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The 3rd Battalion The Ulster Defence Regiment mounted the first of a series of operations with The Royal Navy. In conjunction with the Bird Class patrol vessel HMS Cygnet, and utilising their own fast boat teams, the Battalion searched twenty-one islands in Carlingford Lough.
The 3rd Battalion, with its long County Down shoreline, was experienced in such operations, as demonstrated in 1972, during a visit by Margaret Thatcher before she became Prime Minister.
Battalions of the Ulster Defence Regiment with areas of operational responsibility along the border with the Republic of Ireland were deployed in response to a potential threat from 'Loyalists' during the visit of Pope John Paul II to the Republic of Ireland.
During a period of extensive flooding, the 6th and the 11th Battalion The Ulster Defence Regiment were deployed to assist the public by evacuating those stranded by the floods. Soldiers provided sandbags, pumps, food, heaters and put out fires caused by electrical short circuits. Over 500 UDR soldiers were deployed over a 30-hour period.
The Ulster Defence Regiment is placed on selective call out in response to heightened IRA activity.
The 3rd and the 11th Battalions of The Ulster Defence Regiment were placed on selective call out for four days when ten textile workers travelling in a minibus were shot and murdered near the County Armagh town of Kingsmills.
Three battalions of The Ulster Defence Regiment - 2 UDR, 3 UDR and 9 UDR - were deployed to the Newry area in support of operations connected with a protest march organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). The 100,000 strong march came one week after fourteen people had been shot and killed by the Army during protests in Londonderry; a notorious event that came to be known as 'Bloody Sunday'.
The UDR Province Reserve (PRUDR) is established to enable part time companies to be deployed outside their normal area of operations in response to terrorist activity.
*The exact date of this event is not known although it is known to have occurred in December 1975.
The Ulster Defence Regiment was issued with the Federal Riot Gun (FRG).* The FRG had been issued to and was carried by the Regular Army and offered a non-lethal option for a graduated response in the management of violent attacks.
Gun Riot 1.5" L67A1 © IWM (FIR 10769)
*
The Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance for the 22 years of service by the Ulster Defence Regiment from 1970 - 1992, was led by The Most Reverend Dr Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, on Sunday 31 May 1992 at 1530 hours.
Dr Eames reminded all that since the formation of the UDR on 1 April 1970, in excess of 40,000 had served in the Regiment.
Terrorism claimed 197 lives and seriously wounded 444 men and women of The Ulster Defence Regiment.
As the public order and security situation in Northern Ireland deteriorated, the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland took the decision to order the first call-out of the entire Regiment to assist the Regular Army; some 80% of the regimental strength turned out for the duration of the emergency. The Ulster Defence Regiment was, in 1970, still a part-time force.
