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Irish troops battle at Jadotville, Congo. Heroes?
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27-10-2011 9:09am#1It was the 50th anniversary recently of a battle involving some of the first forces of Irish peacekeepers serving with the UN. The soldiers were never rewarded for their bravery despite performing against much stronger forces according to this article:
The lack of recognition for these troops would seem to be based on their end loss in the battle and not take consideration of the circumstances and context of the situation.The United Nations Forces in the Congo (ONUC) consisting of approximately 20,000 troops including Irish troops were sent to the Congo in July 1960 to keep the peace. In November 1960, during an ambush on an eleven man Irish patrol by Baluba tribesmen loyal to Katanga, nine Irish soldiers were killed. The incident shocked the Irish nation which had not experienced such casualties since the Irish Civil War 1922-1923.
On 3rd September 1961 approximately 158 Irish infantrymen of A Company, 35th Battalion commanded by Commandant Pat Quinlan arrived in Jadotville tasked with protecting Belgian colonists and locals from Katangan forces. The Jadotville area was an important mining region and it is said that uranium ore from the town was used in the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. At the same time UN forces were involved in a military offensive against the State of Katangan to end its secession from the Republic of Congo.
A Company were armed with submachine guns, automatic rifles, machine guns and 60mm light mortars but lacked heavier support weapons such as heavy mortars and field artillery guns. Commandant Quinlan wisely ordered his men to establish a perimeter and dig defensive positions which would prove to be crucial to the outcome of the battle that was to come. Katangan forces numbering approximately 5,000, including Baluba tribesmen, gerdarme, Belgian colonists and white mercenaries, attacked A Company while they attended Catholic mass. Alerted by a warning shot from an Irish sentry, the Irish troops ran to their positions and repulsed the first Katangan attack.
For the next six days the Irish defenders held out against repeated assaults by Katangan forces. The assaults began with bombardments of 81mm heavy mortars and 75mm artillery shells followed by waves of armed Katangan infantry attempting to storm the Irish positions. Meanwhile a circling Fouga Magister jet aircraft strafed the Irish infantry from the air with cannon fire, destroying their motor transport.
A Company repulsed the repeated attacks and inflicted hundreds of casualties on the enemy. The Irish also eventually located and knocked out most of the enemy heavy weapons with accurate counter-battery fire with their own light 60mm mortars. White mercenaries leading the Katangans resorted to shooting deserters as their morale began to crack.
Notified about their precarious situation, hundreds of fellow Irish and other UN troops tried to reach Jadotville by road convoy to relieve A Company but were forced to retreat by strong Katangan resistance. A supply helicopter braved Katangan fire and succeeded in landing drinking water at Jadotville but it was discovered to be contaminated by diesel fuel.
Running low on ammunition, food and water and unable to resupply or evacuate his half dozen wounded men, Quinlinn was forced to surrender to the Katangans without any clear directions or assistance from higher command. The Katangans are believed to have suffered approximately 300 dead including thirty white mercenaries and perhaps 1,000 wounded with their effective strength reduced to about 2,000 men by desertions. The men of A Company were held captive for about a month until they were exchanged for Kantagan prisoners held by the forces of Congo President Kasavubu.
Although the men of A Company had fought bravely and had only surrendered when they had no remaining options available, it was considered an embarrasment by Irish authorities. Consequently A Company received no recognition for their heroism. Commandant Quinlinn had recommended several men for the Military Medal for Gallantry (MMG), the Irish Defences Forces' highest award but none were ever awarded. Quinlinn retired with the rank of Colonel but never served overseas again and he died in the 1980s.
Decades later books such as The Battle of Jadotville publicised what was a largely forgotten incident. Veterans of A Company campaigned for Quinlinn's outstanding leadership and heroism to be recognised and his reputation restored. In 2004, Defense Minister Willie O'Dea ordered an inquiry which ultimately cleared Quinlinn and his men of any misconduct. The Battle of Jadotville has since been commemorated with a monument at Custume Barracks, Athlone, Co. Westmeath and a portrait of Commandant Quinlinn hangs in the Irish Defence Forces' UN School. http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/digital-book-collection/digital-books-by-county/dublin-south/whelan-the-battle-of-jado/21
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jonniebgood1 wrote: »The lack of recognition for these troops would seem to be based on their end loss in the battle and not take consideration of the circumstances and context of the situation.
they were seen as cowards for their surrender, but the irish commander had no other choice. these men deserved better treatment than they got at the time. imo this is the most outstanding moment in the history of the Irish DF. brave soldiers one and all.0 -
I was in school at the time of the killing of the nine soldiers. The nation was shocked and went into official mourning and schools were closed. I remember this particularly because our head didn't like the schools closing and said so to us - thought it inappropriate for some reason. That we would all treat it like a 'holiday'.
