This page is a record of notable attacks by paramilitary organisations on
Ulster Defence Regiment personnel during
the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities, or notable firsts:
8 December - the first Catholic UDR soldier to die, Private Sean Russell, is shot dead in his home in
New Barnsley, Belfast by the IRA.[2]
1972
4 March - Captain Marcus McCausland, formerly of D Coy
5 UDR is abducted and killed by the
Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA). He was the first UDR officer to be killed.[3]
21 September - a member of C Coy,
4 UDR and his wife are shot dead by the Provisional IRA as they watched TV at home near
Derrylin.[4]
10 April - Major George Saunderson (Brevet Lt Col), until the previous year second-in-command of
4 UDR, was killed in the kitchen of the school in
Derrylin where he worked by gunmen who then crashed through a
Garda checkpoint to escape into the Republic of Ireland.
2 May -
attack at the Deanery base of C Coy,
6 UDR in Clogher. Opening fire using mortars then continuing with small arms and rockets, the estimated 40-man IRA team [5] mounted a sustained attack lasting for 25 minutes against the small contingent in the base who reply with automatic rifle fire, supported by
Ferret armoured personnel carriers from the 1
Royal Tank Regiment. During the attack, Private Eva Martin was hit by a rocket fragment and died shortly after. She was the first woman UDR soldier to be killed.
Sean O'Callaghan was later convicted of murder after confessing his participation in the assault.[5]
1 March - A mobile patrol from the 2nd Battalion was the subject of the first recorded use of the
Mk12 horizontal mortar[6][7] Two soldiers were killed as a result of the attack. The funeral of one of them, Private Paul Sutcliffe, an Englishman, was held in
Barrowford,
Lancashire - the only UDR funeral to be held outside Northern Ireland.[7] The second casualty, Private Roger Love, from
Portadown died after three days. His kidneys were donated to the
NHS.[7]
31 May - At 11:30 PM a driverless truck loaded with 2,000 lb (1,100 kg) of a new type of
home made explosive was rolled down a hill at the rear of the barracks and crashed through the perimeter fence, coming to rest against a corner of the main building.[8][9] Automatic fire was heard by witnesses just before the explosion.[9] The blast left a deep crater[8] and it could be heard over 30 miles away, as far as
Dundalk.[9] Three UDR soldiers – Paul Blakely (30), Robert Crozier (46), Sydney Hamilton (44) – were killed and ten were wounded.[9] Four civilians were also wounded.[9] The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility two days later.[9]
17 January - Two off-duty UDR soldiers, working in the rebuilt of a British Army barracks at
Omagh were seriously wounded when a civilian van carrying them and 12 others back home was struck by an improvised explosive device at Teebane, a rural crossroads between
Omagh and
Cookstown in
County Tyrone. Eight other workers, one of them a member of the
Royal Irish Rangers, were killed in the blast.[10]
17 June - In one of the last attacks on the regiment as an operational unit, a bomb in central Belfast wounded five UDR soldiers and two RUC constables.[11]
Sources
A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, Major John Furniss Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001,
ISBN0-85052-819-4
The Ulster Defence Regiment - An Instrument of Peace?, Chris Ryder, Methuen 1991,
ISBN0-413-64800-1
^A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, Major John Furniss Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001,
ISBN0-85052-819-4 (1971)
^A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, Major John Furniss Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001,
ISBN0-85052-819-4 (1972)
This page is a record of notable attacks by paramilitary organisations on
Ulster Defence Regiment personnel during
the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities, or notable firsts:
8 December - the first Catholic UDR soldier to die, Private Sean Russell, is shot dead in his home in
New Barnsley, Belfast by the IRA.[2]
1972
4 March - Captain Marcus McCausland, formerly of D Coy
5 UDR is abducted and killed by the
Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA). He was the first UDR officer to be killed.[3]
21 September - a member of C Coy,
4 UDR and his wife are shot dead by the Provisional IRA as they watched TV at home near
Derrylin.[4]
10 April - Major George Saunderson (Brevet Lt Col), until the previous year second-in-command of
4 UDR, was killed in the kitchen of the school in
Derrylin where he worked by gunmen who then crashed through a
Garda checkpoint to escape into the Republic of Ireland.
2 May -
attack at the Deanery base of C Coy,
6 UDR in Clogher. Opening fire using mortars then continuing with small arms and rockets, the estimated 40-man IRA team [5] mounted a sustained attack lasting for 25 minutes against the small contingent in the base who reply with automatic rifle fire, supported by
Ferret armoured personnel carriers from the 1
Royal Tank Regiment. During the attack, Private Eva Martin was hit by a rocket fragment and died shortly after. She was the first woman UDR soldier to be killed.
Sean O'Callaghan was later convicted of murder after confessing his participation in the assault.[5]
1 March - A mobile patrol from the 2nd Battalion was the subject of the first recorded use of the
Mk12 horizontal mortar[6][7] Two soldiers were killed as a result of the attack. The funeral of one of them, Private Paul Sutcliffe, an Englishman, was held in
Barrowford,
Lancashire - the only UDR funeral to be held outside Northern Ireland.[7] The second casualty, Private Roger Love, from
Portadown died after three days. His kidneys were donated to the
NHS.[7]
31 May - At 11:30 PM a driverless truck loaded with 2,000 lb (1,100 kg) of a new type of
home made explosive was rolled down a hill at the rear of the barracks and crashed through the perimeter fence, coming to rest against a corner of the main building.[8][9] Automatic fire was heard by witnesses just before the explosion.[9] The blast left a deep crater[8] and it could be heard over 30 miles away, as far as
Dundalk.[9] Three UDR soldiers – Paul Blakely (30), Robert Crozier (46), Sydney Hamilton (44) – were killed and ten were wounded.[9] Four civilians were also wounded.[9] The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility two days later.[9]
17 January - Two off-duty UDR soldiers, working in the rebuilt of a British Army barracks at
Omagh were seriously wounded when a civilian van carrying them and 12 others back home was struck by an improvised explosive device at Teebane, a rural crossroads between
Omagh and
Cookstown in
County Tyrone. Eight other workers, one of them a member of the
Royal Irish Rangers, were killed in the blast.[10]
17 June - In one of the last attacks on the regiment as an operational unit, a bomb in central Belfast wounded five UDR soldiers and two RUC constables.[11]
Sources
A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, Major John Furniss Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001,
ISBN0-85052-819-4
The Ulster Defence Regiment - An Instrument of Peace?, Chris Ryder, Methuen 1991,
ISBN0-413-64800-1
^A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, Major John Furniss Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001,
ISBN0-85052-819-4 (1971)
^A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, Major John Furniss Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001,
ISBN0-85052-819-4 (1972)