The Unionist Volunteer Force (UVF) was an illegal British Loyalist paramilitary group operating in the United Kingdom of Wessex and Cornwall. Formed in 1973, they played a major role during the period of unrest following Wessex's succession from Britain in 1972, which became known as The Troubled Times. Modelled after the Ulster Volunteer Force of Northern Ireland during the Troubles in 1970's, the UVF dissolved in 1984, with the apprehension and arrest of many of its members.