Chap at work says his Dad was in this action in the Congo in 1961. Siege of Jadotville - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Is there a list of the Irish soldiers who were there. If so does it list a soldier by the name of Dykes ?
Its funny but having searched the Defense Forces site Owen there is no reference to it. Its very strange. Our UN involvement is something that is worn as a "badge of honor" in this country yet very little is known about it. http://www.military.ie/dfhq/pubrel/publications/DFHistory.pdf Here is a brochure outlining the military history of the defense forces and it isnt even mentioned here!!!!
There are a few books on the battle. My workmate's Dad has four on his shelf & gets a mention in at least one of them. So far found, 'Siege at Jadotville' by Declan Power Heroes of Jadotville: The Soldier's Story by Rose Doyle The Irish Army in the Congo 1960-1964: The Far Battalions by David O'Donoghue
Hi, My dad's albums show he was there 60-61. Had transcriptions of radio broadcasts - a call to arms against UN. Must have returned them to him, otherwise I would post them up. Dad was under orders from the boss of his construction company not to go to Jadotville because of road blocks. Later he and his mate made their way to Jadotville and then Elizabethville and stayed with Irish Bn. He became a UN interpreter for the duration of his time there. An Irish Officer gave them fatigues, "denims" so that the two of them could catch a transport plane with the rest of the Irish soldiers, for a free flight back to Dublin. Dad remembers that the Irish had to use old equipment out there - armoured cars with solid rubber wheels. One patrol went out in a VW minibus. Thinks the farm that the Irish were in was called Leopoldsburg or Leopoldsville? Found the transcriptions: From 27th Nov 1961:
A relative of mine was there too. John McAnaney from Derry. Think he got a mention in one of the books. Not sure which one.
Cheers for the info Diane. I'd PMed you before reading this. My workmate's Dad was an 18 year old private at the time.
Can someone enlighten me as to who were really the good guys at Jadotville? I mean, with mercs in both sides, the belgians trying to keep the Congolese under their rule, and the UN supporting a not-very-acceptable "government", the situation wasn´t exactly clear cut. Things became clearer after the massacres by the Simbas at Stanleyville and in fact, all over Katanga, but that was 1964, three years later...
I have just seen my da's name on this page , "John Mcananey" yes he was in the Congo in 61 ,but sadly passed away in 67 , I miss him so so much !! kkk
Hi The Irish UN troops surrounded in Jadotville in the Congo. Were led by an officer called Commandant Quinlan, with 156 officers and men he held off a force estimated at between 2,000 and 4,000 Katangan Gendarmerie and white mercenaries The root of the conflict was diamonds which were mined by the Belgians. Several of the Irish troops were wounded but none were killed A vellum scroll containing the full list of the 150 men who took part in the Battle at Jadotville was presented to veterans and families some years after The battle was also set to be made into a €6m movie. Working Title, The Forgotten, it was to be the first Irish war movie about the contemporary Army's foreign adventures. It was rumoured that the two main actors in the frame were Liam Neeson and Brendan Gleeson but I cannot say if it was actually made.If someone has one of these scrolls then perhaps Owen could verify his query from this source Regards Verrieres
Still like to know about the film Katanga that I mentioned on another thread. My workmate's Dad was been in contact with two of his mates who still live in Ireland to keep an eye out for it. If anyone wants to contact my workmate's Dad about other soldiers who were there please feel free to PM me. I'll pass on contact details.
Irish UN troops in the Katanga Province arresting several white mercenaries. These are the only 3 Irish shots I could find
I know thread probably fizzled out a while ago but this topic really interests me and I have spent ages browsing the net trying to find sources on the Siege of Jadotville, so you can imagine my joy when I came across this thread! Do you have any good websites or info that you could share with me please!? Thanks!
After reading some threads from 2008 concerning the battle of Jadotville in 1961,I thought that you might like to know of a limited edition book by author Declan Power called "The siege at Jadotville" has just been published by Maverick House.It's a hardback,signed by the author and limited to 300 copies.It will become a collector's item pretty soon,so if you are interested in Irish Army history,then get to the website and buy it asap.The paperback sold out in 2005 and is now a collectors item and I have seen it for sale on Amazon ,second hand at almost £160.00.I'm happy to say that I've got the paperback edition and was lucky enough to secure the hardback edition online last night.All the best,Alan.
Still like to know about the film Katanga that I mentioned on another thread. My workmate's Dad was been in contact with two of his mates who still live in Ireland to keep an eye out for it. If anyone wants to contact my workmate's Dad about other soldiers who were there please feel free to PM me. I'll pass on contact details. Owen,do you think this could have been a documentary made by RTE?If so,you could e-mail their archives to get more info.
My mate said his Dad was invited to the original book launch awhile back but it was at too short notice to travel to Ireland . Cheers for heads up on it anyway.
Hi there, A very interesting thread. My father was one of the 156 prisoners. The event was effectively airbrushed from military history but after a long fight by a group of veterans they were finally exonerated in 2005. Yesterday we attended the 50th anniversary of the deployment of the first Irish troops to the Congo in 1960. My father was in A Company 36th Batallion and was deployed from Renmore Barracks in Galway. Needless to say I am eternally proud of him and of all the men who fought to have the record set straight. Helena
there were no good guys there was no government:Stanleyville supported Lumumba,there was a secession by Katanga (Tshombe,aided by the Union Miniere),there was a secession by the diamont province of Kasai (leaded by Kalondji,suspected of having killed and eaten one of his ministers) Now 50 years and millions of casualties later ,nothing has changed .
