Ulster Defence Regiment: Difference between revisions

| type = [[InfantryLine regiment]]infantry

| role = ToInternal assist the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary|RUC]]security

Uniquely in the British Army, the regiment was on continuous active service throughout its 22 years of service.<ref name="history" /> It was also the first infantry regiment of the British Army to fully incorporate women into its structure.<ref name="history" /> In 1992, the UDR was amalgamated with the [[Royal Irish Rangers]] to form the [[Royal Irish Regiment (1992)|Royal Irish Regiment]]. In 2006, the regiment was retroactively awarded the [[Conspicuous Gallantry Cross]].

The USC, which had no training in riot control, was mobilised to assist the RUC. A catalogue of incidents ensued, such as Specials from [[Tynan]] shooting dead an unarmed civil rights demonstrator in [[Armagh]] on 14 August 1969.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/11th-april-1970/7/northern-ireland|title=NORTHERN IRELAND » 11 Apr 1970 » The Spectator Archive|website=The Spectator Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/stormont-cabinet-decided-not-to-call-in-scotland-yard-to-investigate-man-s-death-1.266068|title=Stormont Cabinet decided not to call in Scotland Yard to investigate man's death|first=Eamon|last=Phoenix|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> While the Northern Ireland cabinet remained supportive of the USC, it was put to them at a London meeting on 19 August that disbanding the USC was top of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British Governmentgovernment]]'s agenda.<ref>Hezlet p. 215</ref>

The [[British Government]]government accepted the findings of the Hunt Report and published a [[Bill (proposed law)|Bill]] and [[white paper]] on 12 November 1969 to begin the process of establishing the UDR.<ref>{{hansard|1969/nov/12/ulster-defence-regiment-1|access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref> Parliamentary debate in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Westminster]] highlighted concerns that members of the USC were to be allowed to join the new force.<ref name=Hansard19691112/><ref>''Irish News'' (Belfast), 13 November 1969.</ref>

After the presentation to the Ministry of Defence, a Governmentgovernment Whitewhite Paperpaper confirmed the agreed aspects of the new force and its task as:

The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969 (c. 65) received [[royal assent]] on 18 December 1969<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44996|page=129747|date=29 December 1969}}</ref> and was brought into force on 1 January 1970.<ref>[[Statutory Instrument]], 1969 No. 1860 (C. 58), The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969 (Commencement) Order 1969</ref><ref>The New Law Journal, Volume 120, Part 1</ref>

* 6 [[Major (rank)|major]]s

To recruit [[company (military unit)|company]] and [[platoon]] officers, Scott-Bowden and his subordinates were obliged to award instant [[Officer (armed forces)|commissions]] to people deemed suitable. The ideal candidates were sought in the USC, reserve forces, university [[Officers' Training Corps]] and [[Army Cadet Force]]. In various battalions officers of company and platoon rank could be found who had served in the USC, the Regular and Territorial Army, the [[Royal Navy]], the [[Royal Air Force]], the [[Royal Marines]], the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] and even the [[United States Army]].<ref>Potter pp30-31</ref> In addition to the problem of finding officers there had to be observantobservance of the Protestant/Catholic ratio but by March 1971, 18 Catholic officers had been recruited and the total number of officers was just enough for battalions to function at their current strengths.<ref>Potter p43</ref> This rose to 23.<ref name=autogenerated18>Potter p58</ref> All seven battalions were led by former commandants of the USC.<ref name="Northern Protestants pg. 212"/>

