10 October 1969. Ulster's B Specials to be disbanded.

[Jock2413]

The British Government has accepted the recommendations of the Hunt committee on policing in Northern Ireland which include the abolition of the Ulster Special Constabulary, known as the 'B Specials'.

The Home Secretary, Jim Callaghan, ordered a commission, headed by Lord Hunt, in response to this summer's violence in the Bogside area of Londonderry.

The subsequent report recommends a complete reorganisation and disarming of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, including the disbanding of the B Specials auxiliary force seen by many as a Protestant army.

Among several proposals, the Hunt report suggests a reformed RUC should comprise:

* the existing reserve force to be renamed the Special Patrol Group to carry out routine police duties, and its members limited to a three-year term of service
* a new volunteer reserve police force to aid police at local level, recruited in Belfast, Londonderry and the Six Counties
* a cadet corp.

The Northern Ireland Prime Minister, James Chichester-Clark, said the Stormont government had been consulted before the Northern Ireland Cabinet decided to accept the recommendations.

He made assurances that the B Specials would remain intact until a fully effective security force had taken its place.

The British Army, which Major Chichester-Clark invited in to quell the August riots, will remain in place.

'Sell-out'

Unionist backbench MPs voted by 28 votes to seven to support the Hunt report but opposition MPs in Stormont have attacked it.

The Rev Ian Paisley described it as "an absolute sell-out to the republicans and the so-called civil rights movement which is only a smokescreen for the republican movement". He also called on the prime minister to resign.

Formed in April 1922 when the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) was disbanded, the RUC initially made provision for one third of the places in the RUC to be reserved for Catholics, with preference given to former RIC men.

But this proportion was never achieved and only 11% of the RUC are Catholic.

[Jock2413]

What the majority of the population over here, and I venture, a lot of veterans don't know that the day following this decision, the hard line Loyalist area of the Shankill among others, erupted into violence which became directed at the R.U.C. and the army. In an action lasting nearly five hours, police and troops had nearly 1000 rounds fired at them by so called "Loyalist" gunmen which resulted in the death of one police constable. Two other policemen and nineteen soldiers were wounded, happily none seriously. The fact that only sixty six rounds were fired by the troops in return, for me, showed either great discipline on the part of the troops involved, or very tight control by those in charge.
You would have to do a lot of searching through the history of OP Banner to find another incident where that amount of shots were fired at the army or police. It also begs the question, if the predicted Protestant backlash had occurred, how high would the death toll have risen in that sad place not to mention our own Roll of Honour.