It used submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, grenades (including homemade grenades), incendiary bombs, booby trap bombs and car bombs. A former leader of the UVF's political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, described him as "one of the pivots on which a page of Irish history turned". [127] A British Army report released in 2006 estimated a peak membership of 1,000. "The Dublin and Monaghan bombings: Cover-up and incompetence". [68], According to journalist and author Ed Moloney, the UVF campaign in Mid-Ulster in this period "indisputably shattered Republican morale", and put the leadership of the republican movement under intense pressure to "do something",[69] although this has been disputed by others.[who?]. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. "He also sent a letter of condolence to the widow of Joe McCann, an IRA man, praising him as a soldier of Ireland.". Berenice also assists in shipping across the state, country or around the world. Spence is regarded as the first terrorist godfather in Northern Ireland but also the man who took the first steps towards ending UVF violence. After several years away from the spotlight, Spence was again asked to read the statement, a role which senior loyalists said was indicative of his significance within Northern Ireland loyalism. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. [17], He was entrusted by the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) to read out their 13 October 1994 statement that announced the loyalist ceasefire. These included the Miami Showband killings of 31 July 1975 when three members of the popular showband were killed, having been stopped at a fake British Army checkpoint outside Newry in County Down. His conviction, which he always denied, has been referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission by his family in light of new evidence being brought forward. Secret memo says explosives were shipped in small boats", "The Canadian Dimension to the Northern Ireland Conflict", "BBC - The Devenport Diaries: Remembering Billy Wright", "Sutton Index of Deaths: Crosstabulations (two-way tables)", "Sutton Index of Deaths: Status of the person killed", CAIN University of Ulster Conflict Archive, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ulster_Volunteer_Force&oldid=1142049756, May 1966 present (on ceasefire since October 1994; officially ended armed campaign in May 2007), Unnamed Chief of Staff (1974 October 1975). Berenice's Cremation & Burial Care offers qualified funeral services in La Habra, CA, 90631. Wright was apparently enraged by the nickname and made numerous threats to O'Hagan and Campbell. In October 1975, after staging a counter-coup, the Brigade Staff acquired a new leadership of moderates with Tommy West serving as the Chief of Staff. This collection contains Gusty Spence's personal and business correspondence from 1959-1998, the bulk of which was written during Spence's time in prison (1966-1984). In incidents carried out within days of each other in June 1966, Mr Spences gang killed two Catholic men, plus a Protestant pensioner who was murdered in a failed attempt to burn a neighbouring Catholic-owned bar. The UVF killed four men in Belfast and trouble ended only when the LVF announced that it was disbanding in October of that year. we solemnly warn the authorities to make no more speeches of appeasement. [50] The UVF was banned again on 3 October 1975 and two days later twenty-six suspected UVF members were arrested in a series of raids. In response to events in Derry, nationalists held protests throughout Northern Ireland, some of which became violent. [55] The hawks had been ousted by those in the UVF who were unhappy with their political and military strategy. [26] Despite the fact that control of the UVF lay (nominally at least) with Spence's closest ally Samuel "Bo" McClelland, from prison Spence was often at odds with the group's leadership, in particular with regards to the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. 2023 BBC. [11] During the conflict, its deadliest attack in Northern Ireland was the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing, which killed fifteen civilians. DeSantis won't say he's running. Available for both RF and RM licensing. The UVF's last major attack was the 1994 Loughinisland massacre, in which its members shot dead six Catholic civilians in a rural pub. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. He died on 17 May 2009, from a suspected heart attack at his home and was given a paramilitary funeral by the UVF. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. "The untouchable informers facing exposure at last". Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. Leader of the, 414 (~85%) were civilians, 11 of whom were civilian political activists, 21 (~4%) were members or former members of republican paramilitary groups, 44 (~9%) were members or former members of loyalist paramilitary groups, 6 (~1%) were members of the British security forces. Find the perfect gusty spence funeral stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. The first Independent Monitoring Commission report in April 2004 described the UVF/RHC as "relatively small" with "a few hundred" active members "based mainly in the Belfast and immediately adjacent areas". [citation needed]. [54] This was endorsed by Gusty Spence, who issued a statement asking all UVF volunteers to support the new regime. [99][100], On 4 March 2021, the UVF, Red Hand Commando and UDA renounced their current participation in the Good Friday Agreement. Browse funeral homes near La Habra