British Para-Military Police

[TiggerCCW UK]

Quick clarification - the UDR weren't a TA unit, they were a regular and part time unit of the army, the largest regiment in the British army iirc. Unlike the TA a lot of them were full time soldiers, along with a part time element, but the unit was only ever to be deployed in Northern Ireland. When the UDR was replaced by the Royal Irish Regiment there were two distinct types of troops, regular battalions which replaced the Royal Irish Rangers, and Home Service battalions which replaced the UDR. Although the unit has a chequered history (in many ways like the RUC) and was involved with a number of terrible actions, it should be noted that the majority of its members served their country and both sides of the community, despite being heavily targetted by the paramilitaries, again like the RUC.

For anyone with an interest in the RUC or the UDR id recommend 'RUC : A force under fire' and 'UDR : An instrument of peace' , both by Chris Ryder.

I have to say I would agree that the distinctions between police and army here would rapidly disappear - especially units like the DMSU and HQMSU who were trained by the army, and in some cases the SAS.