Gusty Spence
Encyclopedia
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence (28 June 1933 - 24 September 2011) was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and a leading loyalist
politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist Party
(PUP). As a PUP representative he took a principal role in delivering the loyalist ceasefires of 1994.
, Northern Ireland
, the son of William Edward Spence, who was born in Whitehaven
, England
and raised in the Tiger's Bay area of north Belfast before moving to the Shankill. He had been a member of the Ulster Volunteers and had fought in the First World War. He married Isabella "Bella" Hayes, Gusty Spence's mother, in 1919. Spence was the sixth of seven children, their birth order being Billy, Cassie, Jim, Bobby, Ned junior, Gusty and Lily. The family home was 66 Joseph Street in an area of the lower Shankill known colloquially as "the Hammer". He was educated at the Riddel School on Malvern Street and the Hemsworth Square school, both on the Shankill, finishing his education aged fourteen. He was also a member of the Church Lads' Brigade
, a Church of Ireland
group, and the Junior Orange Order.
Spence took various manual jobs in the area until joining the British Army
in 1957 as a member of the Royal Ulster Rifles
. Spence rose to the rank of miitary police sergeant. He served in the army until 1961 when ill-health forced him to leave. Spence was stationed in Cyprus
during his time in the army and saw action fighting against the forces of Colonel Georgios Grivas. From an early age Spence was a member of the The Prince Albert Temperance Loyal Orange Lodge, where fellow members included John McQuade
. He has also been a member of the Royal Black Institution and the Apprentice Boys of Derry
. Due to his later involvement in a murder he was expelled from the Orange Order and the Royal Black Institution, although it is unknown whether the Apprentice Boys of Derry took any disciplinary action.
was a founding member of Ulster Protestant Action
in 1956. Gusty Spence himself was frequently involved in street fights with republicans and garnered a reputation as a "hard man". He was also associated loosely with radical unionists such as Ian Paisley
and Desmond Boal
and was advised by both men in 1959 when he launched a protest against Gerry Fitt
at Belfast City Hall
after Fitt had described Spence's regiment as "murderers" over allegations that they had killed civilians in Cyprus. Spence, along with other Shankill Road loyalists, would break from Paisley in 1965 when they sided with Jim Kilfedder in a row that followed the latter's campaigns in Belfast West
. Paisley had intimated that Kilfedder, a rival for the leadership of dissident unionism, was close to Fine Gael
after learning that he had attended party meetings while a student at Trinity College, Dublin
. The Shankill loyalists however supported Kilfedder and following his election as MP sent a letter to Paisley accusing him of treachery during the entire affair.
MP, who told him that the Ulster Volunteer Force was to be re-established and that he was to have responsibility for the Shankill. He was sworn in soon afterwards in a ceremony held in secret near Pomeroy
. Because of his Army experience Gusty Spence was chosen as the military commander and public face of the UVF when the group was established although Special Branch
believed that his brother Billy, who kept a much lower public profile, was the real leader of the group. Whatever the truth of this intelligence Gusty Spence's Shankill UVF was made up of only around 12 men on its formation.
On 7 May 1966, a group of UVF men led by Spence petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub on Shankill Road. Fire also engulfed the house next door, killing the elderly Protestant widow, Matilda Gould (77), who lived there. On 27 May, Spence ordered four UVF men to kill an Irish Republican Army
(IRA) member, Leo Martin, who lived on Falls Road. Unable to find their target, the men drove around in search of a Catholic. They shot dead John Scullion (28), a Catholic civilian, as he walked home. Spence later wrote "At the time, the attitude was that if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a Taig
, he's your last resort". On 26 June, the same gang shot dead Catholic civilian Peter Ward (18) and wounded two others as they left a pub on Malvern Street, Belfast. Two days later, the government of Northern Ireland
declared the UVF illegal. Shortly after, Spence and three others were arrested.
