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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,〔Potter p25〕 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".〔Potter p19〕〔〔Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969〕〔 〕 It was the largest infantry regiment in the British Army, formed with seven battalions plus another four added within two years.〔 〕 It consisted mostly of part-time volunteers until 1976, when a full-time cadre was added.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=History )〕 Recruiting in Northern Ireland at a time of intercommunal strife, some of its (mostly Ulster Protestant) members were involved in sectarianism.〔https://www.opendemocracy.net/susan-mckay/soldiers〕〔http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/tyrone-hero-jim-devlin-s-death-still-resonates-after-all-these-years-1.1798905〕〔https://books.google.ie/books?id=v3SFzfha7VYC&pg=PA280&lpg=PA280&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=false〕〔http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/cases/miami/InfiltrationUDR.pdf〕 The regiment was originally intended to more accurately reflect the demographics of Northern Ireland, and began with Catholic recruits accounting for 18% of its soldiers; for various reasons, by the end of 1972 this had dropped to around 3%.〔Potter, page 67〕 It is doubtful if any other unit of the British Army has ever come under the same sustained criticism as the UDR.〔Potter 381〕 Uniquely in the British Army, the regiment was on continuous active service throughout its 22 years of service.〔 It was also the first infantry regiment of the British Army to fully incorporate women into its structure.〔 In 1992, the UDR was amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers to form the Royal Irish Regiment. In 2006, the regiment was retroactively awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, which entitled it to be known as The Ulster Defence Regiment CGC.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Honours )〕 ==Background== The UDR was raised in 1970, soon after the beginning of the Northern Ireland "Troubles". Before then, the main security forces were the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC), the most notorious unit of which was the "B Specials".〔(Violence and Civil Disturbances in Northern Ireland in 1969. Report of Tribunal of Inquiry (Scarman Report) Section 3.11 )〕 Despite one-third of its positions being reserved for Catholics, Catholics were reluctant to join what they saw as unionist militias that lacked impartiality leading to the forces becoming almost entirely Protestant.〔 Large scale intercommunal rioting in 1969 stretched police resources in Northern Ireland, so the British Army was deployed to assist the police.〔Ryder p26〕 On 28 August 1969 security in Northern Ireland, including the USC, was put under the direct control of the General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland, General Ian Freeland. The USC, which had no training in riot control, was mobilised to assist the RUC. A catalogue of incidents ensued, such as Specials from Tynan shooting dead an unarmed civil rights demonstrator in Armagh on 14 August 1969.〔http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/11th-april-1970/7/northern-ireland〕〔http://www.irishtimes.com/news/stormont-cabinet-decided-not-to-call-in-scotland-yard-to-investigate-man-s-death-1.266068〕 While the Northern Ireland cabinet remained supportive of the USC, it was put to them at a London meeting on 19 August that disbanding the USC was top of the British Government's agenda.〔Hezlet p. 215〕 The Hunt Report commissioned by the Government of Northern Ireland published on 3 October 1969, recommended that the RUC "should be relieved of all duties of a military nature as soon as possible". Further; a "locally recruited part-time force, under the control of the G.O.C., Northern Ireland, should be raised"... and that it "together with the police volunteer reserve, should replace the Ulster Special Constabulary".〔("Hunt Report" )〕 The new force was to be "impartial in every sense" and "remove the responsibility of military style operations from the police".〔("Hunt Report" Conclusions and Recommendations ), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 27 October 2015.〕 The British Government accepted the findings of the Hunt Report and published a Bill and white paper on 12 November 1969 to begin the process of establishing the UDR.〔(Hansard UDR Bill 1969 )〕 Parliamentary debate in Westminster highlighted concerns that members of the USC were to be allowed to join the new force.〔〔''Irish News'' (Belfast), 13 November 1969.〕 A working party was set up at Headquarters Northern Ireland (HQNI) chaired by Major General A.J. Dyball of the Royal Ulster Rifles, then the deputy director of operations in Northern Ireland. The team included a staff officer from the Ministry of Defence (MOD), a member of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Stormont) and Lieutenant Colonel S Miskimmon, the USC staff officer to the RUC. After discussions they advocated a strength of 6,000 men (2,000 more than the Hunt recommendations), combat dress for duties, a dark green parade uniform, county shoulder titles and a "red hand of Ulster" cap badge. The rank of "volunteer" was suggested for private soldiers. They recommended that each battalion should have a mobile force of two platoons carrying "manpack" radio sets, transported in Land Rovers fitted for radio.〔Potter, p18〕 After presentation to the Ministry of Defence, a Government White Paper confirmed the agreed aspects of the new force and its task as: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ulster Defence Regiment」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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