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Chapter
11 – The Part-Time Platoons
Both
the Permanent Cadre and the Part-Time platoons were sub-divided
into three sections of at least eight men each. For patrol
operations the sections were split into two teams (‘Bricks’)
of four. An officer supported by a SNCO, the Platoon Sergeant,
commanded Part-Time platoons. Either an officer or an experienced
SNCO would command a Permanent Cadre platoon with the support of
a SNCO. Corporals led the sections with the support of Lance
Corporals who were placed in charge of each brick.
Women
soldiers were first recruited into the UDR in 1973 and individual
women soldiers were attached to platoons for specific duties.
The
Part-Time Platoon Commander’s Story by H Jamieson
I
joined the UDR in 1976 because I believed it was my patriotic
duty to protect both my hometown and Northern Ireland. I wanted
to remain British and I thought I had plenty to offer the UDR.
I
joined as a private soldier and completed my basic training under
the tutelage of the E Company PSIs.
On completion of my basic training I was assigned to 21
Platoon. I served in that platoon until I reached the rank of
Corporal. At that stage I was formally asked if I would like to
apply for a commission. I said I would. Then I had to take part
in a series of selection interviews and tests before attending
the Commissioning Course at the Royal Military Academy,
Sandhurst.
The
Selection Interview
Two
of the interviews were conducted at HQNI Lisburn. At one of the
interviews a Brigadier was chairing the board of four officers.
Shortly before the board was convened this Brigadier had been
gazumped while trying to buy a house in the Belfast area, a very
common practice at that time. He had read my application form and
noted that I was a builder by trade and was engaged in building
houses for immediate sale. He asked me for some advice. In my
reply I explained that if I had built a house and received offers
on it, I would always sell to the highest bidder. He laughed at
my reply. Later on the CO informed me how that conversation
formed part of the Brigadier’s after dinner speeches.
Sandhurst
Training
My
response to the Brigadier’s gazumping problem did not appear to
have spoiled my chances of a commission. I was thirty-nine years
old when I went to Sandhurst. By no means was I the youngest
person on the course. The course consisted of two full weeks
intensive training. There were lectures and exercises with more
lectures and exercises to follow. On average we had to change our
uniforms six times a day, depending on our lesson.
One particular day was spent listening to military music
from a well turned-out military band. Carrying out drill whilst
accompanied by military music followed this. That was probably
the most enjoyable period of our training.
We had a Colour Sergeant Instructor with the sobriquet
‘Double-Double’. It did not matter what you were doing, as
soon as you saw him you knew you would be ‘doubling’ from A
to B. One day a four-ton lorry came to our accommodation to take
us to the range. ‘Double-Double’ also arrived and we all
‘doubled’ to the range with the lorry following us. Despite
that I had a good afternoon on the range. I was experienced at
handling the SLR whereas many of the TA potential officers were
inexperienced. I excelled myself and impressed the training
staff. They of course concentrated their efforts on the other
course members.
Because of my age the physical demands of the course were
a constant strain. Most of those on the course were in their
twenties, almost half my age, so I was always ‘bringing up the
rear’ in any running exercise. Despite this age handicap, a
number of young men were sent home after the first week because
they were unable to meet the stringent physical demands of the
course.
Warminster
Platoon Commanders’ Course
After
completing my commissioning course at Sandhurst, I was posted to
D Company in Ballykelly for one year. While I was there I was
expected to attend many other courses that would mould me into a
good platoon commander.
The next course I had to successfully complete was a
platoon commander’s course at Warminster. Although the course
was based on conventional warfare against the Soviet threat, I
did quite well. In fact when I returned to Northern Ireland and
paraded in front of the Brigadier for my course report, he went
out of his way to congratulate me on the results I had obtained.
Search
Advisers Course
The
next course I attended was a one-week Search Advisers course at
Chatten Dean in south England. This course would qualify me to
train search teams within the company and also conduct search
operations back in Northern Ireland. The course was well attended
by both police inspectors and other army unit officers. The PSI
at E Company had prepared me well for this course. In fact the
lecture I had to give at the end of the course was the same one
the PSI had presented when he had done the same course the
previous year. After I had given my presentation to the other
students the instructor congratulated me and said it was a
brilliant lecture where I had covered subjects not included on
the course.