Anyway, I have a memory of their bodies being brought by slow procession from the airport through O'Connell St and we all lined up to honour them. Our school insisted that we go in light of closing the schools. Does anyone have any further information on this - newspapers reports of the time?0 -
The nine killed were in the 'Niemba ambush' and newspaper reports or other information on both incidents could be interesting. 26 Irish soldiers in total lost their lives in Congo.0
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From memory, the Congo was the reason IDF's firearms were updated with the introduction of the (Belgian) FN replacing the .303 Lee Enfield. Officers had Gustav submachine guns.
Interesting piece here http://iunvapost25-fermoy.com/congo%20story.pdf
Some Congo funeral footage (and related links) here
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=41647
And of course the word 'Baluba' entered Cork slang
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pedroeibar1 wrote: »
And of course the word 'Baluba' entered Cork slang
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Oh yes, I remember that - it entered Dublin slang also.
Great video link.0 -
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From the wiki article:
"We will hold out until our last bullet is spent. Could do with some whiskey"
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jonniebgood1 wrote: »It was the 50th anniversary recently of a battle involving some of the first forces of Irish peacekeepers serving with the UN. The soldiers were never rewarded for their bravery despite performing against much stronger forces according to this article:
The lack of recognition for these troops would seem to be based on their end loss in the battle and not take consideration of the circumstances and context of the situation.
That is a big issue in Irish Army History. First time, a company surrendered. He did it in style though, offering his surrender in Irish. A quite of few of the men are from Athlone (one of my mates grandfather reminds me of "uncle Albert" from only Fools and Horses, "during the war".). They had some interesting stories to tell.
One chap, was taken by the Congolese, killed and his body was never returned. It is said that his body was used for human sacrifice.
The Army was initially poorly equipped by the Government. They were expected to fight in the normally heavy uniform in the searing heat of the Congo
The fact that only 11 died on that occasion, is a monumental pointer to how good their leader was. They could easily have been massacred.
To be fair, the army people themselves never saw them as cowards etc, just some civilians and they could not give a fiddlers about the latter, especially the government of the day.0 -
I was in school at the time of the killing of the nine soldiers. The nation was shocked and went into official mourning and schools were closed. I remember this particularly because our head didn't like the schools closing and said so to us - thought it inappropriate for some reason. That we would all treat it like a 'holiday'.
Anyway, I have a memory of their bodies being brought by slow procession from the airport through O'Connell St and we all lined up to honour them. Our school insisted that we go in light of closing the schools. Does anyone have any further information on this - newspapers reports of the time?
Collins Barracks Museum is a start.0 -
I was in school at the time of the killing of the nine soldiers. The nation was shocked and went into official mourning and schools were closed. I remember this particularly because our head didn't like the schools closing and said so to us - thought it inappropriate for some reason. That we would all treat it like a 'holiday'.
Anyway, I have a memory of their bodies being brought by slow procession from the airport through O'Connell St and we all lined up to honour them. Our school insisted that we go in light of closing the schools. Does anyone have any further information on this - newspapers reports of the time?
This 'Niemba ambush' which resulted in 9 Irish soldier being lost happened 51 years ago today- 8th November 1960. The content of a statement given by one of the soldiers who survived the incident describes the nature of the incident and the violence involved quite vividly and is worth reading. Statement by private Fitzpatrick following the ambush:"We were on a routine patrol. It was normal to go down the road leading south from Niemba and find a roadblock that had to be cleared. Balubas were always doing this and we used to curse them almost good-naturedly while, in the hot sun, pulling down their handiwork - usually heavy logs piled across the road. But this time they had done a more thorough job. They had pulled to pieces a wooden bridge across a small river, and it was taking us a lot more time than usual to put it right. We had noticed lately that the parties of Balubas we met were getting more sullen and hostile. We never had more trouble than an odd arrow shot our way and we had always managed to bring about a peaceful end to our meetings with them. So we were not at all expecting what happened this time.
