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Harry Baxter

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Brigadier Henry Joseph Patrick "Harry" Baxter CBE, GM, KM (8 April 1921 - 10 January 2007) was an Irish born fourth generation soldier who overcame the handicap of being blind in one eye to join the army and rose to command one of the largest and most controversial regiments in the British Army.

History

Harry Baxter was born a "child of the regiment" to the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Despite being blind in his right eye as the result of a childhood shooting accident in India he was determined to join the army in 1939. The medical officer who tested him was impressed to come across someone who was trying to cheat his way "into" the army that he passed him fit for the Indian Army. He gave up a scholarship place in Oxford University and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. to the Punjab Regiment on 11 October 1942 with the number 363915. His Emergency Commission was changed to a Permanent Commission in the British Army on 25 May 1946 when he joined the Royal Irish Fusiliers as a Temporary Major.

Punjab Regiment

Baxter's service in India was mostly wartime and he served in Burma.

Royal Irish Fusiliers

In 1947 he transferred to the RIF on a regular (permanent) commission and served in Palestine, Egypt, Greece, Germany and finally Malaya where he was awarded a Mention in Dispatches During this time he spent four years on Extra Regimental Engagement (ERE) to Lord Mountbatten's staff.

George Cross

Baxter was awarded the George Cross for his actions at Gough Barracks, Armagh when, as a major, he and Captain Henry Chavasse removed a viable bomb from outside the armoury and drove it to a safe place for disposal. The detonator of the bomb exploded whilst it was in transit but the device did not explode.

Ulster Defence Regiment

Baxter assumed command of the controversial Ulster Defence Regiment in April 1973 from Brigadier Denis Ormerod.</ref> Like Ormerod, Baxter was a Roman Catholic commanding a regiment which was predominantly Protestant during a time of intercommunal strife in Northern Ireland.

He was in command during the notable Ulster Workers' Council strike in 1974 which was considered to be a "turning point" in the regiment's history and "coming of age" comments listed by Major John Potter (compiler of the official UDR history) in his unofficial biography of the regiment.

Miami Massacre

Baxter was also the commander of the UDR at the time of the Miami Showband killings when several soldiers of the regiment were involved in the killing of musicians outside the town of Banbridge. His comments at the time were:

a feeling of shame on the part of our own soldiers that this could have happened, a realisation that there were rotten apples in the barrel and couldn't something be done about it?

References

  1. http://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_B01.html
  2. Doherty. In the Ranks of Death. ISBN 18441 5966-3 P37-8
  3. Doherty. In the Ranks of Death. ISBN 18441 5966-3 P37-8
  4. http://www.unithistories.com/officers/IndianArmy_officers_B01.html
  5. The Ulster Defence Regiment: An Instrument of Peace?, Chris Ryder 1991 ISBN 0-413-64800-1 p69
  6. The Ulster Defence Regiment: An Instrument of Peace?, Chris Ryder 1991 ISBN 0-413-64800-1 p69
  7. The Ulster Defence Regiment: An Instrument of Peace?, Chris Ryder 1991 ISBN 0-413-64800-1 p69-70
  8. ref>http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/47346/supplements/12788 London Gazette]
  9. A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, John Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001, ISBN 0-85052-819-4 P102
  10. A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, John Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001, ISBN 0-85052-819-4 P ix (preface)
  11. A Testimony to Courage - the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 - 1992, John Potter, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2001, ISBN 0-85052-819-4 P132

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