Other
Courses
Platoon
Commander Duties
Initially
I did not find my role as platoon commander too taxing. My
civilian job as a supervisor and trainer of young tradesmen
prepared me for the role of platoon commander. I enjoyed the
responsibility as well as the craic of commanding a
platoon. It was an honour to have people who trusted you to look
after them and for you to make the right decision in difficult
circumstances.
My next posting was down to Magherafelt for a short period
and then back to E Company in Coleraine.
I
was posted as platoon commander of 22 Platoon until I left the
UDR.
The
Recruit
The
platoon was going well, with good, steady men, good JNCOs and an
excellent Platoon Sergeant. Just before Annual camp a new recruit
joined us. He turned out to be a Catholic. As the platoon
consisted of 100 per cent Protestants I was concerned about how
the situation would work out. I need not have worried. The men
were happy to see a Roman Catholic joining their ranks. They made
the recruit very welcome – in fact, being a young man, the
platoon seemed to take him under their joint wings and looked
after him like a younger brother.
The annual camp was scheduled for the end of April and the
battalion moved to the Lydd and Hythe ranges in the South of
England. The annual camp was a great opportunity for the
battalion to use the English and Scottish ranges, training
equipment and facilities in a reasonably relaxed atmosphere.
One of the facilities at Lydd and Hythe was a purpose
built village. On this facility the training staff could present
us with the type of terrorist incidents we had to deal with in
NorthernIreland. The whole area was fitted with moving targets,
simulated firing points and CCTV cameras that watched our every
move. After conducting a patrol through the village, the soldiers
would then be debriefed on their reaction to all the incidents
thrown at them.
On one occasion the platoon was tasked to carry out foot
patrols in the training village. I briefed the platoon on their
task and gave strict instructions that no doors were to be kicked
in or forced open. There was always the likelihood that some
doors could be booby trapped with thunder flashes (a large
firework that exploded loudly with dense smoke). The platoon set
off into the village and was engaged (fired on) by the training
staff. The platoon reacted immediately by using their anti-ambush
drill for such an incident. During this drill a thunder flash was
detonated.
On completion of the exercise I debriefed the platoon on
their performance. The young catholic recruit was sitting with a
smoke blackened face and was obviously the victim of the thunder
flash. I looked at him and said, “What did I tell you about
kicking in doors?” Before he could reply a voice from the
platoon piped up with, “Could have been worse sir, it could
have been one of us!”
This was typical of the comradeship, the black humour and
good craic that existed in the UDR and particularly so at
platoon level. The recruit to my mind was now a fully accepted
member of the platoon.
Local
Help
Coleraine
town radiates out from the River Bann. Because it is contained in
the Bann valley, the town suffers from periodic flooding. One
night I was on duty and the River Bann overflowed. A number of
the platoon members lived in the area under threat and I had no
hesitation in volunteering the platoon to help the locals. The
priority was to sandbag the doors to prevent the floodwaters
entering their homes.
I gave the platoon three tasks. First, they had to fill
sandbags. Second, to transport them to the flooded area and
third, they had to place the sandbags at the doors of homes and
other areas in danger of flooding. The platoon worked with the
residents until 3am that morning.
Thanks to the platoon effort, the flood damage was kept to
a minimum. We returned to camp at 3.30am and every member,
including the greenfinches, were absolutely soaked to the skin.
The local residents expressed their sincere thanks for our hard
work. Once again we had carried out another demanding and
satisfying task that made other peoples lives more comfortable
and secure.
The
‘Droppin Well Inn’ Bomb Atrocity
I
was a platoon commander and duty officer on the night of the bomb
atrocity at the ‘Droppin Well Inn’, Ballykelly. That incident
happened on 6 December 1982. At about 11.45pm I was in the
Operations Room at Battalion Headquarters in Ballykelly and heard
a loud explosion. I tasked my vehicle patrols to the immediate
area and then moved from the Battalion Operations room with my
team to take command of the incident on the ground.
