campaign was operational, the weekly expenses for operations in the field amounted to approximately £700. Operational units were expected to raise any money needed themselves, and the men who acted within IRA teams were unpaid and expected to support themselves while on missions. The make-up of these teams is thought to have been different from the cell structure employed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in their campaign against Britain in the 1970s. It is known from arrests made during the campaign that the IRA utilised material dumps in Britain built up in 1938, as well as devices improvised while on active duty in Britain. IRA volunteers arriving from Ireland were also intercepted by British authorities transporting war material for use in the campaign. The strength of the IRA and Cumann Na mBan at this time was estimated at between 5,000 and 30,000 men and women at varying stages of training and ability. Training of volunteers was organised prior to the beginning of the campaign but the volunteers sent to Britain also included new raw recruits such as Brendan Behan. However, IRA officials who went to Britain to assess the movement's strength there in spring 1938 reported that: "In general it can be said that the state of the organisation in units which exist is poor and loose, and militarily should be described as almost elementary." Seán Russell left to pursue the finance aspect with IRA's American financier Joe McGarrity, and the propaganda phase of the S-plan in the United States, in March 1939, after the S-Plan military phase began in January 1939. On leaving, he appointed Stephen Hayes as Acting Chief of Staff of the IRA. Russell never returned to Ireland, dying on board a German submarine from an untreated gastric ulcer in 1940 and being buried at sea. Declaration of war on Britain On 12 January 1939, the Army Council sent an ultimatum, signed by Patrick Fleming, to British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax. The communiqué duly informed the British government of "The Government of the Irish Republic's" intention to go to "war". Excerpt from the ultimatum: I have the honour to inform you that the Government of the Irish Republic, having as its first duty towards its people the establishment and maintenance of peace and order here, demand the withdrawal of all British armed forces stationed in Ireland. The occupation of our territory by troops of another nation