Volunteer, abbreviated Vol., is a title used by a number of Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisations to describe their members.
Background The first loyalist paramilitary group to emerge in the period of the Troubles was the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), which first appeared in 1966, led by Gusty Spence. The UVF saw itself as the direct continuation of the Ulster Volunteers of 1913 (which was also called the UVF), formed to resist Irish Home Rule.
Modern usage in loyalism The term is used by the modern UVF.Physical memorials of The Troubles in east Belfast – Long, Cordner, Seymour and Bennett – UVF CAIN. It is also used by its youth wing, the Young Citizen Volunteers. Likewise, the Ulster Defence AssociationPhysical memorials of The Troubles in east Belfast – UDA, 4th Battalion Castlereagh, East Belfast Brigade CAIN. and Red Hand CommandoPhysical memorials of The Troubles in south Belfast – Hanna, McCrea and Mehaffy – UVF/RHC CAIN. refer to their members as volunteers. It is also found in the names of similar paramilitary groups like the Loyalist Volunteer Force, Orange Volunteers and now-defunct Ulster Protestant Volunteers.
See also Volunteer (Irish republican)
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