On arrival at the ‘Droppin Well Inn’ I discovered a
scene of utter devastation, with people pulling at the debris
with their bare hands in an effort to rescue the victims. We
radioed back to the Operations room and requested all the
relevant agencies required to deal with a major bombing atrocity.
We then continued to help the wounded and then discovered that
there were a number of fatalities.
My mobile patrols arrived on the scene within a few
minutes and I ordered them to control the traffic, seal off the
bombsite and ensure that ambulances and other emergency services
gained access to the scene. Luckily I knew of the construction of
the ‘Droppin Well Inn’ and soon realized that heavy digging
equipment would be needed. The bomb had collapsed a supporting
pillar and the heavy concrete floor of the supermarket above had
collapsed on the crowded dance floor below.
I called out the Royal Engineer detachment based in
Ballykelly. This involved entering their sleeping quarters and
wakening the soldiers. We then ordered them to bring all their
heavy digging and lifting equipment to the bomb scene as soon as
possible.
My team returned to the bomb scene and I found our patrols
working extremely well, doing their best in dreadful
circumstances. They were in full control and ensured that only
those required to be in the area had access. All the emergency
services were now in full operation.
One of my cordon commanders told me later, “The RSM came
up to the cordon and spoke to me as I was in charge of one of the
cordon points. He opened one of his ammo pouches and took out a
bar of chocolate, broke it in half and told me to eat it. He saw
the puzzled look on my face so he went on to tell me how it would
boost my blood sugar levels and help me to keep thinking ahead”
S20.
The Commanding Officer arrived at the scene and his first
question was “Have you ordered body bags?” to which I
replied, “The ambulance service is dealing with the dead and
injured.” This callous question will remain with me forever.
“As
the body bags were being carried out of the rubble one of the
bags had a small puncture hole in it. Rather than a stream of
flowing red blood there was a congealed blob of blood with a
jelly consistency. That scene stayed with me for months, not the
bodies or casualties, just that scene” S20.
“Many
casualties were kept alive because that was the night the regular
soldiers had their band practice. It was a tradition for bandsmen
to be first aid qualified. The whole band ran up from the camp
and went straight in to save lives” S20.
“I
can remember an Asian surgeon from Altnagelvin Hospital sitting
on a pile of rubble. He had a hospital blanket round his
shoulders and was constantly supplied with cups of coffee. He did
not drink much coffee; he was using the cup to keep his hands
warm. Now and then a medic would come up to him and he would go
off to check out another casualty. On a few occasions he had to
amputate arms and legs to get the casualty out alive. That’s
probably why he had to keep his hands warm” S20.
The Commanding Officers gave the patrols a “Well Done”
and my platoon remained at the bomb scene carrying out all the
duties required of them until we were relieved at 6:30am. We had
reported for duty at 7:30pm the previous evening. So it had been
a long and tiring eleven hours.
Later that morning when driving to my civilian employment
after no sleep, I passed the spot where the ‘Droppin Well
Inn’ had been. Members of the UDR were still there controlling
the traffic and a number of people were standing around with a
look of disbelief on their faces. I just thought to myself how
proud I was of my platoon and how they had shown true
professionalism during a very long, busy and tiring night.
I later heard that the final death toll for that
particular Republican bombing was seventeen. The majority of
these were off-duty soldiers as well as civilians.
Job
Changes and Personal Security
When
Maggie Thatcher became Prime Minister of Great Britain one of the
first things she did was to destroy the building trade by raising
VAT to 17.5 per cent. In
the end it was not worth building a house for selling on. So I
took a job in the civil service where my construction industry
qualifications had some value. I became a training instructor.
Although I was still in the UDR at this time, I was posted
to an area where the Protestant workers were in the minority (25
per cent). Because of my UDR duties I had a certain dispensation
from my new bosses. Any night I was out on patrol I did not have
to start work until 10:30am. This allowed me to catch up on my
sleep before coming in for work. For many N. Ireland employers
who understood and supported the commitment of their workers to
UDR membership this was standard practice.