There we were, working away at that bridge with our Platoon Commander, Lt. Kevin Gleeson, and Sergt. Gaynor supervising, when someone called out there were Balubas coming down the road behind us. I looked up and there were about a hundred of them carrying bows and arrows, spears, panga knives and clubs. Lt. Gleeson told us to stop working and be on alert with our weapons. Even then we did not expect trouble. We thought it would be another parley and then they would go away. Lt. Gleeson walked towards them alone, holding up his right arm in sign of peace. They called out "Jambo" which is an African word meaning "I greet you in peace" I looked away for just a moment for some reason or other and heard a shout from the lads. Then I saw Lt. Gleeson staggering with an arrow in his shoulder. I heard him yell, "Take cover, lads get behind the trees. We did just that and withdrew into the trees on each side of the road. Most of the boys took cover on the opposite side of the road that I did - that is really how my life was saved, because the major Balubas attack went that way. The air was suddenly black with a shower of arrows, and the Balubas let out blood-curdling yells that sounded like a war cry and rushed down the road like madmen, jumping in the air and waving their weapons. I don't know who give the order to shoot, but we seemed suddenly all to be shooting. I saw Lt. Gleeson killed. He didn't really get off the road. He fired into the Balubas with his sub-machine gun, covering us, looking quickly back over his shoulder to make sure we had taken cover. Then he turned and ran for the trees himself.
But they overtook him and ran him down. Some had outflanked him and cut off his attempt to get to cover. A lot of them reached him at the same time and they were howling like animals. Our Officer went down under a hail of blows from knives and clubs. I don't know what I was thinking at the time but I have plenty of time to think since and that sight was the most awful memory of it all. Lt. Gleeson was a wonderful man and we loved him- we all loved him. From that moment it all became very confused. The fight spread out among the trees. I could not see most of it. But there was a terrible noise, shouts, shooting and screaming. The Balubas seemed to be everywhere, crushing through the bushes and giving their sort of high pitched battle-cry. I heard our lads yelling, too. I heard one of them swearing. I remember I recognised his voice and I called out his name. I heard another Irish voice say! Oh my God! and it ended in a sort of sob. I saw about 12 Balubas in a hand-to-hand fight with one of our lads, who was using his rifle like a club. I feared to shoot for hitting him. Then I realised he was going to be killed anyway if I did not shoot and I fired two long bursts and saw three Balubas fall. The rest of the Balubas ran away and I went to the lad who was my friend. He was still alive but could not answer when I spoke to him. He had three arrows in his body and was terribly cut with knives or spear wounds. I tried gently to pull the arrows out of him but they would not come away because they were barbed. I stayed with him till he died ten minutes later.
I could still hear the Balubas about me but there was no more shooting. I started to move through the bush, knowing that if they found me they would kill me. Suddenly there was a crashing to my right. I threw myself on the ground, rolled under a bush so that I was covered. I heard Baluba voices almost right above me- I think they were so close I could have touched the speakers. For one terrible moment I waited for the spear-thrust I felt sure must come. But then they moved away. They had not seen me. I lay there without moving for three hours till it became dark. Ants and other insects crawled over me.
After it was dark I got up and moved towards the road but in such a way that I would miss the scene of the fight. I found the road and moved along it, keeping close to the trees. I felt ice cold and my teeth were chattering although I knew the night was sticky and warm. I wondered if I had malaria or fever, or something. I walked cautiously with my gun at the ready. The night was pitch black and I could just see the pale blur of the road. I began to tremble violently.
I was jumping at every sound. I began to feel that I was being watched and followed. I stepped on a dry twig, which snapped, and my heart jumped at the sound. Suddenly I heard a distant singing. I came to a native village at the roadside where there was singing and shouting and I saw fires burning. They sounded terribly drunk. I felt certain that it was the people who had attacked us. For a moment I had a wild impulse to creep up on them and let them have it with every bullet left in my gun. Instead I moved back into the jungle on the opposite side of the road. I was getting terribly exhausted and several times fell over roots and things and collided with tree branches in the dark. I could hear frightening sounds and rustlings of animals about me, but I was past caring. I stumbled and put my hand on the branch of a tree to steady myself and yelled out aloud in pain and fright. The branch seemed alive with crawling insects. Something had stung my hand. I staggered a few more yards and sank to the ground.
