11th (Craigavon) Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment | |
---|---|
![]() Regimental Insignia | |
Active | 1970–1992 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Infantry battalion |
Role | Internal Security |
Size | 772 |
Regimental Headquarters | Lisburn |
Motto(s) | "Quis Separabit" (Latin) "Who Shall Separate Us?" |
March | (Quick) Garryowen & Sprig of Shillelagh. (Slow) Oft in the Stilly Night |
Commanders | |
Colonel Commandant | First: General Sir John Anderson GBE, KCB, DSO. Last: General Sir Charles Huxtable, KCB, CBE, DL |
Colonel of the Regiment | Colonel Sir Dennis Faulkner CBE |
The 11th (Craigavon) Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed from companies of the 2nd Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment (2 UDR) and the 3rd Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment in 1972. In 1991 under the reductions planned in Options for Change by the British Army, it again amalgamated with 2 UDR to form the 2nd/11th Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment.
The battalion was formed in 1972 after an announcement by Major General Robert Ford, Commander Land Forces in Northern Ireland (CLFNI). [1] The raising of the new and final battalion of the UDR brought operational strength up to 9,000 men, making the regiment not only the youngest but largest infantry battalion in the British Army. [1]
The new battalion was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robin Chappell, who had previously been commander of the neighbouring 2 UDR. He was the first regular officer to command the 2nd battalion, and the only regular officer ever to command two separate UDR battalions. [2]
In 1990 11 UDR was reported as having 772 members who patrolled an area of 1,500 square kilometres (580 sq mi). [3]
From formation battalion HQ was based at Mahon Road Barracks, known by the troops as "Fort Mahon", a new purpose-built UDR base on the Mahon Road, Portadown beside the historic Mahon House. [4] Assuming command and expanding platoons and companies once part of the Armagh based 2 UDR in Lurgan, Portadown and Tandragee and also the Banbridge Company of 3 UDR.
Mahon Barracks, Portadown. – a mixture of regular army and permanent cadre/part-time administration staff, instructors, watchkeepers, mechanics, and a guard force of Conrate soldiers. The commander was the battalion commander who was a regular lieutenant colonel. Other regular soldiers on attachment included the adjutant (a major), a training major, and permanent staff instructors. The Quartermaster's stores were also part of this company as were the core services of the battalion which, although modified slightly on expansion, generally consisted of operational organisation, vehicles, radio services, catering and pay.
Scarva Road Barracks, Banbridge – an experimental permanent cadre platoon formed after Ulsterisation which carried out the same duties as the regular army. Selected from the youngest and fittest soldiers with Commanders and NCO's who had, where possible, previous military experience. The commander was a Scottish WO2 who had 22 years of experience with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, fighting in colonial conflicts during the disestablishment of empire. His second in command was Colour Sergeant Robert (Bob) Beattie (Father of Captain Doug Beattie) who had fought in the Congo Crisis and in Cyprus with the Royal Ulster Rifles. The main duties were to quickly seal off the A1 Belfast – Dublin dual carriageway and to act as Quick Reaction Force (QRF) for 3 Infantry Brigade and RUC J Division. As the number of permanent cadre soldiers grew a new full-time company was formed at Portadown and the Operations Platoon was integrated into it taking the designation A Company.
Based at Mahon Barracks – a part-time company. Later renamed B Company. Drawn from men (and later women) from the village of Tandragee and the surrounding area this company came on duty at 7 pm on weekdays and all day on weekends. In addition to patrolling their own villages and rural areas, they were also responsible for the relief of the regular army on the permanent guard post at Tandragee Power Station.
(Dromore) was never formed but the designation was later given to A (Tandragee) Coy when the full-time rifle company was established at Portadown from the Operations Platoon and designated "A Company".
Kitchen Hill Barracks, Lurgan. – a part-time company with a small permanent cadre staff who ran the UDR centre within the regular army's barracks. This company was responsible for patrolling the town of Lurgan and its surrounding villages and rural areas.
Subsequent to a raid against C Company, on 20 October 1972, the guard commander Sgt Billy Hanna MM was convicted of supplying information to loyalist paramilitaries. [5] Most were recovered in follow up operations but some were later proven to have been used by loyalist organisations to carry out crime, including murders. [6]
Scarva Road Barracks, Banbridge – a part-time company with a small permanent cadre staff who administered and guarded the barracks. Drawing its recruits from Banbridge, Dromore and surrounding rural villages and areas the company also patrolled these areas and provided extra checkpoints on the A1 dual carriageway.
A part-time company with a small nucleus of permanent cadre administrative staff drawn from the market town of Portadown and its surrounding villages and rural areas. The company provided patrols in the town and surrounding areas as well as the night guard on the telephone exchange at Edenderry.
After the amalgamation of 1 and 9 UDR in 1984 [7] – a part-time company with a small nucleus of permanent cadre administration staff who ran the company offices and facilities within Thiepval Barracks. Recruiting from Lisburn and surrounding areas it too had a mixed patrol area of towns and villages but by its location also patrolled areas of south Belfast.