In October 1966, Spence was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Peter Ward, although Spence has always claimed he was innocent. He was sent to Crumlin Road Prison. During its 12 July
1967 march, the Orange lodge to which he belonged stopped outside the prison in tribute to him. This occurred despite Spence having been officially expelled from the Orange Order following his conviction. Spence's involvement in the killings gave him legendary status among many young loyalists and he was claimed as an inspiration by the likes of Michael Stone. Indeed Tim Pat Coogan
has described Spence as a "loyalist folk hero". The attack was however repudiated by Ian Paisley and condemned in his Protestant Telegraph
, sealing the earlier split between the two.
although nothing came of either initiative. From prison he was often at odds with the leadership of the UVF on the outside as was particularly the case with the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing
, Spence arguing that UVF members were soldiers and soldiers should not kill civilians. This was despite the fact that control of the UVF lay, nominally at least, with Spence's closest ally Samuel "Bo" McClelland
. Spence respected Irish republicans whom he felt also lived as soldiers and to this end he wrote a sympathetic letter to the widow of Official IRA
leader Joe McCann
after he was killed in 1972.
. The latter had formally asked Spence for his daughter's hand in marriage during a prison visit. Met by two members of the Red Hand Commando upon his release, Spence was informed of the need for a restructuring within the UVF, and told not to return to prison. He initially refused and went on to attend his daughter's wedding. Afterward a plot was concocted where his nephew Frankie Curry
, also a UVF member, would drive Spence back to jail but the car would be stopped and Spence "kidnapped". As arranged, the car in which Spence was a passenger was stopped on the Springmartin Road and Spence was taken away by UVF members. He remained at large for four months and during that time even gave an interview to ITV
's World in Action
in which he called for the UVF to take an increased role in the Northern Ireland conflict against the Provisional IRA while also distancing himself from any policy of random murders of Catholics. He also took on responsibility for the restructuring as ordered, returning the UVF to the same command structure and organisational base that Edward Carson had utilised for his Ulster Volunteers with brigades, battalions, companies, platoons, and sections. He also directed a significant restocking of the group's arsenal, with guns mostly taken from the security forces. Spence gave his permission for UVF brigadier Billy Hanna
to establish the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade
in Lurgan
, and endorsed Hanna's leadership as commander of the unit. His escape earned him the nickname "the Orange Pimpernel".
Spence's time on the outside came to an end on 4 November when he was captured by Colonel Derek Wilford
of the Parachute Regiment who identified Spence from his tattooed hands. He was returned to Crumlin Road gaol soon afterward, where he shared a cell with William "Plum" Smith, one of the Red Hand Commandos whom he had met upon his initial release and who had since been jailed for attempted murder.
. Spence ran his part of the Maze along military lines, drilling inmates and training them in weapons use while also expecting a maintenance of discipline. As Maze commander Spence initially also had jurisdiction over the imprisoned members of the Ulster Defence Association
although this came to an end in 1973 when, following a deterioration of relations between the two groups outside the prison walls, James Craig
became the UDA's Maze commander.
Spence began to move towards a position of using political means and persuaded the UVF leadership to declare a temporary ceasefire in 1973. Following Merlyn Rees' decision to legalise the UVF in 1974 Spence encouraged them to enter politics and supported the establishment of the Volunteer Political Party
. Spence's ideas were abandoned however as the UVF ceasefire fell apart that same year following the Ulster Workers' Council strike
and the Dublin and Monaghan bombings
; the carnage of the latter had shocked and horrified Spence. Furthermore, the VPP suffered a heavy defeat in West Belfast in the October 1974 general election
, when the DUP candidate John McQuade captured six times as many votes as the VPP's Ken Gibson
.
Spence was increasingly disillusioned with the UVF and he distilled these views to fellow inmates at Long Kesh. According to Billy Mitchell Spence quizzed him and others sent to the Maze about why they were there, seeking an ideological
answer to his question. When the prisoner was unable to provide one Spence would then seek to convince them of the wisdom of his more politicised path, something that he accomplished with Mitchell. David Ervine
and Billy Hutchinson
were among the other UVF men imprisoned in the mid 1970s to become disciples of Spence. In 1977 he publicly condemned the use of violence for political gain, on the grounds that it was counter-productive. In 1978 Spence left the UVF altogether. His brother Bobby, also a UVF member, died in October 1980 inside the Maze, a few months after the death of their brother Billy.