I felt dazed and my thoughts began to wander. I thought of my mother, and the coolness of Ireland, of the rain in the streets of Dublin and how peaceful it was there. I wished so much that I could get out of this God-forsaken country of filth, sweat and heat and savages. I think I prayed it might be so. I think I dozed or fell into a stupor or something then because suddenly it was getting light. Pulling myself to my feet I wandered slowly through the jungle again. Suddenly I heard the sound of a truck and heard Irish voices. I shouted and ran towards the lovely sound of it. I fell but got up and kept on going and came out on the road. It was a truck full of some of the boys from Albertville. I fell into their arms" http://www.thebluehelmets.ca/documents/Congo%20Irish%20UN%20Troops.pdf0 -
Was doing a bit of googling to find out more on the contemporary (?) funerals in Collins Barracks Cork - possibly were those from the Elizabethville conflict, and although did not find what I was looking for came across this http://www.militarychaplaincy.ie/info/Tpr_Mullins/Tpr_Mullins_Booklet.pdf which has interesting maps and overview
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walrusgumble wrote: »
The Army was initially poorly equipped by the Government. They were expected to fight in the normally heavy uniform in the searing heat of the Congo
I can remember my uncle, who served with the FCA all his adult life, telling me about this. He never served overseas but knew many who did. He told me that the first detachment of Irish soldiers who went to the Congo were clad in Bull's Wool, which I found hard to believe but I now consider to be true. Apparently they were laughed at at the airport where they landed because their clothes and equipment were so antiquated.walrusgrumble wrote:The fact that only 11 died on that occasion, is a monumental pointer to how good their leader was. They could easily have been massacred.
With respect I think you must be talking about some other engagement. There were none killed at Jadotville, and only nine at Niemba. And there were only two survivors from that. It would have been hard to have suffered a bigger massacre.0 -
Snickers Man wrote: »I can remember my uncle, who served with the FCA all his adult life, telling me about this. He never served overseas but knew many who did. He told me that the first detachment of Irish soldiers who went to the Congo were clad in Bull's Wool, which I found hard to believe but I now consider to be true. Apparently they were laughed at at the airport where they landed because their clothes and equipment were so antiquated.
With respect I think you must be talking about some other engagement. There were none killed at Jadotville, and only nine at Niemba. And there were only two survivors from that. It would have been hard to have suffered a bigger massacre.
There were 9 killed in the Niemba and another killed in friendly fire in the aftermath. There were 9 bodies in the funeral. One was missing and recovered the following year.
Jadotville could have easily led to 150 + deaths. If it wasn't for Comdt. Quinlan ordering the digging of trenches 150 + might well have died. The 155 men were attacked by waves of 600. They started the attack when the Irish were at mass. had they not been fought off they would have overrun the Irish within minutes.0 -
not much info on this thread about the number of congolese killed in this ambush, im guessing lots since the UN troops had guns and local had clubs.0
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jonniebgood1 wrote: »It was the 50th anniversary recently of a battle involving some of the first forces of Irish peacekeepers serving with the UN. The soldiers were never rewarded for their bravery despite performing against much stronger forces according to this article:
The lack of recognition for these troops would seem to be based on their end loss in the battle and not take consideration of the circumstances and context of the situation.
It would be intresting to read Mad Mike Hoares take on it, he commanded the Belgian mercenaries, lots of the details dont add up. Funny enough he was born in the republic.- 1960–1961. Major Mike Hoare's first mercenary action was in Katanga, a province trying to break away from the newly independent Congo. The unit was called "4 Commando". During this time he married Phyllis Simms, an airline stewardess.
The Road to Kalamata is the real-life adventure story of the 4 Commando team of mercenary soldiers, as told by their leader, Col. Mike Hoare. At the close of 1960, the newly formed independent state of Katanga in central Africa recruited Hoare and his team to suppress a rebellion by the Baluba, a fierce tribe of warriors rumored to be cannibals and known to torture and dismember any enemy soldiers unlucky enough to be captured. The events recounted in this book occurred in the Congo during the Katanga campaign of 1961.
