Ulster Defence Regiment

Ulster Defence Regiment CGC
File:UDR.PNG Symbol of the Ulster Defence Regiment
Active	1970 - 1992
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Line Infantry
Role	Internal Security
Size	Seven battalions (11 total)

The Ulster Defence Regiment CGC (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was a locally raised, part time and full time unit, intended to carry out security duties within Northern Ireland. It was amalgamated in 1992 with the Royal Irish Rangers, forming the Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment). On 1 August 2007 the Conspicious Gallantry Cross was awarded to the Regiment for its service during Operation Banner. [3]

History

Formed in 1970, the 11 battalion UDR was designed to replace the Ulster Special Constabulary (The "B-Specials"). The regiment was reduced to nine battalions in 1984, then to seven in 1991 through amalgamations, before being amalgamated as a whole with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment. The Ulster Defence Regiment was presented with its Colours by Her Majesty the Queen in 1991 and on 23 July 1991 Tom King announced to the Commons that as part of the restructuring of the armed forces that plans had been agreed to merge The UDR with the Royal Irish Rangers. On 1 July 1992 the merger of the regiments was official complete and the new regiment was to become as the Royal Irish Regiment.

In 1990 British Secretary of State Peter Brooke described them as committed to "justice, decency and democracy".

Between 1 April 1970 and 30 June 1992, a total of 197 soldiers were killed as active servicemen. Another 61 members were slain after they had left the UDR. Many UDR men were killed in the line of duty, or because of their association with the regiment.

Two UDR men were killed by British soldiers, three by loyalist paramilitaries, three others were killed as members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and the remaining 192 by republican paramilitaries (mainly the Provisional Irish Republican Army). During this time members of the UDR were responsible for the killing of six civilians and two members of the IRA. Many unionist politicians in Northern Ireland today are former members of the UDR, Tom Elliott and Jeffrey Donaldson for example.

This is the only unit in the history of the British Army to have been on operational deployment for its entire history, from the moment it was created until it was amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992.

Structure

Initially, seven battalions were raised, immediately making it the largest regiment in the British Army. Within two years, a further four battalions were added, taking the total to eleven. To begin with, the regiment consisted entirely of part-time volunteers, before a full time cadre was added in 1976.

By the time the UDR became operational on 1 April 1970, it had a strength of 2440; of which 946 were Catholics. Catholics in the UDR were soon victims of intimidation.

The full-time element of the regiment eventually expanded to encompass half the total personnel. The UDR was also the first infantry regiment in the British Army to fully integrate women into its structure, when the so-called Greenfinches took over clerical and signals duties, which allowed male members of the regiment to return to patrol duties. Three Greenfinches, were killed during the Troubles, Private Eva Martin, L/Cpl Jean Leggett and Pte Margaret A. Hearst.

Battalions

• 1st (County Antrim) Battalion [1970-1984]
• 1st/9th (County Antrim) Battalion [1984-1992]
• 2nd (County Armagh) Battalion [1970-1991]
• 2nd/11th (Craigavon) Battalion [1991-1992]
• 3rd (County Down) Battalion [1970-1992]
• 4th (County Fermanagh) Battalion [1970-1991]
• 4th/6th (County Fermanagh and County Tyrone) Battalion [1991-1992]
• 5th (County Londonderry) Battalion [1970-1992]
• 6th (County Tyrone) Battalion [1970-1991]
• 7th (City of Belfast) Battalion [1970-1984]
• 7th/10th (City of Belfast) Battalion [1984-1992]
• 8th (County Tyrone) Battalion [1971-1992]
• 9th (Country Antrim) Battalion [1972-1984]
• 10th (City of Belfast) Battalion [1972-1984]
• 11th (Craigavon) Battalion [1972-1991]

Duties

The primary function of the regiment was to assist the police by guarding key installations and providing patrols and vehicle checkpoints on public roads to hamper the activities of terrorist groups. The regiment was not permitted to engage in "crowd control" situations.

As the force was initially predominantly part-time the presence of its members was mostly felt during evenings and weekends. The force was expected to answer to general call out and was indeed mobilised on a permanent basis on several occasions such as Operation Motorman [4] to provide manpower assistance to the police or army.

As the regiment evolved into a predominantly full-time unit it assumed more duties previously assigned to the police or army in support of Operation Banner. By 1980 the full-time element had become the majority and the regiment's role had expanded to include tactical responsibility for 85% of Northern Ireland supporting the Royal Ulster Constabulary [5]. By this time the sight of UDR patrols on the streets or countryside of Northern Ireland was commonplace 24 hours a day.

One of the most invasive aspects of the increased security presence on the civilian population was the vehicle checkpoint policy. This was implemented by all of the security forces but most notably by the Ulster Defence Regiment. It became a regular occurence that motorists would be flagged down by a patrol (using a red torch at night) their name and address requested, and on many occasions a full and detailed search made of their vehicle.

Uniform

On operational duty male members of the regiment dressed in a similar fashion to regular army units. Camoflage jackets were worn and headgear was a distinctive green beret with a gold coloured "Maid of Erin" style harp, surmounted by the Royal crown (in later years this was dulled down by blackening). Female "Greenfinch" members wore rifle green skirts and jackets with the UDR beret and cap badge. For ceremonial occasions the men wore the standard British Army No 2 Dress uniform (also called Service Dress)[6]. The female "best dress" was exactly the same as their patrol uniform. The beret was retained as headgear.

Weaponry and vehicles

The most familiar weapon associated with the regiment was the standard issue L1A1 Self Loading Rifle, refrred to as the "SLR".[7] Other weaponry was available however such as; the 9mm Browning pistol [8], the Sterling sub machine gun [9], the L4A4 Light Machine Gun [10]and the L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun [11]. Small stocks of Riot Guns were also kept. These were used to fire plastic bullets[12]to knock down doors and other obstacles during seach operations.

