The 6th (County Tyrone) Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment (6 UDR) was formed in 1970 as part of the seven original

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s specified in The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

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 The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) was a regular light infantry regiment of the British Army with a relatively short existence, formed in 1968 and later merged with the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992 to form the Royal ...

in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment.

History

Along with the other six original battalions, 6 UDR commenced operational duties on 1 April 1970. Around 75% (1,187) of the Tyrone members of the disbanded

Ulster Special Constabulary The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military Military reserve, reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, short ...

(USC) applied to join 6 UDR, of which 419 were accepted. As a result, the battalion started life as the only battalion more or less up to strength and remained so during its history. The first training major (TISO) was Major GB Hill, MBE, King's Own Borderers, who was based in the Education Building at Lisanelly Barracks,

Omagh Omagh (; from , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. Northern Ireland's c ...

. Part of his job was to find accommodation for the various companies of the new battalion. Where possible accommodation was sought in British Army bases. The old USC platoon huts were vacant and available, but to have used those would have highlighted the continuity between the USC and the UDR. For a time an old caravan in the centre of

Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...

served as the local UDR post. Ten rifles and 200 rounds of ammunition were stored there.

Companies

C Company and The Deanery

The Deanery was an 18th-century mansion in

Clogher Clogher (; , ) is a village and civil parish in the border area of south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Blackwater, 5.8 miles from the border crossing to County Monaghan. It stands on the townlands of Clogher Demesne ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

. It had been the home of

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

, the author of

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'', is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clerg ...

Ryder p71 and was one of fifteen old large houses taken over by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

to house the UDR. After persuading the old lady who lived there to move to less spartan accommodation, £150,000 was spent on the property to turn it into a base for C Company. The house has now been demolished.

Loss of Catholics

Catholics soon began to leave the regiment in large numbers in response to the British Army's treatment of Catholic civilians, particularly after the implementation of the one-sided

Operation Demetrius Operation Demetrius was a British Army operation in Northern Ireland on 9–10 August 1971, during the Troubles. It involved the mass arrest and internment (imprisonment without trial) of people suspected of being involved with the Provisiona ...

Intimidation

Protestant and Catholic soldiers were both intimidated out of the regiment.Potter p58 However, following the introduction of

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

, more Catholic soldiers than Protestant found themselves the subject of pressure from within their own community, often amounting to intimidation and violence. In Clady, a soldier who had been in the regiment for only three weeks had his front door daubed with the words "Get out of the UDR or be shot – IRA". Two weeks later as he, his wife and their five children were asleep, a shotgun was fired at their home, shattering several windows.

Casualties

During the general mobilisation for

a patrol from the battalion came under fire from the Provisional IRA near

Clady, County Tyrone Clady () is a small village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies about 4 miles from Strabane on the River Finn and borders the Republic of Ireland. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 538 people. This article contain ...

. Private Winston Donnell, age 22, one of four brothers serving in the regiment, was killed outright. He was the first UDR soldier to be killed. Sgt Kenneth Smyth Age 28, (B. Company), a former B Special, was killed on 10 December 1971 along with ex Pte Daniel McCormick (a Catholic), who had recently resigned from the Regiment. Sgt Smyth had survived a previous attempt to kill him. Private William Bogle, age 27, (B Company) was killed as he sat in his car with his wife and children on 5 December 1972. His killer was believed to be a former member of the same company, known for his strong republican views, who resigned from the UDR after just one year, and who moved to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

after the shooting and never came back. Private Eva Martin, age 28 (C Company), was fatally wounded by rocket fragments on 3 May 1974 during a PIRA attack on 6 UDR's outlying base at the Deanery, Clogher. She was not only the first Greenfinch to be killed in action but the first female member of the security forces to die in the Troubles. Her husband,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Martin was on duty with her when she was killed. On 13 July 1983, Ronald Alexander (19), John Roxborough (19), Oswald Neely (20) and Thomas Harron (25), all members of D Company, were killed in a

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

land mine attack on their mobile patrol on Ballymacilroy Hill, near Ballygawley.

Notable personnel

* :Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers * :Ulster Defence Regiment officers

Colours

* November 1991 – 6 UDR was presented with

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

at St Lucia Barracks, Omagh, by The Duke of Abercorn.

Bibliography

*''A Testimony to Courage – the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969–1992'', John Potter,

Pen & Sword Books Pen and Sword Books, also stylised as Pen & Sword, is a British publisher which specialises in printing and distributing books in both hardback and softback on military history, militaria and other niche subjects, primarily focused on the Unit ...

Ltd, 2001, *''The Ulster Defence Regiment: An Instrument of Peace?'', Chris Ryder 1991

References

{{reflist , colwidth = 15em , refs = Military history of County Tyrone Battalions of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1970 establishments in the United Kingdom 1992 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1970 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992