(PUP) and a central figure in the Northern Ireland peace process
. He was entrusted by the Combined Loyalist Military Command
(CLMC) to read out their 13 October 1994 statement that announced the loyalist ceasefire. Flanked by his PUP colleagues Jim McDonald and William "Plum" Smith
, as well as Ulster Democratic Party
members Gary McMichael
, John White
and Davy Adams, Spence read out the statement in Fernhill House in Belfast's Glencairn area, an important training centre for members of Edward Carson's original Ulster Volunteers. A few days after the announcement Spence made a trip to the United States
along with the PUP's David Ervine
and Billy Hutchinson
and the UDP's McMichael, Adams and Joe English
, where among their engagements was one as guests of honour of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy
. He went on to become a leading advocate of the Belfast Agreement
.
In August 2000 Spence was caught up in moves by Johnny Adair
's "C" Company of the UDA to take control of the Shankill by forcing out the UVF and other opponents. Adair's men forced their way into Spence's Shankill home but found it empty as Spence tended to spend much of the summer at a caravan he owned in Groomsport
. Nonetheless the C Company members ransacked the house and stole Spence's army medals while the Spence family were forced to stay off the Shankill for the entirety of the loyalist feud
. When Spence's wife died three years later he said that C Company had been responsible for her death such was the toll that the events had taken on her health.
On 3 May 2007, he read out the statement by the UVF announcing that it will keep its weapons but put them beyond the reach of ordinary members. The statement also included a warning that activities could "provoke another generation of loyalists toward armed resistance". He did not specify what activities or what was being resisted.
. The couple had three daughters, Elizabeth (born 1954), Sandra (1956) and Catherine (1960). Spence, a talented footballer in his youth with Old Lodge F.C., was a lifelong supporter of Linfield F.C.
Louie died in 2003.
, who stated that "his contribution to the peace is incalculable"; and Sinn Fein
's Gerry Kelly
who claimed that while Spence had been central to the development of loyalist paramilitarism, "he will also be remembered as a major influence in drawing loyalism away from sectarian strife".
However, a granddaughter of Matilda Gould, who died of burn injuries at the age of 74, which had been sustained in the UVF's attempted bombing of a Catholic bar next door to Gould's home, objected to Spence being called a "peacemaker" and described him as a "bad man". The unnamed woman stated, "When you go out and throw a petrol bomb through a widow's window, you're no peacemaker."
His funeral service was held in St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. Notable mourners included Unionist politicians Dawn Purvis
, Mike Nesbitt
, Michael McGimpsey
, Hugh Smyth
and Brian Ervine, UVF chief John "Bunter" Graham and Ulster Defence Association
brigadier Jackie McDonald
. In accordance with Spence's wishes there were no paramilitary trappings at the funeral or reference to his time in the UVF. Instead his coffin was adorned with the beret and regimental flag of the Royal Ulster Rifles, his former British Army regiment. He was buried in Bangor
.
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
(PUP). As a PUP representative he took a principal role in delivering the loyalist ceasefires of 1994.
Early years
Spence was born in the Shankill Road, BelfastShankill Road, Belfast
The Shankill Road is the arterial road leading through a predominantly loyalist working-class area of Belfast, Northern Ireland, known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for approximately from central Belfast and is lined, to an extent, by shops. The residents live in the many streets...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, the son of William Edward Spence, who was born in Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and raised in the Tiger's Bay area of north Belfast before moving to the Shankill. He had been a member of the Ulster Volunteers and had fought in the First World War. He married Isabella "Bella" Hayes, Gusty Spence's mother, in 1919. Spence was the sixth of seven children, their birth order being Billy, Cassie, Jim, Bobby, Ned junior, Gusty and Lily. The family home was 66 Joseph Street in an area of the lower Shankill known colloquially as "the Hammer". He was educated at the Riddel School on Malvern Street and the Hemsworth Square school, both on the Shankill, finishing his education aged fourteen. He was also a member of the Church Lads' Brigade
Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade
The Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade is a Church of England youth organisation with branches in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Barbados, Bermuda, Kenya, South Africa, Newfoundland and St Helena...
