Ulster Volunteer Service Corps

Last updated

The Ulster Volunteer Service Corps (UVSC) was an Ulster loyalist vigilante and paramilitary movement active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s. Initially the steward group for the Ulster Vanguard (later the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party), under the title Vanguard Service Corps, it continued to exist after becoming independent of that movement.

History

The group was established as the paramilitary wing of the Ulster Vanguard in 1972, and wore a military-style uniform. [1] Its main role was to provide protection for Vanguard members whilst they were making speeches. [2] Some members of the group were also known to be members of the Ulster Defence Regiment. [3] Their presence was described as giving a "Mosleyite quality" to the Vanguard. [4] According to loyalist activist Sam McClure, Service Corps membership was accompanied with a solemn swearing-in ceremony although David Trimble, a Vanguard activist, dismissed this claim as "utter balls". [5]

They were under the leadership of the overall Vanguard Command and were officially discouraged from involvement in violence and lawlessness. Nevertheless, they were infiltrated by a number of Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) members from their inception. [6] According to RUC Special Branch reports, they had begun as a group of militants within the Vanguard movement who initially styled themselves the Vanguard Volunteers before formalising as the Vanguard Service Corps. [6]

They adopted the name Ulster Volunteer Service Corps in 1973 after the establishment of the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party. [1] The group was led by Hugh Petrie, who was also a leading figure in the Loyalist Association of Workers. [7] Petrie represented the UVSC on the Ulster Army Council following the establishment of that group in 1973 in the run-up to the Ulster Workers' Council strike. [8]

During the strike itself, the UVSC was part of a faction of minor loyalist paramilitary groups, also including the Orange Volunteers, Ulster Special Constabulary Association, and Down Orange Welfare, who pushed for Bill Craig to take a leading role in the running of the strike. The larger Ulster Defence Association and UVF had hoped to exclude politicians from the conduct of the strike as much as possible but ultimately acquiesced and allowed both Craig and Ian Paisley to play prominent public roles in the stoppage. [9]

Following the strike, the group helped to form the Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee, which replaced the Ulster Army Council in 1974. [10] Royal Ulster Constabulary reports at the time state that the UVSC fell apart in 1974, presumably after the strike. [11]

Related Research Articles

Ulster Volunteer Force Ulster loyalist terrorist group formed in 1966

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. The group is classified as a terrorist organisation by the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

The Volunteer Political Party (VPP) was a loyalist political party launched in Northern Ireland on 22 June 1974 by members of the then recently legalised Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The Chairman was Ken Gibson from East Belfast, an ex-internee and UVF chief of staff at the time. The success of the Ulster Workers Council Strike had shown some UVF leaders the political power they held and they sought to develop this potential further. The UVF had been banned by the Government of Northern Ireland in 1966, but was legalised at the same time as Sinn Féin by Labour Secretary of State Merlyn Rees in April 1974 in order to encourage a political path for Loyalist and republican paramilitary groups.

Ulster loyalism Pro-UK political ideology in Northern Ireland

Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a united Ireland. Unlike other strands of unionism, loyalism has been described as an ethnic nationalism of Ulster Protestants and "a variation of British nationalism". Loyalists are often said to have a conditional loyalty to the British state so long as it defends their interests. They see themselves as loyal primarily to the Protestant British monarchy rather than to British governments and institutions, while Garret FitzGerald argued they are loyal to 'Ulster' over 'the Union'. A small minority of loyalists have called for an independent Ulster Protestant state, believing they cannot rely on British governments to support them. The term 'loyalism' is usually associated with paramilitarism.

Glenn Barr Northern Irish politician (1932–2017)

Albert Glenn Barr OBE was a politician from Derry, Northern Ireland, who was an advocate of Ulster nationalism. For a time during the 1970s he straddled both Unionism and Loyalism due to simultaneously holding important positions in the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party and the Ulster Defence Association.

The Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee (ULCCC) was set up in 1974 in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the aftermath of the Ulster Workers Council Strike, to facilitate meetings and policy coordination between the Ulster Workers Council, loyalist paramilitary groups, and the political representatives of Ulster loyalism.

The Ulster Workers' Council was a loyalist workers' organisation set up in Northern Ireland in 1974 as a more formalised successor to the Loyalist Association of Workers (LAW). It was formed by shipyard union leader Harry Murray and initially failed to gain much attention. However, with the full support of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) the UWC became the main mobilising force for loyalist opposition to power-sharing arrangements.

