Down Orange Welfare

A Loyalist paramilitary group formed in 1972 under the leadership of (Colonel) Peter Brush and Herbert Heslip. It was claimed that the group had links with the Orange Order. The group itself claimed in 1972 that it had 5,000 highly trained members who were mostly ex-Special Constabulary officers. The group was based in North Down and was active during the Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) strike of May 1974 and again during the United Unionist Action Council (UUAC) strike of May 1977.