These pages are dedicated
to those who paid the ultimate price in the name of their
country during the bloodiest thirty-plus years of domestic British history ...

Royal Irish Regiment Regimental Association CGC.

The Association was formed following the disbandment of
the three Home Service (HS) Battalions in 2007.

Ulster Defence Regiment (CGC)

The Ulster Defence Regiment lost 197 Soldiers (4 of whom were female) during Op. Banner while in Service. A further 61 were targeted and murdered AFTER having left the Regiment.

The UDR Soldier

As poppy petal gently fall
Remember us who gave our all
Not in the mud of foreign lands
Nor buried in the desert sands.

In Ulster field and farm and town,
Fermanagh's lanes and drumlin'd Down
We died that violent death should cease
And Ulstermen might 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.

Grieve not for us, but this we ask,
Let others yet take up the task.

© John Potter

The letters CGC stand for Conspicuous Gallantry Cross which was awarded to the Regiment by HM The Queen on 6th October 2006 ... this award was to the Regiment and is unique as no bravery award has ever been awarded to any Regiment before or since, thus the full title of the Regiment is the Ulster Defence Regiment CGC (for short). 
The award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross was awarded ONLY to the Ulster Defence Regiment and the HOME SERVICE Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment who served solely in the province ...

2nd Battalion

3rd Battalion

4th Battalion

5th Battalion

6th Battalion

7th Battalion

8th Battalion

9th Battalion

10th Battalion

11th Battalion

1st - 9th Battalion

4th - 6th Battalion

7th - 10th Battalion

RTA's

Training Camp

Pte Frank Veitch Age 23 (Part Time) B. Coy
3rd September 1971. Shot as he walked to a sentry post outside Kinawley RUC Station. His father had died the previous month, He was the 2nd UDR soldier to be killed. He was single and was on duty at the time of his death.

Pte Johnny Fletcher Age 43 (Part Time) A. Coy.
1st March 1972. Abducted as he was driving away from his farmhouse to work. He was frog-marched into a field by republican gunmen and executed, It was witnessed by his wife.
He was married and was off duty at the time of his death.

L/Cpl W. Harry Creighton Age 27 (Part Time) C. Coy.
7th August 1972. Shot by the IRA outside his home near the Monaghan border having just finished a duty at the RUC station. He was to have been married in April. He was single and off duty at the time of his death.

Pte Jimmy. E. Eames Age 33 (Part Time) B. Coy
25th August 1972. One of two soldiers killed while they checked a booby-trapped car outside Enniskillen. The 150lb Bomb exploded killing them instantly. L/Cpl Alfie Johnson was the other soldier who died. He was married with 3 Children and was on duty at the time of his death.

L/Cpl Alfie Johnson Age 32 (Part Time) B. Coy.
25th August 1972. (Same Incident as above). He was married with 3 children, and was on duty at the time of his death.

Pte Tommy. R. Bullock Age 53 (Part Time) C. Coy.
21st September 1972. He and his Wife were shot at home as they watched TV by the IRA. Mrs Bullock was shot dead at the front porch, The gunmen stepped over her body and went inside to kill her husband Pte Bullock. Married and was off duty at the time of his death.

Pte J. Robin Bell Age 21 (Part Time) C. Coy
22nd October 1972. Shot when the car his father was driving was ambushed by the IRA, his father was injured, His brother who was also in the car and a part time member of the UDR returned fire. The gunmen escaped over the border by boat. He was single and off duty at the time of his death.

Pte Matt Lilly Age 54 (Part Time) A. Coy
7th September 1973. Shot by the IRA whilst on his milk round . Gunmen had earlier held up local people at the farm locked them in the dairy, smashed the telephone and waited behind the farm buildings to ambush him. He was married with 4 children and was off duty at the time of his death.

