Ulster Special Constabulary
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The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) was a reserve police force in Northern Ireland which was disbanded in 1970.
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[edit] During the Anglo-Irish War
In the 1920s, the Royal Irish Constabulary began recruiting former British soldiers; those who served in the regular RIC became known as the Black and Tans and those who were formed into a specialist anti-guerrilla gendarmerie were known as the Auxiliary Division of the RIC. However, these only operated in the south and west of Ireland.
In October 1920 the Ulster Special Constabularly was formed as the British government's response to unionist demands for an auxiliary police force to safeguard Ulster (in reality the six north-eastern counties) against IRA attacks. In September 1920 Sir James Craig had pressed the Cabinet to place the pre-war Ulster Volunteer Force on an official footing and was supported by Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. He was opposed by General Macready, commander of British forces in Ireland, and by Dublin Castle officials, who feared increased sectarian violence. [1]
Thus the RIC was reinforced from 1 November 1920 by the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC), largely recruited from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force, a separate organization from the modern paramilitary UVF. These men were considered to be suitable because they were politically loyal to the British crown and had, in most cases, served in the British army during the First World War. These were important considerations for the Government, since a) the IRA had very successful in penetrating the ranks of the RIC and the Dublin Metropolitan Police and b) the USC were expected to carry out anti-guerilla operations against the IRA.
[edit] Organization
The USC consisted of 32,000 men divided into four sections, all of which were armed:
- A Specials - full-time and paid, worked alongside regular RIC men, but could not be posted outside their home areas (regular RIC officers could be posted anywhere in the country); usually served at static checkpoints. (originally 5,500 members)[1]
- B Specials - part-time, usually on duty for one evening per week and serving under their own command structure, and unpaid, although they had a generous system of allowances (which were reduced following the reorganisation of the USC a few years later), served wherever the RIC served and manned Mobile Groups of platoon size.[2]); (originally 19,000 members)[1] and
- C Specials - unpaid, non-uniformed reservists, usually rather elderly and used for static guard duties near their homes. (originally 7,500 members)[1]
- C1 Specials - non active C class specials who could be called out in emergencies.
[edit] Recruitment
Sir John Anderson, Joint Under-Secretary for Ireland, commented at the time on the Constabulary's recruitment policies, which seemed to draw heavily on members of the Orange Order: "... you cannot in the middle of a faction fight recognise one of the contending parties and expect it to deal with disorder in the spirit of impartiality and fairness essential in those who have to carry out the Orders of the Government." Recruitment went on as before.
The USC was financed and equipped by the British government and placed under the control of the RIC. Deployment in 1920-22 provided unionism with its own territorial militia, repelling IRA attacks and facilitating partition.[1] It was the USC that was most often responsible for countering IRA attacks in the north, and, like the Black and Tans and the Auxiliary Division, it gained a reputation amongst Irish Republicans for brutality and was viewed by most Roman Catholics as a Protestant vigilante force.
Efforts to broaden its membership to include Catholics, during the Craig-Collins Pact of March 1922, failed, due to IRA violence and unionist intractability.[1]
The first Special Constable to be killed was Robert Compston, who was shot in an ambush near Crossmaglen, in County Armagh.
After partition in 1922 the USC remained in existence to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary, although many of its A Class members joined the new force as regular police officers.
[edit] 1930s and 1940s
After the Boundary Commission was abandoned in 1926 the A and C Specials were disbanded, leaving only the B Specials in existence as a part-time reserve force. In border areas, many Protestants from the border counties of the Free State served with the B Specials. They remained in existence, and went on to form the nucleus of the Ulster Defence Volunteers (UDV). The UDV acted as the counterpart to the British Home Guard during World War II, being renamed the Ulster Home Guard in 1942.
[edit] Operations in the 1950s and 1960s
The B Specials were not disbanded, however, and they were mobilised again in 1955 until the early 1960s, playing a decisive part, in dealing with the IRA's Border Campaign of 1956 to 1962.
The B Specials continued to be regarded with suspicion by nationalists in Northern Ireland, and their abolition was a central demand of the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1960s. On 30 April 1970, they were finally stood down, as a result of the Hunt Committee Report. Many subsequently joined the newly-established Ulster Defence Regiment, the part-time security force which replaced the B Specials, but under British military control; others joined the Part Time Reserve of the RUC.[1]
[edit] Other points of note
One of the functions of the Ulster Special Constabulary was to provide the Governor's Guard, a detachment responsible for the security of the Governor of Northern Ireland, and stationed at his official residence, Hillsborough Castle, County Down, and his private residence.
[edit] See also
- Auxiliary constable
- Auxiliary police
- Alexander Robinson
- Special constable
- Special constabulary
- Special police
[edit] References
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. |
- The B-Specials: A History of the Ulster Special Constabulary (1972) Sir Arthur Hazlett (0854682724)
- Arming the Protestants (1983) Michael Farrell. ISBN 0-86104-705-2
[edit] External links
- RUC police federation B-Specials page (note: despite the domain name, this is not the official website of the RUC or its successor, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI))
- Ulster Special Constabulary Roll of Honour