Heights, California. [26] He died of his wounds on 11 June. It was alleged that Colin Armstrong had links to both drugs and loyalist terrorists. [67] According to Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), the UVF killed 17 active and four former republican paramilitaries. Bates was born into an Ulster Protestant family and grew up in the Shankill Road area of Belfast.He had a criminal record dating back to 1966, and later became a member of the Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Gusty Spence received primary education at Riddell Memorial (1938-43) and Hemsworth Square (1943-7) public elementary schools, both in the Shankill area. Blood and rage: a cultural history of terrorism, "Granddaughter of victim says Gusty Spence was not a peacemaker", "Shankill shuts to pay its respects to UVF chief Gusty Spence", BBC News, Thursday, 3 May 2007, "Loyalist veteran's path to peace", Murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine, Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gusty_Spence&oldid=1136743955, Loyalists imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict, People convicted of murder by Northern Ireland, People from Northern Ireland convicted of murder, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Northern Ireland, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Hiberno-English, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 22:44. The Shankill loyalists supported Kilfedder and following his election as MP sent a letter to Paisley accusing him of treachery during the entire affair. "Shortly after he was jailed, Gusty, after a period of reflection on his own life, quickly started to challenge other loyalists coming into prison to reflect on their own lives.". [5] The family home was 66 Joseph Street in an area of the lower Shankill known colloquially as "the Hammer". This was a general strike in protest against the Sunningdale Agreement, which meant sharing political power with Irish nationalists and the Republic having more involvement in Northern Ireland. Mr Spence was brought up in the Shankill, but was forced out in later years by loyalists opposed to his defence of the peace process and his opposition to continued paramilitary activity. That year, a string of tit-for-tat pub bombings began in Belfast. He initially refused and went on to attend his daughter's wedding. This was a large, three-day riot between Irish nationalists and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Read about our approach to external linking. [151] A Canadian branch of the UDA also existed and sent $30,000 to the UDA's headquarters in Belfast by 1975. [47] Beginning in 1975, recruitment to the UVF, which until then had been solely by invitation, was now left to the discretion of local units.[48]. This building had been an important training centre for members of Edward Carson's original UVF. [66] The UVF also killed senior IRA paramilitary members Liam Ryan, John 'Skipper' Burns and Larry Marley. [30] There were bombings on 30 March, 4 April, 20 April, 24 April and 26 April. The charges were dropped but later in 1966 he was given life for the murder of Peter Ward, who had called in to a Shankill Road bar with Catholic workmates and was shot dead as he left. [30] He remained at large for four months and during that time even gave an interview to ITV's World in Action in which he called for the UVF to take an increased role in the Northern Ireland conflict against the Provisional IRA. However, the year leading up to the loyalist ceasefire, which took place shortly after the Provisional IRA ceasefire, saw some of the worst sectarian killings carried out by loyalists during the Troubles. [citation needed] There were also reports that UVF members fired shots at police lines during a protest. The loyalist leader always denied responsibility and his family are now challenging the conviction. [89] The UVF leader in East Belfast, who is popularly known as the "Beast of the East" and "Ugly Doris" also known as by real name Stephen Matthews, ordered the attack on Catholic homes and a church in the Catholic enclave of the Short Strand. Correspondence includes Spence's correspondence with leaders and imprisoned members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and letters concerning his imprisonment originally . The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [89][90] A dissident Republican was arrested for "the attempted murder of police officers in east Belfast" after shots were fired upon the police. The ferry [between Scotland and Northern Ireland] was pivotal in getting arms into the north and anything like checkpoints, or armed police and Army in Scotland would have b******d that all up.[148] An Irish government memo written by David Donoghue stated: "The commonest contribution of Scots UDA and UVF is to send gelignite. [24] The murder of Ward was, however, repudiated by Paisley and condemned in his Protestant Telegraph, sealing the split between the two. He read the loyalist ceasefire statement in 1994 and was asked to read the UVF weapons decommissioning statement, at the age of 74, in 2007. [121][122] The UVF did not return to regular bombings until the early 1990s when it obtained a quantity of the mining explosive Powergel. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. Progress is being made, inch by inch. [91], In July 2011, a UVF flag flying in Limavady was deemed legal by the PSNI after the police had received complaints about the flag from nationalist politicians. "Overstating and Misjudging the Prospects of Civil War: The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers in the Home Rule Crisis, 19121914." The men were tried, and in March 1977 were sentenced to an average of twenty-five years each.