equip the hall with a boxing ring, PT equipment and some tables and chairs. IRA activity At the age of 17, Williams was old enough to become a volunteer and joined C Company of the IRA in the Clonard area where he lived. C Company's area of operations ran the extent of the lower Springfield Road, along the Falls Road from Beechmount to Conway Street, and surrounding the streets in between. Due to his "dedication and his remarkable ability" Williams was appointed to the role of Adjutant of C Company. At Easter 1942 the government of Northern Ireland had banned all parades to commemorate the anniversary of the Easter Rising. An IRA unit of six men and two women staged a diversionary action against the RUC to allow three parades to take place in West Belfast, but in this clash an RUC officer was killed and the six IRA men were captured. The RUC officer, Constable Patrick Murphy, a father of nine children, from the Falls Road, was one of a minority of Catholics serving in the RUC. There has been some debate over the years about who actually fired the fatal shot. The six IRA members were convicted and sentenced to death for murder under the law of common purpose. Five, Henry Cordner (19); William James Perry (21); Sean Terence Oliver (21); Patrick Simpson (18); and Joe Cahill (21) (who went on to become a senior figure in the IRA) had their sentences commuted. Williams, who acknowledged that he was the leader of the IRA unit involved, and took full responsibility for the actions of his men, did not. Execution Williams was hanged in Crumlin Road Gaol Belfast at 08:00 on Wednesday 2 September 1942. The executioner was the official English hangman Thomas Pierrepoint, assisted by his nephew Albert Pierrepoint. Afterwards Williams' body was interred in unhallowed ground in an unmarked grave within the grounds of the prison. His remains were only released in January 2000 after the closure of the prison in 1996 and a lengthy campaign by the National Graves Association, Belfast. Before Williams was executed he inscribed some messages on the backs of some playing cards. On one he wrote "To ever who receives this to pray for me always & pray for the cause for which I am dying. God Save Ireland…." Father Alexis who witnessed the execution spoke after to his friends in the