In response, hundreds of Catholic businesses and homes in Lisburn were attacked, burned and looted by thousands of Protestant loyalists. Historian Pearse Lawlor argues that the Ulster Volunteers implemented "a plan to drive the Catholic population out of Lisburn". The rioters attacked firemen who tried to save Catholic property, and attacked the lorries of British soldiers sent to help the police. More troops arrived under Brigadier-General William Pain, who was also a leader of the Ulster Volunteers. Soldiers guarded the Catholic church and convent, but Pain failed to take strong action to quell rioting elsewhere. The parochial house was looted, burnt out and daubed with sectarian slogans.