, a Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
group, and the Junior Orange Order.
Spence took various manual jobs in the area until joining the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in 1957 as a member of the Royal Ulster Rifles
Royal Ulster Rifles
The Royal Ulster Rifles was a British Army infantry regiment. It saw service in the Second Boer War, Great War, the Second World War and the Korean War, before being amalgamated into the Royal Irish Rangers in 1968.-History:...
. Spence rose to the rank of miitary police sergeant. He served in the army until 1961 when ill-health forced him to leave. Spence was stationed in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
during his time in the army and saw action fighting against the forces of Colonel Georgios Grivas. From an early age Spence was a member of the The Prince Albert Temperance Loyal Orange Lodge, where fellow members included John McQuade
John McQuade
John McQuade , known as Johnny McQuade, was a Northern Ireland politician. He was a professional boxer under the name of Jack Higgins....
. He has also been a member of the Royal Black Institution and the Apprentice Boys of Derry
Apprentice Boys of Derry
The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 80,000, founded in 1814. They are based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. However, there are Clubs and branches across Ireland, Great Britain and further afield...
. Due to his later involvement in a murder he was expelled from the Orange Order and the Royal Black Institution, although it is unknown whether the Apprentice Boys of Derry took any disciplinary action.
Involvement with loyalism
His older brother Billy SpenceBilly Spence
Billy Spence was a loyalist activist in Northern Ireland. A native of the Shankill Road area of Belfast Spence was a leading figure with both Ulster Protestant Action and the Ulster Volunteer Force.-Early life:...
was a founding member of Ulster Protestant Action
Ulster Protestant Action
Ulster Protestant Action was an loyalist and Protestant fundamentalist vigilante group in Northern Ireland.The group was founded at a special meeting at the Ulster Unionist Party's offices in Glengall Street, Belfast, in 1956. Among the attendees were many loyalists who were to become major...
in 1956. Gusty Spence himself was frequently involved in street fights with republicans and garnered a reputation as a "hard man". He was also associated loosely with radical unionists such as Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
and Desmond Boal
Desmond Boal
Desmond Boal is a former Unionist politician and barrister from Northern Ireland.Boal had a legal career before he entered politics in 1960. He was the Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for the Shankill constituency between 1960 and 1972...
and was advised by both men in 1959 when he launched a protest against Gerry Fitt
Gerry Fitt
Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt was a politician in Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party , a social democratic and Irish nationalist party.-Early years:...
at Belfast City Hall
Belfast City Hall
Belfast City Hall is the civic building of the Belfast City Council. Located in Donegall Square, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, it faces north and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre.-History:...
after Fitt had described Spence's regiment as "murderers" over allegations that they had killed civilians in Cyprus. Spence, along with other Shankill Road loyalists, would break from Paisley in 1965 when they sided with Jim Kilfedder in a row that followed the latter's campaigns in Belfast West
Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:The seat was restored in 1922 when as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
. Paisley had intimated that Kilfedder, a rival for the leadership of dissident unionism, was close to Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
after learning that he had attended party meetings while a student at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
. The Shankill loyalists however supported Kilfedder and following his election as MP sent a letter to Paisley accusing him of treachery during the entire affair.
Ulster Volunteer Force
Spence had claimed that he was approached in 1965 by two men, one of whom was an Ulster Unionist PartyUlster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
MP, who told him that the Ulster Volunteer Force was to be re-established and that he was to have responsibility for the Shankill. He was sworn in soon afterwards in a ceremony held in secret near Pomeroy
Pomeroy
- Places :* Pomeroy, County Tyrone, a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland* Pomeroy , a townland in the parish of Desertcreat, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland* Pomeroy, Derbyshire, England* Pomeroy, Iowa, USA* Pomeroy, Ohio, USA...
