Charles Harding Smith (24 January 1931 – 1997) was the first leader of the Ulster Defense Association during the Troubles, leading the group from 1971 to 1973, preceding Andy Tyrie.
Biography[]
Charles Harding Smith was born in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland on 24 January 1931 to a Protestant Anglo-Irish family. Smith served in the British Army before forming a "defense association" in Belfast to fight back against the Irish republican militants during the 1960s. In late 1971, he became the first leader of the Ulster Defense Association after the minor Protestant vigilante groups of Belfast united as one larger group, and the UDA would engage in several attacks against Irish Catholic civilians and supporters of a united Ireland; Smith would survive several assassination attempts by the Provisional IRA and rival Ulster unionists. In 1973, Smith resigned as leader of the UDA due to feuds between the leaders of the group, and Andy Tyrie became the new leader of the group. He worked as a truck driver in Skipton, England until his death in 1997.