Product Description
James Kelly's Orders for the Captain - PB, 1971
A first ediiton, ( paperback original) - self published by the author, on an edition that was not released by the original publisher Gill.
No price , the ' publisher ' and price are blacked out on the back cover ( in the manner of a redacted document. Moderate to heavy creasing to the spine. Edgewear and craesingh to edges of back cover.
Cavan born irish army officer Captain James Kelly was a central figure in the Arms Trial, having travelled to Hamburg to arrange the purchase of arms for the IRA. It emerged later that Neil Blaney had ordered him to do so, but before the weapons arrived the Gardai & Special Branch had heard of the plan and informed the Taoiseach Jack Lynch, aborting the importation and resulting in criminal charges for the plotters. Although in his summing-up the judge said it was no defence for Kelly to say that he believed that the government had authorised the importation of arms, Kelly was acquitted.
Although he was acquitted, Kelly suffered financially because he had felt compelled to resign from the Army even before the prosecution was brought.
Kelly never denied that he had been involved in extra-legal arms purchase talks, but contended that he had been ordered to do so by some ministers. James Kelly died in 2003, aged 73.