. Because of his Army experience Gusty Spence was chosen as the military commander and public face of the UVF when the group was established although Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
believed that his brother Billy, who kept a much lower public profile, was the real leader of the group. Whatever the truth of this intelligence Gusty Spence's Shankill UVF was made up of only around 12 men on its formation.
On 7 May 1966, a group of UVF men led by Spence petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub on Shankill Road. Fire also engulfed the house next door, killing the elderly Protestant widow, Matilda Gould (77), who lived there. On 27 May, Spence ordered four UVF men to kill an Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and...
(IRA) member, Leo Martin, who lived on Falls Road. Unable to find their target, the men drove around in search of a Catholic. They shot dead John Scullion (28), a Catholic civilian, as he walked home. Spence later wrote "At the time, the attitude was that if you couldn't get an IRA man you should shoot a Taig
Taig
Taig is a derogatory term for an Irish Catholic. It is mainly used by sectarian loyalists in Northern Ireland and Scotland. It has been used in sectarian slogans such as "Kill All Taigs" , "All Taigs Are Targets" and "Any Taig Will Do"...
, he's your last resort". On 26 June, the same gang shot dead Catholic civilian Peter Ward (18) and wounded two others as they left a pub on Malvern Street, Belfast. Two days later, the government of Northern Ireland
Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland
The Executive Committee or the Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland was the government of Northern Ireland created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Generally known as either the Cabinet or the Government, the Executive Committee existed from 1922 to 1972...
declared the UVF illegal. Shortly after, Spence and three others were arrested.
In October 1966, Spence was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Peter Ward, although Spence has always claimed he was innocent. He was sent to Crumlin Road Prison. During its 12 July
The Twelfth
The Twelfth is a yearly Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It originated in Ireland during the 18th century. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution and victory of Protestant king William of Orange over Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne...
1967 march, the Orange lodge to which he belonged stopped outside the prison in tribute to him. This occurred despite Spence having been officially expelled from the Orange Order following his conviction. Spence's involvement in the killings gave him legendary status among many young loyalists and he was claimed as an inspiration by the likes of Michael Stone. Indeed Tim Pat Coogan
Tim Pat Coogan
Timothy Patrick Coogan is an Irish historical writer, broadcaster and newspaper columnist. He served as editor of the Irish Press newspaper from 1968 to 1987...
has described Spence as a "loyalist folk hero". The attack was however repudiated by Ian Paisley and condemned in his Protestant Telegraph
Protestant Telegraph
The Protestant Telegraph was a Northern Irish newspaper founded by Noel Doherty and Ian Paisley on February 13th 1966. It was noted for its Protestant fundamentalism and its attacks on the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and the moderates within the Ulster Unionist Party, as typified...
, sealing the earlier split between the two.
In prison
Spence appealed against his conviction and was the subject of a release petition organised by the Ulster Constitution Defence CommitteeUlster Constitution Defence Committee
The Ulster Constitution Defence Committee was established in Northern Ireland in April 1966. The UCDC was the governing body of the loyalist Ulster Protestant Volunteers...
although nothing came of either initiative. From prison he was often at odds with the leadership of the UVF on the outside as was particularly the case with the 1971 McGurk's Bar bombing
McGurk's Bar bombing
On 4 December 1971, the Ulster Volunteer Force , a loyalist paramilitary group, exploded a bomb at McGurk's Bar in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The pub was in a mainly Catholic and nationalist area. The explosion caused the building to collapse, killing fifteen Catholic civilians and wounding...
, Spence arguing that UVF members were soldiers and soldiers should not kill civilians. This was despite the fact that control of the UVF lay, nominally at least, with Spence's closest ally Samuel "Bo" McClelland
Samuel McClelland
Samuel "Bo" McClelland was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary who served as the Chief of Staff on the Ulster Volunteer Force's Brigade Staff from 1966 until his internment in late 1973.-UVF leadership:...