With insight that only an officer with extensive battlefield experience can bring to this subject, Colonel Hoare chronicles the metamorphosis of 4 Commando from a loose assembly of individuals into a highly organized fighting unit, while also taking the reader inside the minds and hearts of men who sell their military skills for money. What emerges is a compelling and complex portrait of genuine adventurers, "a breed of men which," writes Hoare, "has almost vanished from the face of the earth."0 -
did he ever publish a book0
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Hi, my Father was part of B company who attempted to reach the surrounded troops of A Company. It's amazing what these Soldiers did
with very little training or support and inferior equipment. I was
born in the late 70s and had no real idea what went on over there.
From the info I have now, it looks like his B Company came under
attack at Lufira bridge while trying to reach the surrounded troops.
They were led by a Swedish armoured car. The Irish troops were on a
bus. This bridge could not be passed; it was completely blocked with
machinery (trucks etc.). As the B Company arrived at the bridge they
came under sniper fire and were also attacked from planes dropping bombs. They headed back towards base at high speed. About one mile from base they were attacked again by snipers. This time my Father and 3 others were
shot. No one was killed. They were dragged through the streets until
they got to base.
At the base, the decision was made to take the wounded men to the
airport (about ten miles away) and fly them to Leopoldville (about 2k
miles) to a Hospital. When they arrived at the airport an Italian
surgeon would not allow the men onto the plane as he believed they
would not survive without quick treatment. They were they taken back
to Jadotville, to a make shift Hospital in a local Hotel. They were
treated by Italian medical staff. They stayed here for 3 months before
they were returned home. The return trip was to Pisa, London and they
back to Dublin.
In Dublin they spent the night at an Army barracks and got a bus home
the following day. They got off the bus in Cahir and had a few pints.
My father spent a further 6 months in the army at Collins barracks,
Cork before he left. In this time he was working in the kitchen
serving food and washing dishes.
These Soldiers are true heroes in my eyes and have been given little or no recognition.0 -
I was in school at the time of the killing of the nine soldiers. The nation was shocked and went into official mourning and schools were closed. I remember this particularly because our head didn't like the schools closing and said so to us - thought it inappropriate for some reason. That we would all treat it like a 'holiday'.
Anyway, I have a memory of their bodies being brought by slow procession from the airport through O'Connell St and we all lined up to honour them. Our school insisted that we go in light of closing the schools. Does anyone have any further information on this - newspapers reports of the time?
Tom McCaughren of RTE wrote a book about it called "The Niemba Ambush". It gives the background to the incident.
Here is a newspaper interview given quite recently about it.
http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/news/roundup/articles/2010/11/10/4001445-athlone-resident-recalls-niemba-ambush-horror
Fifty years ago this week, Athlone resident Kerry Sloane was completing a shift as duty officer at the 33rd Battalion Headquarters of the Irish peacekeeping force in the Congo. In the early hours of the morning, he received an ominous message.
“I got a message from signallers at Niemba to say Lt Kevin Gleeson had gone out with a patrol and hadn’t come back,” he said.
“That was how we found out. I immediately went to the Commanding Officer to tell him. Lt Gerry Enright went out to Niemba that night and when he got there he found bodies straight away.”
Nine Irish peacekeeping soldiers had been killed by Baluba tribesmen in a tragedy which stunned the nation and which remains Ireland’s single largest loss of life on a UN mission.
Kerry, who lives with his wife Maire in Shancurragh, Coosan, met with the Westmeath Independent this week to pay tribute to those killed in the Niemba Ambush and reflect on the mission to Congo.
A native of Bishopstown in Cork, he served in the Army from 1953 to 1973, becoming a technical officer in the Army Ordinance Corps. He was based in the Curragh before being stationed at Athlone’s Custume Barracks from 1955 onwards.
The United Nations mission to Congo in 1960, the first armed peacekeeping mission, was made necessary by the chaos which followed Belgium’s withdrawal as the controlling power over the African nation.
Kerry stated that Irish Army members couldn’t be sent overseas on the peacekeeping mission but they could volunteer to go. This was an option which proved very popular.