The regiment later exchanged its SLR's (as did all infantry units in the army) to the SA80[13].

The standard patrol vehicle was the 3/4 ton Land Rover used extensively throughout the British armed Forces [14]. Following withdrawal from police service a number of Shorland armoured cars were allocated to the regiment [15] but these were rarely used after initial service because the turret was designed to hold a General Purpose Machine Gun which was deemed unsuitable for urban use due to its rapid rate of fire and tendancy to be innacurate. The Shorland was not popular with the soldiers who used it due to its instability on the road because of the heavy turret. 3 ton and 4 ton Bedford trucks were used for large troop movements [16]

A range of unmarked civilian cars and vans was also used for staff, administration and covert activities.

The Ulster Defence Regiment was also deployed by helicopters supplied by either the Royal Air Force or Army Air Corps for rapid insertion or for duties in border areas where it was unsafe or unwise to use wheeled transport.

Information cards

A number of small information cards were carried by each UDR soldier to assist in the execution of his duties. These were generally referred to by their colour.

• The Yellow Card was a list of the rules for opening fire.
• The Blue Card was a detailed explanation of how arrests were to be made.
• The White Card was to be given to next of kin or other appropriate person in the event of an arrest of a suspect.
• The Green Card carried instructions on how to deal with accidental cross-border incursion into the Irish Republic and subsequent arrest by Irish security forces.
• The Red Card contained instructions on how to summon helicopter support and the drills for entering and leaving helicopters.

Notable Personalities

Ken Maginnis, Baron Maginnis of Drumglass [17]
Alan Brooke, 3rd Viscount Brookeborough [18]
Captain Frederick Michael Alexander Torrens-Spence DSO, DSC, AFC [19]
Colonel (Reginald) Harvey Bicker OBE TD [20]
Major Samuel (Sam) Foster CBE [21]
Oliver Gibson [22] Michael Copeland [23]

Awards, Honours & Decorations

The most notable award to the Ulster Defence Regiment was the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross[24] made by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second in 2007. This unit citation confers the right of the regiment to be known as The Ulster Defence Regiment CGC [25] During the award ceremony in Belfast the Queen paid tribute to the regiment by saying "Your contribution to peace and stability in Northern Ireland is unique." "Serving and living within the community had required "uncommon courage and conviction". "The regiment had never flinched despite suffering extreme personal intimidation. Their successes had "come at a terrible price, many gave their lives. Today you have cause to reflect on the fine achievements, while remembering the suffering". "The Home Service Battalions of the RIR and the UDR which had preceded them won the deepest respect throughout the land." So that their actions would always be remembered, the CGC was awarded to the RIR/UDR "as a mark of the nation's esteem" with the citation, "This award is in recognition of the continuous operational service and sacrifice of the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Irish Regiment in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner."

A number of individual town councils in Northern Ireland honoured the regiment with "Freedom of the Borough" awards, most notably that given to the 7/10th (City of Belfast) Battalion where in addition to the Freedom of the City" the Wilkinson Sword of Peace [26]was awarded for "community relations work"[27]. This prestigious award was also later given to the 8th (County Tyrone) Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment, successor to the 6th & 8th (Co Tyrone) Battalions of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

Many individuals received awards through the British honours system however for most UDR soldiers the presentation of decorations assumed the form of "service" or campaign" medals including:

The General Service Medal with "Northern Ireland" bar.[28]
The Ulster Defence Medal [29]replaced in 1992 by the
Northern Ireland Home Service Medal [30]
The Accumulated Campaign Service Medal[31] The Long Service and Good Conduct Medal [32]

Collusion with paramilitaries

Original Anti-UDR poster

Throughout the UDR's history, allegations were made of members covertly aiding the loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. In 2004 the British Government released documents that showed overlapping membership between British Army units like the UDR and loyalist paramilitary groups was a wider problem than a "few bad apples" as was often claimed. The documents include a classified 1973 report titled "Subversion in the UDR" which detailed the problem:

• an estimated 5-15% of UDR soldiers were directly linked to loyalist paramilitary groups,
• it was believed that the "best single source of weapons, and the only significant source of modern weapons, for Protestant extremist groups was the UDR",
• it was feared UDR troops were loyal to "Ulster" alone rather than to "Her Majesty's Government",
• the British Government knew that UDR weapons were being used by loyalist paramilitaries, including the killing of a Roman Catholic civilian and other attacks.

Despite knowing that the UDR had problems and that over 200 weapons had been passed from British Army hands to loyalist paramilitaries by 1973, the British Government went on to increase the role of the UDR in maintaining order in Northern Ireland. This was part of the wider "Normalisation, Ulsterisation, and Criminalisation" strategy to quell the violence of the IRA.

Two UDR soldiers, who were also members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, were convicted of the 1975 killing of three members of the pop group the Miami Showband in a UVF attack.

In 1989, 28 UDR soldiers were arrested by the Royal Ulster Constabulary as part of the Stevens Inquiry into security force collusion with paramilitaries. Six of those arrested were later awarded damages over their arrests.

In 1999 David Jordan, a former UDR soldier, allegedly broke down in a bar and admitted to being part of a patrol that killed nationalist councillor Patsy Kelly in 1974. Jordan also implicated former Democratic Unionist Party Northern Ireland Assembly member Oliver Gibson in the murder

References

• The official regimental history of the UDR was written by Major John Furniss Potter, a former Royal Artillery officer who had served as Adjutant of the 3rd (Co. Down) battalion of the UDR immediately following its foundation : A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992 (pub. Leo Cooper, 2001).

External links

• Palace Barracks Memorial Garden
• [33]The Regimental Association of the Ulster Defence Regiment CGC