. Spence respected Irish republicans whom he felt also lived as soldiers and to this end he wrote a sympathetic letter to the widow of Official IRA
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to create a "32-county workers' republic" in Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of "The Troubles"...
leader Joe McCann
Joe McCann
Joe McCann was an Irish Republican Army and later Official Irish Republican Army volunteer from Belfast. He was active in politics from the early 1960s and participated, as an Official IRA volunteer, in the early years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He was killed after being confronted by...
after he was killed in 1972.
Escape
Spence was granted two days leave around 1 July 1972 to attend the wedding of his daughter Elizabeth to Winston Churchill "Winkie" ReaWinston Churchill Rea
Winston Churchill Rea , known as Winkie Rea, is the former leader of the Red Hand Commando loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland....
. The latter had formally asked Spence for his daughter's hand in marriage during a prison visit. Met by two members of the Red Hand Commando upon his release, Spence was informed of the need for a restructuring within the UVF, and told not to return to prison. He initially refused and went on to attend his daughter's wedding. Afterward a plot was concocted where his nephew Frankie Curry
Frankie Curry
Frankie Curry nicknamed "Pigface", was an Ulster loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career...
, also a UVF member, would drive Spence back to jail but the car would be stopped and Spence "kidnapped". As arranged, the car in which Spence was a passenger was stopped on the Springmartin Road and Spence was taken away by UVF members. He remained at large for four months and during that time even gave an interview to ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's World in Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...
in which he called for the UVF to take an increased role in the Northern Ireland conflict against the Provisional IRA while also distancing himself from any policy of random murders of Catholics. He also took on responsibility for the restructuring as ordered, returning the UVF to the same command structure and organisational base that Edward Carson had utilised for his Ulster Volunteers with brigades, battalions, companies, platoons, and sections. He also directed a significant restocking of the group's arsenal, with guns mostly taken from the security forces. Spence gave his permission for UVF brigadier Billy Hanna
Billy Hanna
William Henry Wilson "Billy" Hanna MM was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who founded and led the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force until he was killed, allegedly by Robin Jackson, who took over command of the brigade.According to RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir,...
to establish the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
in Lurgan
Lurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
, and endorsed Hanna's leadership as commander of the unit. His escape earned him the nickname "the Orange Pimpernel".
Spence's time on the outside came to an end on 4 November when he was captured by Colonel Derek Wilford
Derek Wilford
Lieutenant Colonel Derek Wilford, OBE, was the British Army officer commanding the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in Derry, Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday in 1972....
of the Parachute Regiment who identified Spence from his tattooed hands. He was returned to Crumlin Road gaol soon afterward, where he shared a cell with William "Plum" Smith, one of the Red Hand Commandos whom he had met upon his initial release and who had since been jailed for attempted murder.
Move to politics
Spence soon became the UVF commander within the Maze PrisonMaze (HM Prison)
Her Majesty's Prison Maze was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from mid-1971 to mid-2000....
. Spence ran his part of the Maze along military lines, drilling inmates and training them in weapons use while also expecting a maintenance of discipline. As Maze commander Spence initially also had jurisdiction over the imprisoned members of the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
although this came to an end in 1973 when, following a deterioration of relations between the two groups outside the prison walls, James Craig
James Craig (loyalist)
James Pratt "Jim" Craig was a Northern Irish loyalist, who served as a fund-raiser for the Ulster Defence Association and sat on its Inner Council. He also ran a large protection racket from west Belfast's Shankill Road area, where he lived...
became the UDA's Maze commander.
Spence began to move towards a position of using political means and persuaded the UVF leadership to declare a temporary ceasefire in 1973. Following Merlyn Rees' decision to legalise the UVF in 1974 Spence encouraged them to enter politics and supported the establishment of the Volunteer Political Party
Volunteer Political Party
The Volunteer Political Party was a loyalist political party launched in Northern Ireland on 22 June 1974 by members of the then recently legalised Ulster Volunteer Force . The Chairman was Ken Gibson from East Belfast, an ex-internee and UVF chief of staff at the time...
