Charles Harding Smith - Return To Belfast

Return To Belfast

By the time Smith returned to Belfast in December 1972 there had been changes in the UDA with Tommy Herron in effective control of the organisation and Davy Fogel the dominant figure amongst the WDA. Smith immediately took back control of his west Belfast stronghold, threatening Fogel with death if he didn't fall into line. Fogel, whose close ally Ernie Elliott had been killed in suspicious circumstances that Smith had been rumoured to be involved in (although in fact Elliott had been shot and killed after a drunken brawl on Sandy Row had descended into a gunfight), decided that it was best not to go against Smith and stood down. Smith however was not satisfied and, after putting out intelligence that Fogel had been taking UDA funds for himself, arrested Fogel and held him captive for three hours in a Shankill social club where he was told to leave the area. Fogel briefly left for east Belfast but when the UDA there made it clear he wasn't welcome either he left to live in England, from where he controversially gave an interview about his time in the UDA to The Sunday Times. Amongst the claims made by Fogel in this interview was one that Smith was attempting to take control of the UDA with the help of the UVF. Smith was a strong admirer of the UVF's military structure and hoped to replicate it in the UDA but he had a deep dislike of UVF leader Gusty Spence. As part of his remit to instil military discipline Smith moved against a culture of racketeering that had become endemic in the west Belfast UDA during his absence and it was this initiative that led to the rumours concerning Smith's involvement in the death of Elliott, who had been named by some of his rivals in the UDA as a gangster.

Despite Smith's show of strength following his return to Belfast his public persona remained low-key, with Herron fast emerging as the public face of the UDA. Much of this was down to the fact that Smith was inarticulate and unable to project a good image, unlike Herron who was a good talker and fairly charismatic. The emergence of these two leaders at the same time however was to bring the fledgling movement into near civil war.

Following a period of marginalisation Jim Anderson, who was serving as caretaker leader of the UDA, had resigned as chairman of the UDA and as a result a meeting was called of the groups leaders in March 1973 to determine who would succeed him. By this time Smith and Herron were recognised the undisputed godfathers of the Belfast UDA and there was a fear that whichever of the two was chosen as chairman the other one would automatically feel obliged to challenge his leadership. As a result it was determined that someone else should be appointed chairman as a compromise candidate and as Highfield-based activist Andy Tyrie, a man noted for his skill as an organiser, was chairing the conference it was decided that he would be acceptable to both men as chairman of the UDA. Tyrie however soon proved to be a powerful rival to the two leaders and in September 1973 Herron was kidnapped and shot dead. His murder remains unsolved although amongst the rumours circulating was that Tyrie had been behind the hit.