“Nearly everybody in the army volunteered. There was absolute euphoria at the barracks, with people volunteering, trying to get going, and wives protesting that they didn’t want their husbands to go,” he recalled.
While he didn’t know exactly how many Athlone-based troops served in the Congo at that time, he stated that four officers and a good number of soldiers from Custume Barracks had participated in the mission.
The first Irish Battalion to depart for Congo, the 32nd Battalion, left in late July, 1960. Kerry was part of the next Battalion to take part in the mission, the 33rd Battalion, which departed for Africa in mid-August.
“We drew the short straw,” he said. “The 32nd Battalion got a peaceful area. We got an area where there was mayhem. We went out full of the joys of life, for the sake of world peace and all the rest. We didn’t go out there to die, but some of us did die.
“We set up shop in Katanga province and our one Battalion was given an area to cover that was as big as Ireland. It was mission impossible in many ways. We did the best we could but the whole place was boiling over.”
Katanga province was led by Moise Tshombe, who had set up an army, the Gendarmerie, which Kerry described as “killers... highly dangerous. It was their job to deal with the Balubas (a local tribe).”
The Irish peacekeepers were instructed to protect the Baluba tribe from Tshombe’s Gendarmerie, but they were met with suspicion and hostility from both sides in the conflict.
From an early stage in the mission, Kerry sensed that there would be bloodshed. Sadly, this proved to be correct on November 8, 1960.
Around that time the Balubas had been improvising their own defences against the Gendarmerie by blocking roads with trees and other materials. This was causing problems for the Irish troops, who were unable to transport their men and supplies as needed.
“We asked the UN if they would make arrangements to fly supplies over the blocked roads. We got the reply: 'You’re soldiers, open up the road yourselves.’ That was a fatal order. The Balubas had blocked the roads for a purpose and we were undoing what they had done. We were looking for trouble.”
Kerry was part of a 40-strong patrol which started clearing a road at Niemba on November 7. The following day another patrol of 11 soldiers, led by Lt Kevin Gleeson, went out to continue the work. The men were ambushed.
Though they were overwhelmed by an estimated 150 Baluba tribesmen, the Irish soldiers fought valiantly. Kerry saw the bodies afterwards and he believes that some 35 or 36 Baluba tribesmen were killed. However, only two of eleven Irish soldiers survived the battle.
“They overwhelmed our patrol with their sheer weight of numbers. They feared nothing and were well hyped up. We never had a chance,” he said. Asked about the mood among the Irish soldiers after the ambush, he paused, before replying: “I can understand atrocities in war. We were absolutely shocked but our blood was up. We wanted revenge. It’s an awful sight to see a mutilated body come in of a fella who’s wearing the same uniform as you; a man that you had been talking to the previous day.
“There was one fella, Pte Gerard Killeen, a cook, who was among the dead. After we had gone to Niemba the previous day to work on the dirt roads we pulled up outside the cookhouse.
We were full of muck and our mouths were full of dust. Killeen came out to us with a big pot of tea. The next time I saw him I was picking up his body.
“We knew that it could have been any of us (among the dead). It was a very emotional and traumatic time. It came as a shock to the country and it was twice the shock to the families, wives and mothers of the people who were out there.” After six months’ service in the Congo, Kerry returned home. He later served overseas in Cyprus, but said that mission was “a holiday camp” compared to the one in Congo.
After retiring from the Army in 1973, he operated a River Shannon boat cruising business.
Kerry concluded by paying tribute to those who died in the Congo and expressing his pride in the Irish mission there. “It was a pioneering thing. It had never been done before in history, to send soldiers to keep the peace, and it happened that the Irish, by our nature, became experts at it,” he said.0 -
I remember Jadotville. All here considered the Irish soldiers had done very well. Nobody cnsidered them cowards. I remember the pictures of them boarding the plane - I think an American transport - the old bulls wool uniforms - we had the same in the FCA at the time.
Superb leadership by Quinlan0 -
I've heard accounts over the years of "unoffical" military action including raids being taken by Irish Forces against the the Katangans & Mercenaries during the Congo deployment against the wishes of the UN & British & Americans.
Suffice to say that certain individuals paid a heavy price afterwards for attacking the UN forces after the Siege battles.
Anyone know any more about this?