RUC J Division – taking in the sub-divisions of:
Both part-time and full-time companies of 11 UDR took over operational responsibility in other areas to relieve the pressure on border battalions who had taken heavy casualties, particularly 2 UDR. Part-time soldiers deployed for a weekend but the full-time Operations Platoon (later A Company) and elements of HQ Company Conrate Guard deployed for up to two weeks at a time. Some of these detachments were at:
As well as manning permanent vehicle checkpoints (PVCPs) at these location the 11 UDR Platoons also engaged in urban and rural patrol work with the full-time soldiers taking part in searches, observation activities and denial of territory to the enemy.
The battalion lost nine men during its existence. A further eight were killed as a result of their membership after they had left the battalion. [10] No figures are available for those wounded. [10]
Two soldiers from the 11 UDR's C Company, (also UVF members), were convicted of the 1975 killing of three musicians from the Irish showband, the Miami. This attack was led by Robin Jackson, a former ii UDR soldier who had been discharged for "undisclosed reasons". [11] [12] [13] Two soldiers from 11 UDR's E Company, Portadown(also UVF members), died in the premature explosion of their own bomb. [14]
The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements, their official role was the "defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage" but unlike troops from Great Britain they were never used for "crowd control or riot duties in cities". At the time the UDR was the largest infantry regiment in the British Army, formed with seven battalions plus another four added within two years.
The Royal Irish Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was founded in 1992 through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment. Their oldest predecessor, the 27th Regiment of Foot, was first raised in June 1689 to fight in the Williamite War in Ireland. Other notable regiments in their lineage include the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
The Glenanne barracks bombing was a large truck bomb attack carried out by the Provisional IRA against a British Army base at Glenanne, near Mountnorris, County Armagh. The driverless lorry was rolled down a hill at the rear of the barracks and crashed through the perimeter fence. The bombing took place on 31 May 1991 and left three soldiers killed and 14 people wounded, four of them civilians.
1st Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1970 as part of the 7 original battalions specified in The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was amalgamated with the 9th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment in 1984 to form the 1st/9th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment.
2nd Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1970 as part of the seven original battalions specified in the Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received royal assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was, along with the rest of the regiment, amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment. It had previously been amalgamated in 1991 with the 11th Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment to form the 2nd/11th Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment.
3rd Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1970 as part of the seven original battalions specified in The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was, along with the rest of the regiment, amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment.
The 9th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1972 from two companies of the 1st Battalion Ulster Defence Regiment creating a second battalion in County Antrim. It was amalgamated with 1 UDR in 1984 to form 1/9 UDR.
4th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1970 as part of the seven original battalions specified in The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was amalgamated with the 6th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992 to form the 4th/6th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment.
5th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1970 as part of the seven original battalions specified in The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was, along with the rest of the regiment, amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment.
The 6th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1970 as part of the seven original battalions specified in The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was, along with the rest of the regiment, amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment.
7th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1970 as part of the 7 original battalions specified in The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was amalgamated with the 10th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment in 1984 to form the 7th/10th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment.
The 10th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment was formed in 1972 from elements of the 7th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment creating a second battalion in Belfast. It was again amalgamated with 7 UDR in 1984 to form the 7th/10th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment.
William Henry Wilson Hanna MM was a high-ranking Ulster loyalist who founded and led the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) until he was killed, allegedly by Robin Jackson, who took over command of the brigade.
Harris Boyle was an Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisation. Boyle was implicated in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and took part in the attack at Buskhill, County Down when an armed UVF gang wearing British Army uniforms ambushed The Miami Showband at a bogus military checkpoint. The popular Irish cabaret band was driving home to Dublin after a performance in Banbridge. He was one of the two gunmen killed when the bomb they were loading onto the band's minibus exploded prematurely. He is sometimes referred to as Horace Boyle.
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the brigade were Robin Jackson, known as "The Jackal", and Billy Wright. The Mid-Ulster Brigade carried out many attacks, mainly in Northern Ireland, especially in the South Armagh area, but it also extended its operational reach into the Republic of Ireland. Two of the most notorious attacks in the history of the Troubles were carried out by the Mid-Ulster Brigade: the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the Miami Showband killings in 1975. Members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade were part of the Glenanne gang which the Pat Finucane Centre has since linked to at least 87 lethal attacks in the 1970s.
Brigadier Henry Joseph Patrick Baxter was an Irish born fourth generation soldier who overcame the handicap of being blind in one eye to join the army and rose to command one of the largest and most controversial regiments in the British Army.
The Mullacreevie ambush took place on 1 March 1991, when a mobile patrol of the Ulster Defence Regiment composed of two Land Rover vehicles was attacked with an improvised horizontal mortar by a Provisional IRA active service unit from the North Armagh Brigade while passing near Mullacreevie housing estate, on the west side of Armagh City. One member of the UDR was killed instantly when the leading Land Rover was hit, while another died of wounds two days later. Two other soldiers were maimed for life.
On 2 May 1974 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked a British Army base manned by the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) near the Northern Ireland–Republic of Ireland border at Clogher, County Tyrone. The IRA unit engaged the small base with automatic weapons, rockets and improvised mortars. Ferret armoured cars were deployed to the scene and a fierce firefight erupted. The IRA withdrew behind the border with the Republic. The assault on the outpost killed greenfinch Eva Martin and wounded another UDR soldier.