Ulster Defence Regiment

This page is dedicated to those who paid the ultimate price in the name of their
country during the bloodiest thirty-odd years of domestic British history.

The UDR Soldier

As poppy petal gently fall
Remember us who gave our all
Not in the mud of foreign lands
Nor buried in the desert sands.

In Ulster field and farm and town,
Fermanagh's lanes and drumlin'd Down
We died that violent death should cease
And Ulstermen might live in peace.

We did not serve because we hate
Nor bitterness our hearts dictate.

But we were they who must aspire
To quench the flame of terror's fire.

Grieve not for us, but this we ask,
Let others yet take up the task.

© John Potter

Pte Sean Russell Age 30 (Part Time) D. Coy.
8th December 1971. Shot in his home in Belfast as he watched television with his family. His ten year old daughter was injured. He was married with 5 children and off duty at the time of his death.

Pte John D. Smith Age 25 (Part Time) C. Coy.
27th March 1981. Shot by the IRA as he walked to work in Belfast. He had been threatened a few weeks before his death. He was single and off duty at the time of his death.