. Spence's ideas were abandoned however as the UVF ceasefire fell apart that same year following the Ulster Workers' Council strike
Ulster Workers' Council Strike
The Ulster Workers' Council strike was a general strike that took place in Northern Ireland between 15 May and 28 May 1974, during "The Troubles". The strike was called by loyalists and unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which had been signed in December 1973...
and the Dublin and Monaghan bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
; the carnage of the latter had shocked and horrified Spence. Furthermore, the VPP suffered a heavy defeat in West Belfast in the October 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
, when the DUP candidate John McQuade captured six times as many votes as the VPP's Ken Gibson
Ken Gibson (loyalist)
Kenneth "Ken" Gibson was a Northern Irish politician, who acted as the Chairman of the Volunteer Political Party which he had helped to form in 1974...
.
Spence was increasingly disillusioned with the UVF and he distilled these views to fellow inmates at Long Kesh. According to Billy Mitchell Spence quizzed him and others sent to the Maze about why they were there, seeking an ideological
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
answer to his question. When the prisoner was unable to provide one Spence would then seek to convince them of the wisdom of his more politicised path, something that he accomplished with Mitchell. David Ervine
David Ervine
David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...
and Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson is the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1997 and to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. He lost his assembly seat in 2003 and his council seat in 2005...
were among the other UVF men imprisoned in the mid 1970s to become disciples of Spence. In 1977 he publicly condemned the use of violence for political gain, on the grounds that it was counter-productive. In 1978 Spence left the UVF altogether. His brother Bobby, also a UVF member, died in October 1980 inside the Maze, a few months after the death of their brother Billy.
PUP activity
Released from prison in 1984, he soon became a leading member of the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist PartyProgressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
(PUP) and a central figure in the Northern Ireland peace process
Northern Ireland peace process
The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
. He was entrusted by the Combined Loyalist Military Command
Combined Loyalist Military Command
The Combined Loyalist Military Command was an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee....
(CLMC) to read out their 13 October 1994 statement that announced the loyalist ceasefire. Flanked by his PUP colleagues Jim McDonald and William "Plum" Smith
William Smith (loyalist)
William Smith is a Northern Irish Loyalist former paramilitary and politician. He has been involved in loyalism in various capacities for at least forty years.-Early life:...
, as well as Ulster Democratic Party
Ulster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association to replace their New Ulster Political Research Group...
members Gary McMichael
Gary McMichael
Gary McMichael is the son of former Ulster Defence Association leader John McMichael and was the leader of the now defunct Ulster Democratic Party during the peace process....
, John White
John White (loyalist)
John White is a former leading loyalist in Northern Ireland. He was sometimes known by the nickname 'Coco'. White was a leading figure in the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and, following a prison sentence for murder, entered politics as a central figure in the Ulster Democratic...
and Davy Adams, Spence read out the statement in Fernhill House in Belfast's Glencairn area, an important training centre for members of Edward Carson's original Ulster Volunteers. A few days after the announcement Spence made a trip to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
along with the PUP's David Ervine
David Ervine
David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...
and Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson is the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1997 and to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. He lost his assembly seat in 2003 and his council seat in 2005...
and the UDP's McMichael, Adams and Joe English
Joe English (loyalist)
Joe English is a former Ulster loyalist activist. English was a leading figure in both the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Democratic Party and was instrumental in the early stages of the Northern Ireland peace process. He is a native of the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey, Northern...
, where among their engagements was one as guests of honour of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy
National Committee on American Foreign Policy
The National Committee on American Foreign Policy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan activist organization dedicated to the resolution of conflicts that threaten U.S. interests. Founded in 1974 by Hans J...
. He went on to become a leading advocate of the Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
.
In August 2000 Spence was caught up in moves by Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
's "C" Company of the UDA to take control of the Shankill by forcing out the UVF and other opponents. Adair's men forced their way into Spence's Shankill home but found it empty as Spence tended to spend much of the summer at a caravan he owned in Groomsport
Groomsport
Groomsport is a village and townland two miles north east of Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the south shore of Belfast Lough and on the north coast of the Ards Peninsula...
