Armistice Day 2022: Orange Order chief says 'sacrifice of Northern Irish police and UDR will never be airbrushed from history'

Edward Stevenson made the remarks in a statement commemorating Armistice Day on Friday, as much of the nation observed a two-minute silence in memory of those who have died in uniform.

The Orange Order held its own ceremony at 11am at its headquarters in Schomberg House, east Belfast, involving a parade and wreath-laying.

Another service was also held at the HQ’s memorial window, specifically in memory of the 339 Orangemen and one woman who were murdered during the Troubles.

Meanwhile in Belfast city centre, a crowd of perhaps 100 or so people gathered at the cenotaph on the west side of the City Hall for a short, low-key ceremony.

This involved Sinn Fein lord mayor Tina Black, alongside a bugler and men in military medals, proceed to the main stone memorial and observe the two-minute silence, preceded by The Last Post.

An announcer told the crowd that they were remembering not only the millions killed in World War One, but “the human cost of all conflict” too.

There was no flag lowering or wreath-laying.

Another, larger-scale ceremony is to be staged in the same place on Sunday, led by Alliance deputy lord mayor Michelle Kelly.

The Orange event was organised in partnership with Thiepval Memorial Lodge LOL 1916.

Grand Master Stevenson’s accompanying statement read: “On Armistice Day we rightly remember the bravery of those who served in global conflicts over the past centuries - but also those who donned the uniform of the UDR, the RUC and other law enforcement agencies here in Northern Ireland in the fight against terrorism in more recent years.

“As a Loyal Institution we pledge that such sacrifice will not be air brushed from the pages of history.”

According to the CAIN database, at least 236 members or ex-members of the UDR were killed from 1969 to 2001.

As for the RUC, at least 319 members or ex-members were killed.

The News Letter spoke with a number of those at the Belfast memorial, such as David Forsey, 61, director of the Army Benevolent Fund in Northern Ireland.

He was a military policeman who served for 30 years, 15 of them in Northern Ireland, before retiring in 2010 at the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2.

His father had been in the RAF, uncle in the army, and aunt in the Royal Navy, and he lost friends in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With just over a century having now passed since the original Armistice Day in 1918, he was asked if he believes the ceremony will still endure for another century.

“Yes, absolutely,” he said.

"There will always be an army, navy, and air force, there’ll always be conflicts overseas, and there’ll always be a response from our government when our nation’s citizens are put in danger. There’ll always be the need for occasions to remember.”

Lisburn woman Jennifer Smyth, 71, had a grandfather in the Inniskilling Dragoons and has a cousin in the Royal Marines, and has visited the WWI battlefield of the Somme.

If not for the likes of them, she said, “God knows what kind of world we’d be living in today”.

Mark Ashby, 56 and hailing from Sandy Row in the city, was wearing four medals belonging to his grandfather Ted, who served in 502 Ulster Squadron Coastal Command through WWII – with much of his work entailing rescuing downed pilots from of the English Channel.

"While we may not neccesarily agree with why young men and women are sent to war, it’s important to remember the contribution they make to the freedoms we enjoy today,” he said.

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