A tribute to the fallen comrades of compound 18

As RSM of all UVF / RHC compounds during the mid seventies, I sincerely welcome the formation of this long overdue site. For far too long we the old Ulster Volunteers of the late sixties and the early seventies, have set back and allowed the sincerity, the service and the sacrifice of our fallen comrades, to become tarnished and belittled by the feuding, treachery, self gain, extortion, drug dealing and informing, practiced by many of those who have attempted to follow in our footsteps.

In the dark uncertain days of the late sixties and early seventies, it was an honour and a privilege to be selected and to serve as an Ulster Volunteer.    The heart was being bombed out of Belfast, innocent men women and children were being slaughtered by the indiscriminate no warning bombs of the IRA. Protestants were being slaughtered in border areas. The B Specials had been disbanded, the RUC had been disarmed, the Northern Irish regiments of the British Army were barred from serving in Northern Ireland, members of the Irish government were openly supporting the arming of the IRA and civil war seemed certain. In those dark days, For God and Ulster, was much more than just a catch phrase.  As a British soldier, I had served with the Royal Ulster Rifles and the Royal Irish Rangers in Gibraltar, Libya, Cyprus, Bahrain, and Oman, I also served with the Gurkhas in Malaya and with the Belfast Fire Brigade in 1972 and 1973 inBelfast.  I am very proud to declare that the Ulster Volunteers of Compound 18 Long Kesh were by far the finest, most sincere and most dependable body of men that I ever had the privilege to serve with.      Compound 18 after the fire in 1974, became mainly populated by the Ulster Volunteers and Red Hand Commando  from Compound 11, who had marched in military formation from Compound 11 to Compound 18 on the night of the fire, through hundreds of rioting republicans on the orders of our Camp Commanding Officer Gusty Spence. They were the same Ulster Volunteers and Red Hand Commando  who had a short time before this, formed up in military riot formation and successfully chased a full company of British Soldiers in full riot gear, back out through the gates of Compound 11 during a confrontation. They were the same Ulster Volunteers who while on remand together in C wing of Crumlin Road Prison, had taken part in roof top protests, the barricading of cells and the tunnelling through of inter connecting cell walls, in the fight for political segregation. Some of these Volunteers are still suffering today from the physical and mental injuries they received during those confrontations. They also took part in many escape attempts from Crumlin Road Prison, including  attempting to dig a tunnel in the basement of the hanging cell, directly underneath the wide open trap doors of the gallows. After the fire in 1974, Compound 18 became comprised  of Ulster Volunteers and Red Hand Commando  from every corner of Northern Ireland,  who all intermingled into one large body of United Ulster Volunteers under the command of the Compound Commander, the Late Danny Strutt.   Danny was the only man ever to escape completely undetected from Crumlin Road Prison, after his eventual recapture and return to Prison, a warder was positioned outside his cell 24 hours per day in case he repeated his escape.  Under the leadership of Danny Strutt I can honestly state that Compound 18 in 1976, was by far the most  militarily efficient and disciplined fighting force that I had ever served with. Danny had  total respect from all theUlsterVolunteers under his command, he was a totally hands on leader who led from the front by example. Under his command no statement of admission maker, regardless of their rank outside prison, could hold any position of rank within Compound 18. The reasoning behind this strict rule was totally simple and correct, Danny was not willing to place anyone who  had failed to withstand the trauma and brutality of the interrogation centres, into a position of authority over Volunteers who had successfully withstood that same trauma and brutality. This I believe was the secret of Compound Eighteens success, it helped to foster a bond of respect, brotherhood, loyalty, dependability and reliability, which is still evident to this very day, on the sad occasions when the Old Volunteers of Compound 18  reunite, to mark the passing of yet another Fallen Comrade.   In 1976 a Red Hand Commando from Compound 18, became the first political prisoner in Northern Ireland, to refuse to accept pre-release parole ( on three separate occasions ), on the grounds that as a political prisoner he would never voluntarily return himself to prison.  I believe that  Compound eighteens finest hour came in early March 1977, it was just before lock up  that evening, when our sentry on the roof received a semaphore  message from the sentry on the roof of Compound 21. The message was that the British Army was about to invade Compound 21, to remove a Red Hand Commando Officer for punishment. The old familiar stand to call  “GET YER BOOTS  ON”, rang out around Compound 18 and immediately the whole compound got on parade, each Volunteer was armed with an iron bed leg and a makeshift shield. The gates of the compound where busted open, the whole company formed up in riot formation  outside the compound and proceeded to march in precise riot formation, past all the other Loyalist Compounds right up to the front lines of the British Army Riot Squad, that had been preparing to storm Compound 21.   There was a tense standoff lasting  for about an hour, until a compromise truce was negotiated between our Camp Commander Gusty Spence and the Authorities.  The Volunteers of Compound 18 then executed a smart about turn and marched back to Compound 18 accompanied by the cheers from the other Loyalist Compounds.  The following day I was approached by a prison officer who had served alongside me in The Royal Ulster Rifles. He congratulated me on the bravery and military precision that had been displayed by the Volunteers of Compound 18 the previous night.  This tribute has been written in memory of the many Fallen Comrades of Compound 18 Long Kesh.