Loyalist Association of Workers

The Loyalist Association of Workers (LAW) was a militant unionist organisation in Northern Ireland that sought to mobilise trade union members in support of the loyalist cause. It became notorious for a one-day strike in 1973 that ended in widespread violence.

The Ulster Army Council of Northern Ireland was set up in 1973 as an umbrella group by the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force to co-ordinate joint paramilitary operations during the Ulster Workers' Council Strike. Andy Tyrie was the head of the group – and was also the then commander of the Ulster Defence Association.

Ulster Resistance Ulster loyalist paramilitary movement

Ulster Resistance (UR), or the Ulster Resistance Movement (URM), is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary movement established by Ulster loyalists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

John McKeague

John Dunlop McKeague was a prominent Ulster loyalist and one of the founding members of the paramilitary group the Red Hand Commando in 1970. Authors on the Troubles in Northern Ireland have accused McKeague of involvement in the Kincora Boys' Home scandal but he was never convicted. He was shot dead by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in Belfast in January 1982.

William Hull was a loyalist activist in Northern Ireland. Hull was a leading figure in political, paramilitary and trade union circles during the early years of the Troubles. He is most remembered for being the leader of the Loyalist Association of Workers, a loyalist trade union-styled movement that briefly enjoyed a mass membership before fading.

Frankie Curry

Frankie Curry nicknamed "Pigface", was an Ulster loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career. A critic of the Northern Ireland peace process, Curry was killed during a loyalist feud.

Clifford Peeples is a self-styled pastor in Northern Ireland who has been associated with Ulster loyalist activity. Peeples has been a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) prisoners' spokesman and leader of the Orange Volunteers.

Samuel "Bo" McClelland was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary who served as the Chief of Staff on the Ulster Volunteer Force's Brigade Staff (UVF) from 1966 until his internment in late 1973.

Down Orange Welfare was an Ulster loyalist paramilitary vigilante group active in Northern Ireland during the 1970s. Operating in rural areas of County Down, the group faded after failing to win support away from larger groups such as the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

Samuel Smyth was a Northern Irish loyalist activist. A founder member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) he was the early public face of the movement as the organisation's spokesman, and he later became involved in the group's attempts to politicise. He was assassinated by the Provisional IRA as part of the Troubles. Author Steve Bruce described Smyth as the "sometime editor of the Ulster Militant and a loose cannon who enjoyed an exciting and erratic relationship with the UDA".

Young Citizen Volunteers (1972)

The Young Citizen Volunteers of Ireland, or Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV) for short, was an Irish civic organisation founded in Belfast in 1912. It was established to bridge the gap for 18 to 25 year olds between membership of youth organisations—such as the Boys' Brigade and Boy Scouts—and the period of responsible adulthood. Another impetus for its creation was the failure of the British government to extend the legislation for the Territorial Force—introduced in 1908—to Ireland. It was hoped that the War Office would absorb the YCV into the Territorial Force, however such offers were dismissed. Not until the outbreak of World War I did the YCV—by then a battalion of the UVF—become part of the British Army as the 14th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles.

The Orange Volunteers (OV) was a loyalist vigilante group with a paramilitary structure active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s. It took its name from the Orange Order, from which it drew the bulk of its membership.

The Ulster Special Constabulary Association (USCA) was a loyalist group active in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s.

The Ulster Service Corps (USC) was a loyalist vigilante group with a paramilitary structure active in Northern Ireland in the late 1970s. Although short-lived it briefly had a sizeable membership. One of a number of small independent loyalist paramilitary groups active in the mid 1970s, alongside the Orange Volunteers, Ulster Volunteer Service Corps, Down Orange Welfare and the Ulster Special Constabulary Association (USCA), the USC was the largest of these minor groups.

References

  1. 1 2 Steve Bruce, The Red Hand, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. xiv
  2. ↑ W.D. Flackes & Sydney Elliott, Northern Ireland A Political Directory 1968-1993, The Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 347
  3. ↑ Scott Poynting, David Whyte, Counter-Terrorism and State Political Violence: The 'war on Terror' as Terror, Routledge, 2012, p. 58
  4. ↑ Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century, Continuum, 2000, p. 263
  5. ↑ Dean Godson, Himself Alone: David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism, HarperCollins UK, 2005, p. 34
  6. 1 2 Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald, UVF, Poolbeg, 1997, p. 106
  7. ↑ Bruce, The Red Hand, p. 85
  8. ↑ Bruce, The Red Hand, p. 95
  9. ↑ Bruce, The Red Hand, p. 100
  10. ↑ Flackes & Elliott, Northern Ireland, p. 334
  11. ↑ Cusack & McDonald, UVF, p. 107
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.