Several battalions were supplied with rigid [[Dell Quay Dory]] craft for patrolling [[waterways]] shared with the [[Republic of Ireland]] in an attempt to prevent gun-running across these narrow channels such as [[Carlingford Lough]].<ref name="Potter p77"/> Assisted by land-based [[Decca Radar|Decca Marine radar]] mounted on a Land Rover, deployed at Killowen Point. These boats were armed with [[Bren light machine gun]]s and carried a [[Carl Gustav recoilless rifle|Carl Gustav]] 84mm anti-tank weapon in addition to the rifles and sub-machine guns normally carried by soldiers. The shore-based dories proved inadequate and a paper was submitted by 3 UDR in 1972,{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} recommending a naval vessel to be stationed in the centre of Carlingford Lough<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=43167|title=Royal Navy weigh anchor in Carlingford Lough – Northern Ireland News, 10/08/2005|website=4ni.co.uk}}</ref> to assist with the suppression of gun-running. This suggestion was adopted and to the end of the security situation a small warship was on station off the coast of the [[Warrenpoint]]/[[Rostrevor]] shoreline. This intervention was called Operation Grenada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vilaweb.cat/media/attach/vwedts/docs/op_banner_analysis_released.pdf|title=– page 6-1}}</ref> Gun-running across these coastal estuaries ceased as a result.<ref>Potter 2001 p87</ref> 3 UDR continued to use dories and the radar on stretches of the coast. The radar was withdrawn from use and later dispatched to the south Atlantic during the Falklands War on board the {{SS|Atlantic Conveyor}} and lost when the ship was sunk after being hit by two Argentine Exocet missiles. The [[4th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment|4th Battalion]] also carried out waterway patrols on upper and lower [[Lough Erne]].<ref>Ryder p191</ref>

[[Ulsterisation]]During wasthe 1970s, the [[British Governmentgovernment introduced the [[Ulsterisation]]'s policy toin reduceNorthern regularIreland, Armywhich troopcalled numbersfor inthe Northerndisengagement Irelandof andnon-Ulsters bringtroops localfrom forcesthe intoregion and replacing them with the frontUDR and lineRUC. This was done as aBritish resultpolicymakers perceived the death of internationalsoldiers opinionfrom about[[Great BritishBritain]] soldiersto beingbe usedfar more consequential in terms of British public opinion than what manycould viewedbe portrayed as a "colonialIrish occupation".people Itkilling wasand alsopolicing calledIrish people"normalisation.<ref name="Neumann">Neumann, orPeter R. "policeThe primacymyth of Ulsterization in British security policy in Northern Ireland." ''Studies in Conflict and Terrorism'' 26.5 (2003): 365–377.</ref><ref>Ellison: Smyth, 2000, p82</ref> The term "Ulsterisation" was coined by the media. The then Assistant Chief Constable of the RUC, [[Jack Hermon]], summed it up when he said, "Ulstermen need to learn to live together and be policed by Ulstermen. If they have to kill, let them kill each other, not English soldiers."<ref>Potter p167</ref>

An article on the newly established regiment published in ''[[Fortnight (magazine)|Fortnight]]'' magazine in October 1972 noted several court cases involving UDR soldiers in the preceding weeks.<ref name="fmoct5">''[[Fortnight Magazine]]'', No. 47, p. 4. Fortnight Publications, 1972.</ref> On 18 September a member of the UDR, William Wright, of [[Portadown]], was granted bail after appearing on an arms charge at Hillsborough. Wright reportedly shouted "no surrender" as he left the court with two other men who had been similarly charged. The following day a former member of the UDR, John Haveron, was [[Remand (detention)|remanded]] in a Belfast court after being charged with the attempted murder of three men outside the Imperial Hotel on 17 September. On 23 September an instructor in the UDR, Peter Wally, was cleared of a murder charge but later received 18 months imprisonment on a charge of wounding with intent in relation to an incident at a taxi depot on June 1 June. On 28 September two members of the UDR were charged with assault and possession of arms. Neither Private Robert Lawrence nor Private Reginald Jamieson were prosecuted. A day later another UDR member, Alexander Thompson, appeared before the same court on a charge of possession of arms and ammunition.<ref name="fmoct5"/> The author warned that the regiment was being increasingly perceived as an organisation similar to its “B-Specials” predecessor and it would “only take a few more charges similar to the ones outlined above to discredit the UDR completely”.<ref name="fmoct5"/>

Two soldiers from the 11 UDR's C Company (also UVF members) were convicted of the [[Miami Showband killings|1975 killing of three musicians]] from [[The Miami Showband]]. This attack was led by [[Robin Jackson]], a former UDR soldier who had been discharged for "undisclosed reasons".<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-88079079|title=Uvf Rules out Jackal Link to Murder|date=30 June 2002|access-date=7 January 2019|archive-date=23 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923161303/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="finucane">{{Cite web|url=http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426121606/http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html|url-status=dead|title="Collusion in the South Armagh/Mid Ulster area in the mid-1970s". Pat Finucane Centre|archivedate=26 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="tiernan">[http://www.michael.donegan.care4free.net/sunday_independent021103.htm "Net is closing in on Dublin car bombers". ''Sunday Independent''. Joe Tiernan. 2 November 2003]. Retrieved 12 April 2012</ref> Two soldiers from 11 UDR's E Company, [[Portadown]] (also UVF members), died in the premature explosion of their own bomb.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/15/newsid_2534000/2534941.stm|title=1976: UDR men jailed for Showband killings|date=15 October 1976|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

