down derivative of the AR-10 design by Eugene Stoner. It is closely related to the military M16 rifle.

    Artillerie-Inrichtingen was a Dutch state-owned artillery, small arms, and munitions company which also produced machine tools and was founded in 1679 in Delft, Netherlands. The company was split in 1973 with its defense related businesses becoming Eurometaal and its civilian manufacturing becoming Hembrug Machine Tools. During its years of operation as Artillerie Inrichtingen, the company manufactured armaments and an array of other industrial outputs for the Dutch Army and the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL).

    References

    1. Morrison, Danny (2004). Rebel columns. Pale Publications. p. 40. ISBN   978-1-900960-27-4.
    2. Patrick, Derrick (1981). Fetch Felix: the fight against the Ulster bombers, 1976-1977. Hamish Hamilton. p. 32. ISBN   978-0-241-10371-5.
    3. "Wolfhound - My Little Armalite".
    4. "The Wolfhound". www.theballadeers.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
    5. Bishop, Chris (1998). Guns in Combat. Edison, N.J.: Chartwell Books, Inc. ISBN   0-7858-0844-2.
    6. Harvey, David (2002). Celtic geographies: old culture, new times. Routledge. p. 187. ISBN   978-0-415-22397-3.
    7. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Red_Set/HVk1DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Little+Armalite&pg=PT97&printsec=frontcover
    8. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Northern_Ireland_A_Very_Short_Introducti/y2laquePcOcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Little+Armalite+certainly+sentiments+of+revenge&pg=PT98&printsec=frontcover