Pte Alan .R. Ferguson Age 23 (Part Time) A. Coy.
25th June 1978. Killed in an IRA attack on his mobile patrol which was first attacked with a landmine explosion and then raked with machine gun fire. He was single and on duty at the time of his death.

Cpl Herbie. G. Kernaghan Age 36 (Part Time) C. Coy
15th October 1979. Shot by the IRA as he made his morning delivery run to the local primary school. Teachers and staff were kept in the dining hall by masked gunmen while waiting for their victim.
Pupils witnessed the killing. His wife gave birth to their third child a fortnight after his death. He was married with 2 children and was off duty at the time of his death.

Cpl Aubrey Abercrombie Age 44 (Part Time) B. Coy.
5th February 1980. Shot by the IRA on his farm, His brother and son found him slumped over his tractor. He was married with 4 children and was off duty at the time of his death.

Pte W. Ritchie Latimer Age 39 (Part Time) C. Coy.
7th June 1980. Shot by the IRA as he worked in his hardware store. His 11 year old son and several customers witnessed the killing. He was married with 2 children and was off duty at the time of his death

Pte Norman. H. Donaldson Age 59 (Full Time) HQ Coy.
25th November 1980. Ambushed and shot by the IRA as he left the RUC station where he had been collecting money for charity. His friend suffered a fatal heart attack and crashed his car, when he came upon the scene. He was married with 8 children and was off duty at the time of his death.

L/Cpl Ronnie Graham Age 39 (Part Time) C. Coy
5th June 1981. Shot by the IRA as he delivered coal. Another brother was killed by the IRA later that year, and another brother in 1985. His sister was injured by a car crashing through a vehicle checkpoint and later died. He was married with 2 children and was off duty at the time of his death.

Pte Cecil Graham Age 32 (Part Time) C. Coy.
11th November 1981. Fatally wounded in an IRA gun attack on the 10th November 1981 after a visit to his wife and new baby at her parents house, He was hit 16 times. His father , 2 brothers and sister also served with the UDR , His brothers were killed in IRA attacks in 1981 and 1985 and his sister was injured after a vehicle crashed through a vehicle check point She died later. He was married with 1 child and was off duty at the time of his death.

Cpl Albert Beacom Age 42 (Part Time) C. Coy.
17th November 1981. Shot by the IRA as he returned home after taking his sons to the Boys Brigade, His wife ran out to find him dying. He was married with 5 children and was off duty at the time of his death.

Pte Jimmy Graham Age 39 (Part Time) C. Coy.
1st February 1985. Shot dead by the IRA as he arrived at Primary School to take children to swimming classes, 3 gunmen took part in the attack firing 31 shots at him.
He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1980 after a previous attack on his life.2 Brothers, both part time UDR soldiers were also murdered by the IRA in April 1979 and June 1981.His sister also a part time UDR soldier was fatally injured when a vehicle crashed through a "Vehicle Check Point".
He was married with 2 children, and off duty at the time of his death.

Pte John. F. Early Age 22 (Full Time) E. Coy.
3rd February 1986. Killed by an IRA landmine explosion detonated by radio control as he led an 8 man foot patrol. He was the 153rd UDR soldier to be killed. He was single and on duty at the time of his death.

Cpl Jimmy Oldham Age 39 (Part Time) D. Coy.
3rd April 1987. Shot dead by IRA gunmen as he arrived at the hardware store he managed. The gunmen ordered his 13 year old cousin out of the car before they fired, 3 gunmen had taken over a nearby house holding the family hostage overnight till he arrived at work in the morning. He was single and off duty at the time of his death.

Cpl Willie Burleigh Age 51 (Part Time) B. Coy.
6th April 1988. Killed when an IRA bomb exploded under his car as he was leaving an auction for agricultural machinery, he had previously been commended for his bravery. A week after his death his widow received hate mail sent from Dublin and signed the IRA. Other UDR widows in Co Fermanagh received similar letters. He was married with 5 children and was off duty at the time of his death.