The Miami Showband killings were carried out by the [[Glenanne gang]]; a secret informal Loyalist alliance that included members of the UDR, RUC, and UVF. According to ''Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland'', by Anne Cadwallader, permutations of the group killed about 120 people – almost all of whom were Catholic civilians with no links to Irish republican paramilitaries.<ref>[http://patfinucanecentre.org/collusion/PFC%20Conclusions%20-%20Lethal%20Allies%20%28Oct%2023%29.pdf ''Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland'' – Conclusions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222181333/http://patfinucanecentre.org/collusion/PFC%20Conclusions%20-%20Lethal%20Allies%20%28Oct%2023%29.pdf |date=22 February 2014 }}, PatFinucaneCentre.org; accessed 21 November 2021.</ref> The Cassel Report investigated 76 killings attributed to the group and found evidence that BritishUDR soldiers and RUC officers were involved in 74 of those.<ref>The Cassel Report (2006), p. 4</ref> Another key figure was [[Robert McConnell (loyalist)|Robert McConnell]], a serving corporal in the UDR's [[2nd Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment|2nd Battalion]]. The report by Justice [[Henry Barron (judge)|Henry Barron]] into the 1974 [[Dublin and Monaghan bombings]] which killed 33 people lists him as a suspect; UDR Captain John Irwin was identified by [[John Weir (loyalist)|John Weir]] in his affidavit as providing the explosives for the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.<ref>[http://www.seeingred.com/Copy/2.1_CODE_weiraff.html ''Seeing Red''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619170035/http://www.seeingred.com/Copy/2.1_CODE_weiraff.html |date=19 June 2009 }}, John Weir affidavit, 3 February 1999; Retrieved 21 November 2021</ref> Former Glenanne Gang members named him as being involved in numerous other attacks, including the [[Reavey and O'Dowd killings]]. Several other UDR soldiers participated in terrorist attacks attributed to the Glenanne Gang.<ref>The Cassel Report (2006), p. 111-112</ref>

In October 1975 a UDR soldier from [[Islandmagee]], County DownAntrim, William Workman, was accused in court of being an active member of the UVF who had for two years instructed UVF members in the usage of firearms. In an alleged police statement Workman had admitted to being a member of the UVF.<ref>''Belfast Telegraph'', 22 October 1975.</ref>

In February 1989 solicitor [[Pat Finucane]] was murdered by Loyalist paramilitaries from the UDA acting in collusion with elements of the British security servicesforces.<ref>"[https://madden-finucane.com/files/2016/01/2004-04-01_cory_report.pdf Cory Collusion Inquiry Report: Patrick Finucane]", p.107. 1 April 2004. Retrieved 21 November 2021.</ref> The [[Browning Hi-Power|9mm Browning handgun]] used in the murder of Finucane had been stolen from a UDR armoury at Malone Barracks, Belfast by a serving UDR soldier. The same weapon had been linked to the attempted killing of a Catholic man in September 1988. Several other weapons were taken from the same armoury.<ref>{{cite web|title=Finucane accused held after year-long operation|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/finucane-accused-held-after-year-long-operation-25949356.html|date=31 May 2003|access-date=21 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Finucane murder weapon revelation|url=https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/7974|date=18 October 2001|access-date=21 November 2021}}</ref>