The problem was, Republican sympathisers were always
looking for behaviour patterns like this in order to target
part-time UDR members for murder. Despite all the years that I
worked in this area I never was targeted or warned by the police
that I was a target. I was lucky to be surrounded by decent law
abiding people.
More
Civilian Job Changes
Eventually
in my civilian job I was transferred to an office over forty
miles away from home. The distance and travel time made it
impractical for me to attend all the platoon duties and training
nights. But I did manage to parade for the weekend duties
including range work, training and operations. I was constantly
reminded of my failure to parade through the week. It was even
suggested that I report to other UDR bases closer to my workplace
in order to carry out operational patrols during the week. This
was an ill thought out alternative. It would involve me having to
carry a full uniform and military documents in the boot of my car
at all times in order to get from work to the nearest UDR base. I
would have to sleep at the base and then go back to my civilian
job.
My
Final Annual Camp
It
was during this period of constant harassment by my senior
officers that I attended what was to be my final annual camp. One
day when I was taking part in an anti-ambush drill from a
vehicle-mounted patrol I had the unfortunate experience of
falling from the back of a vehicle and injuring my arm. The
Medical Officer was unavailable to treat me at that time. After
two agonizing days I could no longer endure the pain so I left
the camp for Heathrow airport. I caught a flight back to Belfast
airport and reported to Coleraine Hospital. An x-ray was taken
and it was found that I had a double break in my elbow.
I was off work for ten weeks until my elbow healed as my
doctors forbade me to do any more duties with the Regiment. This
period of recuperation gave me the opportunity to relax properly
for the first time in eight years.
My
Resignation
One
evening I was invited up to Battalion Headquarters to meet the
new Commanding Officer of the Battalion. The Commanding Officer
immediately berated me for my poor attendance over the previous
six months. I explained to him all my circumstances and how, on
my doctors orders, Regimental duties were out of the question for
the present.
Eventually I returned to my civilian job but my travel
problems remained to interfere with my UDR duties. Although I
loved the UDR and had devoted over ten years to serving my
country and the Regiment I tendered my resignation which was
accepted and I left the UDR.
Closing
Note
The
UDR did a splendid job and all the members I came into contact
with were highly motivated individuals. In the last few years I
have joined the Coleraine branch of the UDR Association. Through
the Association I have managed to renew old friendships with my
former comrades. I am active in all the Association activities
and I enjoy the craic (H Jamieson, 2007).
The
Corporal’s Story
I
was born in 1944, a Protestant, and had a very strict upbringing
in a so-called Christian home. I am not trying to take away from
my mother’s faith in her God and I do respect her efforts to
bring up her family in the best possible way but I can’t even
now believe that my father’s brand of religion was even loosely
connected with Christ and his teachings. I was sent to Sunday
School and Church twice on Sunday for the good of my soul.
Sundays were to be treated as a day of rest and the only
entertainment had to be found in the reading of the Bible. I
hasten to add that I did sometimes read a little of the “Good
Book” and enjoyed parts, especially the Psalms.
The
Ulster British Ethos
I
was always proud of my native Ulster-Scots heritage and my
Britishness which to some might seem a contradiction in terms,
but as I don’t see myself as Irish I wish to remain in the UK
as I have yet to see any benefits in relation to entering into a
United Ireland.
During the early 70s I was very much involved in the Trade
Union Movement and worked hard as Branch Secretary and Shop
Steward for both Protestant and Roman Catholic alike and feel I
had respect from both sides of the house.
During the early 70s I was what you could call ‘an angry
young man’ …my wife would probably agree with that! I had
just married in July 1969 at the start of the latest Republican
campaign. I remember the previous IRA campaign in the late 50s
when the Official IRA waged terror mainly along the border
counties. One of my abiding memories of that period was of the
‘brave’ volunteers leaving their comrade to bleed to death in
a cowshed near Newry.
The
UWC Strike
I
was part of a group of Protestant people who supported the Ulster
Workers Council strike and I took part in roadblocks in my
hometown. I do not regret this part of my life even now as I feel
it was the only way left open to the community to bring to bear
their feelings to British Government who would not listen to the
majority view of the Unionist people.
