The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men'") was a reserve police force in Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the founding of Northern Ireland. It was an armed corps, organised partially on military lines and called out in times of emergency, such as war or insurgency. It performed this role in 1920–22 during the Irish War of Independence and in the 1950s, during the IRA Border Campaign.
The force was almost exclusively Protestant and Unionist and as a result was viewed with great mistrust by Catholics and nationalists. During the 1920s, it carried out revenge killings and reprisals against Catholic civilians in the 1920–22 conflict. Unionists generally supported the USC as contributing to the defence of the Northern Ireland polity from subversion and outside aggression.
The Special Constabulary was disbanded in May 1970, after the Hunt Report, which advised re-shaping Northern Ireland's security forces in a less partisan manner and disarming the police. Its functions and membership were largely taken over by the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve .
Read more about Ulster Special Constabulary: Background To Formation, Formation, Recruitment, Organisation, Training, Uniform, Weaponry and Equipment, Conflict 1920–1922, 1920s To 1940s, 1950s – IRA Border Campaign, 1969 Riots Deployment, Disbandment, Continuing Influence
Famous quotes containing the words special and/or constabulary:
“There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be
now; if it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is
all.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“When constabulary duty’s to be done,
A policeman’s lot is not a happy one.”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)