A draft document, entitled ''Subversion in the UDR'', was amongst many released in 2005 and discovered in the [[Public Record Office]]. Some content appeared in ''[[The Irish News]]'' on 2 and 3 May 2006. Believed to have been prepared by British military intelligence in August 1973, it examines the issue of overlapping membership between the UDR and subversive organisations in the first three years of recruiting.<ref name=subversion /> ''[[Subversion]]'' was considered to be a "strong support for, or membership of, organisations whose aims are incompatible with those of the UDR" and attempts by soldiers to use their "knowledge, skills, or equipment to further the aims of such organisations." It speculated that "perhaps" 5–15% of UDR soldiers were, or had been, full members of "Protestant extremist groups". That the "best single source of weapons, and the only significant source of modern weapons, for these groups was the UDR" and that the British Governmentgovernment knew UDR weapons were being used by loyalist paramilitaries, including the killing of a Roman Catholic civilian and other attacks.<ref>2 May 2006 edition of the Irish News available [http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/may2_subversion_colluson_UDR.php here.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310213754/http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/may2_subversion_colluson_UDR.php |date=10 March 2007 }}</ref> The report admitted that there existed scarce intelligence on the full extendextent of infiltration of the UDR by loyalist paramilitaries:

The report concluded that except in limited circumstances subversion in the UDR has not compromised its ability to carry out its duties. This was caveated with the caution that there were "predictable political circumstances" in which the UDR might not only experience a much "higher level" of subversion than at the time of the report, but in which "elements" of the UDR might "cease to be reliable."<ref name="cain.ulst" /> One such scenario considered was after the failure of political initiatives, unionist politicians might attempt to declare a [[unilateral declaration of independence]] for Northern Ireland to return power to the unionist community.<ref name="cain.ulst" />

TheIncidents where British troops killed Catholic civilians, such as the [[Ballymurphy Massacremassacre|Ballymurphy]] in August 1971 and [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]] inmassacres (which occurred on August 1971 and January 1972 respectively) also served to convince Catholics that the UDR was a sectarian force. In 1971, when25% innocentof the UDR's Catholic civilianssoldiers werechose murderedto bybe discharged from the Britishregiment.<ref Army,name="Potter60" /><ref>{{cite web | last=Blevins | first=David | title=Ballymurphy inquest: 10 innocent people killed without justification, coroner finds | website=Sky News | date=2021-05-11 | url=https://news.sky.com/story/ballymurphy-inquest-10-innocent-people-shot-without-justification-coroner-finds-12303411 | access-date=2021-11-18}}</ref> alsoDuring served1972, toanother convince Catholics that the UDR was a sectarian force. In 1971 25% of108 Catholic soldiers resignedchose fromto the UDR.<ref name="Potter60" /> During 1972 another 108be resigneddischarged.<ref name=":1" />

The [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] called for full disbandment of the regiment as early as 1974 through the media and by applying pressure through the [[Government of Ireland|Irish government]] and became the major conduit for complaints against the UDR from Catholics.<ref>Potter pp157, 269</ref> The SDLP remained opposed to the regiment and continually called for its disbandment "due to the failure of the GOC to address the issue of Catholic recruiting and the regimental image". Although no official support was evident from the party leaderships various members (for example [[Seamus Mallon]]), condemned the killing of UDR soldiers and attended funerals, such as in the case of James Cochrane, a Catholic soldier from 3 UDR in Downpatrick who was killed in a culvert bomb attack on 6 January 1980.<ref>Potter p223</ref>

"Project Infancy" would also ensure that the Royal Irish Rangers, the last Irish infantry battalion of "[[Line infantry|the line]]" did not lose their training facilities and presence in Northern Ireland. The UDR, which was not regular line infantry was, in the words of one commander, "like a fish without feathers". Incorporation as infantry of the line might provide UDR officers with career prospects which mirrored those of the regular army and hopefully resolve the problem of recruiting junior officers. To the GOC the prospect of having a larger number of Catholic officers and NCOs in the UDR would dampen much of the political furore surrounding the regiment.<ref name=Potter35962 /> In a private memo to [[John MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market|John MacGregor]], [[Lord President of the Council]] in [[JohnFirst Major|John Major'sministry]] government, then Defence Secretary [[Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater|Tom King]] emphasised that the merger was primarily motivated by the political controversy surrounding the UDR locally and in Anglo-Irish relations, and it was hoped the move would do away with the UDR's "sectarian stigma."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/statepapers/2017/12/30/news/state-papers-udr-merger-into-rir-aimed-to-remove-sectarian-stigma--1221574/|title=UDR merger into RIR aimed to remove 'sectarian stigma'