had a double agent inside the IRA unit, and that he was killed by the SAS in the ambush. Other sources claim that the security forces had instead learned of the planned attack through other surveillance methods, such as a telephone tap. According to historian and former Professor of Politics at Queen's University Belfast Richard English, information of the attack had not come from within the unit, though Tony Gormley was known to security forces as a well-paid Special Branch informant. Three local RUC officers worked at the station, which was only open part-time, from 09:00 to 11:00, and from 17:00 to 19:00 daily. On the day of the attack, two RUC Headquarters Mobile Support Unit (HMSU) officers were placed in the station to accompany the local RUC officer who was to carry on the normal running of the station. The HMSU was the RUC's police tactical unit. Six SAS soldiers in plain clothes, including the commander, were positioned inside. Another eighteen SAS soldiers in uniform were hidden in five locations in wooded areas around the station. The IRA's attack involved two teams. One team was to drive a digger with a bomb in its bucket through the base's perimeter fence and light the fuse. At the same time, another team would arrive in a van and open fire on the base, with the aim of killing the three RUC officers as they came off duty. Both teams would then leave the area in the van. To avoid security checkpoints, the bomb was ferried by boat across Lough Neagh, from Ardboe to Maghery. The van and digger that would be used were hijacked in the hours leading up to the attack. The van, a blue Toyota HiAce, was stolen by masked men from a business in Dungannon. At about the same time, the unit's commander Jim Lynagh was spotted in the town, suggesting the van might be used in the attack. The digger (a backhoe loader) was taken from a farm at Lislasly Road, about two miles west of Loughgall. Two IRA members stayed at the farm to stop the owners raising the alarm. Declan Arthurs drove the digger, while two others drove ahead of him in a scout car. The rest of the unit travelled in the van from another location, presumably also with a scout car. When a covert observation post monitoring the digger reported that it was