[51][52]. Eight people were shot dead and hundreds were injured. [30] Met by two members of the Red Hand Commando upon his release, Spence was informed of the need for a restructuring within the UVF and told not to return to prison. for a proxy bomb attack targeting a "peace-building" event in Belfast where Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was speaking. Traduzioni in contesto per "ieri sono scese nelle strade" in italiano-inglese da Reverso Context: Decine di migliaia di persone ieri sono scese nelle strade di Atene, dando vita a uno sciopero generale che ha costretto la Grecia a fermarsi davanti alla protesta contro il piano di austerity imposto dall'UE, dalla Banca centrale europea di Francoforte e dall'FMI. Read about our approach to external linking. In March and April that year, UVF and UPV members bombed water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland, blaming them on the dormant IRA and elements of the civil rights movement. The UVF stated that the attempted attack was a protest against the Irish Army units "still massed on the border in County Donegal". [46] A few days after the announcement, Spence made a trip to the United States along with the PUP's David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson and the UDP's McMichael, Adams and Joe English. [2] He ran his part of the Maze along military lines, drilling inmates and training them in weapons use while also expecting a maintenance of discipline. He was born in the Shankill Road area of Belfast. In keeping with his wishes,. [85][86], On 2526 October 2010, the UVF was involved in rioting and disturbances in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey with UVF gunmen seen on the streets at the time. [39], The following year, 1972, was the most violent of the Troubles. While the only echoes of Mr Spences paramilitary past were the UVF murals that dotted his funeral route, a guard of honour was formed by veterans of his old British Army regiment, the Royal Ulster Rifles. Spence was initially held over the murder of the first victim of the Troubles, John Scullion, who was shot by the UVF in the Falls Road area of Belfast. Independentie. "On behalf of Sinn Fein I would wish to extend my condolences to his family at this time.". Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. It would attack the Republic again in May 1974, during the two-week Ulster Workers' Council strike. On 23 October 1972, the UVF carried out an armed raid against King's Park camp, a UDR/Territorial Army depot in Lurgan. [29] Unionist support for O'Neill waned, and on 28 April he resigned as Prime Minister. [117] Members were trained in bomb-making, and the organisation developed home-made explosives. Sun 25 Sep 2011 13.46 EDT. The weapons were Palestine Liberation Organisation arms captured by the Israelis and sold to Armscor, the South African state-owned company which, in defiance of a 1977 United Nations arms embargo, set about making South Africa self-sufficient in military hardware. [128] Information regarding the role of women in the UVF is limited. 206, 207, Ed Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.321, "Voices From the Grave:Two Men's War in Ireland" Ed Moloney, Faber & Faber, 2010 pp 417. In accordance with Spence's wishes, there were no paramilitary trappings at the funeral or reference to his time in the UVF. The British Army were deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. ][102] On 11 April, the UVF reportedly ordered the removal of Catholic families from a housing estate in Carrickfergus. LocationLa Habra, CA 90631 EmailGet a free estimate Call(562) 579-5980. She said: "Some people have said that in his later life, he changed to become committed to peace. He was jailed for life for the murder of a Catholic barman in 1966 and served 18 years in prison. [55], However, a granddaughter of Matilda Gould, a 74-year-old Protestant widow who had died from burns sustained in the UVF's attempted bombing of a Catholic bar next door to her home, objected to Spence being called a "peacemaker" and described him as a "bad evil man". [37], The IRA had split into the Provisional IRA and Official IRA in December 1969. The biggest of these was the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which killed 34 civilians, making it the deadliest terrorist attack of the conflict. [8], From an early age Spence was a member of the Prince Albert Temperance Loyal Orange Lodge, where fellow members included John McQuade. A number of friends and family members spoke at the service at St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. Augustus Andrew Spence (28 June 1933 [2] - 25 September 2011) was a leader of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and a leading loyalist politician in Northern Ireland. [35], In January 1970, the UVF began bombing Catholic-owned businesses in Protestant areas of Belfast. [93] Much of the UVF's orchestration was carried out by its senior members in East Belfast, where many attacks on the PSNI and on residents of the Short Strand enclave took place. The newspaper also reported that the group refused to decommission its weapons. What's he waiting for? In 1984, the UVF attempted to kill the northern editor of the Sunday World, Jim Campbell after he had exposed the paramilitary activities of Mid-Ulster brigadier Robin Jackson. Ousted by those in the Shankill Road area of the Troubles the IRA. Into the Provisional IRA and Official IRA in December 1969 proxy bomb attack targeting a `` peace-building event! 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