Joining
the UDR
About
this time I was approached and asked to join a Loyalist
paramilitary group. After much thought I did not take up the
offer. Instead I had a good friend in the UDR who had never been
off my back to join the Regiment. This I did after persuading my
doctor to deem me medically fit although he said that because of
a lung operation I had, I would not be suitable for military
service.
My family and my wife’s family were totally opposed to
me joining, as like many others, they did not mind people
joining, as long as it wasn’t their son or daughter. I served
part-time for five years and had a few scary moments, some that
trouble me even now. But I never saw any of the so-called crimes
against the Nationalist community that some of the Republican and
nationalist politicians complained about. Yes, there were a few
within the Regiment that committed terrible crimes but in my
opinion 99.9 per cent of its members were law abiding soldiers
who behaved well at all times.
Verbal
and Physical Abuse
At
times I had great difficulty in accepting verbal and sometimes
physical abuse from a large proportion of the Nationalist
community. I can think of one Coleraine councillor who when
stopped at any check point immediately went foul mouthed and
berserk, accusing us of harassing him although nothing untoward
had taken place. I hasten to add that I also received verbal
abuse from within the Protestant community especially from people
of whom I would have expected more.
Promotion
During
my service I was promoted to the heady ranks of Lance Corporal.
In that time I was on two emergency Call-Ups and served
mostly in Co. Londonderry in Coleraine, Garvagh, Swatragh,
Kilrea, Claudy, Maghera, Magherafelt, Londonderry city and border
check points also in Castlederg and Strabane, Co Tyrone as well
as Portglenone and Toomebridge, Co Antrim.
Personal
Security
During
my service I was warned on two occasions that my name had been
found on an IRA death list, the first time along with six or
seven others from my platoon. The list had been found on a Provo
who had been arrested. The second time the names were along with
hundreds of RUC and UDR members who had joined an injury
insurance scheme where a Provo had gained access to the records
of the company while employed as a manager there.
Looking back I know that as a UDR soldier you were given a
wide berth by a lot of workmates especially when walking home
after midnight after the late shift. They did not want to put
their life in danger and made sure they did not leave along with
you. Also, while I was in the Regiment I received death threats
from within the internal phone system and was given verbal abuse
by some at work.
I enjoyed my time in the Regiment and felt part of a
‘family’. The pay was secondary as I felt that it was my duty
to defend my country against terrorists and help protect the
community. I feel I was helping preserve a stable and prosperous
country for my children to grow up in.
My
Resignation
I
resigned from the Regiment with a heavy heart as my dear wife
suffered a stroke at the age of 29. The doctors believed that the
stress my wife suffered from and the subsequent stroke was
attributed to me being in the Regiment. The wives and families
were always under stress while their loved ones were on duty.
They had no idea when they heard a news flash, which was a
regular occurrence in the mid 70s whether their husband, partner,
wife, son or daughter was caught in a terrorist attack. Mobile
phones were not available in the 70’s.
At that time I had been asked to join the full-time
element of the Regiment with the promise of promotion. Had it not
been for my wife’s condition I feel that I would have taken on
that commitment.
After
Service
On
leaving the Regiment I could not understand that I needed a
personal protection weapon the day before I left but not the day
after. Was I no longer under threat? A high percentage of the UDR
were murdered whilst off duty or long after they had resigned
from the Regiment.
Discrimination
in the Workplace
I
have found down the years that I have been discriminated against
on a few occasions because of my association with the UDR. While
working for one company I was, along with other ex-service
members, removed from my position to make way for a more
‘balanced management structure’. I had been asked on at least
three occasions if I believed discrimination had taken place
within the company against Roman Catholics. I was also asked if
it was true I had been a member of the UDR and was the Regiment
not just ‘a paramilitary organization that harassed the
Nationalist community’. This deplorable conduct was neither
admitted nor denied when I took a claim against the company for
wrongful dismissal. They simply agreed to pay compensation with
the understanding that I would not at a later date try to make a
claim against them.