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Excellent stand by the Irish Army. The real spirit of Kilmicheal, Fontenoy etc0
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....... I remember the pictures of them boarding the plane - I think an American transport - the old bulls wool uniforms - we had the same in the FCA at the time.
As a small kid I was brought to see them boarding. The plane was the Globemaster.
I've been meaning to upload these from 1960-ish and 1962.
Congo 1 is an original photo - written on the back is Col. Justin McCarthy (z) and Hassey(x).
The plane in the photo is a Dakota DC 3. MacCarthy was killed there, in a car accident on 27 Oct 1960.
Congo 2 is a postcard showing Albertville Hospital and Congo 3 is a card posted from Elizabethville in 11/1962.0 -
Congo 3 is the Tunnel in Elizabethville. The Irish were in two battles for the Tunnel in 1961. The Second battle is described by Kevin Myers
Tuesday, December 18, 2001
An Irishman's Diary
By KEVIN MYERS
By African standards, it was not much - a small but bloody skirmish outside a railway tunnel in a town now called Lumumbashi. Yet the Tunnel provided one of those turning points in Irish self-esteem which is almost impossible to understand today, now that Irishness is associated with an almost excessive self-confidence and international esteem. Forty years ago, the reverse was true.
By 1960, Irish independence seemed to have been a disaster. Ireland had actually grown poorer during the 1950s. A church-ridden culture of philistine authoritarianism and gombeen statism had crushed almost all enterprise. The country produced little but a handful of college graduates who joined the hordes of unlettered emigrants vomiting miserably on the Liverpool cattle-boats, which they shared with Ireland's third export. Irishness meant certain failure. It seemed as simple as that. Until the Tunnel.
High morale
Admittedly, it was courageous for the Government of the day to decide that the Army was sufficiently well-trained and equipped to undertake a peacekeeping mission in the Congo. In fact, it was neither. But what it had, almost uniquely in Irish life, was high morale: and that enabled it to embark upon a seemingly impossible assignment for which it had had, and could have had, absolutely no preparation. For nothing could be further from the Curragh and the Glen of Imaal than the rain forests of central Africa.
A composite battalion, the 36th, was specially put together and trained for its new role under Lt-Col Mike Hogan. It was sent out on its unique peace-enforcing duties in November 1961 to join UN units near the town of Elizabethville, in the breakaway province of Katanga. If they were in any doubt about the gravity of the situation they were in, it was dispelled soon after they arrived, when soldiers attending Mass came under mortar fire from mercenaries and Cpl Michael Fallon of A Company was killed.
The mercenaries and their allies in the Katangan gendarmerie, 150 men in all, were in possession of the railway tunnel, a vital approach to Elizabethville, from which they were able to put down harassing fire on the Irish troops by machine-gun and mortar. Both to implement their UN mission, and to suppress enemy operations against his men, Col Hogan decided to send in the 36th battalion to take and hold the tunnel.
"A" Company, mostly of Dubliners, under Cmdt Joe Fitzpatrick, was to lead the attack. "B" Company, under Cmdt Bill Callaghan, was to make the secondary attack. "C" Company, under Cmdt Dermot Hurley, was in reserve.
At dawn, in pouring rain, on December 16th, 1961 - 40 years ago last Sunday - the Army of the Irish Republic went into action for the first time on a foreign field. Their enemy were battle-hardened Katangans and South Africans who knew the terrain and were holding prepared positions. For the first few hundreds yards, the advancing Irishmen came under sporadic machine-gun and mortar fire, but as they approached their objective, it became more intense, both from the tunnel itself, and from flanking positions in railway carriages.
Fierce fire
The Irish assault was driven home against fierce fire. Leading the attack, Lieut Paddy Riordan, platoon commander, was killed. So too was Pte Andrew Wickham, a signaller, from Wexford. Sgt Paddy Mulcahy from Tipperary was fatally injured.
Six Katangan soldiers were killed. In the light of the next morning, Operations Officer Capt James Fagan saw a dead white mercenary lying on the road. "Who shot him?" he asked. "I did, sir," said a boyish Dubliner nonchalantly.
The men of the 36th Battalion had wondered how good they were. Now they knew. The tunnel was theirs. The thoroughly neglected Irish Army had produced a unit that could live up to the very best traditions of Irish soldiering down the centuries. Almost for the first time since Independence, a wholly Irish institution had been tested in the most trying international conditions, and had triumphed.
