Siege of Jadotville
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| Siege of Jadotville | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Congo Crisis | |||||||
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|||||||
| Combatants | |||||||
| Irish United Nations troops serving in ONUC | Katangese fighters loyal to Moise Tshombe and mercenary troops | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Commandant Quinlan | ? | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 150 | 4000 | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 5 wounded | 55 killed, c250 wounded | ||||||
In 1961, during the United Nations intervention in the Katanga conflict in the Congo, central Africa, a company of Irish UN troops was forced to surrender to troops loyal to the Katangese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe. The contingent of Irish UN troops was sent to protect the Belgian colonists and local population in Jadotville (now called Likasi) where they were attacked and eventually forced to surrender, by those they were sent to protect.
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[edit] Position at Jadotville
Having had problems with transportation, the Irish UN troops were forced to deploy to Jadotville without their full complement of support weaponry. However, their commanding officer had the foresight to order digging of defensive positions before the attacks thus saving many lives.
[edit] The attack
The initial attack occurred while many of the Irish troops were attending Mass. Expecting that the men would be unarmed during Mass, the first attackers moved rapidly in. They were quickly repelled by light machine-gun fire which alerted the entire company to the threat. This set the stage for a three-day battle. A combined force of mercenaries and Belgians with local tribesmen attacked the Irish. The Irish UN soldiers had, for the most part, just light personal weapons and they held off a force in excess of 4000 armed with a mix of light and medium armament for several days. No Irishmen died though several were wounded and over 55 attackers died in the siege. Among the most effective weapons employed by the Irish combatants was a small number of antiquated water-cooled Vickers machine guns.
Several attempts were made to relieve the Irish but they were held back by a supporting force of mercenaries who were brought in by the Belgians and Moise Tschombe, the premier of the breakaway province of Katanga. A feature of the failed attempts to relieve the siege was a series of battles at a bridge where the UN force were bombed by a Belgian jet fighter. Attempts to resupply water to the troops by helicopter succeeded, but the water was undrinkable because of contamination.
[edit] Surrender
The Irish (A Company, 35th Battalion, led by Commandant Pat Quinlan) inflicted over 300 casualties on the Katangans, while no Irish troops were killed (though five were wounded in action). In the end the Irish troops, having run out of ammunition and food and low on water surrendered to the Katangese. They were held as hostages for almost a month while the Katangese and their mercenary allies bartered them for prisoners in the custody of the legitimate Congolese Govt. of Kasavubu.
[edit] Aftermath
False reports of the deaths of several Irish soldiers circulated in the media at the time of the attacks. One theory suggests that the Belgian fighter pilot mistook bed rolls for body bags as he overflew the battlefield.
The battle of Jadotville was not, until recently, given much recognition by the Irish state. A commemorative stone honoring the soldiers of A Company was erected in the grounds of Custume Barracks in Athlone in 2005.
The soldiers of A Company, alive and deceased, to this day, are thankful to their Commandant, Pat Quinlan. They recognise that without his strategic mind, they would not have come back to their homeland alive.
[edit] References
Siege at Jadotville, Declan Power. Maverick House, Dublin, 2004. ISBN 0-9548707-1-9
Heroes of Jadotville (The Soldiers' Story), Rose Doyle with Leo Quinlan. New Island, Dublin, 2006. ISBN 1-905494-31-9