. Nonetheless the C Company members ransacked the house and stole Spence's army medals while the Spence family were forced to stay off the Shankill for the entirety of the loyalist feud
Loyalist feud
A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups since they were founded shortly before and after the religious/political conflict known as The Troubles broke out in the late 1960s...
. When Spence's wife died three years later he said that C Company had been responsible for her death such was the toll that the events had taken on her health.
On 3 May 2007, he read out the statement by the UVF announcing that it will keep its weapons but put them beyond the reach of ordinary members. The statement also included a warning that activities could "provoke another generation of loyalists toward armed resistance". He did not specify what activities or what was being resisted.
Personal life
Spence married Louie Donaldson, a native of the city's Grosvenor Road, on 20 June 1953 at Wellwood Street Mission, Sandy RowSandy Row
Sandy Row is a Protestant working-class community in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It has a population of about 3,000. It is a staunchly loyalist area of Belfast, being a traditional heartland for affiliation with the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and the Orange Order.-Location:Sandy...
. The couple had three daughters, Elizabeth (born 1954), Sandra (1956) and Catherine (1960). Spence, a talented footballer in his youth with Old Lodge F.C., was a lifelong supporter of Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
Louie died in 2003.
Death
Spence died on 25 September 2011, aged 78, in a Belfast hospital; he had been suffering from a long-term illness and was admitted to hospital 12 days prior to his death. Spence was praised by, among others, PUP leader Brian ErvineBrian Ervine
Brian Ervine is a playwright, songwriter and teacher living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Northern Irish playwright St John Ervine was a distant relative...
, who stated that "his contribution to the peace is incalculable"; and Sinn Fein
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
's Gerry Kelly
Gerry Kelly
Gerard "Gerry" Kelly is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998...
who claimed that while Spence had been central to the development of loyalist paramilitarism, "he will also be remembered as a major influence in drawing loyalism away from sectarian strife".
However, a granddaughter of Matilda Gould, who died of burn injuries at the age of 74, which had been sustained in the UVF's attempted bombing of a Catholic bar next door to Gould's home, objected to Spence being called a "peacemaker" and described him as a "bad man". The unnamed woman stated, "When you go out and throw a petrol bomb through a widow's window, you're no peacemaker."
His funeral service was held in St Michael's Church of Ireland on the Shankill Road. Notable mourners included Unionist politicians Dawn Purvis
Dawn Purvis
Dawn Purvis was an Independent Unionist member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. She was previously the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party until she resigned in 2010. She lost her seat in the Assembly in the 2011 election.-Biography:...
, Mike Nesbitt
Mike Nesbitt
Michael Nesbitt MLA is a politician, journalist and former broadcaster from Northern Ireland. He is married to broadcaster, and former on-screen colleague, Lynda Bryans.-Broadcasting career:...
, Michael McGimpsey
Michael McGimpsey
Michael McGimpsey MLA is an Ulster Unionist Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South who has twice served in the Northern Ireland Executive...
, Hugh Smyth
Hugh Smyth
Cllr Hugh Smyth is a former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He is a long-serving member of Belfast City Council and former Lord Mayor of Belfast. He is also the longest-serving member of the council, having represented the Upper Shankill areas since 1973...
and Brian Ervine, UVF chief John "Bunter" Graham and Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
brigadier Jackie McDonald
Jackie McDonald
John "Jackie" McDonald is a senior Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following John McMichael's killing by the Provisional IRA in December 1987...
. In accordance with Spence's wishes there were no paramilitary trappings at the funeral or reference to his time in the UVF. Instead his coffin was adorned with the beret and regimental flag of the Royal Ulster Rifles, his former British Army regiment. He was buried in Bangor
Bangor
- United Kingdom :* Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland** Bangor ** Bangor , until 1800* Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, after which most of the ex-colonial Bangors are named....
.