No wonder veterans of the Congo were treated as heroes; no wonder that the country, finally, had something to be proud of. So, in its own little way, the performance of the Army in the Congo was a turning point in Irish self-esteem. Here was an example of Irishmen, on the instructions of the Irish Government, and under Irish command, achieving a combat victory in the field.
Words are cheap
Two score years on, the Army is still - in public, anyway - verbally cherished, just as it was in the days after the assault on the tunnel; but words are cheap and guns are not. Governments have consistently behaved as if it is possible to have a standing army without paying for it; and even after three decades of war in the North, the Army has not a single troop-carrying helicopter, and still makes do with a few ancient and risible personnel carriers you could disable with a knitting needle.
With the decision on an order for troop-carrying helicopters soon to be announced, will this Government yet again go down the contemptible road of short-term political and economic expediency, instead of presuming that we have a duty to give our Defence Forces the equipment necessary to do its job over the longer term?
It was one thing for an economically backward country in 1961 to send an under-equipped 36th Battalion into action, and Lt Riordan, Pte Wickham and Sgt Mulcahy to their deaths. We have no excuses today for starving the Army of the resources it needs - aside, that is, from those traditional and frequently used escape clauses filed in the Department of Defence under "m": miserliness and moral torpor.0 -
Congo 3 is the Tunnel in Elizabethville. The Irish were in two battles for the Tunnel in 1961. The Second battle is described by Kevin Myers
That’s much appreciated Koss, it explains quite a lot. I often wondered about that card, a strange one photographically. The reverse has no details of the name or place, nor did the writer mention anything about the location, just general chat about 'settling in'. No doubt all knew about its significance at that time. It would have been a nightmare to take that tunnel: brave men.
Thanks again.
P0 -
My father was Corporal Gerard Francis, he was standing beside Lt Riordan when he was shot dead, my father was shot in the ear and awarded the DSM. He had just finished writing his book on his experience in the Conga last January 2011, unfortunately he lost his long and equally barve battle with Cancer.
I was so privilledged to have such a hero for a father and even witnessed for myself his bravery when he rescued three young men from the sea right in front of me.
There is a documentary to be aired on channel 4 in December 14th I think, my father was one of the men interviewed all about the Irish army in the Congo.
I miss him terribly...the bravest man I know
Stephanie Francis0 -
StefMontgomery wrote: »
There is a documentary to be aired on channel 4 in December 14th I think,
Stephanie Francis
Thanks for this, it sounds interesting. sorry to hear of your fathers passing. May he rest in peace.
I dont know if anyone mentioned the book, "Siege at Jadotville". Its a great read.0 -
My husbands Grandfather was in Jadotville & I have been lucky enough to see the documentary which is to be aired in December.
Based on that and having read the Siege of Jadotville amongst others, and listening to Gran dad's tales, in my opinion they were heroes one and all. They defended bravely under next to impossible conditions, and were badly mistreated on their return. But that's just my (biased) opinion
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Very few of the veterans spoke about it at all. Some refused to go to the commemoration in 2005. It is good to hear that some of them tell their tales. Even at the screening of the documentary, some veterans were reluctant to identify themselves. I knew the late Company Sergeant (later Sergeant Major) Prendergast who is shown in speaking in a clip recorded in the immediate aftermath of the battle.
Even though I knew him very well and spoke to him often, he never discussed Jadotville with me. In fact, I didn't know he had been there until after he died0 -
StefMontgomery wrote: »
There is a documentary to be aired on channel 4 in December 14th I think, my father was one of the men interviewed all about the Irish army in the Congo.
I miss him terribly...the bravest man I know
Stephanie Francis
I put that date in my diary, was away when the reminder came up, said (rude word) and then tonight by accident stumbled on 'Congo 1961' on TG4 at 21.30. Well done to makers Cowshed Media, well-made programme and hats off to participants. Worth watching on 'player' when available.
I even saw a bow & arrows in one shot/frame, the same as those given to me as a small boy before being confiscated by a worried mother!0 -
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I remember Niemba and Katanga. was in FCA in Galway at t he time.
I think the Army did it's best in Katanga. Were poorly equipped, and outnumbered.0
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