Ulster Defence Volunteers The Ulster Defence Volunteers ( UDV ) and later the Ulster Home Guard were a force recruited by the Government of Northern Ireland to perform the role of the Home Guard in Northern Ireland during World War II . The UDV was recruited following the formation of the Home Guard in Britain around May 1940 . Due to concerns about the possibility of inadvertently training Irish republicans , the UDV was formed from members of the Ulster Special Constabulary ( USC ) ( also known as the ' B ' Specials during the period ) rather than volunteers from all sections of the community as in the rest of the United Kingdom Genesis of the force . The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland , James Craig , 1st Viscount Craigavon , told his cabinet in May 1940 before a force like the Home Guard could take place , problems had to be addressed ; " There were grave objections . . . to the establishment here of a local Volunteer Defence Corps , on the basis adopted in Britain . " The grave objections Craigavon spoke about were the opportunities that a British style Home Guard might have afforded Roman Catholics to legally carry weapons . The view of then Northern Ireland Minister of Public Security John MacDermott was that : " It is most important that the [ British ] Army should not become involved in political differences . At the same time it is equally important that weapons should not get into the hands of undesirable elements , and that the latter should not get a foothold in our military machine . It is difficult for the Army to differentiate . At present it is best done for them by the Constabulary on the best information . " Craigavon sought advice about a local version of a regional defence force , from his old friend and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 23 May 1940 . Churchill had confided to his friend Richard Pim after the retreat from Dunkirk that the ' B ' Specials were the only properly armed and disciplined force left in the United Kingdom . He gave Craigavon the go ahead to recruit the force . On his return to Northern Ireland , Craigavon , who died six months later , was able to tell his cabinet that Churchill recognised ; " the voluntary effort that had been made in Ulster [ Northern Ireland ] to keep the various Ulster units of the Army up to strength . " Formation . The UDV was formed from members of the Ulster Special Constabulary ' B ' Specials on 28 May 1940 . The UDV members were recruited by the Government of Northern Ireland and the force was not under the control of the British Army in Northern Ireland ( BTNI ) . Unlike in Britain , where the Home Guard were administered through their county Territorial Army Associations and swore a military oath of allegiance to the Crown , the UDV were Special Constable s . As such the initial official name was the " Local Defence Volunteers Section , Ulster Special Constabulary " . The UDV was eventually formed into the Ulster Home Guard administered through the Royal Ulster Constabulary ( RUC ) . As such they were a paramilitary force unprotected by the Geneva Conventions . This brought the defences of Northern Ireland up to : When the UDV ' s in Northern Ireland were reformed as the Ulster Home Guard in 1942 under military command they were issued uniforms , although units of USC were retained in the cities of Belfast and Londonderry to help the RUC with the large concentrated numbers of civilian population . In these two cities specific Home Guard units were also raised . Sectarianism . There were problems in recruitment from the minority Roman Catholic population in Northern Ireland however . While no figures exist on the number who attempted to join the UDV and Home Guard the view was that their recruitment was generally discouraged . The view of John MacDermott was that a few Catholics did enlist but that : " virtually all left because they hated the " B " Specials . " he went on to say that : " the " B ' s " were only bad in parts - the Home Guard was quite sectarian but this was largely the fault of the minority [ the Catholics ] for not joining . " Duties . The duties which accompanied this new role included opposition to airborne invasion and fifth column ists , taken to be in the guise of the IRA . Northern Ireland was considered a unique area as a major armed group pledged to insurrection and overthrow of the state did not exist in Great Britain . German airborne landings were a major fear of both the British government and the government in Northern Ireland . The governments in London , Dublin and Belfast were to co - operate in a secret plan for a joint response to a German invasion of Ireland , Plan W . Some members of the UDV ( and later the Home Guard ) underwent training in sabotage and guerilla fighting as part of these plans .