The
British Government
Looking
back now I feel that members of the Regiment were given a ‘raw
deal’ and were simply used by the British Government who had a
hidden ‘United Ireland’ agenda all along. This is even more
apparent when the RUC and the UDR were amalgamated into new
organizations that met the approval of the terrorists now in
government. And more so because of the lack of empathy for the
victims and their families who lost loved ones or had family
members maimed on the orders of the same terrorists.
The
Regimental Association
The
Regimental Association of the UDR is being made to scrape and beg
for funding to support the now ageing former members of the
Regiment who feel isolated and marginalized by their own
community and the British Government. Many now bear the mental
scars from their time in service and the subsequent rejection.
They do find it difficult to cope with their daily lives.
This overview does not stack up with the manner in which
released Republican and Loyalist terrorists have been well
catered for. They are given handouts to set up advice centres,
educational courses to help improve their employment prospects
and given hero status by their political masters.
Would
I join the UDR again?
The
simple answer is, yes, as I feel it was the right thing to do
regardless of how things have panned out. I know in my own mind
that I did the right thing for my country, my family and most of
all myself. I know I did my bit to try and prevent lawless thugs
from becoming rulers of Northern Ireland. If it had not been for
the so called powerful men and women in the British government
and others within our own political parties with spines of straw,
Northern Ireland could have been a better place for all its
citizens. It is now a cold place for ex-UDR and ex-RUC men and
women and their future looks bleak if they do not band together
and fight for the right to be heard.
I feel most of our fallen comrades would turn in their
graves if they knew about the present set up in the Province.
However I am a fighter and will do all I can to help the lot of
my former comrades and the families of many casualties.
Perhaps we can bring some bearing on the ‘brave
politicians’ we are lumbered with and who all seem to want to
forget their mistakes and forget ‘Yesterday’s Men and
Women’ who were all too willing to put their life on the line
for the good of all. S32
The
Soldier’s Story
“When
I was twenty-two years old I joined the B Specials and served
from 1966 until they were disbanded in 1970. While I was in the
‘B’s my tasks were usually foot patrols in towns, VCPs in the
country, guarding RUC stations and other vulnerable static
installations.
I
transferred to the UDR on the first day it was operational, 1
April 1970. My last duty for the UDR took place nearly nineteen
years later.
Joining
the UDR
Before
the UDR was formed John Kerr recruited me. I wanted to join and
continue to serve my country as I had done for the previous three
years in the B Specials. John Kerr told me to report to the
Company lines at Macosquin on a Sunday morning. I caught the bus
from Portstewart to Coleraine and then walked out to Macosquin
with some other recruits.
We were handed the forms and necessary paperwork to join
the UDR. We then had to go up the Garvagh road a bit to meet
George Lapsley. He was the headmaster of Culcrow Primary School
and also the OC of E Company, 5 UDR. George Lapsley was in his
office and swore us into the UDR.
When
I first joined there was no change in the attitude of my
neighbours that I could detect. I lived in a mixed area of
Portstewart.
The
Corporal Sandy Baxter Incident
The
night Corporal Sandy Baxter was shot in the elbow I was the
coverman in the rear Landrover. We were coming down the glen into
Swatragh village at the bridges. Again the terrorist had let the
first Landrover go past with the intention of firing into the
back of the rear Landrover. The village lights silhouetted the
Landrover and the dark spot between the two rear lights would
have served as the usual aiming points.
As soon as we passed the firing point the terrorist
stepped out into the middle of the road and took aim. I cocked my
weapon and shouted, “There’s going to be bother!” The
terrorist fired four rounds at the rear of the Landrover, one of
these hit Corporal Sandy Baxter in the elbow. He was in the front
seat as the vehicle commander and was unlucky enough to have the
window open with his elbow on the sill.
The
driver zigzagged the vehicle down the road to dodge the bullets.
I thought this was a bad idea because I was unable to take aim
and return fire. I could see the gunman but was unable to shoot
back.
We drove into the middle of the village and administered
first aid to Sandy and waited for the ambulance. The first
priority was to tend to the wounded so there was no follow up on
the terrorist.
