3rd Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment

3rd (County Down) Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment
Regimental Insignia
Active	1970–1992
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry battalion
Role	Internal Security
Size	750
Motto(s)	"Quis Separabit" (Latin) "Who Shall Separate Us?"
March	(Quick) Garryowen & Sprig of Shillelagh. (Slow) Oft in the Stilly Night
Commanders
Colonel Commandant	First: General Sir John Anderson GBE, KCB, DSO. Last: General Sir Charles Huxtable, KCB, CBE, DL
Colonel of the Regiment	Colonel Sir Dennis Faulkner CBE

First: General Sir John Anderson GBE, KCB, DSO.

3rd (County Down) Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment (3 UDR) was formed in 1970 as part of the seven original battalions specified in The Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 1969 and was brought into force on 1 January 1970. It was, along with the rest of the regiment, amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment.

3 UDR had the smallest number of applications from former special constables. It was thought this was because the former county adjutant was discouraging his men from recruitment with the UDR. It also had, along with 7 UDR the highest percentage of Catholic recruits, with two becoming Permanent Staff Instructors.

The company commander (OC) of C Company, (Newry), 3 UDR, had been OC of the disbanded TA company of the Royal Irish Fusiliers in the town and was pleased to see that virtually all of his TA soldiers were on parade, in the TA Centre, in exactly the same drill hall as they had previously used, for the first night of the new regiment. Many of these men were Catholic ex-servicemen. The OC noted there were also some former B Specials in the room and observed they did not initially associate with the others – not on the grounds of religion but because the former TA soldiers all knew each other socially and sat together on canteen breaks whereas the former specials kept to their own group of comrades, but within a week both had melded together.

The appointment of Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) was carried out in a variety of ways. In most cases men were selected who had previously held non commissioned rank in any of the armed forces or the USC. In C Company, Newry, many of the recruits had formerly been soldiers in the local territorial company of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, including the company commander. It was a simple matter to appoint men who had previously been his NCOs and he supplemented these with former sergeants from the USC. The filling of senior NCO posts in this manner did have a drawback in that many men of comparatively young ages who had considerable years of service before retirement or promotion created a "promotion block"