“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 UDR Soldier: As poppy petals gently fall,/Remember us who gave our all,/Not in the mud of foreign lands,/Not buried in the dessert sands.//In Ulster field and farm and town,/Fermanagh’s lanes and drumlin’d Down,/An Ulsterman should live in peace//We did not serve because we hate,/Nor bitterness our hearts dictate,/But we were they who must aspire,/To quench the flame of terror’s fire.//As buglers sound and pipers play/The proud Battalions march away./Now may the weary violence cease,/And let our country live in peace. – By John Potter”. Potter (bio at Royal Irish) also wrote a history of the UDR called A Testimony To Courage.
The statue featured on the right is the Lisburn UDR Memorial.
Next to the ‘B Specials’ board in Parkhall Road, Antrim
Click image to enlarge
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