Kilrea
RUC Station
The
third incident took place in Kilrea RUC station one Saturday
night when two of us were tasked to guard it. I patrolled outside
the station and about 2:30am I decided to move towards the
station when a low velocity single shot hit the wall above my
head. I had a rough idea that the shot was fired from the area of
the RUC station facing onto the Coleraine Road.
We called in all the necessary agencies and backup. By the
time the agencies came and interviewed me the terrorist was long
gone. The search dog was tasked to search the perimeter of the
RUC station. It picked up a scent trail that went from the rear
of the station, across the fields to the backdoor of a house
facing the Coleraine Road.
The search stopped at that stage because there was a delay
in getting permission to search the house. It would probably have
been a waste of time because the normal procedure used by the
terrorist was to order people to leave all their doors unlocked
so that after an incident they could run through any house to a
waiting car and complete their escape, hide the weapon and burn
all the evidence.
The
Francis Hughes Capture
I
was also out the night Francis Hughes was caught up in a gun
battle with the Resident Battalion. The UDR were deployed to
secure the perimeter of the gun battle while it was still
ongoing.
Bellaghy
Riot
The
scariest incident I was involved in occurred in Bellaghy. We were
carrying out VCPs when a crowd came out of a public house and one
of them threw a stone at one of our vehicles breaking the
Landrover window. Then the patrol commander made a bad decision;
he arrested the stone thrower. A crowd of about 150 descended
upon us from the bar and attempted to take our rifles. We were in
a tight situation, unable to drive away from the problem and only
able to use our fists, feet and the butts of our SLRs against the
attackers.
Then a RC priest came on the scene and managed to calm the
situation. The priest ‘saved our bacon’ that terrifying
night.
Security
Threat
I
experienced one security threat against myself. In the early days
we were expected to take our weapons home with us after duty. We
were expected to strip down the weapon to its component parts and
hide them around the house as a security precaution.
At that time there were different terrorist groups in the
area where I lived. One morning I opened my front door to be
confronted with four masked Loyalists coming up the drive towards
me. They were all well-known local characters and despite their
masks I knew who they were and guessed they were there to collect
my personal weapon. I
jumped back into my home and slammed the door on them. I knew an
RUC officer in the vicinity and the four local hoods were
properly dealt with.
The
Donegal Gunman
The
worst fright I ever had was one day I broke all the personal
security rules and took the family on a day trip to Co Donegal.
There
is some great scenery on the Donegal coast. That day the family
were standing at the sea end of the pier watching a seal
frolicking in the harbour waters. I was at the other end of the
pier watching them.
I looked up and I saw a man walking along the pier towards
me. To my consternation he was carrying an Armalite rifle and I
had nowhere to run. The water was over a hundred feet deep on
either side of me and he could pick me off with a full magazine
at his leisure.
I did think the guy was coming for me and a cold sweat
broke out on me. I decided to stand my ground and braced myself
as he advanced towards me. He was walking straight for me and I
thought I had a chance of disarming him if he got close enough.
When he was three feet from me he veered off to the right
and cocked the rifle. He did not turn round but took aim and shot
the seal through the head with the first round. I was very
pleased to see the seal die. What had happened was a friend of
his owned the fishing nets in the area and the seal was playing
havoc with his fishing.
Job
Change
I
moved on to a factory job for one year after the transport firm
post. After that I joined the UDR full-time. I found the static
guard duties very boring so the Guard Commander, Sergeant Gordon
Taylor, found me a more interesting job.
I used to travel around the TAOR in 1977 in a civilian car
with a team of RMPs. By day and night they would stop and check
vehicles and I would provide them with cover to carry out their
task.
My
most recent long-term employment has been local in the
maintenance sector.
Resigning
from the UDR
When
I resigned from the Regiment the only long-term problem I had on
leaving the UDR was my hearing. At the start of the UDR ear
defenders were not available for shooting practice on the ranges.
Personally because the way the ‘B’s and the UDR were
treated I feel it was a waste of my time. It was impossible to
tell how many terrorist incidents we prevented but we were badly
treated by the government in the end”. S11
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Chapter 10 - E
Company - The Final Years - The 90s
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Chapter 12 - The
Garvagh Detachment