UVF
In memory of my grandparents,
May and Jackie Graham
UVF
BEHIND
THE MASK
AARON EDWARDS
First published in 2017 by
Merrion Press
10 George’s Street
Newbridge
Co. Kildare
Ireland
© 2017, Aaron Edwards
978-1-78537-087-8 (Paper)
978-1-78537-088-5 (Kindle)
978-1-78537-106-6 (Epub)
978-1-78537-125-7 (PDF)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
An entry can be found on request
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
An entry can be found on request
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved alone, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Interior design by www.jminfotechindia.com Typeset in Minion Pro 11/14 pt
Cover design by www.phoenix-graphicdesign.com
Cover front: © Extramural Activity, 2014
Cover back: © private collection
‘All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it’s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences.’
Albert Camus, The Plague (1947)
‘We have been the silent witnesses of evil deeds.’
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, After Ten Years (1953)
Aaron Edwards has been a Senior Lecturer in Defence and International Affairs at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst since 2008. He is the author of several books, including Mad Mitch’s Tribal Law: Aden and the End of Empire (2014) and War: A Beginner’s Guide (2017). His work has featured in the Irish Times, Belfast Telegraph, Belfast Newsletter and Irish News.
‘I have no doubt that in time to come, this new book by Aaron Edwards will be seen as the definitive history of the loyalist paramilitary grouping known as the Ulster Volunteer Force.’
Hugh Jordan, Sunday World
‘The Ulster Volunteer Force can legitimately claim to have played an important role in the defeat of the Provisional IRA through its use of extreme violence, at times similar to what we have witnessed from ISIS. Aaron Edwards’ work is easily the best account of this little known but possibly most successful terror group of the Northern Ireland Troubles.’
Jim Cusack, Irish Independent
CONTENTS
7. The Shankill and its Butchers
10. An Atmosphere of Pure History
14. In the Hands of Philistines
15. Their only Crime was Loyalty
16. An Intense and Loyal Following
17. ‘You’re Either With Us or Against Us’
18. Family, in a Sicilian Sense
19. Decommissioning the Mindsets