The UDR played a vital role in preventing civil war in Northern Ireland

It is sobering to think that it ceased to exist as far back as 1992 (when it was amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers to form the Royal Irish Regiment). More years, 28, have passed since the UDR was stood down than the 22 years during which it worked to keep Northern Ireland safe.

If this strikes anyone as surprising it might be because the early 1970s to early 1990s were such an eventful two decades, covering the most violent years of the Troubles, that it seemed like an almost unending period of tragedy and pain.

The UDR began with almost fifth of its recruits as Catholics. The targeting of Catholic servants of the state, in various roles from police to judges, took a particular toll on the UDR. By the end, its make-up was 95+% Protestant.

This statistic has been used to depict it as having been a sectarian force. It is one of the multiple core lies of the Troubles, which try to demonise the various branches of the UK response to the long republican terrorist campaign.

Far from there having been widespread state collusion with loyalist terrorists, it is striking that the intelligence of the latter killer gangs was of poor quality, targeting Catholic civilians. Republican murderers operated without much fear.

UDR soldiers, like the police and like the intelligence agencies, knew all of the most dangerous terrorists.

It is a tribute to their restraint and professionalism that they adhered so overwhelmingly to the rule of law when they saw their colleagues being systematically murdered, particularly those who lived in isolated rural areas.

The UDR played a vital role in the multi-pronged state effort to prevent civil war, which in 1972 was a real prospect.

We should not merely remember the ultimate sacrifice of those UDR volunteers who died on this 50th anniversary of the regiment’s founding, but also when the health crisis is over and the distortions of the past pick up pace again.