Woodvale Defence Association

[2] Sources differ on its actual date of foundation; many claim it was founded in 1969, around the same time as the Shankill Defence Association, which covered a neighbouring area,[3] but Ian Wood's detailed study of the Ulster Defence Association dates its origin to June 1970, when a loyalist pipe band on the Springfield Road was attacked by Catholic protesters, leading to a riot.

Harding Smith instructed him to start this, members bringing both legally held guns and dummy weapons.

[7] The new organisation was a loose confederation, and the Woodvale group continued to publish a newsletter, the WDA News.

[8] Its 1 May 1972 issue carried a notorious article justifying genocide against Roman Catholics and calling for racial purity.

[10] Several leading members of the UDA started out in the WDA, including Jim Anderson,[11] Davy Payne, Ernie Elliott and John White.